Stepping Off the Roller Coaster, Trying Not to Puke: The Saga of Why Spring Quilt Week in Paducah for 2019 is a No-Go

So I got this email on Tuesday  announcing that class registration for Spring Quilt Week in Paducah was open for AQS members.  I've never attended any of the major quilt shows before, but I'd love to go -- and thought it might be a great opportunity to take some longarm quilting classes, if I could only get into the classes before they were full.  I clicked the link to the class descriptions and was EUPHORIC when I saw that both Judi Madsen and Lisa Calle will be teaching at this year's show!  With butterflies in my stomach, I filled my little shopping cart with every single longarm class offered at the show, 9 blissful hours per day of of quilting tutelage with two of my favorite quilt artists on the planet, expecting at every moment to get an error message telling me that my class selections were not available after all.  It reminded me of standing in line for the Corkscrew roller coaster at Valleyfair soon after the ride opened in 1980, with my dad and my older sister Susan: watching the cars spinning through the inversions, listening to the happy screams of the riders, wondering if I would ever make it to the front of the line before the ride closed for the day, and hoping that if I DID get to ride the roller coaster, I wouldn't puke all over myself.

The Corkscrew at Valleyfair, My First Big Roller Coaster Ride circa 1980

You guys -- I got ALL THE CLASSES!!!  I was dancing and prancing and compiling lists in my head of all of the questions I wanted to be sure to ask over the course of this longarm quilting intensive I'd planned for myself.  I was making an itinerary of when I'd visit the exhibit floor and merchant mall, which day I'd go to the National Quilt Museum...  And then, with these visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, I went to bed because it was midnight and apparently it's difficult for my family members to sleep when I'm dancing and skipping around the house.

For those of you not familiar with Calles' and Madsens' work:

I signed up for Lisa Calle's class "Pebbles, Echoes, Crosshatches, Oh My: Fillers on the Longarm" to learn how Lisa quilts magnificent designs like these:

Lisa Calle's Longarm Fill Quilting

I also signed up for her 6-hour" Meet & Greet the Longarm" class to learn alternative methods of loading and setting up for quilting, and in hopes of building a better foundation of the basics to build upon.  I signed up for her ruler work class, too, as well as her free-motion feather class.  Can you imagine?!!

As for Judi Madsen, well, it's pretty much all her fault that I bought a longarm quilting machine in the first place.  I stumbled across her blog some years ago and her longarm quilting was just the most beautiful, joyful, playful and expressive quilting I'd seen ANYWHERE, including hand quilting as well as machine quilting.  I never had any desire to own a longarm quilting machine until I saw the cool stuff Judi was doing with hers:

Ticky Tack Pattern by Honest Fabric, Pieced and Quilted by Judi Madsen

Judi's style is difficult to classify and she is equally adept at custom quilting modern as well as traditional quilts.  To serious traditional applique, her quilting adds a playful whimsy that feels fresh and current.  To simply pieced modern quilt tops utilizing solids and vast negative spaces, the complexity of her ruler work and free motion fills brings the magnificence of the whole cloth quilting tradition into the 21st century.  

Luscious Quilting by Judi Madsen, See More of This Quilt on Judi's Flickr Page Here

Now, did I expect to emerge after a single week of workshops transformed into a master quilter on par with Lisa Calle and Judi Madsen?  Of course not -- but I was sure I'd come home from Quilt Week a more confident and capable quilter than I am today.

So the first thing I did on Wednesday morning was to sit down at my computer and book my flight to Paducah for the show.  No hiccups there.  And finally, now that my classes and dates and flights were all pinned down for the trip, I went back to that handy-dandy APQS Approved Accommodations list on their web site -- which EVEN TODAY is still showing 20+ well-known commercial hotels in Paducah as having availability -- and started calling them to try to book a room.  And this is the part of the roller coaster ride where they flip you upside down suddenly, the inversion that comes along out of nowhere when you're speeding down the track at over a hundred miles an hour and your entire stomach, along with its contents, is suddenly inside of your mouth instead of in your abdomen where it belongs.  Yes, this is that part -- including all of the screaming, the tears, and the desperate prayers that go along with it!  I literally begged the manager of the Hampton Inn to let me bring a sleeping bag and camp out in their lobby at their regular room rate, but he turned me down.  Someone must have warned him about my singing...

Not Me, But This Is What I FELT LIKE When I Started Calling Hotels in Paducah!

Those of you who have attended any of the major national and international quilt shows probably already knew where this story was headed, but I was completely blindsided to find that every decent hotel in Paducah, Kentucky was already booked solid AND had a WAITING LIST for Quilt Week, even before registration opened up for the event.  Show attendees book their hotel rooms a full year in advance.  I talked with a very kind and helpful woman named Lindsay at AQS who suggested that Airbnb website where you can book your stay in the guest room of someone's private home, kind of like the lodgings version of Uber or Lyft.  I looked into that, but the listings that still had availability were either too far away from the event venue and outside of where the shuttles were running (across the Ohio River in Metropolis!), or they were entire houses suitable for groups to stay in together, or the landlord/host of the property was advertising a "private entrance" and "having the whole place to yourself."  And I was really nervous about returning to a strange house in a strange neighborhood late at night, all by myself, especially having never been to this town before and having no idea where the safe neighborhoods and where the sketchy ones might be, whether the properties were well-lit at night, etc.  I had to face the reality that the stars were just not aligned for me to attend the show this year.  My roller coaster was in flames.

So I called Lindsay back and told her to go ahead and cancel all of my class registrations.  As sad as it is to miss out on riding the roller coaster, it is better to see the flames from a distance, before you're strapped into the ride!

