Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 34

Last night after the AQC Gala dinner, I was walking home with some friends and saw two squirrels run across the sidewalk.  They were huge.  Huge.  H U G E !!!  They were each the size of my cat and my cat is not a small cat.  An Australian gentleman in the group informed me that they were not squirrels; they were brushtail possums.

My photography skills are pretty lacking, so I relied on Google images to show you what I saw:

One of these was on the ground under the tree and the other was up in the tree.  They were pretty timid and tried to hide from our view.

This trip is a short one for me:  fly in, teach, fly out.  I knew I wasn't going to have time to go exploring and I'm tickled that the local fauna showed itself to me!

Australasian Quilt Convention -- Day 2

Today was another dreary rainy day, but there were happy hearts at the Exhibition Center

I met this fun fella right outside:

We definitely don't have birds like this back home.

Once inside, I found unbridled joy of quilting:

 

These ladies work at this fun stand:

It was that busy every time I went to the show floor today.  Do they not realize that I need to buy their fabric and bring it home with me?

Once I got upstairs to my classroom, I found it was set up for "Instant Fun: Just Add Students":

The fun continued today at lunch.  Someone must have told the event organizers that quilters like chocolate"

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

MY students today stitched words on quilts using blended-thread free-motion embroidery.  They were so creative with the words that they chose!  Here is one of my favorite quilts in process:

My students just blew me away today.  I'm looking forward to two more wonderful days with them!

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 35

My apartment is cozy and close to the Exhibition Center.  The vast time difference makes it difficult o stay awake long enough to post to this blog.  That means I will awaken between 3 and 4 am.  WooHoo!

During my early morning hours, I work on my applique quilt:

As early as I'm rising to quilt, I should finish this entire quilt before I drive to the airport.  Can you imagine the difficulty of 24 hours of flight without the comfort of hand-stitching?  Me either.  I might have to buy some hand-work kit here at the show.  I don't think I'll have any trouble finding one.  I might, however, have trouble picking just one from the many available here at the show!

AQC Day one

This week I am teaching at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and today was the opening day!

My Handi Quilter friends were getting ready for the day:

My classroom is only missing one thing:

Students!

Oh, here they are:

The teacher (me) was only missing one thing... chocolate cake.

Look!  I found some on the lunch table:

Look, I found some more at dinner!

The birthday girl is in the middle.  Happy Birthday, dear one.  If you feel older, remember that I'll always be older...

What a great first day of classes!

***

I am obligated to mention that I didn't eat an entire slice of cake at lunch.  I am also duty-bound to mention that the dinner cake was less than two mouthfuls.  The forced perspective of the last photo make the cake appear HUGE!  It really, really wasn't.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- Night 34

I am in Australia, but I am sad.

I've always read that the water goes down the drain backwards* in the southern hemisphere.

Why does this make me sad?  Because I have been to Australia three times and have never seen it.  The drains in all of my hotel rooms are set up to drain straight down; they don't swirl around the drain.

The kitchen sink:

No stopper to fill the sink and no way to make it swirl.

The bathroom sink:

Ditto.

The bathtub, maybe?

Again, nope.

I'll spare you the photo of the toilet and just explain that the water flushes over instead of swirling around.

Is it wrong to be so sad about this?  Any thoughts on how I can get a video of the water swirling backwards*?

*Note: Backwards = opposite of the way it goes at home.

Globetrotting, block 3: Chicago (video 2)

My Globetrotting quilt is turning out great!  Do you love yours, too?

I'm quilting my Chicago block:

Here's the quilting plan:

I used a few tools in this step.  I used the HQ Mini Scallop Ruler, HQ Oval C Templates, and Handi Grip.

The tools make the job easy:

Fun, right?

Stay tuned for more videos!

_____
Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)
Globetrotting Block 2 Venice (in review)
Globetrotting Block 3 Chicago (design)

Globetrotting Block 3 Chicago (video 1)

PROOF

The weather forecast for Melbourne this week was "showers."  It was an inaccurate forecast, because a single shower started on Tuesday when I landed and I don't believe it has finished with us yet.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and fixed my hair and put on makeup and walked over to the Exhibition Hall.  Once I arrived, I was sopping wet with streaking makeup.

