At last...

I have been drowning in a sea of mediocre books and wondered if I would ever find a good one again.

FINALLY -- I read Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger.  I probably loved it more than it deserved because of the awful books I had read before it, but this was just a well-written story.  It was a mystery that I figured out but didn't mind since I cared about the characters enough to finish the book.

I listened to this book, because audiobooks make my heart go pitter-pat.  While I was finishing the book, I was cleaning my studio, preparing for my day of #Springcleanyourstudio Blog Hop.

Want to see a before picture?

I'm keepin' it real here folks.  Be sure to check back to see the "after" photo.  Whilst you are waiting, check out the other bloggers:

May 7 Kathy Matthews http://www.chicagonow.com/quilting-sewing-creating/

May 8 Misty Cole Http://www.dailydesignwall.blogspot.com

May 9 Heather Kinion http://heatherkinion.com/


May 10 Jessica Darling http://jessicakdarling.com/


May 11 Lisa Blevis Filion http://upstatelisa.blogspot.com/


May 12 Peta Minerof-Bartos http://www.thenotsewguiltyquilter.blogspot.com/


May 13 Mandy Leins http://mandalei.com/


May 14 Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz http://funfromatoz.com/


May 15 Sam Hunter http://huntersdesignstudio.com/


May 16 Debby Ritenbaugh Brown http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/


May 17 Debbie Kleve Berkebile http://www.mountaintrailquilttreasure.blogspot.com/


May 18 Michelle Mattingly http://stitchesofjoi.blogspot.com/


May 19 Cheryl Sleboda http://blog.muppin.com

Friday Favorite

I am in the middle of an 8-day stay at my own house.  That means I'm cooking!

One of my favorite things of this week:  A Craftsy class I took about how to properly use kitchen knives.  It was everything I ever wanted to know and more!  Check out Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott.  He made the class fun and I think I have a crush on him.

I think I forgot to tell you the most important detail about this class -- IT'S FREE!  It's not free for me or free through my link... it's just free for anyone at any time.  How awesome is that?!!??!!

I made vegan macaroni 'n cheese last night and was excited to mince garlic and onion the way Chef McDermott told me to.  IT WORKED!

And tonight we're having butternut squash soup. Butternut squash is always a bear to peel and cut.  Look Ma!:

So what I'm trying to say is: take the free class on how to use a kitchen knife.

I'm tickled to teach for Craftsy with such amazing teachers. I hope that my Craftsy class offers the same quality of help.

In other news, the fabulous Cheryl Sleboda is hosting a #springcleanyourstudio Blog Hop and I will be showing (parts of!) my humble (cleaner?) studio on May 16.  Until then, check out the rest of the #springcleanyourstudio bloggers!

May 7 Kathy Matthews http://www.chicagonow.com/quilting-sewing-creating/

May 8 Misty Cole Http://www.dailydesignwall.blogspot.com

May 9 Heather Kinion http://heatherkinion.com/


May 10 Jessica Darling http://jessicakdarling.com/


May 11 Lisa Blevis Filion http://upstatelisa.blogspot.com/


May 12 Peta Minerof-Bartos http://www.thenotsewguiltyquilter.blogspot.com/


May 13 Mandy Leins http://mandalei.com/


May 14 Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz http://funfromatoz.com/


May 15 Sam Hunter http://huntersdesignstudio.com/


May 16 Debby Ritenbaugh Brown http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/


May 17 Debbie Kleve Berkebile http://www.mountaintrailquilttreasure.blogspot.com/


May 18 Michelle Mattingly http://stitchesofjoi.blogspot.com/


May 19 Cheryl Sleboda http://blog.muppin.com

These shoes are made for talkin'

Yesterday was my birthday.  I'm tickled to be 46 years old; it is a privilege denied to too many.  I spent a quiet day at home which is exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday.

I have mentioned that I have the best husband on the planet. If you doubt me, let me show you that I am right.

HE BOUGHT ME SHOES FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!

These shoes:

He also bought me chocolate -- squares of dark chocolate with chili.

Like I said:  best husband on earth!

I love my new shoes and can't wait to wear them on Tuesday when I will speak at Village Square Quilters Guild.  I will be presenting "Lessons Learned While Longarm Quilting:  What I learned about quilts, quilters, and life while quilting in my bunny slippers."  Will I see you there?

