more about the conference plus gratuitous cuteness

conference registrations are all different, but most all of them have something in common -- the goodies -- and the SAQA conference was no different

the goodies were AWESOME

inside the lovely tote bag (donated by Dharma Trading Co.) was this cardboard box with three bottles of Stewart Gill paint (in those lovely sea and sky colors that I like working with!) and what looks like Easter basket grass there in the box is actually Angelina fiber -- which is also in that color family

then there was this package of five spools of Aurifil thread -- in those same colors with some warm contrast colors added

one of these spools says "wool"

all of these goodies are things that I've heard a lot about, but not had the chance to try, so I'm looking forward to some future "play dates" with them

also in the tote bag were copies of a couple of magazines (Quilters Newsletter and Machine Quilter) a conference schedule, a note pad and pen and several postcards that were for local groups and exhibits
at our final banquet, there were clear plastic boxes of fabric that served as center pieces

after dessert, they were given away

I was thrilled to win the box on our table

each piece is a full yard of one of the new Robert Kaufman batik prints

mmmmmmm, more fabric stash!!

the dark one looks very much like redwood fronds, so some of this may end up getting used on the Trees piece

COOL



during the lunch breaks I did a bit of designing

my plan for each of these patterns is to create a 3 inch wide beaded cuff bracelet

the pattern on the left will be in browns/rusts/creams -- giraffe like, and the one on the right will be black and white -- the last zebra like bracelet sold pretty quickly, and I'm hoping another one will do likewise
between sessions of the conference and on Sunday I got to spend time with Mr Cute!

since I had last seen him, he had learned to roll himself over when ever he wants to, and he has figured out how to hold himself up on his elbows or hold up his backside on his knees

I predict it won't be long before he figures out how to do both at once, which will put him nose to nose with his mama's little dog

which should be a lot of fun

sooooooooo cute!!






besides doing a few little stitching projects for my daughter on Sunday and continuing to work on the Hoffman piece (more about that soon) I managed to finish one charity afghan square and get another one about half done

this morning I was awakened by the sound of thunder and small hail hitting the windows -- it is supposed to continue to rain off and on today and tomorrow, so I may get more done inside that I originally thought I would

laundry is underway, more work will get done on the Hoffman piece and I still have many pictures to download of the Thursday night quilt show

time to get moving!

where I've been

I've reconfirmed something I already knew

when I'm at a conference or a show most days I'm too exhausted either mentally or physically to write a blog post that is coherent enough to let anyone see!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday I was in the SAQA Visioning Conference

It was held in the Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver

it is a very old, historic hotel

this is the atrium of the hotel -- open in the center from the lobby all the way up through the floors to the awesome glass ceiling















the ceiling is stained glass -- it was cloudy and rainy on Thursday afternoon when I took these pictures -- I'd like to know what is on the outside of this ceiling that keeps it from being destroyed by the hail that we frequently get in the summer

on the second floor, where the arch shaped structures are, each arch has pillars that are decorated like this

you can see here how thick the railings are that surround the open area








and this is what each of the metal panels looks like

I heard someone talking about these panels -- supposedly there are a few of them that are installed upside down

I'm thinking someone had WAY too much time on their hands if they had time to find that among all those floors!

and I'm pretty sure they were all installed properly when the hotel was originally built

but it's also pretty clear that these have been very carefully maintained, so that might have happened in a cleaning or maintenance operation

and the carpets! all of them bold patterns and beautiful colors



want to mail a postcard home? (I know, who does that any more, but just in case)

this is the mail slot

I wonder if any letters have gotten "stuck" in the works somewhere and are still waiting to be discovered and delivered

this was the crown molding around the ceiling of one of the class rooms that I took a workshop in

this is the wallpaper in the ladies room

the last time I was in this hotel was 40 years ago (ok, I confess, I was cutting school with a friend and we were exploring downtown)

back then the wall paper in the ladies room was red with FLOCKED patterns --- it was Victorian Bordello style --- hey, it was the 1960s!

much more sedate and elegant now





and this may well be the only place left where rotary phones are the norm

all of the "House Phones" look like this

and yes -- these work





this is the church that is right across the street from the hotel

this picture was taken from the "sky bridge" that runs between the hotel and the banquet rooms that are actually across the street (another direction) from the hotel

on Saturday morning, just as I got out of my car the carillon at the church began playing, so I had lovely music for my walk from the car to the hotel

(and that was after I had driven the highway from my daughter's into Denver and at one point been surrounded by about 2 dozen hot air balloons that were just taking off from the field along the highway -- they were so close I could actually see exactly how many people were in the baskets -- it was amazing!)

I have a whole bunch of pictures of the quilt exhibit that was on display on Thursday afternoon, but I need to get them ready before I can show them to you, so they'll be here in a day or so, and I'll be talking a bit about what I learned during the conference too

now I just need to get back into the routine --- got to get into the studio and do some work!!