Don't miss out on this educational lecture with Alex Veronelli from Aurifil fine Italian threads. He will be touring Florida in the month of April and will be making a stop in Lakeland! Two lectures that day - so in an effort of thanking Alex for all of the guild support he has always given us, lets make a great guild showing and all sign up for his lecture! The cost is $10 and you receive double that amount in freebies! Come and learn how your thread is made, the difference in thread weight and why it matters and why Aurifil is the low-shedding wonder that we have come to love!!!
We have a terrific educational program planned for the March meeting on Monday the 16th. You wont want to miss this one! ESPECIALLY if you plan to enter the challenge and compete to win the Sizzix, Aurifil or Craftsy classes!!! Just wait until you see the awesome "Modern Elements" fabric that you will be using for the challenge -- you will be head over heals!
Blogger decided that my last post about Gees Bend was SOOOOO full of awesome, that it wouldn't allow me to add more to it.... but I have more to tell! So, here is part two! ;-)
On Sunday, it was my turn to wear the blue shirt... the QuiltCon volunteer shirt that is. I had a pretty cool job too - I got to be the Teachers Lounge. That meant that I pretty much did anything that I could to make our speakers and lecturers more comfortable. One of the things that I did on that day, was gather up some snacks and sandwiches for the ladies of Gees Bend. Oh boy, this was exciting, right?! As I was running around, I found them sitting at a table and trying to rest up between their classes. I asked them was there anything that I could get for them - they made my day when they remembered meeting me and called me "their Alabama girl". They commented that they had heard about some famous fried chicken place that was nearby and they would like to have some for dinner. I told them that I would be happy to help out with that and since they were staying at the same hotel as me, would even make sure that it was brought to them - so they wouldn't have to be walking around in the cold and rainy Austin weather. Now, here is where you see Alabama come shining through.... this kindness really touched the ladies and before I knew it, they had one arm around each of my shoulders and started singing me a song - sight there in the convention center! Oh boy, I couldn't help it... tears of happiness flowed! What an honor! I will always remember that... the song was called "Remember Me" -- and I don't think that I will ever forget!
Ms Mary Ann gave me her card and told me to call her on her cell phone later that night and we would get together for dinner... again, Im just a bit speechless, wow! So I called and to my surprise, these lovely ladies insisted that I join them in their room for a chicken dinner! It was so much like being back home - they fussed over me not eating enough (this is why a lot of us in Alabama are fat, lol). We talked about quilting and I dared to show them some of my own -- being that I have only sewed for a year, I was embarrassed to show them... but it meant the world to me when they told me that I was off to a great start and that they saw some creative talent in my work. I will always love how Ms China says that any mistake isn't a mistake - its art.... I will surely be using that line from now on!
The ladies will be in Pulatka, Florida in March and I will surely be driving up to see them. If you ever get the opportunity - I urge you to, this is truly an inspiration and the heart of what our quilting movement is all about, in my opinion.
Thank you ladies -- bless your beautiful hearts - and I will always cherish my time with you. ~ Leandra
P.S. I just wanted to add.... all of us agreed that Gus's Fried Chicken was good... but it wasn't the same as the Sunday fried chicken after church you would have growing up in Alabama... ;-)
When I saw that the keynote at QuiltCon 2015 was being given by the Gees Bend Quilters - I could not have been more excited! These ladies are such an amazing inspiration! Having grown up in rural Alabama, I had been fortunate enough to see the "Gees Bend Style" long before I understood what it was or appreciated its unique beauty. What is now being called "improv" was something that was common around the less economically fortunate parts of Alabama. I never really understood the connection until I attended the History of Quilting lecture by Bill Volckening at QuiltCon 2015. It was very common for people in the more poorer areas to create their quilts out of whatever they had on hand - as a trip to the fabric shop wasn't something that could happen. So when I grew up seeing these quilts in houses and being passed around from Grandparents and relatives, I never understood why they all looked so similar - until now. But even with their being similar - they pale in comparison to the work and artistry of the Gees Bend Quilters! These ladies work is truly amazing and one-of-a-kind!
I have several books in my collection of quilt books that are about the Gees Bend Quilting Collective. I always look at these quilts with a sense of awe. Its just amazing to think of how these ladies created such amazing works of pure quilted art with such little resources. I love to see that so many of the qualities that we are coining as modern, are things that these ladies have been doing for many years. To me, these ladies are the ones who paved the way for our movement today. They are the quilting explorers who led the expeditions into the unknown and we are now all reaping the benefits. If you haven't read up on these wonderful ladies, please do - its a beautiful and fascinating story!
