Road Trip!

R-Pod hitched to Pilot, ready to roll.

• R-Pod dug out of snow and ice: ✓

• Propane on and food in fridge: ✓

• Quilts to bind and stitch plus sewing machine packed: ✓

• Drawers and cabinet doors secured: ✓

• R-Pod hitched to Pilot: ✓

• Goodbyes to puppies: ✓

And so my road trip to Phoenix and Daytona Beach begins. I invite you to join me through these daily blogs.

Today I drove from my Colorado mountain home to Moab, Utah, en route to my first QuiltCon. I probably signed up for too many classes but there were just too many must-take offerings with teachers not to miss. I'll let you know how I survive those in the coming days.

It was good to be on the road. Long distance driving is creative space for me. I pulled over a half dozen times to make notes and sketches of the quilt and quilt teaching ideas that began flowing back to back once I was over Loveland and Vail passes.

From left: "Log Cabin Fever," my design; "Proclaim Liberty," my design; and "Baker's Dozen," Jen Kingwell design. All quilted — wish you could see the quilting — by Rita Meyerhoff.

Upon arriving at my hotel — I'll start camping tomorrow night — I had an email from our Gilpin County librarian. He and a volunteer finished hanging three of my quilts in the rafters of our library to promote a Quilting 101 class I'll teach there next month. I think they look pretty cool. It was a challenge to hang them where folks can't touch and sunlight can't fade but Michael and Harv pulled it off beautifully.

We selected these three quilts because I'll be teaching the log cabin block. In Gilpin County, Colorado, we live in the woods, many of us in cabins, so this was a no-brainer.

Tomorrow I'll share highlights — what will they be? — of my drive from Moab, Utah, to the Phoenix area plus exciting news from my field of dreams. Eat your heart out Kevin Costner.

Meet Me at the Beach — Daytona Beach

I'm excited to announce I'll be teaching and speaking at the February 23-26, 2022, American Quilter's Society QuiltWEEK in Daytona Beach. I'll teach my popular "Demystifying Design for Foundation (Paper) Piecing" class and present two lectures:

• Pagtinabangay: The Quilts and Quiltmakers of Caohagan Island

• Indigo, Taupe and More: Japanese Fabric from Vintage to Contemporary

I'll also be part of the Teacher's All-Star Review during which each teacher will give a 10-minute whirlwind technique demo. I'll show how to Freeform Cut for Appliqué Caohagan Island-style. I'll have fabric and scissors for folks to cut along.

Registration is underway. Register now as classes and the All-Star Review are filling up.

I've been to this show twice before as a vendor, and I can tell you, it's a great show. If you live in a snowy area as I do — Rocky Mountains for me — what better time is there to enjoy some sun and warmer temps?

I hope to meet you at the beach — Daytona Beach.!

Global Quilt Connection, Round 2

I'm so glad to be part of the Global Quilt Connection, an international group of quilt teachers and speakers organized by Lyric Kinard and Sue Bleiweiss in response to the need for quilt guilds to have programs during the pandemic. Mel Beach joined the leadership team to coordinate the website. Through the Global Quilt Connection, I'm having so many opportunities to speak and teach across the United States and Canada. A quilter from the Netherlands recently registered for one of my upcoming class. And I've learned a lot about converting from one time zone to another.

I've learned so much from the other teachers as we all seek to get better and better at presenting and teaching via Zoom. It will be interesting to see where this supportive community goes in the future.

Recently, we were asked to prepare three-minute videos to promote what we have to offer. Here's mine. Enjoy.