Really Random Thursday: QuiltCon Pics

Here's a series of random QuiltCon photos for Really Random Thursday:

If only...

Form & Fabric gave away the cleverest project pouches.

Holy Sh!t Balls pouch

This particular pouch was in high demand!

Bee block on a bag

Kristy's pouch sported a mini version of February's MCM Bee block.  Cindy, I haven't forgotten about you....my block is going in the mail tomorrow.

Anne's two quilts

Anne, who is in our MCM Bee, had two quilts hanging in the show.  Aren't they gorgeous?  Rhythm and Blues won 3rd Place in the Large Negative Space category.

Craftsy booth

Love the blue walls of Craftsy's booth as well as their modern/retro TV.

Spin the wheel

Each time I walked by the Spoonflower booth, there was a long line waiting to spin the wheel.  As you can see, everyone is a winner.  I won a Cut & Sew Pattern.

Take Me Home

Janome was offering a steal of a deal to convention goers on their demo machines.  I enjoyed sewing on the fancy Horizon machine, but I resisted the temptation to take one home.

Freezer paper piecing

Here is a sample of what I made in Penny's freezer paper piecing class.  I can't wait to try this teapot pattern again with my complete fabric stash to choose from. 

Teeny tiny pieces

I wasn't quite as successful with the paper piecing project.  Those pieces are tiny!!!

Paper Piecing - failure then success

Can you see my mistake in the left picture?  After some unsewing and resewing, problem solved.

Lizzy House

I enjoyed Lizzy's Mini Quilts class.  Her enthusiasm is contagious.  

Mini quilt for my mini quilt

I had high hopes for my mini quilt at the start, but in the end couldn't replicate my vision on fabric.  After learning from my mistakes, I plan to try again.

Elizabeth's Marmalade quilt

I took half day classes with Elizabeth and Jacquie to learn to make these two quilts - Marmalade and Machine Pieced Hexagons.  

Jacquie's Hexie quilt

Once I unpack, I'll take pictures of the progress made in class.

Austin Children's Shelter

 Various local guilds made quilts for the Austin Children's Shelter from QuiltCon challenge blocks.  

My challenge block

I took pictures of all the donation quilts hanging in the lecture hall and found one of my challenge blocks....couldn't find the other....must be on the back.

Victoria's quilt

There were so many gorgeous quilts on display.  Check out QuiltCon's Flickr page to see more quilts.

Shelly's quilt

 Thanks for stopping by,

What's Up Wednesday: QuiltCon Friends

I've been home from QuiltCon for 36 hours and still adjusting to reality and the normal routine.  What a show!  A big thank you is deserved for the board, organizers, teachers, volunteers, vendors and show participants.  There's so much to share that it's impossible to recap six days/five nights of QuiltCon in one post, so I thought I'd start by introducing friends I saw and/or finally met in person (in the order of occurrence), and even that makes for a long post.  

Swap buddy Mary Anne

Mary Anne was the recipient of my For the Love of Solids mini quilt swap - the first ever online swap I participated in.  At the time of the swap, Mary Anne lived in Kansas City but had since moved to Austin, so I knew she would be at QuiltCon!

Photo with Victoria in front of her Best in Show Double Edged Love quilt

My guild buddy Kathryn informed me that Victoria's quilt had won Best in Show, and we went to see for ourselves right as Victoria arrived from the airport to see for herself!  It was exciting to see all the paparazzi surrounding Victoria's arrival, but best of all I was happy to see Victoria's excitement.  Congratulations my friend!

Six degrees of separation new friend Leslie

With Victoria was Leslie who's husband works with my friend's husband, and I was supposed to meet.    Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to find her in all the thousands of attendees ;-)  Very small world indeed.

Carolyn, me and Michele

We ran into fellow Floridian Carolyn whose new Architextures fabric line was flying off the vendors' shelves.  She had several of her awesome quilts on display (with winning ribbons) as well.

Overachiever in the class Holly

I was happy to meet Holly, President of the VancouverMQG, and not just because she delivered my new camera strap from Krista ;-)  In our mini quilts class, Holly made the most incredible mini quilt using teeny tiny HSTs!

Sew Together Bag creator Michelle of Sew Demented

I showed off my Sew Together Bag to the pattern creator Michelle.  She was so sweet to ooh and aah over my bag, and she showed me her latest bag.  There were quite a few Sew Together Bags spotted in my classes.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of Carmen or her bag. 

Tara, me and Penny

I was super excited to take (two) classes from Penny on her paper piecing techniques.  Sew Take a Hike is one of the first blogs I discovered, and I have wanted to meet Penny for a long time.  She is just as sweet as I imagined and a really patient teacher.  Happily, Tara was serving as Penny's assistant in class, which gave me a chance to met her too.

Krista of Spotted Stones

Sewing to my right in Penny's first class was Krista, who I've followed in the virtual world, and we chatted for several minutes before I made the connection.  More than likely there were others at QuiltCon that I should have known but didn't make the connection in time.  There was just so much going on, it was hard to focus.

Leigh

Sewing to my left in Penny's morning class was Leigh, who I met for the first time, and helped me out more than once when I had questions.

Primping for the 80's dance party

Michele was my awesome roomie for the conference, and boy did we have fun!  She was braver than I when dressing for the 80's Dance Party.  I settled on all black, lots of makeup and big hair (well, I tried for big hair).

A Quilting Jewel

I recognized my IG friend A Quilting Jewel on the dance floor and went over and said hi while joining her guild friends for a dance to Tainted Love.  Hope no one took any video of that ;-)

OMQG girls

I saw Jacquie every day in the convention hall workin' workin' workin', but I knew I would eventually get the chance to meet her because I signed up for her Machine Piecing Hexagon class.  Jacquie's  blog is another I have followed since the get go, and it was like seeing a long lost friend when we did eventually meet.  I am fortunate that Jacquie is doing a workshop with our guild this summer, so I get to see her again soon.