If you can't make Tuesday's guild meeting, check my online teaching calendar to see if I'll be teaching at an event near you sometime in 2015. 

If our paths won't cross in person this year, consider taking my Craftsy class.

Happy Quilting!

Oh how CUTE!

My newest Cutie pattern, Boxed In, is now online and available for purchase.

The fabric in this Cutie Pack is from Robert Kaufman.  I was able to piece this quilt very quickly and I elected to use a simple all-over free-motion quilting design (Elements).  The binding was the most time-consuming part of this quilt!

If you like this quilt pattern, it is only one of the patterns I have designed for the Cutie Pattern line.

Check out Squared Away:

Going My Way:

Stepping Stones:

Jack's Star:

If you liked the Elements quilting pattern, I teach how to do that in my Craftsy Class.

Happy Quilting!

Globetrotting, block 7: Sydney (pink colorway)

I'm plugging away at not one but TWO Globetrotting block of the month quilts that Pat Sloan released in 2014.  Last year got really busy for me and I had to stop working on these quilts, but I can't wait to finish them now!

I just made the pink version of the Sydney block:

How cool is that?

I can't wait to quilt this, but first I have to decide what to quilt where.

Stay tuned!

____

Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)
Globetrotting Block 2 Venice (in review)
Globetrotting Block 3 Chicago (in review)
Globetrotting Block 4 San Juan (in review)
Globetrotting Block 5 London (in review)
Globetrotting Block 6 St. Louis (in review)

Dream a Little Dream

Have you ever dreamed of designing your own fabric?  Secretly, I have always dreamed that dream.  I signed up for Pattern Play (create a free account at Jeanne Oliver Designs to see the class page) so that the fabulous Bari J. can teach me to create patterns in Photoshop.

The class is a 5-day class starting on June 1 and Bari will be available to answer my questions during those first five days.  I'll have millions of questions.  After those days, I will be able to go back and watch the class over and over and over again as often as I need to.  I will need to do so frequently.



I already own Photoshop so it's high time I learned to use it to pursue my quilting dreams.  If you don't own Photoshop, don't worry; they have a 30 day free trial.  Hint:  sign up right before the class.

Spring-time fun in New England

While driving from New York to New Hampshire on Friday, I stopped in Sturbridge, MA to see my dear friend Gina at Sturbridge Quilting and Sewing Center.  She was having a sale this weekend and some fabric might just have followed me home:

I am teaching at Bits 'n Pieces in Pelham, NH this weekend. The students here are AWESOME!

Peggy thought that I needed a chocolate cake:

It's like she knows me!

And Liz bought this for me and has been hiding it from her grandchildren for several months:

It is the world's largest Hello Kitty PEZ dispenser!  Have you ever seen anything funnier?

Today is my last day of classes.  I will be teaching a class on rulers this morning and a Pro-Stitcher class this afternoon.  Hope to see you there!

Ipso This

Last year, someone gave me a Amazon Prime membership as a gift.  I have since let it expire, but one of the benefits of Amazon Prime is free video streaming.  I found that I could commit to Amazon television shows as easiliy as I commit to Netflix shows.  Apparently I'm easily committed.

One of the shows I binge-watched on Amazon was "NYPD Blue."  I remember watching the first season on television.  It was likely the last year I had a television.  I thought it was ground-breaking television and a well-written drama.  All of these years later, my opinion didn't change.

I binge-watched all 14 seasons of this show and got a lot of quilting done during those hours!  I felt the entire last season was a wrap-up, but I didn't mind watching the show wind down.  I think another year would have been a year too many.

Have you committed to this show?  First run?  Or on Amazon Prime?

Friday Favorites

I was home for over a week, and that means that I found my kitchen!  My newest obsession is the Oh She Glows Cookbook.  I am using the library's copy but hope for now that someone will take the strong hint to buy a copy for me for my birthday (cough*hubby*cough).

Every recipe I've tried has been delightful.

page 29  Effortless Vegan Overnight Oats.  I mix this up and keep it in the fridge. Breakfast is now a breeze!