Today's plan was similar, but with a twist.  I woke up and fixed my hair and put on my makeup.  I will soon walk to the Exhibition Hall where I will arrive sopping wet with streaking makeup.  The difference is, today I took a picture proving that I actually made an attempt at my appearance.  See:

So no matter how awful I look at work this week, where I will be photographed at regular intervals, I have proof that I at least made an attempt.

Teaching the Teacher

Since it is 3:30 am and I am not sleeping, I thought I should blog about my Australia trip.

As I travel all over to teach quilting, I'm convinced that I learn as much or more than I teach.  I learn about the people and areas I am visiting and that is one of my favorite things in the world.

As soon as my flight landed in Melbourne on Tuesday, I walked to the Queen Victoria Market.  It is an experience!  A few other tutors joined me and we had fun buying a few groceries and learning about new things.

We saw Custard Apples and asked what they were.  They are big and ugly and soft inside and are best when soft.

I bought a huge custard apple (size of a big grapefruit) and it got a little smooshed in my market bag.  It wasn't very pretty when I got it back to the apartment:

When I broke it open, it was really soft inside:

There were super-huge seeds that were nearly as big as the tip of my pinkie-finger.

I scooped the fuit with a spoon and loved every. single. bite.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 33

I've got the power!

I'm fascinated by the difference between our plugs and Australian plugs:

The lightswitches are fun.

On:

The outlets are fun, too, and come with their own "On/Off" buttons.

I'm going to turn everything off now, and hope to catch a bunch of Zzzzzzs.

It's Magic!

I'm at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne. It's rainy and icky outside, but magic is happening indoors. 

All of the vendors and tutors, along with the show organizers are working hard to get ready for tomorrow. 

This is such a great show in a gorgeous building. 

I can't wait until tomorrow!!!

Good Morning, Melbourne!

I love waking up in Melbourne.  I love it so much, in fact, that I'm doing it as often as possible.

I woke up at:

12:19am

and thankfully fell back asleep.

I woke up at:

2:08 am

and thankfully fell back asleep again.

I woke up at:

4:17 am

and gave up on sleeping for today.

It's finally a decent hour to get out of bed:

I'm looking forward to soem grand adventures today!  And some tea.  I could really use a cup of tea.

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- night 32

I am checked into my apartment here in Melbourne for the Australasian Quilting Convention.  There is limited wifi, so I'm going to try this with just one photo.

One of my favorite things in my apartment is the kitchen:

A few teachers and I walked to the Queen Victoria Market for some groceries this afternoon.  Tonight's dinner, prepared in this little kitchen, was:  Tbone steaks, fresh little potatoes, and fresh spinach.  The company and food were wonderful!

I'm going to try to convince my body that it should be sleeping now.  This 14-hour time difference is BRUTAL!

G'night!

Globetrotting, block 3: Chicago (video 1)

I'm so excited to quilt this block!  I can't wait to see how my Globetrotting quilt turns out!

Here's my Chicago block:

And my quilting design:

One viewer asked me to post of wide photo of my quilting area.  This is what I came up with:

Yes, I have to wrap my leg around my camera tripod to film these quilting videos.  The extra lights are for the filming, to keep the shadows to a minimum.  The pillow under the table is for my lap.  It keeps the bulk of a larger quilt from hanging down the front of the table.  The Hello Kitty on top of the machine is from a dear friend (Hi, Liz!).

As a refresher, you might want to watch these videos on how to film a starting knot and an ending knot:





Now that you are ready to quilt, here's the plan.  I'm doing a lot of free-motion quilting in this step, but I'm using a few tools.  I am using the Handi Quilter Mini Scallop Ruler and Handi Grip for the stitch-in-the-ditch and the triangles.

I prepared my block by taping the edges with quarter-inch tape.

This will prevent me from stitching into my seam allowance.  If I did, I could lose the points of my triangles and then I would be sad.

Here's the quilting:



That wasn't so hard, was it?

Stay tuned for the next video!

_____
Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)
Globetrotting Block 2 Venice (in review)
Globetrotting Block 3 Chicago (design)

Hotel Tour of 2014 -- nights 30 and 31

I'm flying to Australia tonight. The flight is ridiculously long and the earth turns, so my Sunday night flight will land on Tuesday morning. 

This is where I will (hopefully!) sleep for some of the next 17 hours:

So far the other two seats are empty. My fingers and toes are crossed that it stays that way. 

I haven't had great luck with wi-if in Australia the other times I was there, but I'll update my blog as the wi-fi allows. 

