one more thing...

Thanks to all of y'all who I met at Quilt Market who have facebooked, myspaced, linkedin(ed) and twittered me. Yes, I'm a geek, but I love me some social networking.

SQM PGH PA

So yeah. I'm back from Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh, PA. It was quite an experience. I made some new friends, saw some old friends, met some facebook friends for the first time in the real (non virtual) world and all that kinda stuff. Had some bizarre moments as well as the fun ones, the most bizarre being a barroom scuffle that nearly came to blows. Yes, I'm a skinny blonde chick with a fiery Scottish temper and sometimes I get into bar fights. Especially when some drunk dude pushes me - figuratively and literally - too far. I'm grateful for the dude's friend (hello Gary, are you reading this?) for getting in between me and the dude and saying "take a breath everybody, take a breath" and preventing the fists from flying. Especially since said dude was about 15 years younger than me and 100+ pounds bigger than me. I wonder if I was the only QM visitor who ended up in a bar fight. By the way, I don't even drink.

Anyway...I met my wonderful editor, Deb Rowden for the first time in person. Jim West of Sew Many Places and I did runway walking down the aisles of the convention center because...I don't actually know why we did that. Why not? And Mark from Sullivan's who had a wicked cool device for fixing broken zippers. Alex from Aurifil, who I've only known on facebook, gave me a pack of threads to play with that's reeeal purdy. Too many others to name - but if I met you and you had your picture taken with me, send me jpegs!

While in the 'burgh, I visited my late father's next door neighbor and we went to my old house and looked in all the windoww (don't worry, we had permission from the new owner). Then I went to meet some friends who I haven't seen in 30 years at a bar (see bar fight story above). I also hung around the North Side where I used to work and got all reminiscey and went to the Warhol Museum and took pictures in the photo booth. I have a thing for photo booths.



Thanks to everyone at C&T for the opportunities they give me and to the peeps at United Notions and Checker Distributors for holding book signings for us.

If I met you in P'town, I'm glad I met you (unless you're the guy I fought with in the bar - you I coulda lived without).

peace out boyeeees!

hanging in the 'burgh

[expounding the wonderfulness of Art Quilts at Play]


[my childhood friend Sandy]


[my roomie Terrie]


[fellow Pittsburgher Mark Lipinski]


[half of the exhibit hall]




[Strawberry Way]




[where I used to work]








[slag]


[Stanley Photoplays]

let's go Pens

I'm in Pittsburgh (my hometown) for Quilt Market (a trade show for the quilting world). I'm staying directly across the street from the arena where I used to go see rock concerts when I was a kid/young adult. There seems to be an important ice hockey competition of some sort, as there is a huge crowd of people in Penguin jerseys shouting loudly at a big screen tv. Hmmmm. Don't know what that's all about.

I spent the afternoon walking the streets of Pittsburgh (instead of prepping for my trade show presentation). I greatly underestimated my sentimentality regarding the 'burgh. I went by the office building where my father worked when I was a kid and remembered how amazed I was that he could talk on the phone, look out the window and type like the wind all at the same time - and with his feet up on the desk. Then I went to Nicholas Coffee, where my mother bought fancy coffee beans in the days before Starbucks. She loved the smell of it and would spend a looooong time in there - too long for me 'cause I hated the smell. That's actually the place that gave me my aversion to coffee - I've never even tasted it, because I can't stand the smell. But my mother would bribe me by letting me get dried fruit (and occasionally chocolate). So I braved the smell and bought some dried pineapples for old time's sake. Then I walked to the Pittsburgh Public Theater, where I worked in 1986 + 1987 (although it's in a different location now) and to the theater where I took filmmaking classes. Anyway, I got all weepy and girly.

It seems something fabulous has just happened in the ice hockey competition/event, as the crowds outside the arena are going quite wild. And there's a lot of horn beeping activity.

more from the Pittsburgh front tomorrow..

Go Pens.