And it's pretty, too!  Yes, that's a Hello Kitty bowl; don't judge me.

page 61 Cheerful Chocolate Smoothie.  I made this as a treat for hubby and I.  It was definitely NOT a milkshake, but it has serious potential.  See:

mmmmmmm.

page 147 Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas with Avocado Cream Sauce.  The paragraph describing this recipe starts with "You just might forget all about cheese when you take your first bite of these..."  Color me: skeptical.  However, this cheese-loving gal didn't miss the cheese at all!  I wasn't expecting to love these (I don't love Mexican food and I do love cheese), but I raved about these the entire time I ate them and for hours after.  I'm still raving now!  This made enough for two meals so got to enjoy them twice.  Note:  they were spicier the second time around.  Look how pretty they are:

page 183 Creamy Vegetable Curry.  I made this for dinner for hubby and I and it was yummy.  My son and his wife loved the leftovers for lunch the next day, too!

page 197 Pan-Seared Garlic Tofu.  I can't explain why I love tofu so much, but I do.  I really, really do.

page 225 Mighty Chia Pudding Parfait.  My afternoon snack.  Nom, nom, nom.

Note:  I am an omnivore and enjoy all different types of food.  I like to follow a vegan diet as often as possible, though.  

Good-bye home, Hello New Hampshire!

I've been home for ten days and I have been enjoying my kitchen!  Last night was mushroom bisque:

With leeks:

Mmmmmmmmmmm.  Also tomato sauce that I put up last summer.  This soup tasted like spring!

I have also been enjoying my sewing room.  I am hard at work on projects that I can not talk about, but I promise to share as soon as I can.

I loved every minute of my time at home and I am officially recovered from my trip to Australia.  I am ready to meet some of my favorite quilters at Bits 'n Pieces in Pelham, New Hampshire this weekend.  Will I see you there?  Liz told me that she has a surprise for me.  Should I be afraid?

If you can't make it to Bits 'n Pieces, check my teaching calendar.

If you aren't able to take an in-person class with me, check out my Craftsy class.

Happy quilting!

New Machine Quilting video -- grab some popcorn

I spend a lot (too much?) time on Facebook and reading blogs and you know how sometimes people are all saying the same thing?  Lately, I've been reading a lot of "I like that people show me how to quilt on video, but they only quilt on little squares and not big quilts" type comments.

So, I basted up a quilt and moved my video camera away from my table for a wide shot of how I flip and fold and move a quilt while quilting.  I don't give any instruction in this video, nor do you see the pattern that I am quilting.  If you are curious, I am doing some continuous curve with an oval template and then some free-motion ribbon candy designs.



You do, however, see my Cheezit fabric finally used in a quilt.  I bought it a few years ago because Cheezits are my absolute favorites!  I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but it is 60% of the back of this quilt and I am so in love with it!

If you wanted to see how a large quilt is manipulated under a machine, I hope this helps.  If you have no interest in that, I hope you enjoyed the Cheezit fabric!

Globetrotting, Block 7: Sydney (the block)

Odd that I just returned home from a trip to Australia and I was ready to make the Sydney block in Pat Sloan's Globetrotting block of the month from 2014.  I have never actually visited Sydney, but I've transferred through their airport many, many times.

I like this block!  It pieced quickly and has a great inner shape to it:

This block is a tad darker than my other blocks but I think it will give some depth and balance to the quilt.

I can't wait to make the pink version!

____

Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)
Globetrotting Block 2 Venice (in review)
Globetrotting Block 3 Chicago (in review)
Globetrotting Block 4 San Juan (in review)
Globetrotting Block 5 London (in review)
Globetrotting Block 6 St. Louis (in review)

With Admiration and Thanks

I delivered a quilt to a family I greatly admire and respect.  I've wanted to give them a quilt for years and was waiting for just the right one to come along.  It came, and then it went:

Swanky from Chez Moi from Moda worked perfectly!

I really enjoyed quilting this one:

I hope this family remembers my love and respect when they use their quilt.

Two and two-half movies

Aside from arriving at a foreign destination, the high point of the actual travel day is watching movies.  I rarely watch movies at home; I listen to old favorite movies while quilting instead of watching new movies.

Coming home from Australia, I watched shockingly few movies.

Fury

It was a WWII movie starring Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf.   I love WWII movies so I am biased, but this was pretty good considering I watched it while it skipped and dissolved on my lousy seatback monitor.

