TVQA Assembly Day - Hot Fun!!!

This year's Assembly Day was a Blast!

Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company was there as the Keynote Speaker - and she was amazing!!!  I was thrilled to get a picture with her afterward :)

Every year, the Tennessee Valley Quilters Association holds an Assembly Day for all the Guilds in their association.  The first year I began quilting, whenever I heard other quilters talk about the upcoming Assembly Day, I thought they meant a day where a lot of quilters came together and assembled quilt sandwiches!  Not so!!!!

What a gathering!  Fellow quilters from all over the area.....

Lots and lots of vendors..... yes I did my part to help the quilting economy!

Delicious food - this year it was catered by Houstons - YUM!!!

These ladies were enjoying their lunch outdoors!

This year the day started out wet .....

....... and ended up VERY HOT ..... we quickly learned the A/C in the building was broken!!!

With almost 600 ladies in attendance, needless to say it got a little stuffy in there!

The theme this year was Christmas in July, and true to theme, our Greeter Elf was Vicki Jeffries of the Iris Quilters Guild, who hosted the event this year ..... you couldn't have found a brighter smile anywhere in Nashville!

Ginger Fondren was the Head Elf, and she certainly did a fantastic job - especially considering that she unexpectedly lost her daughter in the middle of the preparations for this huge event.

After learning that the Iris Quilter's Guild had entered our event into a contest being held by the Nash 103.3  radio station - and that we had WON! - we were all led in singing the Star Spangled Banner by this lovely lady from the radio station....  you can click HERE to watch it on America's Morning Show!

Then Jenny Doan took center stage!!!

Jenny is famous for her tutorials on You Tube - you can click HERE to find them!  Jenny told us she moved to the Midwest because she didn't feel like she "fit" in California.  But once she got there, she was bored and looked for something to do.  When someone suggested quilting, she said, "No, old people do that!"  All these years later, her videos have over 30 million views!!!  She told us she filmed her first video with a broken leg and heavily medicated - so she appears drunk in the video :)  At our event, she apologized for wearing flip flops - she had only brought two shoes, but they were different shoes and both for the left foot!  She was so funny!!!!  And warm, and open and had the most infectious laugh!!!  We all loved her immediately!

Jenny shared many of her "easy cut and flip" blocks with us - with her husband Ron as handy helper!  (I took these pics with my iPhone from my seat in terrible lighting, so I apologize in advance for their quality!)

She has a new magazine called Block that is currently only available from her website ....
She said the magazine stand areas are owned by the Mafia
and they can't afford the cost of space there LOL!!!

After lunch and shopping, Jim Gatling from Arkansas took over Center Stage.  

Unfortunately, a lot of people left because of the heat, but they missed an entertaining show!  

Jim blogs over at Jim Gatling's Crazy Creative Life - click HERE to visit his blog.  He is very funny and his quilts are mostly built from his years as a teacher and huge amounts of quilt blocks/fabrics given to him from friends etc.  He loves to embellish his quilts and told us he has a Button Room - filled with nothing but buttons!  I'll just show you some of his quilts with a few comments....I don't remember all of the stories behind them, which is a shame because he told some good ones!

This was one of my favorites!!!

The below quilt took our breath away!  I believe this is the quilt that he told us if there was ever a fire in his house, he might have to run out of the house naked, but he would make sure he was wrapped in this quilt!

I don't remember the whole story on this one, but it was something about one of his students -
a little colored boy who wanted to represent just how much his mother did in one day

This quilt was so pretty in person!!!  Jim loves to cut designs in his spare time LOL!!!

This is one example of how Jim takes abandoned orphan blocks
and makes them into a beautiful cohesive quilt!!!

I hope you've enjoyed this little replay of our fun Assembly Day event!

Come back tomorrow to see the wonderful Selvedge Skirt the lady in front of me was wearing!!!

Today, Sara and I are off to Goodwill to see what we can find and craft ....

And then we might make another pillowcase for her sister :)

Wow, is she ever enjoying her new sewing machine!!!

But I have lots to teach her before she goes home .....

What will you be up to?

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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TVQA Assembly Day 2013

Yesterday was Assembly Day for all the guilds who are under the auspices of the Tennessee Valley Guild Association (TVQA).  When I first started quilting and heard my new friends talk about "assembly day," I thought they meant a day when all the guilds got together and worked on "assembling" quilts - sandwiching and quilting them, kind of like the old-time quilting bees.  However, I quickly learned that nothing could be further from the truth!  TVQA Assembly Day usually boasts a national speaker, some wonderful local vendors for shopping, a program put on by the host Guild, and lots of fun seeing old quilting friends and making new ones!

