Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 50

Today was the last day of Quilter's Academy.  This was one of the best teaching experiences of my career -- the show was well-run, the students were wonderful, and the setting was beyond gorgeous!

It's always fun to see what happens after the show ends.  There are packing crates:

and boxes:

and workers and trucks:

Running a quilt show is quite an undertaking and the folks that ran this one put their love of quilters into every detail.

Now that I'm back at my hotel, relaxing for a few minutes, I tried out this comfy sofa.

It's near the window so you can see the view:

Remember the view?

Stunning!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 49

I have one more day of teaching at Quilter's Academy in Snowbird, Utah.  The students are FANTASTIC!

Tonight was the show banquet.  I had trouble deciding which was prettier:

My salad?

Or my dinner companion?

The fabulous MaryBeth Krapil!

Since this is a hotel review, allow me to show you the closet:

What you are seeing is the air conditioner thingie in half the closet.  The other half of the closet is a mirrored door, explaining why you can see me.

I am an expert packer and the lack of closet space bothers me exactly not-at-all.

If it did bother me, I would be appeased by the outstanding view.  Remember the view?

I suffer so.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 48

I am teaching at Quilter's Academy this week in Snowbird, Utah.

Since no hotel report is complete without a critique of the bathroom, allow me to tell you about the shower.  The water pressure isn't the best I've ever had:

BUT,

the shower has a window in it to allow an unobstructed view.

Remember the view?:

I taught some really fun students today and then had dinner with some wonderful friends:

The view was pretty, and so was the lovely Ms. Kimmy Brunner:

Cheers!

Globetrotting block 5 -- London (2nd colorway)

I am caught up with BOTH of Pat Sloan's Globetrotting block of the month blocks for May.

London is in the pink:

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 47

I had so much fun in the Sweet Sixteen classroom today!

My hotel room has two beds, so one bed is obviously the quilt binding bed:

Did you notice the view?

Y'know, THIS view:

I am drinking lots and lots of water to avoid elevation sickness and am (fingers crossed) successful so far.

Fun fact:  My room and the classrooms are in two different buildings.  The first few times I walked between them, I counted 84 stairs and about a quarter mile of straight up-edness.  I found a better path -- only 22 actual stairs but the same amount of UP.  Tomorrow I'll turn on my MapMyRun app to see the actual distance and HEIGHT of the walk.

Come and join me on that walk.  You can be a member of "The Huff 'N Puff Club" too!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 46

I am teaching at Quilter's Academy in Snowbird, UT this week.

The view from my hotel room is ah-ma-zing:

The view inside my classroom was ah-ma-zing, too!

A room all ready for Sweet Sixteen quilters.  Be still my heart.

UFO #4 -- Happy Graduation!

My nephew graduated from high school this year.  I made him a quilt for his dorm room:

If you are blinking, wondering if you see snow in the background of the photo, you passed the eye test.  I finished this quilt on March 17 and took a photo right away.  We still had about a foot of snow on the ground then.

I started this quilt prior to 2010 (best guess) and finished it three months before my nephew graduated.  It was early -- yay for me!

Globetrotting block 5 -- London

I finished piecing my London block from Pat Sloan's Globetrotting block of the month.

I see London:

I need to get started on the quilting now!

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night!

The sun has gone to bed, and so must this YouTube video.

This dark, blurry video about quilting swirls in background triangles:


Don't you just love my "I just woke up" voice?  Filmed at about 3:30 am, that's bound to happen.

Never Enough Chocolate -- TaDa!

I finished my Pat Sloan's Never Enough Chocolate sew along quilt!!!!

Is that a happy quilt, or what???

This quilt is bound and will be a snuggle quilt for a special little girl.

Thanks for a great pattern, Pat!

Never Enough Chocolate -- The Quilting

I finished the last bit of quilting on my Pat Sloan's Never Enough Chocolate sew along quilt.

I made four-patches for the cornerstones of my border.

I quilted a swirl in each of the four squares, making sure the swirls were all within the quilting area and not into the binding area.

Tomorrow, I can post a photo of the finished quilt!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 45

This is my last night at Casa de Mom. 

My mom heard about the cookies my mother-in-law made for me during Quilt Market, and the competition began...

My mom made me some of her chocolate chip cookies. I've loved these cookies since I was a wee one and, since my mother-in-law doesn't regularly read my blog, my mom's cookies are my favorite. 

Since I left my Talenti lemon sorbetto in my last "hotel" I had to find reinforcements:

Mmmmmmmmm.

Never Enough Chocolate -- The Quilting

I am nearly finished with the quilting on my Pat Sloan's Never Enough Chocolate sew along quilt.