The Imitation Game

I wish I could say I watched the Imitation Game.  I dozed through the movie and the monitor stopped working when I tried to replay it.  I will definitely get this from the library and watch the whole thing some time.

Argo

I've seen this before and liked it, so I watched it again.  Thank you, Canada.

The Departed

I dozed through this one but got the general idea.  Who isn't in this movie?  Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Famiga, Alec Baldwin, Mark Rolston, J. C. MacKenzie, and more.  Spoiler alert:  Everybody dies.  OK, not everybody, but you get the idea.

I currently have no overseas trips planned, so I'm not sure when I'll watch another movie!

Friday Favorites

One of my favorite things in the world is to hang laundry on the line outside.  No, I'm not kidding.  Yes, I too have heard that medication could help.

I am now home from Australia, my body is almost back in the western hemisphere, I have a suitcase full of dirty clothes, and it's April.  I'm obviously going to wash all of those clothes and hang them on the line.

See:

Wait!  Where are the clothes?  IT WAS SNOWING, Y'ALL!!!  In April!  On my clean clothes!  I am a terrible photographer and couldn't get the falling snowflakes to show up on the iPhone.  They were really cool snowflakes, by the way; they were like little styrofoam pellets.  Odd.

Since laundry isn't my favorite thing this week (stupid snow!), I will have to talk about a different favorite thing:  thread.  DecoBob from WonderFil especially.

I love this as a bobbin thread for quilting, in the needle and/or the bobbin, but I want to love this as a piecing thread.  I never did.

It didn't make a great stitch:

The ends of the stitching came apart easily:

And the threads sometimes pulled out completely:

Like I said: not love at first piece.

Last week in Australia I mentioned my troubles to the fella at the WonderFil booth at AQC.  H told me that I had to tighten my tension to make a better stitch and lock them together.  He also suggested that I use a shorter stitch length.  I made both adjustments today and...

I LOVE IT!

Look at that beautiful stitch:

The ends are holding together:

I am officially in love:

Have you tried DecoBob thread yet?  Are you in love?

Breathing Room

I am blessed to have a job that I love which also routinely introduces me to new people, places, and experiences.  My recent experience going to Australia was as uneventful as it could be.  My time in Australia could not possibly have been better.  My journey home from Australia?  Well, I landed safely each time.  That's HUGE, but it is also the only good thing about that 40 hour journey.

Here's an overview of the trip:

