Road Trip

I know, I've been gone alot lately!! This past month I've been home about 8 days!! I think after this weekend, tho, I'm home for awhile! At least that's the hope!!

So, Wednesday morning I got on a bus with a bunch of other ladies, including our own Sharen, and went up to Cincinnati for a quilt show.

We had alot of rain while we were there but it didn't start until the following day so we went down to the fountain square, a couple of blocks from our hotel to look around. Someone said we had to try Graeter's ice cream. It's famous in Cincinnati and the business is 140 years old. So that was our treat for the trip!

It really is good! If you get a chance, try their black raspberry chocolate chip!

 From our hotel window, we could see the convention center where the quilt show was. Good thing it was close because the rain was pretty seriously falling at times!!
The hotel rooms we were in were nice but they were in the middle of major hotel renovations and that part was awful!! Only 2 elevators were working, hotel was full, lobby nonexistent, etc etc. Whoever planned the renovation didn't think about guests! Good thing we had a great time at the show!!

 There were a few quilts that were just fun. Like this one that I took a picture of part of. A person celebrating a milestone birthday had made it using yo-yos. Just totally fun, nothing serious about this quilt!!

 On the other hand this person made about 3600 paper pieced pieces for the wallhanging that this is just a part of. I can't imagine how long it took her to make it!! The effect was gorgeous.

 There's a quilter in Japan that has been making pieces that are separate and then joined with tabs or something, a unique play on how to make a quilt. We're so used to it all being one big piece but now there are quilters that are making separate little quilts and joining them somehow. This quilter had done a bunch of redwork pieces, completely finished, almost placemat size but then she joined them with yo-yos, lots of yo-yos! I really liked how she took a pattern and tweaked it to make it her own.

We got back Friday evening, heads full of ideas and suitcases filled with purchases from the vendors. Now to find time to make the things we have on our new to do lists!! Hmmm, if I weave like crazy this morning, maybe I can find an hour to cut out a project? or at least find all the fabrics in my stash to complete......
Until next week, I'm staying home to weave! and maybe find a couple of hours to finish a project or two so that I can start some of those new ones that I've added to my list plus find time to go out and enjoy the wisteria that's about to burst open and my lilacs that seem to have been happy with winter and will bloom as well in the next few days!!
Spring is here!! I hope it's coming where you are as well!
Carol