I'm sorry, I cant help but gush - its just that these ladies are such an inspiration to me! So... now back to QuiltCon! On my second day at QuiltCon, I snuck down to the lobby to grab some coffee while it was super early. You know how it is ladies, you think that you will go out at a crazy hour (without your makeup) and not meet anyone... does that ever work? Of course not! So, THIS had to be the time I bump into my quilting idols right? LOL. I'm sitting in a chair by the fire and who should come walking by by Ms MaryAnn Pettway and Ms China Pettway! I knew exactly who they were when I saw them, but I was still a bit starstruck and didn't know what to say... yea yea, those who know me cant even imagine ME being speechless -- it CAN happen, lol... So, I timidly speak up and say -- excuse me, but aren't you the ladies of Gees Bend? What beautiful smiles I received then and the next thing I know we are all sitting together and talking! We talked about Alabama and of course their beautiful works... it was like going back home for a few moments. It was just wonderful! These ladies are just beautiful inside and out -- I couldn't help but just adore them immediately!
So, QuiltCon went on and I didn't have the opportunity to bump into the ladies again. They were pulled in a hundred directions and really couldn't walk to the restroom without being stopped for pictures and adoration... the tough life of a quilting legend, right? ;-) I certainly hope that they felt the love - everyone there sure was thrilled to have them be a part of the event and to just get to be close to such quilting artists. Finally came time for the Keynote address... this was what I had been waiting for! Wow, they did NOT disappoint either! The ladies would go from telling us histories and about how they quilt to song in moments... and wow, can they sing! I was able to record their songs, my apologies that they aren't perfect, but its the best I could do with a cell phone. Enjoy!
This is what I wrote on our facebook page after the keynote: "So, today we had the keynote address from the wonderful ladies of the Gee's Bend Quilters Corner. You can enjoy their beautiful songs in the videos that I uploaded. These ladies were piecing improv long before there was a term for it or a label to tag it with. These ladies are truly an inspiration. They explained to us that each one of us is individual and unique and our quilts are a part of us. They are a piece of us that we share with the world. We should be proud of ourselves and our creations and strive to embrace every part, and not doubt or criticize - work to appreciate the beauty in them. We should do our own thing and not try to be anyone else. Don't follow the rules or try to please anyone but yourself, let the quilt shine as a piece of art that is YOU...... I will never forget the lessons these ladies shared with us all."
Our LMQG has decided to do a "Mug Rug Swap Around The World". Our first swap was with a phenomenal group of ladies from Essex County in Ontario Canada! Our second swap is with the Brisbane Australia MQG -- and I was lucky enough to meet a few of these amazing ladies at QuiltCon!
One of the first people that I happened upon when I reached the Austin Convention Center was Catherine Demack... you may recognize her from her phenomenal blog and shop "Cat & Vee" -- you can check it out HERE.
Catherine and I chatted about the guilds and our swap. She told me to be on the lookout for the other Brisbane ladies who were at QuiltCon - especially Peta Peace -- who you may recognize from her page "She Quilts A Lot", and you can find it, HERE. So... I went on a search for more Aussies!
I didn't find Peta for quite some time, but what I did find out is that Austin had been invaded by phenomenal Aussies!!! There were folks from Melbourne and Canberra.... it was so much fun meeting and chatting with all of them!
Finally I got to meet up with our Brisbane friends at the Leadership meet-&-greet. These ladies are simply phenomenal! So much fun to hang out with. I really wish that we could travel over and meet their terrific guild - it just sounds amazing!!! Such talent in their group!!These ladies have a great sense of humor -- one of their friends bunny-eared the pic, LOL!!!
I turned over our mug rugs to Peta and she is kindly going to transport them back to Brisbane for us..... THANK YOU PETA!!!! And she gave me this ADORABLE little goody pack she made.... I didn't realize just how cool it was until I got back to the room and opened it up.... wow -- she filled it with lots of Australian treats! Chocolate, Vegemite (hehehe!), a coin (she will have to explain to me what it is), and other sweets. It was all inside this gorgeous little puch -- I will surely treasure it, thank you sweet Peta -- I just love it!!!! <3 <3 <3
So, this was one of the highlights of QuiltCon for me -- these lovely ladies are the COOLEST! We are SO VERY fortunate to be doing a Swap with Brisbane MQG... I cannot wait to see what amazing mug rugs come our way from them!!!! Thank you friends in Brisbane -- sending you lots of Lakeland Florida love!!!!