• 3am Melbourne time:  wake up
• 4am Melbourne time:  get in a cab for a 30 minute ride to the airport
• 4:15 am Melbourne time:  get to the airport.  My taxi had wings and I had white knuckles
• 6:45 am Melbourne time:  fall asleep on plane as it pulled away from the gate
• 7:00 am Melbourne time: wake up when the plane stopped.  Oops!  Overheated on takeoff, back to the airport to deplane
• 8:00 am Melbourne time: was informed that there was no possible way to leave Melbourne that day.  Prepared to stay for a one-day holiday and maybe go to the zoo.  Koalas and kangaroos?  Sign me up!   Had to wait for hotel and taxi info.
• 9:45 am Melbourne time:  was informed that my flight to Aukland was booked and I had 15 minutes to reclaim luggage and check in.  Then I had 15 minutes to get through security/passport check and run to the farthest gate of the international terminal.
• 10:00 am Melbourne time: check in for flight.  Discover that I had sliced my finger while retrieving luggage.  Left a huge puddle of blood at the check-in desk.  Tried to mop the blood from both arms (how did I do this?) and not look like a serial killer while going through security screening.  I guess I succeeded.
• 10:15 am Melbourne time: boarded my plane huffing, puffing, and sweating.  Discover that I was in the middle seat for a 3 1/2 hour flight. My worst nightmare in a "first-world problem"sort of way.
• (I lost track of time after this).  My left seatmate was a delight, but my neighbor to the right?  He was a frustrated percussionist and did his Ringo Starr impersonation for the entire three hour flight.  I was elbowed every few seconds.  In frustration, I elbowed back and claimed the armrest.  I have never done this before.  VICTORY!!!  As my elbow was repeatedly assaulted for the remainder of the flight, I will admit to shedding several frustrated tears.  I was going to another country without any tickets for future flights.  I had no cell phone or computer access to figure out where I was going.  No one on earth knew where I was.  
• I spent several hours in the international terminal of Aukland airport in New Zealand.  They offer 30 minutes of free wi-fi so I was able to email my husband so he would know I wasn't coming home on time.  I changed some Australian money for New Zealand money and had some lunch.  I walked around for a while and checked out the menu and prices at chains like Starbucks and Burger King.  I didn't eat at any of them, but a Whopper meal costs about 13 New Zealand dollars if that interests you. They had other items on the menu that aren't available in the States.  These details fascinate me.  I realized that I changed too much money, so I bought a couple of chocolate bars to snack on during the next 30 hours.  (I only ate one and shared the other with my hubby when I finally got home.)
• I flew Air New Zealand to Los Angeles.  I was seated in a window seat (Praise God!) but my seatmate was a hyperactive mom.  Her daughter in the aisle seat was very well behaved, but the mommy needed to be told to sit still.  For twelve hours.  T w e l v e  H o u r s.  And the movies didn't work.  I didn't cry, but I wasn't having much fun, either.
• Landing in Los Angeles and turning my phone back on?  It was pure joy!  I felt in control of my trip again.  I still didn't have a ticket for my next flight nor did I know when/where it was taking off, but I was in the States and I knew that I would make it home eventually.
• At passport control, I used an automated kiosk and it printed out a receipt with my photo on it.  One should never have a photo taken 23 hours into their travel day.  It wasn't pretty.
• I rechecked my luggage and the kind man told me that I should go to Terminal 5 by turning right outside the door.  I walked along a narrow sidewalk outside LAX under the departures platform breathing car exhaust.  I had no luggage (again, Praise God!) but most other people did so I kept tripping over them until I passed Terminal 4 and entered Terminal 5.
• I checked in.  Finally!  A ticket!!!  I made it through security for the 4th time during this odyssey and discovered that my flight was actually in Terminal 6.  This time I walked underground.  I never minded the distance.  Stretching my legs after all of those hours on a plane was glorious!
• I grabbed some lunch and made it to my gate with a few hours to spare.  I volunteered to give up my ticket if necessary.  They would have put me in a hotel room with a bed and a shower and then flown me home in the morning.  How lovely would that have been?  Alas, they didn't need my ticket and I sat in my window seat (Praise God!) for the 5 hour flight home.  My middle seat-mate was in a band from Mexico and the young lady in the aisle was petrified of flying.  We landed in bad weather (bumpy, oh so bumpy for the last hour) so I spent the last part of the flight reaching around a sleeping musician to hold this gal's hands and talk her down.  The poor thing was shaking with fright!
• We landed at JFK only 10 minutes late.  Whee!!!!  I called my sweet hubby and told him to go to sleep and I'd be home in 2-3 hours.  Oh how foolish I feel about that now.  They didn't have a gate available for us so we sat on the Tarmac for a while.  Eventually, we deplaned.
• While waiting for our luggage in the wee hours of the morning, we were informed that the luggage ramp was closed due to a lightning storm.  Of course it was!  Eventually I got my luggage and got on the shuttle to the off-site parking lot.
• At 2am, the shuttle got a flat tire while I was on it and we were stranded on the side of the road until another vehicle could come to take us to our cars.  My shuttle mates had difficult trips with 2-3 hour delays from Orlando, San Diego, and San Francisco.  10 hour delay, starting in Australia.  I win so be quiet!  The replacement shuttle arrived and I think it did double duty at the Fulton Fish Market.  Oh the stench!  I was afraid fish juice was in the seats and would stay on my clothes.  Fortunately the smell stayed in the van and didn't follow me home.  After all of these hours, I smelled bad enough without reeking of fish!
• I eventually got to my car and drove home slowly, first due to JFK traffic (even at 2:30 am) and then due to the heavy rains.  I made it home by 4am.
• HOME!  Hubby was awake, wondering where I was.  He helped me unload my bags and then fell back to sleep.  I got some food, got a shower, and was asleep by 5am.  Time elapsed between beds?  40 hours.
• Woke up to my alarm at noon.  Could have slept longer but needed to adjust to NY time.  Did a little computer work and went back to bed at 11 pm.
• Woke up today and am as right as rain.  I love that I don't suffer from jetlag once I'm home.  I get good sleep in my own bed and can reset my clock very quickly.  It takes a few day for me to start being hungry at the right time of day again, but that's easy enough to deal with.
• I will spend 10 days at home before heading out again, this time to New Hampshire.  NO PLANES INVOLVED!!!!  

