A Room with a View...

I just got home late last night from my long anticipated trip to New Zealand.  I'm still feeling a bit wiggy after the very long hours in the air, time change, date change, etc., but couldn't wait to share everything with you !

My flight began in San Francisco where I began the long 13 hour flight to Auckland...and from there to Palmerston North.  I had instructions to keep my camera ready and managed to snag a few shots from the air of the beautiful countryside below me.  This was my first "room with a view"!

My main care person, Erilyn McMillan met me at the airport and snugged me up in her home for the week.

My room was very spacious and had two large windows/glass doors that overlooked her backyard. She has no ordinary backyard...hers is complete with a pasture and beautiful sheep!  I fell head-over-heels in love with her sheep and she even has them named. :)

In charge of the sheep was her beautiful, lazy, old, deaf dog named Chloe.  When I'm traveling I always miss my dogs as much as I miss my husband so Chloe was a good substitute for the week so I had something to pet :)  This was my next "room with a view".

After snugging in my room and unpacking, Erilyn took me for a trip to the ocean...wow!  I got to see a new ocean and a new coastline in a new country.  Third "room with a view".

I was the Rose City Quilters guest speaker and judge for their annual Tote and Gloat celebration.  What a fabulous event this is!  Quilters from all over New Zealand attend and they have a GREAT way to fill their small show with quilts.  They start the day with an almost 2 hour show and tell where quilters from everywhere show their quilts and those that choose, have their quilts hung in the show.  So as they quilts are being admired on the stage...once done they are passed down to be hung in the show.  Once the show and tell is done everyone is invited to admire them again in the show.  LOVED this!

After this part of the celebration, I was their guest speaker and had the privilege of sharing my linen wholecloth quilts.  When I present this trunk show for guilds, I love to watch the women enjoying the quilts afterwards...I've always said I wanted to get a picture of all the hineys in the air and the quilts being loved...finally got a good shot of this!

I was also asked to be the guest judge for their Challenge Quilts.  At first I was a bit nervous about doing this as it is such a huge responsibility.  I found that this was something I enjoyed doing...each quilt had a story with it explaining the process and the inspirations.  The stories, the techniques and the thought processes all came into play.  Yes, there was some "sucking up to the judge" that took place...I won't mention any names but a particular quilter....hmmmm....Liz Gates???  came to my mind! :)

Three full workshops, a speaking engagement, judging and  two long flights later I'm home.  My trip to New Zealand is something I shall never forget...it's one of those heart moments that will be with me forever.  I am ever grateful for the heartfelt hospitality provided to me by my care person Erilyn...for the open arms and enthusiasm by the entire guild...the amazing "family style" dinner celebration at Dianne's home...and to Alison  for taking such good care of me on Tuesday.

So with that said, I had to share my final picture of Chloe caught in the middle of a big yawn...

Big Hugs of Gratitude to the Rose City Quilters...Cindy :)

Going "Down Under" Again!

It has been an extremely hectic six weeks with four major back-to-back engagements.  Each engagement has been special in it's own way and I've loved every moment in the classrooms with my students.

I am putting my feet back in the air tomorrow for my longest trip yet...I'm going back "down under" to visit the Rose City Quilters in Palmerston North, NZ!  I was in Adelaide, Australia last year which was my very first trip out of the United States...Australia and New Zealand have been on the top of my bucket list to visit in my lifetime and I feel very blessed to have received an invitation to visit both.

The most stressful part of a long flight is keeping my hands busy...I can hardly imagine being  in an airplane seat for that many hours without a needle in my hand.  I have several pieces lined up to work on and wanted to share the progress of my projects.

Since I just posted about my retreat in McCloud, I wanted to share my pillowcase quilt.  Vicki Crooms, my "Nekkid Barbie" Alabama blog stalker, gifted me with this beautiful pillowcase at Road to California in January.  I had been looking for a new pillowcase project and this was perfect.  I FINALLY got it in the machine this weekend and am very pleased with the progress.   A dear friend, Gloria, is facing very difficult health challenges at the moment and I am dedicating this piece to her.  Several years ago I did this same design for her for a special glass  tray insert...this piece is being done with her in my heart  and will be named "Morning Glories for Gloria".

