Plano Quilt Show w/Friends

It's "Girl's Day" and I have been so looking forward to it all week.  Despite the fact that I somehow lost a day this week, the morning finds me alert and ready for an adventure.  Detouring towards Irving to drop Mister off, I am then able to point the car towards Plano and the fun that awaits.  Brenda has put together a breakfast meeting before the quilt show which means my first stop is at Poor Richard's Cafe.  Within no time, we have a full table and I am presented with my row by rows that Lee Ann picked up for me in San Antonio and other points south.  I wish I had left town even once this summer to pick up for others. (I was in Billings, but seriously not a free moment to do anything and I've been in Denver 4 times but never left the airport.) One of these patterns is even the coveted turtles from Memories By The Yard.  Look how fun:

With lots of visiting and seeing what each other has been up to behind us, it's time for some eye candy.  Oh, I am so ready.  I seem to have hit a block with a few things and am hoping for inspiration to strike while my brain is grazing on fabric wonders.

Upon arrival at the center, within moments Brenda and I run into Janet, who is teaching a class today.  It is so nice to see her and I inquire as to where her entries are located in the show.  Promising to see her at her class later, I make a quick walk through the vendors and spot Debra Linker's booth.  She's swamped so I tell her I will be back and soon locate Roberta, Marti, and Mary.  They'll hate me for saying this, but I heard them before I saw them.  Oh, and the bright shirts didn't hurt either.  My heart is happy right now.  Friends are the bestest.  They never fail to brighten my day and make me feel good.  Brenda shows up just in time for me to hand the camera to a random person.  Smile everyone.

Right near us is one of Janet's entries in the show.  Oh, I remember this tree.  She worked on it at retreat.  Oh to have that in your mind and let it out.  Beautiful Janet.

I am now off to check out the quilts on my own for a little bit.  Remember, I am seeking some inspiration and I usually like to photo unusual quilts.  Something I don't see all the time.  I spot this Christmas quilt where the embroidery is absolutely wonderful.  I think I'd like to do an embroidered quilt sometime soon.

Oh, be still my heart.  A turtle!!!  I must just stand and drool for a bit.

Rounding the corner, this quilt just hops right out at me.  I was absolutely positive that it was a crocheted afghan.  Wow!  Very cool.

Tiny squares --- aren't they just fabulous?  And the cross hatching?  Oh my.

Oh this one just makes me think of the the beach.  Love, love, love the colors at play here.

Ah, one for my mother-in-law to wish for.  My fear of applique is not quite as debilitating as it used to be.  Perhaps . . . . . .

Divine!!!!  A mini with little nine-patches.  I do love nine patches.

The flying geese in the borders here just made my eyes go around the quilt several times.  Fun, fun, fun.

Oh my --- Chickens for Kay.  Aren't these just gorgeous?  Oh the talent in this room.  Wow.

I find a Judy Niemeyer "Desert Sky" entry and remember that Allison and I bought these patterns together last fall.  Hmmmm --- we need to do something about that.

Log Cabin creativity runneth amok.  Absolutely stunning.

About this time, I head back to Debra Linker's booth.  Inspiration has indeed struck me while walking around and I want to order a special back from her for the ROL quilt.  Oh it is going to be amazing and I simply cannot wait to see it.  About this time, Stephannie shows up and we go in search of others for her to say hi to.  Finding the group is pretty easy and we locate Tammy and her girls, Sarah and Katy, as well but she is busy looking at a machine so we will talk later.

Stephannie and I start wandering to check out more of the quilts.  We come across this beautifully bright wonder, but what stops us cold is the border.  Look at it.  Oh for the patience required here.  I'm pretty sure that my red hair would never allow something like this.

I spot this bright colored HST quilt and move in closer to find out if they are Kaffe Fassett fabrics or not as they are so incredibly bright and beautiful.  Stephannie joins me and we can't decide on the fabrics but love, love, love that one HST is misplaced.  Oh the story that is probably behind that.  What a great quilt and a perfect leader/ender project for all these leftover batiks I seem to be collecting.

Our next stop is at a Christmas quilt that is of the same type layout that I have been advocating for our exchange in November.  As we are standing and talking about everything we love, it turns out that the quilter herself is standing right behind us.  She is delighted with our comments and we visit for a bit before leaving the booth so that others can enjoy this one as well.  Oh, however, I am now full of ideas for more blocks for my own quilt.  Dang, I am pretty sure it is heading towards king sized now.  Isn't this happy?

And the quilting is so fun.  I love the decorative edges and the holly in the border.

Our next stop is for quite awhile.  We have run into the best in show quilt and -- well -- words cannot adequately express the incredible, take you breath away, stop you in your tracks awe that it generated in us.  We are joined by Valerie and Collette as we ooh and ahh and talk about every last detail of it.  It is all hand appliqued and hand quilted.  YAY!  I LOVE it when hand quilted quilts win Best of Show and this one absolutely deserves it.  In addition to the gorgeous applique (all done in batiks) and the phenomenal hand quilting, don't overlook those tiny, tiny nine patches.  Remember that I said I love nine-patches.  Well dang -- these FINISH at 1".  I am now bowing down to Sally Magee.  She is a friend of Ana's and I would love to hang out with her at a retreat.  Perhaps some of that talent would rub off on me.  I told Valerie and Stephannie that given 25 years (and I don't think I have that many left) I MIGHT be able to do something like this.  She did it in 3.  My mouth is hanging open still as we walk away.

It's almost time for Janet's class and I run into Tammy, Sarah, and Katy again.  Moving out of the mainstream traffic, we get a chance to visit for awhile before Stephannie and Candy (Yep she was here too but I never got a picture of her other than at breakfast -- same for Valerie and Collette.  AND I have no idea what happened to Lee Ann as we never saw her again after breakfast.)  See that teal t-shirt in the back on this picture -- I think that's Brenda.  Too funny.

Oh dang, gotta run.  It's time for Janet's class and I want a soda and a few minutes to just sit before it starts.

I find the class area and take up residency while I enjoy my Dr. Pepper.  I am the only one there as Janet arrives, but within moments, Brenda, Tammy, Sarah, and Katy join me.  We are going to learn how to do the ancient art of embellishing items using Shisha Mirrors.

Well dang, it turns out that it is a bit harder than it looks.  I dig in and get started though.  I think my lines are too far apart but time will tell.

Apparently one of us has it figured out.  Leave it to the younger generation.

We use the entire hour allotted to us and I manage to walk away with something that remotely resembles the samples that Janet had.  I do get the concept though and think it will be fun to apply it to a small project in the future.

Mine:

What they are supposed to look like.  Janet's:

What a great day.  I'm done though.  It's time to find a post office, mail the Row Robin, and go pick up Mister.  I feel ready to go back to work on my ROL now.  Lots to do and change.