The Material Girls Guild in Winchester TN took charge of the event this year, and they did a fine job of delivering a marvelous day for everyone!!!

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts fame was the Keynote Speaker, and as expected she charmed us all with that engaging accent of hers, not to mention her gorgeous quilts, amazing talent and wonderful storytelling style!  There were many ooooh's and aaaaah's as her husband, Michael, unfolded quilt after quilt while she told her stories and helped us all remember the "Reasons for Quilting."

Some of you may remember that Edyta visited our Music City Guild a few years back, giving a lecture and teaching some great classes.  You can read my review and see a nice parade of her quilts in THIS POST if you are interested.

Most of my pictures turned out too light, but here is a fairly passable shot of my favorite quilt out of the ones she showed us....

Those blues and golds just shone up there on stage!!!  

I believe the name of this pattern is Maryam.

Throughout the day, these two ladies from Material Girls Guild - who informed us they are very close cousins to Miss Minnie Pearl - entertained us with the program, telling jokes and giving away some really great door prizes.  At least, I think they were great - I didn't win one, so I can't speak from experience you understand.  No sour grapes there, of course :*D

One of my favorite things about this year's Assembly Day is that I finally got to meet my good friend, Denise, who blogs over at Count it*all*Joy!

Me and Denise!!!

I was thrilled to learn that Denise was planning to come up from Alabama and join in the festivities!  I'm sure many of you know her from her blog, and you know just how sweet she is!  I just can't tell you what a pleasure it was to meet her and spend time together!  We have already planned another girlfriend day in the near future - lunch and shopping in Franklin TN! =^..^=

I had really hoped to avoid buying too much at the vendors this year.  I mean, really, how much fabric does one person really need?  Well, apparently, I have not yet reached my limit, because I did my fair share toward keeping the local quilt shops in business :*D

So, without further ado, I show you my Stash Enhancements ....

Replenishing those black-and-whites!
My black-on-whites took a deep hit from Easy Street this year.

Some fun modern-style geometrics - YUM!
(Did you notice the same design in white-on-black above?)

And Edyta's Over the Rainbow batiks!!!
Now really, how could any sane person expect me to pass up these color-drenched batiks???

If you love eye candy, and I know you do, you can see more stash enhancements over at Patchwork Times!

Now I have to get busy and wash these fabrics up so they can go into the sewing studio.  I saw an interesting article yesterday on Fox News Health that addresses the potentially negative effects of the chemicals in fabrics on our thyroid health, which is right in line with what the natural health practitioner told me last month about the effect of chemicals on my own health.  As I said in THIS POST, we've pretty much identified the chemicals in fabric as one of the biggest culprits to my health issues.  Click HERE to read that article if you are interested.

I hope you all have a lovely, restful Sunday, and an amazing week!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Stash Report Sunday....

      - As Promised…. The Stash Enhancement Report!

It's so good to be home and back to blogging again!!!  Did you miss me?  I tried to keep up with reading your blogs while traveling, but I'm sure I missed a few.  Hopefully, the eye candy in this post will make up for my prolonged absence =^..^=

While I was gone, I had a blast adding some yummy new fabrics to my stash – TWO great shopping trips in the past week! - and I am really excited to share some pictures with you!  Many of you have been quick to remind me that it is my stash and I can add to it if I want to :*)  So from here on out, my Sunday report shall be known as the Stash Enhancement Report.  (If I ever figure out how to make a button, I’ll design a cute button for my sidebar =^..^=)

I do, however, want to keep in line with the spirit of the Sunday Stash Report over at Judy’s Patchwork Times.  It is important to me that I keep an eye on what is coming in and going out; that’s just good management of my resources.  And I want to have a good handle on how those fabrics coming in are being used (or not used!)  This will help me know how to buy fabrics that grow my stash in functional ways, as well as what might need to be thinned out because I’m just not using those fabrics for some reason.

So where did I go shopping to get these yummy fabrics?  

First, I planned a visit to Mary Jo’s in Gastonia during my trip to Carolina last week.  

When I walked into the store, they had rearranged everything!  I had to ask where to find the fat quarters :*)  But they still had the most wonderful inventory of all types of fabrics imaginable!  It is like being in a fabric wonderland!  If you go to this link, they have a video tour on their website:   http://maryjos.com/about/tour.aspx

I was a little disappointed, however, that their prices had risen so much!  Mary Jo's is known for two things - huge inventory and great prices.  Just last year, their price on the highest priced fabrics like batiks was about $7 a yard.  The norm for most of their fabrics was $6 to $6.50.  They still have a few fabrics at that price, but you really have to look for them, and I think they are the fabrics they would like to move out quickly.  Now most of their fabrics have been marked up to $9 and $9.50 a yard.  Some were even $10.  That’s high for Mary Jo’s, so I didn’t go quite as crazy there as I would have normally.   All in all, I think I did a great job of picking and choosing some favorites to bring home without breaking the bank, mostly fq's and half yard cuts :*)

Some of the Eye Candy from Mary Jo's!!!