I Don't Know This Girl, But I'm Pretty Sure She's Crying About Quilt Week

So...  Who wants to go to Quilt Week with me in 2020?

Friday, January 11th UPDATE:  OH MY GOSH, y'all -- my husband helped me find a hotel room, my flight was still available, and a computer glitch delayed my registration cancellation so I still have all of my classes!  I'M GOING TO QUILT WEEK IN PADUCAH IN APRIL AFTER ALL!!!  

Yeah, Baby!!!  This Is What JOY Feels Like!  (Photo Credit: Yuliya Evstratenko/Shutterstock)

I'm DEFINITELY whooping with Joy, so I'm linking up with: 

·       Whoop Whoop Fridays at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com

Tuesday is a Great Day for Needle-Turn Applique!

Oh my gosh, you guys -- I had the BEST time at my needle-turn applique workshop on Saturday!  Not only was it a healthy slice of heaven just to relax and sew with no distractions for an entire day, but I also went to lunch with some wonderful, funny, and incredibly talented quilters who invited me to join their quilting bee.  Their monthly get-together was yesterday, which gave me another three hours to relax and continue working on my applique block with other women who share my love of quilting.  I am floating on a cloud of sunshine, sparkle dust, and happiness -- making new quilting friends is the perfect antidote to the Post-Holiday Blahs!

Here's my workshop block so far:

My 12" Needle-Turn Applique Workshop Block In Progress

My Fabric Picks: Some Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink Snails, and Random Stash Discoveries

I did end up swapping the Kaffe print with the Tula Pink print once I got to class due to the size of the circles involved and the scale of the prints.  I opted for the No Fabric kit for this class because, although I love the soft, vintage charm of instructor Christa Smith's fabrics, I felt like it was too similar to my Frankenwhiggish Rose needle-turn project that has been dragging along for several years, and I wanted a change.

With Fabric Kit Had Fabrics Similar to This Class Sample

Also, I wanted to be able to USE the workshop block without having to create an entirely new project (UFO!) around it.  No more orphan blocks!  I had thought about mixing in some applique blocks with the 6" pieced sampler blocks I've been making off and on as breaks/rewards between other projects.  Remember my Farmer's Wife, Farmer's Wife 1930s, Vintage Block QAL blocks, and random other 6" blocks that were living on my design wall for awhile?

Assorted 6" Sampler Blocks.  My 12 inch Workshop Block Might Join These...

So the new (tentative) plan is that I could mix in some 12" blocks with the 6" ones and this could be one of those larger blocks.  And if that doesn't work out, I know that I can work this brightly-colored block into a baby quilt.  In any case, it felt good to work with totally different colors and fabrics from the Magnum Opus/Magnum Onus that my Frankenwhiggish Rose is turning out to be:

Meanwhile, I'm Still Working On the Eight Remaining Blocks Like This One...

I love the look of antique Whig Rose quilts, but I'm finding it tedious to work on the same block over and over.  Good for improving needle-turn applique skills, maybe, but difficult from a motivation standpoint!  At this point I have all of the stems and stacked center "rose" petals appliqued to all of the blocks as well as the double circle centers, and I'm working on needle-turning all of the leaves.  Next will be all of those stinker tulips with the revers applique centers and deep, tight inside and outside curves, and then all of the stuffed berries, and all of the broderie perse rosebuds that I'm cutting out of leftover drapery fabric (with a distinct possibility that I might have to cut rosebuds out of one of my actual drapery PANELS, if there aren't enough rosebuds in the fabric scraps!).  Once I've finished my workshop applique block, I'll switch back to the Frankenwhiggish Rose project for my portable hand sewing.

I'm really glad I gave myself a break from my major WIPS and gave myself permission to go off on a workshop tangent.  I definitely got enough out of the workshop to make it worthwhile.  I learned a different way of using the Clover bias maker gadget to make quick stems, and I learned some methods for streamlining the prep work for applique to get to the stitching part faster.  Who knew you could glue baste for needle-turn applique instead of pinning?!  I might not have the courage to do it that way for a really intricate Baltimore Album block, but there are a lot of less complex applique patterns that this would work for.  You all know I'm dying to start a new applique project, like Esther's Queen's Garden pattern:

70 x 70 Queen's Garden by Esther Aliu, Pattern Available here

Or -- gasp! -- dare I even say it? -- Sarah Fielke's Down the Rabbit Hole pattern:

96 x 96 Down the Rabbit Hole by Sarah Fielke, pattern available here

But there are LOTS of other quilts that need to get finished before I can start either of these.  There's a new baby who was born last month whose quilt isn't even started yet (need Jingle off the design wall before I can get into that one) and the high school graduation "Quillow Sunday" service at our church is exactly 5 months from tomorrow.  That gives me exactly 152 days to complete Lars's graduation quilt from start to finish, except that I'm not even ready to get started on it yet...  So I haven't started the Queen's Garden even though I have the pattern and have purchased my fabrics for it, and I've not ordered the pattern for Down the Rabbit Hole.  Instead, I got my rabbit fix by ordering these adorable 4" embroidery scissors last night from The French Needle:

Hare Scissors by Jean-Marie Roulot

I ordered the Antique finish shown in the middle.  They are handmade in France and even cuter than the Sajou hare scissors I was lusting after previously -- even the screw at the pivot point is decorative on the Roulot scissors -- yet they were significantly less expensive.  A penny saved is another penny to spend on fabric, right?  

We're not having any stress over here, in case you're wondering.  Just stitching away happily, thinking about bunny rabbit scissors.  

I'm linking up with:

• ·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com
• ·       Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/
• ·       WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com
• ·       Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/