Pass the Popcorn

I returned from teaching at the quilt show in Dubai five days ago, so of course it is time to get back on a plane and fly to Australia to teach at another quilt show.  Who on earth can I blame for this ridiculous schedule?  Oh, yeah.  Me.  Before I fly out again, I want to give my movie review from my last flights.

For the first time ever, I was able to get a little sleep on an international flight.  I only watched three or four movies each way instead of my usual six or seven.

1.  Ender's Game

I read the books.  I loved the books.  I was curious how they would make the movie.  Battle School doesn't look the way that it did in my head, but I can accept their version.  I think that they did a great job of showing Ender's turmoil.  Read the book, then see the movie.

2.  Hanna

I only knew about this movie from a trailer I saw on a plane once.  I really wanted to see the movie based on those two minutes.  But, wow, did I ever not have a clue what the movie was about!  After my shock wore off, I enjoyed the movie and want to know more about what happens to Hanna.

3.  Despicable Me 2

I first saw Despicable Me at Christmas.  Yes, this last one.  Yes, I do live under a rock.  Why do you ask?  I fell in love with the movie and really enjoyed the sequel.  So much so that when I called a friend and heard music in the background, I asked if her kids were watching Despicable Me 2.  She said, "No, that would be the radio."  Oh yeah!   Radio!  They play songs on there, right?

4.  Frozen

Remember that rock I live under?  Yeah, I just saw Frozen for the first time.  I liked it, really I did, but I have no idea why the entire world has gone INSANE over this movie.  I actually watched this movie six or seven times (in parts) on the plane, between naps.  I still don't know why this is the best. movie. ever.

5.  The Way Way Back

I saw a trailer for this on an airplane a while back.  I wanted to see this because I used to drive a huge station wagon and we called the seats "the front," "the back," and "the back back."  Our name was better than "the way way back."  I also thought the movie would be a bit quirky and hopefully in a way that I liked.  Mostly I did like it, but there were very few sympathetic characters.  I'm glad I saw it, but I'm also glad I don't know most of those folks in real life.

6.  Free Birds

I watched 95% of this movie.  I fell asleep and rewound many times, but there were probably a few minutes here and there that I missed.  Despite my inattention, I still was able to follow the intricate plot twists in this animated children's movie.  It was cute.  The end.

7.  The Croods

When my children were little, they loved The Land Before Time movies.  All of them.  Over and over and over and over again.  They loved them to the point that I need therapy.  I cannot see them or hear the songs or even think of those movies without having a violent reaction.  This movie was The Land Before Time, but with cavemen.  No therapy required, but I probably won't watch it again.

I wonder which movies I will watch during my 50 hours of flights in the next 9 days.  Any "must-sees"?  How about any "avoid at all costs"?

Why you should be proud of me

I won a divine box of chocolate at the Gala dinner in Dubai. Some folks who know me well bet that the chocolate would not make it home. 

So there!  And I am even sharing it with him!

SO EXCITED!

I just booked my plane ticket for HQ Academy -- Quilting Elevated.

I will be teaching sit-down quilting on Sweet Sixteens (HANDS ON!!!).  There will be longarm classes, and computerized quilting classes, and fabric and thread and fun and food and .... OH MY!

Will I see any of you there?

Globetrotting, Block 3: Chicago (the design)

I just returned from teaching at the International Quilt Show of Dubai and am rested and ready to quilt my Chicago block from Pat Sloan's Globetrotting block of the month.  Take that, jetlag!

Here's my block:

The fabrics I chose made this block look a little washed out.  Let's see if the quilting can make this block "pop!"

So far in this quilt, I have used:

• Curved Lines
• Curls
• Ribbon Candy
• Straight Lines

I'm going to try and place these same designs in this block.

I started with curls:

_____ Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review) Globetrotting BLock 2 Venice (in review) Then I added some straight lines:

And then more straight lines plus some curved lines in the periwinkle fabric:

I added even more straight lines in the background:

But what about the ribbon candy?  Where should I put the ribbon candy?

How about in between some of the straight lines?

The block may give me a few other ideas once I start quilting it, but for now I think my design is finished.

Any thoughts?

***EDIT***
I used Quilter's Preview Paper over the top of the block.  I drew the quilting designs using a sharpie marker.  Never once did the pen make contact with the quilt block.  You can now breathe again.

_____
Globetrotting Block 1 Washington DC (in review)
Globetrotting Block 2 Venice (in review)