It's Jacquie!!!

I did not get a chance to attend Jacquie's lecture as I was taking a class at that time, but I heard from others that the crowd was moved to tears and gave Jacquie (the only) a standing ovation.  Luckily for us all, Craftsy has the lecture available online (free along with others from QuiltCon).  I have downloaded the lecture and plan to listen to it as soon as I publish this post.  From what I understand, you may want to have tissues handy.

Hexie class

Mary Anne and I were sewing buddies during Jacquie's class, and we may or may not have done more talking than sewing.  I didn't realize until later that Kristy was sitting behind me, and even later in the evening, I ran into Kristy at our hotel and she kindly gave our guild attendees a rundown on one of the lectures we missed.  

Elizabeth waving to my sister

The last class I took was with Elizabeth Hartman, and I guess I neglected to mention this fact to my sister.  I happened to call Michelle right before class, and she gave me a long list of things to tell Elizabeth.  I settled for "my sister says hi" ;-)

If you've made it this far, I thank you.  Soon, I will share pictures from my workshops and quilts from the show.  Happy stitching,

What's Up Wednesday: QuiltCon

Whoo hoo!!!!! I am posting via my phone from QuiltCon in Austin, TX. In my rush to finish my duffle bag and prepare for the conference I did not have a chance to publish pictures and a full post.

In the meantime I hope you get a kick out of these few pictures of my completed duffle bag, wild suitcase, hot cutlers for big 80's hair etc. If you want to see more pictures of QuiltCon check out Instagram, Twitter and Flickr. I'll be back with lots more next week!

What's Up Wednesday: Winter Break

My daughter's school is closed this week for winter break.  I guess since Florida doesn't really experience winter, many families go where the snow is.  We go to Montana.

project prep

I thought I would take this opportunity to show you where I sew when I'm in Montana.  My machine shares space with an assortment of items from ski boots to paper towels.  

fancy dancy sewing machine cover

My sewing machine used to hang out in the bedroom, but my family frowns upon sewing when we are all together.  Recently I relocated my sewing machine and supplies into the mudroom so I could sew quietly and without interrupting my family in the early morning hours or late night when the house is asleep.

pincushion from Bari J tutorial

This trip, however, I have been sleeping in to rest up before QuiltCon next week!!!  The only sewing I have done this week is to make a pincushion. 

different angle

I followed Bari J's tutorial to make the pincushion and stuffed it with crushed walnut shells.  The cushion isn't as fat as I'd hoped.  I brought the shells from home in a ziploc bag not realizing how much was needed.

Mud room in all its glory

Here are a few more pictures of my sewing space.  Just keeping it real.  You'll notice my sophisticated and creative sewing machine cover there.  I guess I haven't hung up my JMR wallhanging yet either.

my cutting table

Right next to my machine is the area I use for a cutting table.  Invariably I need to rearrange the overflow of paper towels, Keurig k-cups, and miscellaneous sewing supplies.  

fabric storage

One shelf in the pantry cabinet is utilized for my fabric.  As you can see, the other shelves hold important necessities such as bug spray, sunscreen, napkins, dog toys and gift bags.

I do love my sewing closet.  I also love that my family would rather I spend time with them ;-)

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy stitching,

Really Random Thursday: Five Things

QuiltCon is having a linky party so the attendees can introduce themselves.  The challenge is to include a picture and list five things about ourselves that others may not know.  It's the perfect post for Really Random Thursday.

Profile picture

So, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Rene' and I have been quilting for nine years and blogging for about three years.   A few quilty items of interest:  I am founder and past president of the OrlandoMQG; I once traveled 1,600 miles to retreat with nine other quilt bloggers I had never met - these quilt bloggers are now my good friends and we get together once a year; the aforementioned events would once be considered way out of my comfort zone.  A few personal items of interest;  my husband and I have been married 28+ years and have two sons and one daughter; I recently became a grandmother which is the.best.thing.ever! Before becoming the family chauffeur, I was a CPA.  I prefer being the chauffeur...more time for sewing!

Now for the five things you may not know about me:


#1 -  I love to take photographs, but I hate to have my picture taken.   My profile picture is how I prefer to be seen...behind the camera.  So you can recognize me at QuiltCon, here is a picture of myself on the other side of the camera lens.  This photo was captured this past summer when I celebrated a milestone birthday...the one where AARP puts you on their mailing list!

Cheers!

#2 - I grew up in a small town on the gulf coast of Mississippi.  I lost my southern accent when I went away to college, but I still say "y'all".  In honor of the 80's Dance Party, I thought I'd show my college ID taken in the 80's.

College ID - the 80's

#3 - Rene' is not my first name, but rather it's my middle name.  Don't ask me why because from day one, my parents called me Rene'.  When growing up this made for a confusing, not to mention embarrassing, first day of school when it came time for roll call.  (Do they even do that now?!)  When I married, I took advantage of the name changing to officially make Rene' my first name.

I have the medal to prove it!

#4 - Even though I do not like to exercise, I once "ran" a half-marathon.  I met my goal of finishing the race and not being the last to cross the finish line.  Just don't ask me what my time was.

Just a few of my notebooks

#5 - I am a list maker and note taker.  I am constantly making, revising and merging my numerous lists. I usually have multiple lists and journals in use at any given time.  Even though I keep a digital calendar and make notes on my iPhone, I still prefer paper and pen(cil).  The red leather notebook above is my latest favorite.

Are you going to QuiltCon?  If so, I hope you stop me and say hi!
I am looking forward to the classes, lectures, quilts, vendors and meeting other MQGers!