The Quilt Show
Sorry -- I'm a day late in telling you about the quilt show. Unfortunately, after two very pleasant days, yesterday was my annual MTTD (Major Tax Tirade Day -- not to be confused with mTTD -- minor Tax Tirade Day which will occur in about a week when the property tax bill comes and I rant and rave about why our tax rate is higher than, say, someone who has a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge, when our view here is of cornfields!) Anyway, with MTTD my tirade isn't related to the amount of money that gets hijacked from my bank account as much as it's the ridiculous amount of work that it takes to fill out the forms. It's the annual slap in the face I get to remind me that I am not a filer. I try to be organized. I put things away. I just can't remember where I put them. It's just way too much work and I resent the amount of time spent filing taxes -- time that could be spent sewing! They know how much I make -- why can't they just send a bill for some percentage? Ahem. I digress. Suffice it to say, there was much wailing, gnashing of teeth and stomping of feet yesterday and I feel much better today. Thanks for listening!
On to the quilt show! We had a very fun day. I accompanied my dear friends Junie and Jewels (Gurney was sorely missed!) and Me.Mum (My beloveds must all have a nickname. I love how the British (and Australians!) call their mothers Mum and since my mother has declared that she's never getting on an airplane again unless it's to go to the UK, I've decided to call her Me.Mum.) Anyway, I thought the picture to the right, pretty much summed it up.
It had been a long time since we'd been to such a good quilt show. We gave up Paducah many years ago because it was just too crowded. This show didn't seem to have the number of quality of quilts that Paducah had back then, but there were certainly some pretty quilts on display. We're a group of pretty traditional girls, and sadly, hand quilted quilts are just getting harder and harder to find. Our viewers choice was this clever quilt of a tumbling little boy.
The vendor selection, on the other hand was awesome. Far superior to what we've seen in the past. We were all thrilled to see our old standby and favorite vendor, Schoolhouse Quilts. We've been followers of Judy Rothermel for years and years -- her piecing and quilting are exquisite. There were many other wonderful vendors too. One of my favorites was Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods (sadly, no website), a booth that had tons of ribbons, trims and buttons. All organized by color -- so inspiring!
It was a great quilt show -- very well run and organized with lots of room for the crowds. It will definitely be on our list for next year!
In other news, we're having very weird weather here for April. It snowed almost all day yesterday. I thought spring had arrived two weeks ago when our ducks showed up. They come back every year, just like clockwork. One mallard and one drake. Duck Love. We never see any product of their union, but they always seem to be very happy just waddling around the neighborhood for a few weeks. Here you can see them enjoying the growing puddle in our backyard caused by all the rain we've had this spring. 
Lots of people are complaining about the cold weather. Not me. I love the snow. And I love the delay of spring. 'Cause if there's snow on the ground, it means I don't have to mow the lawn. I love to mow, but I don't have the winter nesting/sewing out of my system yet. Happy Snowmen.
XOXO,
Anna