Speaking in Frankfort

Took my little quilt show on the road yesterday - all the way to Frankfort. A couple months ago, I was asked to come talk about my quilts to a women's group in Frankfort. I agreed, even though I really had no idea what I would say or share. Given a chance to talk about quilts, though, seemed like a relatively easy thing to do! Getting me to stop talking about quilt is the trick! *hah!*

The event was held at the Frankfort Presbyterian Church fellowship hall. Tables were set for about 50 to have a luncheon prepared by a local caterer and member of the hosting church. I learned that a long-standing tradition in Frankfort is for the area churches to take turns hosting a monthly (unsure - maybe less often) Christian Women's Luncheon. What a great idea to promote fellowship throughout the village and surrounding communities. Ladies had RSVP'd so that the luncheon committee could plan for seating and meals. And the meal - oh, my! Hostess and caterer Patty prepared what she called a Brown Derby Casserole - chicken-based, with a type of breading and gravy, very tasty. I will definitely look around for a recipe. That along with a salad and roll for the main course, followed by a dessert of fresh fruit-cup topped with a ladyfinger - all tasty and very pretty in its presentation.

I arrived a bit early to get all my quilts and quilt tops arranged up front for an easy display. Above are the finished quilts that I took.

I mostly took quilt tops - I had such a hard time deciding which ones to take. You will recognize most of these, as I have recorded the making of all of them here on this blog. It was fun pulling them out, rehanging them on hangers, then displaying them for others to see. It's as if I am refamiliarizing myself with old friends when I see some of these! Weird.

The collection above represents the UFO challenge I gave myself in 2017 - that ultra-productive year of finishes. I talked about how making a goal of finishing a UFO each month kept me motivated, and how sewing/quilting with friends also motivates me and holds me accountable for finishing projects. I talked about what sorts of things cause a project to go into UFO-land. Mistakes are my number one reason - if I mess up something, then I am likely to stop working, fold that thing up and hide it away. Other causes for UFOs involve running out of a necessary fabric, or being stumped on a finish. Or, just plain growing tired of something and wanting to move on to something new. I have a thing for liking to start things. Finishing is an entirely different story. *ahem*

I took these three smaller quilts to illustrate that some of my time is spent on little things - it's not always about bed-size quilts.

I'd been told to talk for about 30 minutes, and honestly, I have no idea if I held to that or not. I suspect I went over, but hopefully not by much. And I had quilts draped all over the place! Above, are my racks of finished quilts mixed up with some of the quilt tops.

Across the way, the podium was piled high with some of the UFO challenge quilt tops. Looks like a tangled mess, doesn't it?

And the front table also had quilts strewn every-which-way. Two ladies stayed afterwards and helped me fold and rehang everything for packing up. Whew! I appreciated their help! You know how long that would have taken had I done it all alone. Below, new acquaintance Karen speaks with my dear friend Sharon (one of the Frankfort Girls; she gave me the Tin Lizzie long arm, remember?) prior to our clean-up efforts. Thank you, sweet ladies!

It was a totally fun event. I appreciated the opportunity to share my hobby, and to meet ladies from around my area. In her welcome, our hostess talked about how all the various events of our lives - happy times and sad, the ordinary and the extraordinary - combine to make the whole of our lives, like a quilt! Yesterday's luncheon became another very enriching part of my life, and I think, so, too, for those in attendance.

Happy Quilting, Friends!