Power

John and I are back from vending at the Dallas Quilt Celebration; what a great group of volunteers and quilters. John was one of the Judges and gave a lecture; other than that, he was Demonstrator in Chief. We had a good show and liked our neighbors which, believe me, is an important part of having a good show. I did most of the set up while John was judging and every once in a while, I could hear him laugh, so I don't think there was much disagreement among the judges.

Again, I took no quilt pictures. I will get better at blogging one of these days. It just doesn't seem to be what is dominating my mind while setting up the booth and getting to and from work. I will do better at our next shows, the Quilter's Heritage Celebration in Lancaster and the AQS Show in Paducah.

John's Judge's Choice was an interesting wall hanging by Julie McKenzie Rushing called "Old Alton Bridge". It is an abstract portrait of a historic bridge near Denton, Texas and, while not in in a style that John could duplicate, it is A Bridge, which John dearly loves. There is more to the story of the bridge; it is supposedly haunted. If I run into this quilt again at a show, I'll be sure to get a picture of it.

I did take pictures on the way home through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Wyoming. We saw cattle, horses, camels, buffalo and windmills!

John leaves tomorrow to teach in Great Falls, Montana. It is only 250 miles, a piece of cake.

Brooke

Dallas Here We Come

Well, John is already on his way to the Dallas Quilt Celebration via three workshops and two lectures in Nebraska. Kate and I got him out the door Friday afternoon, whew! He had a good drive over and missed the six inches of snow we got yesterday. And it is cold. Won't be cold in Dallas, though. I am flying down early Wednesday and will set up the booth while John judges.

I'm pretty excited; I bought us a Wii and it came today. Kate did the hookup and it's ready to go. We have the basic Sports games and also the Balance Board so tonight I will see if I still remember how to hula hoop.

Brooke

Travelers

John, Kate and I are back from the East Coast and from the West Coast. Kate and I had rainy weather most of the time at the show in Puyallup, WA but got to see Mt. Rainier two mornings in a row; beautiful with the eastern light on the snow. John got to see too much snow on his way out of Virginia Sunday and he says the frozen snow caked on his front bumper finally fell off in South Dakota.

In Kansas, John saw a huge flock of snow geese, covering 2 or three acres and a big swirling flock coming in to join them. I figure they are fellow travelers.

We all enjoyed the shows; made new friends and visiting with old friends. We are getting John ready to teach in Nebraska and then, on to the Dallas Quilt Show. Spring is a busy vending time for us; from one end of the country to the other. Maybe we'll see you at a show!

Brooke

Washed Up

We spent a quiet weekend, John quilting like mad with the Janome and its walking foot and Brooke working on the Tax Return. We washed these little quilts. Kate just finished quilting the 6" Wheel of Mystery and John quilted the 12" Storm at Sea and another one of those cute miniatures.

Quilts always dry fast in Montana. When we go to more humid climates and hang the quilts in the booth, it is nice because the weight and humidity take some of the folds and wrinkles out. I have some folds and wrinkles myself....

Brooke

Carnival and Opinionated Book Reviews

John just finished piecing one of our "Carnival" pre-cut kits. So these are the current fabrics; the fabrics change constantly but the basic light, bright and dark combinations stay the same. We figured we needed another sample of "Carnival" so there could be one at each show.

Kate just finished quilting one of the 8" Wheel of Mystery samples and it looks GOOD. We will get an image up of it this week - maybe before it is bound.

In the past, I have mentioned books we are reading - John just finished "A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking and has given it to me to read. I'm probably not going to "get" it. I just finished reading "The Witches of Eastwick" and didn't particularly like it which disappointed me. Almost a male fantasy book with superficial women who I think the author thought he was making "deep". I have never read "Waldon" so that is what I am reading now.

Brooke

New Templates

John is busy piecing, Kate is machine basting a quilt and I am putting off filing. Really, filing is not something to aspire to.

I have just put a couple of new templates in the Catalog http://flynnquilt.com/ and there is a story behind the Royal Cross. Our friend and renowned quilt teacher, Sharyn Craig, is retiring - you may have heard. She has given us permission to sell the Royal Cross templates that we have been cutting for her classes for years now. But, get this, she also gave us some of her class samples - Gave them to us! What fun!

For you miniature fans, try the 2 1/2" Attic Windows. I made one of these for the IQA Raffle two years ago and it was so much fun!

John is back from teaching in Dallas and now we are contemplating our next two road trips. I think we had better replace the windshield in the Chevy van before I drive to Washington State - I can't see through the cracks without a lot of head bobbing.

Brooke

Update Raffle Quilt

Sue Nickels, Master Quilter, sent us photos of the quilting in progress on the 2009 IQA Raffle Quilt. WOW! WOW!

The quilting is almost finished and then it comes back to Billings to be bound. It will be on display at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago - and that is when you can start buying tickets!

Kate just finished cutting and packaging three new template sets; Broken Path, Arrowhead and Sprocket. We have had pre-cut kits for these three blocks for some time and have had a lot of requests for "just the template", so they will be in the catalog by tomorrow, if I shake a leg.

Brooke