What a Fun Day!

Ten months ago or more, I agreed to speak at a quilt guild meeting in Ashland, OH. At the time, that seemed like a long, long way off, but you know how time just flies, and now that meeting has come and gone. I am basking in the glow of new acquaintances and fresh ideas.

My Tuesday began early - so many stops to make before arriving in Ashland, and a timeline that was iffy, at best. I needed to stop in Columbus to meet my daughter who was handing off a basket of her quilts for me to share. The next stop - a quick drive-thru breakfast at McDonald's. Then we headed to Coshocton, my DH's hometown, where he would spend the day visiting his dad and siblings. From there, I headed north on 83 to Wooster, where I was to meet my long-time friend Dee at her home. We transferred the quilts to her car and she did all the chauffeuring for the remainder of the day. On to Ashland for lunch and fabric shopping. Finally, we wound down for a bit at the library, before moving on to the main attraction for the day - the quilt guild meeting at a local church.

Oh, my whirlwind life!! *heheh*

The Ashland Quilt Guild - or more properly called The Old Uniontown Quilt Guild - is probably as wonderful as any guild - and I'm no expert, but guilds are made up of quilters - the absolute most friendly, sharing, caring and giving people in the world. The meeting for this particular group on this particular evening consisted of reports on charity projects, a summer quilt show, plans for future events and ended with a members' show-and-tell of projects made since the last meeting. Oh, how very inspiring it was to see so many quilts made for donating to worthy causes. When the meeting started, a big empty laundry basket had been placed on a table off to the side, and at the end of the meeting it was full of donated quilts. What love! These women do good work - and that is meant to be taken two ways. The workmanship on their quilts was exquisite, and so, too, is the work they do on behalf of their community's needs.

My talk came after the business meeting, and for an hour I rambled and gushed and blabbed and yakked - about quilting! What better topic!?  My spiel consisted of 3-parts. First, I talked about blogging; I tried to share a bit of how and why I started, what I have learned and how it has broadened and expanded my awareness of the industry behind quilting. Of course, I have since thought of several things I wish I would have said or forgot to include. (I need a do-over!)

I should have said that while I love writing this blog, I struggle often at doing my best writing in every post. I fear I settle for mediocre far too often. I do think I have become more alert to catching some of my lazy habits, but I could be stronger in the writing department. Also, I wish I would have said a word or two about photography and editing. I am such an amateur in these areas - I really would benefit from some classes.

Oh well.

From blogging, I transitioned into a talk about my successful 2017 Year of UFOs. I brought all twelve projects from that challenge, and talked about each one, the problems each presented, or the reasons behind why it had suffered a long UFO life. I had fun revisiting each of them, for they were definitely labors of love. Sometimes aggravation, but mostly love. *wink*

Finally, I shared random quilts - some finished, some flimsies. I had several hand-quilted finishes, along with one machine-quilted finish. I brought along two or three very recent finishes, something more "modern," and some that I call "free" quilts, because I made them from scraps leftover from earlier quilts. I really ran the gamut.

My hour was up way too fast, so time for questions was limited. Many wanted to look more closely at the quilts, which was thrilling. One woman was interested in how I pressed my seams; another asked about my varied "styles" - from repro to Kaffe. Because I'd mentioned that several of my quilts had been hand-pieced, one lady was particularly interested in this, so I hope she was satisfied and maybe even inspired.

I will close with a picture of my friend Dee (right) and her friend Audrey, who invited me to the guild to speak. It was lovely meeting one of Dee's friends, and Audrey was just as gracious a hostess as could be. I sure was feeling good, both from Audrey's warm welcome and the feel-good vibes from the group.

I am still processing the evening's events. No doubt I have forgotten tons of details. As I think of things worth sharing, I will be sure to add them in the coming days.

Happy Quilting, Friends!