Back to San Antonio!

After having another fantastic Innovations conference, I am back in San Antonio. It is great to get back and get started on trying all the new techniques that I learned while at the conference

Actually, I got right back to work on Sunday (my flight back to San Antonio got in at 6:15 PM on Saturday). I am almost finished with a kingsize quilt with beautiful embroidery. My accident threw off my schedule somewhat, but I think I am back on to it now. I have a throw and two wall hangings to quilt, so I need to really get a move on!

I bought three lovely new pantographs while at the conference. Actually, I joined the Anne Bright Panto club since I bought the new pantos at her booth. They are really lovely and perfect for quilts that need edge to edge quilting.

One more note about Innovations: the people that I met were wonderful both in the classes that I taught and the classes in which I was a participant. I would highly recommend attending this conference…great fun and a great learning environment.

Innovations Day 2

What an awesome day! Today I got to teach some very wonderful and cute people how to create a business blog.What a treat! Later, I had the opportunity to have lunch with another APQS owner as well as her guild. You cannot imagine how much you can learn from an informal lunch with quilters from a different geographical area. I learned about the geograpical differences in Washington, current quilting trends, and who had been to Texas!  After lunch, I took a wonderful class on feathers from Elaine Huffman. If you have been following my blog, you will remember that Elaine is the author of a book called Bread and Butter Quilting and I am a great fan of her techniques. The finale for the day was a class with Sally Terry. Sally is not only a phenominal quilter, she is HILARIOUS and super talented. I loved her class, which is the first I have ever taken from her. She had some super designs to share as well as great tips for customer service.

After a lovely dinner at the Pacific Grill, next to my hotel, the Courtyard, I am sitting once again in front of my picture window watching the sunset over Mt. Rainier. How blessed I am! More tomorrow….

Innovations 2009 and Info on Luggage Tags and Koozie

Greetings from Reno, Nevada! We are still traveling throughout the U.S. and, unfortunately, some of our destinations were without connectivity. It’s great to be connected again and I wanted to bring you up to date on what is going on with ChiliQuiltes!

First, I am scheduled to teach again this year at Innovations. As you may remember, Innovations is a machine quilting conference (along with many other related topics) and it will begin Sept. 15, 2009 in Tacoma, Washington. I will be teaching a course entitled,” Blog Cabin Blocks with Twittering Embellishment” and I hope you will join me.

Also, I received a comment recently asking abou the luggage tags and Koozies. Yes, they can be easily monogrammed and they come in a variety of colors and designs.

I hope to post the latest info on quilt shops and quilting that I have found during my travels tomorrow. Since we have just arrived in Reno, I need to get organized!

Innovations 2008

Art Glass in the lobby of the Hotel Murano, Tacoma, WA

Blog Cabin Business Blog Participants-Innovations 2008

Greetings from Tacoma, Washington! For next 3 days, I will be blogging about Innovations, a machine quilting conference that is held here in Tacoma each fall. I taught a class today on creating business blogs and how it differs from business websites. The participants were AWESOME and I have included a picture of them so you can see for yourself. I also took an excellent class taught by Megan Best. It was called Spinal Twist and I came away with some new design motifs for my quilting that I think my customers will like very much.

The other picture that you see here today is from my hotel’s collection of art glass. Tacoma has the distinction of having a Glass Museum that is considered one of the 1000 places you should see before you die. 

There are some great teachers in attendance here: Karen McTavish, Pam Clarke, Dianne Philips, Megan Best among many others. I will be commenting on my classes, what I have learned and sharing photos of the quilts that will be peer judged during the conference.