I have posted many photos of my green star wholecloth and some of the challenges I've faced.  I have had nothing but trouble with the middle...it just doesn't support all the amazing designs that surround it.  I ended up ripping off the white tatted doily and the jewelry embellishments.  I found a white doily that fit and quilted it with my logo, backgrounds, beaded it, and have quilted it down.  Still not entirely happy but it will do.  Do you ever have a project that you have high hopes for and it only comes out dim???  This is one of those for me but am hoping when it is all said and done it will be better.

I also had a "quilt gone bad" last October where I cut off all the surrounding borders and was left with just the middle.  The center design  turned out badly and I had to cover everything up.  I ended up selecting an old Irish piece that was gifted to me many years ago...quilted it...beaded it...and am in the process of attaching it to the center of the quilt.

Soooo...I have plenty to keep my little hands busy coming and going on my latest adventure to New Zealand.  There are oodles of hours in beadwork and binding to get these pieces finished.    I will be sure to take loads of pictures while I'm there and will post when I get home.

Hugs, Cindy :)

A Little Eye Candy...

My regular blog stalkers are familiar with the retreats that I hostess in McCloud, CA every year and know how special they are to me.  Up to 35 retreaters gather four times a year at the McCloud Mercantile and we spend four wonderful days quilting...eating...more quilting...a little misbehaving...lots of shopping and having loads of fun.

April starts our year and it almost feels like we're coming "home"...the time goes by waaaay too fast and we're never ready to leave and face the real world again.

I always have my camera ready to take shots of retreaters but this time it was the "Eye Candy" that caught my eye.  The tables were full of texture, color, movement, inspiration and new creations.

I love to watch the design walls come to life with new quilts being born...

...and love to watch good  friends spending quality time together.

Hugs, Cindy :)

Linen Ladies Workshop!!!

I am very excited to share our first ever extended Linen Ladies Workshop.  I have been teaching one-day classes on how to create these beautiful quilts and trust me, that isn't nearly enuf time!  It seems I have to really push to get as much instruction packed in as I can while still allowing my students time to design and mark a linen.

This past week 20 of us indulged in four days of workshop time dedicated to wholecloth linen quilts.  We were snugged up in the conference room of the Hyatt House in Rancho Cordova.  The staff at the hotel is always very excited when the quilters come back...we have non-stop sewing time~ quilt-till-you-wilt so to speak!

We spent a portion of each morning in lecture learning all the different tips, tricks and techniques; learned about designing; learned backgrounds; how to create crazy linen quilts; special basting techniques; beading, etc.

On the first day we had a special lunch at a fabulous Italian bakery, Dianda's, which was right next door to Thistledew Quilt Shop.  After lunch we all took a field trip to the store and auditioned fabrics and bought our underlayments and backings.  The store was total chaos for over and hour but how much fun is it to go shopping with 20 friends???  They are probably still putting bolts of fabric back!

We had so much fun on the first field trip we went on another one the next day to a fabulous bead store.  As luck would have it she had her entire collection of freshwater pearls on sale for 50% off!  Still grinning over that one!

I had the pleasure of watching vintage linens being transformed into fabulous wholecloth quilts.  I often only get to see the beginnings and never the end results...because of our extended days together every single person went home with a piece that was at least half done and beautiful.

Besides teaching in the classroom, I was also cleaning linens in my hotel bathroom and hanging linens to dry overnight.  I'm sure the housekeeping staff wondered how one person could go thru so many towels!

I am looking forward to teaching another extended linen wholecloth quilt workshop this coming August as well as next year.  I would love it if you could join me!  Yes, it's hot in August but remember...we are inside with air conditioning and there's a beautiful pool close by!  We have two fabulous quilt stores, bead store, antique stores and a fantastic hotel staff that caters to our every need.  Click HERE to be taken to the workshops section of my website.

I want to thank my students for a fabulous week!  Everyone created their own little masterpieces and I had a great time watching each one be created.

Hugs, Cindy :)