These are from a collection called Marblehead by Ro Gregg
This pictures does not do these stunning fabrics justice!

Poor Don, he sat on the bench at the door where they have a TV for guys like him who are lucky enough to be married to avid quilters, and waited for me to touch and drool over every fabric in the place.  LOL!!!  There was another lady whose husband kept him company.  She was also from out of town and it seemed like every time I took something to have it cut, she was at the cutting table too!  We couldn’t help but laugh about it!  It stopped just short of becoming a competition =^..^=

Then, yesterday, our Guild put together a bus trip to the 2012 TVQA Assemby Day.  TVQA stands for Tennessee Valley Quilters Association.  Their purpose is to "promote interest in and an appreciation for quilts and quiltmaking" in the Tennessee area.  Our Music City Guild is one of about 20+ guilds under its umbrella.  Each year, one or more of the guilds hosts an Assembly Day for all the guilds to gather together.  This year it was hosted by the two guilds in Scottsboro, Alabama.  When I first joined Music City and they mentioned Assembly Day during one of our meetings, I just thought they were talking about getting together to "assemble quilts" - you know, like sandwiching and quilting them.  Hahaha!  Not so!  These guilds work very hard to put on a fun program, bring in a Guest Speaker, put on an amazing Show-n-Tell, in addition to providing vendors and lunch.  This year's speaker was Daphne Greig.

I’m still not sure how long the bus trip took, because I snoozed a little on the way there and a little more on the way back :*)   Those of us from Lebanon had to be at Walmart and ready to be picked up at 5:00 AM!!!  So quite a few of us snoozed.  But Phyllis Gall, Bus Trip Planner Extraordinaire, had bananas and bagels with cream cheese to help wake us up.  On the trip back, we watched the movie, We Bought a Zoo starring Matt Damon – good movie if you’re looking for one!

There were about 10 vendors at the event, and shopping was done.  Quite a lot of shopping as a matter of fact!  I found some gorgeous batiks (which I am an absolute sucker for – every time!), and some cool Christmas fabrics too!  

And Jim from Decherd Needeworks was there with his famous bins of fat quarters for $1 each …. 

Yes you saw that right - $1 each and quilt-store quality fabric too… needless to say quite a few of those came home with me to Enhance my Stash! :*)

But the main item I planned to buy was this really cool light!  

It is called a Jo-Lite.  As you can see from the photo below, it folds up very compact so you can easily pack it for retreats where the lighting is often a little iffy :*) 

It is also very flexible and can be made to stand high or low, close or further away, tilted or straight out, whatever your lighting need, it can be positioned to work for you.  

It’s just an amazing lamp and I’m tickled to finally have one of my own! =^..^=

I also won a prize at Assembly Day, which was a wonderful surprise!  Can you see the sweet little pair of scissors tied to the ribbon?  I almost missed them until a friend pointed them out :*)

Inside was a Bali Pop - YAY!!! - the cutest ever little table-topper kit, which I loved of course because I am enjoying making them for my frame, and a really pretty pattern - so pretty in fact that I had already bought it =^..^=  So be on the lookout, this Harvest strip club pattern just might be part of a cool giveaway here on A Quilt and A Prayer one of these days!

Don’t you just LOVE this gorgeous Bali Pop????  My eyes about “popped” when I saw it LOL!!!  These strips have some very dramatic designs and a luscious range of color from blacks to browns with a few tans thrown in for contrast.  My delighted THANKS! to the Girl’s Night Out Guild in Tullahoma for this wonderful prize!!!

Actually, the girls from Music City did very well in the prize getting category, with one girl winning the grand prize of a Brother sewing machine! 

So to finish up with my stash report numbers for this week .....  I did have a small finish in my Red, White & Blue table-topper for the Blog Hop.  I figured about 1/2 yard total used for this little quilt.

And by the way, don't forget there's still one more day to get in on the giveaway, so go HERE to check it out!

Used this week: .50 yards

Used YTD 2012: 83.25 yards

Added this week: 18.50 yards

Added YTD 2012: 159.50 yards

Net Used for 2012: -76.25 yards

So how is your stash coming along?  Are you enhancing or busting?  See how others are doing HERE at Patchwork Times!  Until next week….

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

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