It was a great get away for me. Janet and Donna picked me up at the Asheville airport and after minimal shuffling--to put the wonderful fudge which all the participants received in a cool place and to pick up Dorothy along the way--we headed to the legendary Mary Jo's Cloth Store about two hours away in Gastonia. Krista and Colene had left Virginia earlier that day and with no planning at all, we all arrived at Mary Jo's within 5 minutes of one another. How's that for synchronicity?
Everything you have heard is true--they seem to have every fabric in every line and it's all irresistably priced. I went looking for Asian prints to make Oriental Lantern blocks for Kate's swap and found an entire aisle of them.
Later that night we travelled back to Asheville for greek food and then on to the country club to check in and unpack.
Most of us stayed in the main building, but four forum members opted to share the villa. I never actually saw them rocking and stitching in those rocking chairs, but I like to imagine them there. For the weekend, quilters happily co-existed with quilters ... though on at least one day, some of us were awakened by the sounds of these two guys chatting beneath our balconies.
I thought it would be fun to pack up with golf cart with sewing machines, fabrics, quilting supplies and quilts, but ... we just ran out of time.
Inside, the place had the feel of a comfy lodge. The living room was one of the public spaces--we held show & tell there Friday night and and after Becky's handpiecing class Friday morning, many of the students hung out and continued to work on their sampler blocks.
One floor up there was another space, which turned out to be a great place to sew together in the evenings. Dorothy brought a quilt stand, so we even had our own design wall.
Yep, those blue & white stars are some of the lotto blocks that *I* won. It was so unexpected and will make a beautiful quilt filled with memories for me. The design wall also came in handy when Janet brought out the blocks forum members made to celebrate her first anniversary as the quilting guide on about.com.
Of course the best part of the weekend was putting faces and personalities with names from the forum.
Mark your calendar for next year:
Blue Ridge Quiltfest - March 7-8, 2008 in Asheville.
1 comment:
Looks like it was great fun! I hope I will be able to make it some day.
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