Instead of using a solid fabric for the border, I pieced a border from 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles:

After switching to yellow thread, I used my Handi Quilter Mini Scallop ruler with Handi Grip to quilt an X through each rectangle.  I made sure to have my Xs cross a quarter-inch inside the edge of the border so that I wouldn't cover the points with the binding.  I've made that mistake before and didn't want to repeat it!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 44

I checked into Casa de Mom tonight.

After Quilt Market closed, I went out to dinner with some of my local relatives.  They ordered "salad."  This is what salad looks like in Pittsburgh:

There may be a leaf of lettuce or two under those fries, fried chicken and melted cheese...  If you see "Pittsburgh Salad" on a menu, this is what they are talking about.

The waiter asked if we would like to try "Ho Ho Cake."  For the uninformed, HoHos are plastic encased chocolate cupcakes and this restaurant makes a special cake that imitates it.

I didn't remember to take a photo of the cake before we started eating it:

All five of us declared it HoHo-ish and delicious.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 43

I checked out of Casa de Mother-in-Law this morning:

Everything fit easily in my car, but I feel like I've broken a cardinal rule --

Never leave a man behind:

I purchased enough sorbetto to last for my 4 nights in Casa de Mother-in-Law, but I chose sleep over sorbetto on half of the nights.  I left the sorbetto figuring that the innkeepers (my in-laws) might enjoy it.  Share the Talenti love, right?

An Exciting Find, take 2

Brewer Dist. also carries my DVDs!

An Exciting Find

As I was walking the aisles of Quilt Market today, I will admit to being a mite tired and bleary eyed. Imagine my surprise when some passed me, said, "I just saw you!!!", and pointed to a display. 

Checker Dist. carries my DVDS!!!!!

Somehow, I feel a bit less tired and bleary now...

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 42

Tonight's post was nearly photo-less.  Gasp!  My phone is out of storage and I am too old to figure out how to delete stuff on my own.

Quilt Market today was wonderful!  I met so many friends and made new ones.

After I finally got back to my "hotel" (casa de Mom), I called my IT department (husband) and, ta-da!, I can take photos again!

I decided to celebrate:

No, my feet aren't tired at all.  And yes, the Talenti is now gone.  (Teri finished hers first.)

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 41

The first day of Quilt Market Wore. Me. Out!

I met a lot of friends, old and new, and ended the night at a party at Thomas Knauer's loft:

What a fun night!

I was unconscious within minutes on getting back to my "hotel."

The best part of Casa de Mom is the cookies:

Thanks Mom!

Never Enough Chocolate -- the Quilting

I'm still quilting on my Pat Sloan's Never Enough Chocolate sew along quilt.

I quilted the inner border with a simple free-motion ribbon candy pattern:

That thread is black.  It looks blue/gray in the photo, doesn't it?

More quilting photos on Monday.

Finding Friends at Quilt Market

The entire quilt world is at Quilt Market in Pittsburgh today. I met up with a dear friend, Gina Zeleznok, of Sturbridge Quilting and Sewing Center. 

 When traveling on I-84 in Massachusetts, stop by and see her awesome shop!

Never Enough Chocolate -- the Quilting

I got some more quilting done on my Pat Sloan's Never Enough Chocolate sew along quilt.

My quilt was so colorful and so busy that I didn't piece the side triangles but instead used a solid piece of fabric.

Using my Handi Quilter Mini Scallop ruler with Handi Grip, I stitched in three triangles.

More quilting pictures tomorrow.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 40

Attention Quilt Market shoppers:  I AM HERE IN PITTSBURGH!

My day started out in the Bronx picking up friend and quilter extraordinaire, Teri Lucas.  Note:  This country gal doesn't drive to the Bronx for just anyone.  It's 'the city' and there are cars and people there.  Shudder.

Teri successfully navigated our way OUT of the city and then we hit the open road.  The open road was filled with congestion, construction, and single-lane highways.

TEN AND A HALF HOURS LATER, we were in Pittsburgh:

Maybe someday I'll learn how to take a photo of myself without having a dorky look on my face?

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and have a lot of family here.  My hotel is called "Casa de Mom."  It has many benefits:

Talenti Mango Sorbetto, friends, and family (and still a dorky look on my face).  What could be better?

I'm looking forward to seeing my friends at Quilt Market today!!!

Never Enough Chocolate -- The Quilting

I am making progress on Pat Sloan's Never Enough Chocolate sew along quilt.

I next quilted what the pattern called the "Chocolate/Yellow blocks."

I used a four-inch Handi Quilter circle template with Handi Grip to stitch an accurate circle.  Then I quilted free-motion feathers to fill the block.  Can you believe that the thread is black?  It looks purple in the photo, right?

More quilting pictures tomorrow.