WOW! I cannot even put into words what the 2015 QuiltCon in Austin was like. This was my first big quilt show event - and I picked a great one to start me off! I will share some of the experiences here, but if you would like to see more - be sure to look at the guild's Facebook page, CLICK HERE, and our Instagram page, CLICK HERE. You will find posts of every single picture that I took while in Austin as well as some fantastic videos! Enjoy the ride!
Day 1... Day one started off like any other... oh, who am I kidding... I couldn't even sleep because I was so excited! My flight left at 6 am, so that meant that I had to leave Lakeland by 4 to head over to Orlando...
My flight left on time and everything seemed to be going great. Made it to Atlanta for my connection and then there was a problem... it was REALLY cold in Atlanta! My Florida butt was NOT happy about it - apparently neither was the plane. The water lines on the plane had frozen and it ended up taking an extra hour to defrost them. :sad face: So, while I am stranded at the Atlanta airport I start to notice that there are quilters floating around. How did I know that they were quilters? Oh, we have our ways.... maybe it was the quilted tags on their bags, or the fact that one person's carry-on was a Tutto.... LOL. I met a lady from the Chattanooga MQG - she was waiting on the same connection that I was. We chatted for a while, she is very cool. Hope to meet up with her and some of the other Chattanooga folks when we travel up to Spool this summer on a field trip! She gave me my very first (but many more to come) QuiltCon pin to swap!
When I finally get to the convention center it is like a child who is first arriving at Disney for the first time! I am looking around and everything I see is beautiful and amazing! My wallet got so excited it practically leapt out of my purse! :grin: I went on a search for our guild's charity quilt right away. The fact that our guild had something hanging at an event that had traffic of OVER ten thousand people was mind blowing to me! I finally found it, right there amongst quilts from other MQG's all over the world! Ours is the grey one all the way to the left.
The "Mother Ship" really hooked us up with swag, lemme tell ya! The swag bags were AMAZING! Not junk in it either, really good stuff. Like a super cute watch from Moda and a book from Missouri Star! I snagged a copy of the new QuiltCon Magazine while I was there too!
I spent the rest of the first day in a bit of a shock and sensory overload. I didn't even take any pictures... it was just too much, lol. I went back to the hotel room to rest a bit and then it was off the the Moda Party!
Moda had rented the entire Mohawk in order to treat all of us MQG'ers to a private party. It was really awesome -- it was an open bar and you got to not only socialize with other guild folks, but your quilting icons were walking around also!
Day 2... Friday was the day that I had chosen to take the majority of the educational things that I was going to do on the trip. So I spent the ENTIRE day in lectures. It was fantastic! I took some lectures with some great people, people that I may not get a chance to hear speak and teach anywhere else.
Like Elizabeth Hartman.... <3
A tour and history lesson with Bill Volckening...
A lecture with Aliisa Haight Carlton....
That evening I hit the hay early and tried to rest up for a full day SHOPPING on Saturday!!!
Day 3.... Oh boy, you would just die at how awesome these booths were! I have a lot of cool ideas for our at the Expo! This trip ended up being VERY educational for me as well as fun!
As I was walking around and shopping, I constantly ran into the COOLEST people! I got some great photo ops - that's for sure!
Those are not nearly as many awesome people as I met and took photos with - check out the links at the beginning of this blog post to see all of the rest!
There were a lot of fun and funny things going on there at QuiltCon too. You know us modern quilters, we love to CUT UP! :grin:
Day 4... Sunday was bittersweet as it was the last day of the convention. :sad face: There were some pretty great shopping deals to be had, but it was still sad to see all of the vendors packing up. I snagged some of Lucky Spool's books for ten dollars off retail price though, so that was a score! Sunday was the day that I had signed up to do my volunteer duty. It was my pleasure to din the blue shirt and do my part! I was assigned a pretty cool job, so it wasn't bad at all! I was working in the "Teacher's Lounge"... which meant that I pretty much did whatever I could so make the presenters more comfy. Elizabeth Hartman sure made me run for coffee a lot though.... jeeesh (just kidding :wink:)
I had to say goodbye to all of the great friends that I had made there. It was really sad. I felt so lucky to have met a lot of my facebook friends and instagram friends in real life.
So.... at the end of it all... what did I walk away with? Sure, a seriously cool collection of QuiltCon pins...
Enough super cool fabric and goodies that I am going to need more storage, hehe....
But I also left with a LOT more education. Education about Modern Quilting and the people who love it. They dont have the final numbers yet, but they know that attendance to QuiltCon was well OVER ten thousand people! This is proof folks.... modern quilting is not some flash-in-the-pan fad... its the evolution of quilting. And whether or not you believe in evolution makes no difference - it happens anyway.
