Surprise, Surprise....

I have to thank Janet-Lee and Mary again....my quilt Inner Circle - Flower of Scotland came home quickly and smoothly, safe and sound with two ribbons.....yes, two Faculty Ribbons. The first from Sheila Sinclair Snyder and a second ribbon from the wonderful Irena Bluhm, a lovely lady....thank you for the recognition Ladies......and just look at that, everything is colour co-ordinated.

Well, stuff happens and I've had a few deadlines to keep but now back to reality....

My MQX West 2013 part 3....

On Friday evening Maryna and I enjoyed the company of our friends new and old at the MQX Banquet, great food and entertainment. To my left a very old friend Michelle...wish we had a photo, Michelle and I really do 'go way back'...to Yahoo groups and 9" machines....right back to the beginning...We had new friends to our right, Sharon and Anne, who knew you could make such good friends just sorting out rooms and room mates?
Saturday was full of back to back classes for me...in the morning filler classes with Judy Woodworth and in the afternoon Thread Art with Claudia...everyone in class did awesome work......

Janet-Lee, Mary and their many helpers really do put on a classy quilt show. Everything is so well organised, they pay attention to every detail. If you ever have an itch to go to MQX on the East, West or Mid West, don't hesitate, you will get the whole package, it's a true experience......

Sunset over MQX

After all the hustle and bustle of the show and classes there was more shopping and sight seeing....love these huge, very masculine lorries.....some with lady drivers...

Alphabet District

A 1924 Harley....

A colourful horse among the colourful trees

Pioneer Square

It was a bit sad to say the least but good times always have to come to an end, Maryna and I travelled to Portland Airport together on the Max, then went our separate ways.....Maryna to South Africa via Seattle, Dubai and Jo'burgh...me with a 3 hour delay missing my connection in Amsterdam. After travelling over 10,000 miles, suffering terrible travel sickness from Edinburgh to home....go figure????

Snow on the mountains

It was a great trip...met lots of wonderful people and made lots of new friends....can't wait to do it again....that is easy to say now the jetlag is over....

My MQX Portland 2013 Part 2

My days at MQX were full of quilts, people and classes.

I took some great classes with Judy Woodworth x 2, Jackie Kunkel, Claudia Pfeil and Irena Bluhm.
The walking tour of the winning quilts with Cathy Wiggins was extremely informative, at the end of which we had a special meeting with the now 'famous' Bethanne Nemish who told us the story of her winning quilt.
I took the beginner class for Art and Stitch software to see how I would like the program, the class certainly kept my attention for the two hour morning class and I'm not really a morning person...
I also took a 2 hour lecture with Lisa Sipes.

Here are a few photos of some of my favourite quilts from the many photos I took.....

Orange you Glad by Sharon Lacey

I Dream of Wild Horses by Kristin Vierra

Odins Trilogy by Linzi Upton

Crown Jewels by Lisa Calle

Down the Rabbit Hole by Karen Marchetti

In the Quilt as Desired exhibit quilted by Vickie Maloney

In the Quilt as Desired exhibit the tulips were quilted by Vickie Maloney

It was wonderful to meet so many of the girls from the APQS forum....we had dinner on Thursday night at Stamfords, at the Lord Centre thanks to Linda R for organising this for us.....

The Fall colours of the trees are just wonderful....more photos to come in my next and last post of my MQX trip.

My MQX West Portland 2013 Part 1

I know it's been a while, I've been a bit 'jet lagged' or under the weather not sure which.....

It wasn't planned that way but on my birthday I set off on a journey.....from Edinburgh via Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam to Portland Oregon.

My room mate and now good friend Maryna from South Africa met me at Portland airport. Maryna arrived 2 days earlier so was already rested and ready to go.....shopping, so more or less straight of the plane I was at the Lloyd Centre Shopping Mall. It was a beautiful Fall day, much warmer than cold Scotland, the warmth and the fact that I had missed a nights sleep took affect quite quickly. An early night was in order, we had a very quiet room at the Red Lion Hotel, just over the road from the Convention Centre.

Convention Centre Portland, this is the vied from our room at the Red Lion hotel

Monday found us shopping and sight seeing in the Pearl district where we found Powell's famous book store which takes up a whole block and then some and Dr Martens boot store on the adjacent block.  Maryna has found Starbucks, literally as there isn't a Starbucks in SA.
I had a plan for Tuesday to visit Fabric Depot, they were having a 30% sale....WOW, I knew this place was going to be big but never ever dreamt it would be colossal. I had told Maryna we were going to visit a quilt store, we were a little overwhelmed and wandered around aimlessly for a while. I'm sure we were wandering around with dropped jaws in awe of all the fabric. We quickly came to our senses and spent some money???? I met a long time 'internet friend' right there in the store, Donna and I just met and started chatting like we had known each other all our lives.....

On Tuesday evening we were off to the 'ice cream social', where we got a sneak peak at the classes, Tutors and new gadgets on offer and a bowl of delicious ice cream.  The highlight of the evening was of course meeting up with Janet-Lee and Mary and the belly laugh of listening to their wonderful singing.....

Wednesday was the start of classes, Maryna and I went our separate ways  but checked back later to discuss and share information.
On Wednesday evening we attended the Awards Ceremony and although a little disappointed not to receive an award  I was thrilled for the winners. We surveyed the winning quilts and met their makers and more friends along the way. There were some fantastic quilts, this is a very stiff competition.

The winning quilt 'The Shell Collectors' by Bethanne Nemish was awesome and Bethanne is a real sweetheart, she is another long time internet friend from MQR.

My good friend Donna with her fabulous wholecloth won a 2nd prize.

Me and my friend Jerry Granata (we go way back....lol...) and his fabulous mini wholecloth Petit Plume.

This is still Sneak Peak night, (I managed to catch Jerry before he headed off to classes the next day).

Me and my friend Jerry with my painted wholecloth ......

The next day I was very excited to be told by my friend Julie from Australia that my quilt was displaying a Faculty/Teachers Ribbon given by Sheila Sinclair Snyder of Licenced to Quilt in Eugene Oregon, so I rushed over to take a photo here with my very good friend and room mate Maryna Kat from South Africa....

More photos later.......