So, that sounded a lot like whining.  I didn't want to write a whiny story but I've received countless emails asking about my adventures.  I relented.

These amazing quilters are why I put myself through such abuse:

These ladies were in my 2-day class.  Some of them took a third day with me and some took all four.  One has taken all 12 days of classes that I have taught in Australia.  Such a dear!

If you want to take a class from me and live closer to me than Australia, you might find a city near you on my teaching calendar.  If none of the locations/dates work so that we can meet, check out my Craftsy class. Remember, Craftsy = the place where you always win the armrest war!

In Print

After a long, Long, LONG trip home from Australia, I was tickled to open my mail and see the latest Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine.If you turn to page 22, you will see my quilt!

I do believe that this is the first quilt pattern of mine to be published in a  magazine and I am tickled pink!

The pattern is called Dedication and is inspired by a Luis Sacilotto painting I visited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston during a rare day off from Quilt Festival a few years ago.

The fabulously talented Mandy Leins also has a quilt in this issue.  If you are looking for a take-along hand-piecing project, check out her Strawberry Moon quilt!

Now that I'm home for a few days adjusting to the western hemisphere, I hope to quilt my copy of this quilt pattern; I always make two copies of a quilt when I test a pattern. I plan to use ribbon candy quilting (of course!).  If you liked the ribbon candy quilting on my quilt in the magazine, I teach how to do that in my Craftsy Class.

Globetrotting, Block 6: St. Louis (review)

I've finished all of the qiulting on block 6 of my 2014 Pat Sloan block of the month.  Whee!!!  I hope to finish this 2014 block of the month before the end of 2015.  It's good to have goals.

Here's the block:

And here's the plan:

I was never convinced that this plan was a good one, but I let it work itself out in time.

I first quilted the straight lines:

and then more straight lines:



Then I quilted some ribbon candy:



Next I quilted some swirls:



And finally I quilted some curved lines, deciding at last how to quilt those triangles:



Here's what the finished block looks like:

I think I like how those triangles turned out, after all!

Here are the other blocks in review:

Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)
Globetrotting Block 2 Venice (in review)
Globetrotting Block 3 Chicago (in review)
Globetrotting Block 4 San Juan (in review)
Globetrotting Block 5 London (in review)

All of these amateur YouTube videos are free.  If you would like to see my professionally produced quilt DVDs, they are available for purchase:

Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Getting Started
Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Quilting Blocks and Borders
Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Using Rulers and Templates
Sit-down Longarm Quilting: Thread Work

I have a new Craftsy class all about free-motion quilting.

Purchase the class HERE.

Quilt of the Week -- I Spy for Charlotte

My people have an inclusive definition of "family."  If you are my dad's Stepmother's sister, you are in.  If you are my husband's uncle's wife's daughter, you are in.

I just made a quilt for my son's niece.  If she calls him "uncle," that makes me her "great aunt," right?

This is Charlotte's quilt:

I made it for my Craftsy class.

I used the free-motion shapes from the class in the quilting:

I even hid a few butterflies in there:

When Charlotte gets older, I'm going to quiz her and see if she can find all of the butterflies.

So so sad

I just returned from packing up my classroom after my last day at AQC in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  I'm sad to see it come to an end.

The catering at this show is top-notch:

But next to the desserts I saw this:

So if I drink a lot of this "skinny" milk, I'll be skinny?  Is that a promise?

It's a good thing that there is a lot of walking at this show:

I want you to meet Victoria.  She has been in every class I have taught in Australia ever:

She is an absolute delight and love the American flag fabric on the back of my samples.

Patrick is an amazing bloke and took good care of me all week.  Here we are rockin' our high-vis vests right before tear-down tonight:

The banquet last night was late and I was tired, but I was wide awake once Elvis called me on stage to serenade me:

I have a fairly good idea of who I should blame for these shenanigans.  Cough*Gary*Cough.

I've always heard the phrase "Elvis has left the building" but this time he took me with him:

If you are wondering what happened next, all I can say is "What happens in Australia stays in Australia."

So long, my Australian friends.  I will think of you fondly during all 31 of my travel hours tomorrow and for weeks to come.