Red All Over

We learned about this stunning exhibit planned for 2011 in New York City.

It is sponsored by the American Folk Art Museum and will be shown at the Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York City.  The dates are March 25 - 30, 2011.

More than 650 red and white American quilts, all from one private collection will be hung.  And, admission is FREE.  This is a must see for quilt lovers!

Here is the web address for the American Folk Art Museum

Brooke

Short Story from Houston

Kate and I are back from Houston; John is still in the van in Colorado, last I heard.  We bought a lot of fabric at Quilt Market; mostly batiks and can't wait until it starts arriving. 

Here are some photos from Houston.  We aren't allowed to take photos of the IQA winners but here is the web address  (thanks to Linda!)  Winners  We have sponsored the "Merit Hand Quilting" category for many years, reflecting John's love of hand quilting.

There were lots of quilters at the show; it was really crowded every day but Sunday.  I always enjoy the Award Ceremony where the category winners are revealed and you get a chance to see the quilts up close and meet the winners. 

When Kate and I got back to Billings, I continued to Red Lodge and came back to work in the morning.  It started snowing about 4 pm and we had 3 - 4 inches by morning, hurray!

Brooke

Bid, Bid Bid!!

Most of us are back from Houston; always such an exciting experience.  But I want you to visit the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative page and "watch" the bidding on the 6 donation quilts.  The auction ends in just over 24 hours.  Money raised goes to Alzheimer's research so we can beat this dreadful disease.

Here is the link  Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative  You can also buy nifty earrings, mugs and printed T shirts; Kate and I have ours!  Oh, I couldn't resist a little quilt from the miniature auction and John bought two!  Pictures to follow.

Being right at the Quilt Festival and watching how hard Ami is working to help find a cure and treatments was really impressive.  Her enthusiasm and sincerity are inspiring and when I look at her, I see an armoured knight on a big charger going full tilt at a target.  Look out Alzheimer's!

Please do what you can to help; thanks!

Brooke

Eighth Most Extreme...



"Satin String Star"

 Here is a picture of Kate's finished auction quilt; it is 12" square.  I really think it turned out beautifully and we hope it raises a lot of money for the International Quilt Association.  One year during the Silent Auction, she was ahead of John for a long time - he pulled ahead at the very last, though.

We have heard from John a couple of times today; he has been pretty lost in Oklahoma and blames the GPS.  We now know that the Ford Van will hold 33.6 gallons of gasoline; that is how close he was to running out of gas.  Too much excitement for me.

Okay, for the eighth most extreme thing we have forgotten for a quilt show, let me tell you about a Minnesota Quilters' show a few years ago.  Right at opening, we had some confusion with our neighbors on the right because they mistakenly plugged all their spotlights in to my power strip.  That isn't so bad except they didn't leave a place for my cash register and credit card swipe machine plugs so we had to crawl around on our hands and knees and get all straightened out under the table.  Then panic time quickly set in because the cash register would not work.  It whirred and churned and stuttered so I sent John to see if one of our vendor friends had an extra cash register and, unexpectedly, he found one. We were saved!  Later that day, I looked under the table again and realized that I had mixed up the power cords so the poor cash register was getting a lot more electrical juice than it needed and the swipe machine, not enough.  I felt kinda silly.

Flying out tomorrow with a good book and some knitting.  Have a great weekend!

Brooke

About PIQF and Texas Here We Come!

This nice article with great photos is kindly shared by CraftHappy, one of John's students at the PIQF.  The blog is "Told You Sew".  It looks like John was having a good time in class!

John Flynn’s Double Wedding Ring Class « Told You Sew!

Here are a few photos from the quilt show in Santa Clara.  PIQF is a really nice show with great quilts; hope you can attend sometime. 

We are packing madly for Houston; John leaves tomorrow, Kate and I are flying so still some time.  Hope you can come by the booth; we have LOTS of miniature pre-cut kits and even some miniature templates this year.



"Heart of the Storm" by John Flynn

Kate and I bought T-Shirts from the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative website to wear in Houston; we will be very stylish!  Kate chose one with all four quilts from John's team.  I decided on one with just John's contribution "Heart of the Storm".  Oh, and you can vote for John's quilt while you are on the Alzheimer's Art Quilt website, I know he will appreciate it! 

Please, please support this ongoing effort for Alzheimer's research.  Thanks!

Back to packing.  I'm thinking winter will arrive while we are gone.

Brooke

YouTube for You

Watch this cute and ambitious video which shows some of the 1,000 little quilts that will be auctioned off in Houston in two weeks.  This is part of Ami Simm's ongoing and dedicated effort to raise money for Alzheimer's research.  Watch for a little purple quilt in the first few seconds; John's contribution!

Brooke

Ninth Most Extreme

Kate and I are busy this week cutting pre-cut kits for John's next two teaching engagements and for the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara and for the International Quilt Festival in Houston.  John is teaching at both shows, so be sure to check for class availability if you are interested in his classes.  It will be a quick turnaround next week when John gets back from Utah and we pack the van to head out for Northern California. 

We got to "dog sit" last weekend.  What gentle, trusting creatures dogs are.  Kate's smaller dog knew that I knew where Kate was and when she would return, so she just kept close to me, hoping I would beam Kate down soon.  Moon, the bigger dog, is John's buddy.  We have a doll elinor peace bailey painted for John years ago displayed on our hearth.  Moon recognized it as John, and gave it a big kiss.

Home repairs are still on the agenda - I spent part of Sunday and Monday carefully moving around on a scaffold, painting window trim a bright red!  John cut grass all around the house and moved a brush pile so the roofers can work - they are supposed to come Monday.  We have another million daffodil bulbs to plant, or maybe it is only 500.  Have to try to fit that in between shows.

Speaking of shows, here is the Ninth Most Extreme thing we forgot for a show.  Our children were still in high school when John and I drove all the way to the Vermont Quilt Festival leaving my prescription medicine behind.  I guess we were in Minnesota when I discovered it was missing. That was an expensive Fed Ex delivery.

Enjoy a beautiful Fall, wherever you are.

Brooke