Last week, I had a great time, visiting and teaching with the South Bay Quilters Guild, with a meeting on Tuesday evening (August 21) and a workshop on Wednesday.
My hostess for the event was the ever lovely Melanie, the VP of Programs. I arrived at her house in Torrance in the afternoon, where we visited before I freshened up and we headed to the meeting, held in Redondo Beach.
First up (after a fine dinner at a local restaurant, where I was able to meet several guild members) is set up, and above you can see my quilts, all laid out in order. I think I brought 40 quilts, a mixture of large and small, for my Quilt Abecedary trunk show.
Once I was ready, I strolled around their guild as they have a “happy hour” before the meeting starts. Their Opportunity Quilt for their annual quilt show is shown above, titled Jovial French Bluebirds. Their quilt show is February 16-17 in 2019–I’m impressed that they do this every year.
They made flowers for all the Board Members to wear, so that people could find them easily if they had questions (I blurred out their names).
I did my Trunk Show and from the looks on people’s faces, they were engaged — it was a most satisfying experience. Then the meeting went on to business, and the installation of their new board for the year, as this was the first meeting of the year. They have an ambitious slate of classes and events, and an enthusiastic guild.
After my talk, it’s always fun to see people look closely at the quilts.
The next day we headed up to the Palos Verdes Library, where the workshop would be held. I’m always impressed by art in public spaces, and this library was beautiful. My workshop was Two-For-One, where I teach a small quilt of my own design and Free-Motion Quilting basics.
I set up my quilts and supplies in the classroom with the help of Sue, the Workshop Chair, and Melanie. The classroom was spacious with a large bank of windows on one side, giving lots of light. We got to work, and below are some of the results of the morning:
In the afternoon, we switched to free motion quilting, and after a series of nine separate lessons, many were feeling comfortable with the technique. I enjoyed how positive everyone was, as well as interested in learning a new skill.
By the end of the workshop time, everyone was tired and ready to go home. I snapped this photo upstairs as we were ready to head to the parking level: the sun had come in through an atrium, shining through to the sphere.
Thank you, South Bay Quilters, for a wonderful time!
It was a lot of mind over matter, but I finished the borders, worked out the measurements and sewed everything together. There seemingly was a big canyon between where I was last post and where I am now: getting it ready to quilt, but really, it wasn’t that hard once I settled down, stopped freaking out and followed Melanie’s advice.
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 