Road 2 CA 2020--A Great Trip

I recently had the pleasure of teaching four classes again at Road 2 CA, a large quilt show in Ontario, CA, which celebrated their 25th anniversary this show.

The distinctive atrium of the Ontario Convention Center makes a great place for a display of a CA guild's quilts--a new guild is featured each year:

 The convention center is one mile from the Ontario airport and my hotel was directly across the street from the Convention Center so it was an easy walk each morning to class:

Palm trees--I don't see those where I live

Winter where I live is not harsh but we often get below freezing at night. So it is a treat for me to see roses and tropicals in bloom in January:

After arriving very late Monday night, I had Tuesday to recover, unpack, prepare my clothes for the week and find my classroom.

A special treat was meeting up with an old Marine Corps buddy I had not seen since the early 80's--we sat in the hotel lobby, sharing photos, and catching up. After a nice dinner he had a two hour drive home and I needed to turn in early as the two hour time change was apparent. I wish I had thought to get a photo of us.

Wednesday my first class was "The Village"--with paper-pieced houses and easy stars. The class was full with about 25 students and we had fun:

My Sample Quilt

Student Work

That evening there was a lovely Faculty reception where we got to chat with some of the other teachers, then I attended Preview--the quilts were on display, no vendors, and only students were able to attend.

The big winners had not yet heard of their good fortune so I took photos of several, posted on Facebook, and got hearty "thanks!" from several--with the time difference, several had delayed going to bed, hoping to hear Show results:

Best of Show:

Best Hand Quilting:

Best Domestic Machine Quilting:

Outstanding Wall Quilt:

One other big award was the Marie White Masterpiece Award. It went to Janet Stone for her quilt "Crazy Four Ewe". I did not photograph or post this one because I saw that Janet had already received the happy news. But I thought you would like to see it:

See all the winners with good photos and excellent descriptions: Road2CA 2020 WINNERS LIST

It was cool in the morning,  about 50, no where near the 20's at home. I enjoyed seeing sunrise on the mountains as I crossed the street:

Thursday was another class, Antique Rose Stars by Machine:

Once again, the students were great and did very well:

Discussing my sample

Friday, it was on to Southern Super Star:

My sample quilt

Students morning work

A Disney quilt--great use of Disney fabrics

Student's work in the afternoon

I had such a special treat at lunch! Catherine Butterworth of Australia was in the building--I learned that on Instagram. I asked her to come by the classroom  if she got a moment and was thrilled when she came at lunch--we spent an hour talking, sharing photos, and catching up. I had emailed her 9 years ago about one of her quilts I was inspired by. She continues to win big awards and make great quilts. Once I was a "fan girl"--now we are "soul sisters":

Here she is standing in front of her 1st Place quilt in this show, with another woman also named C Butterworth:

Follow her on Instagram:  ccbutterworth--you will see why she inspires me.

Saturday brought the last of my four classes, "Smitten".  I will be teaching it here at home February 15, 2020--don't miss it if you're local:

My Sample Quilt

 Despite the accumulated fatigue many students were feeling by the end of the week, they did great:

Student work

Student work

I went on the show floor only once more, to quickly visit my favorite antique quilt dealer, Cindy Rennels and her wonderful husband, Ronnie. I also went to see the booth "Brie Kriebel", run by Paulina. All the customers in her booth were wearing her garments, including me, and we were all buying more--I bought two. Check her out: Brie Kriebel Clothing  NOTE: sizes run small.

We snapped a photo when we realized we had a friend in common, Shelly Heesacker, the TV producer who works wonders for "The Quilt Show". We posted it on Facebook to surprise Shelly:

By Saturday night it was time to pack my bags and prepare for the cross-country trip home on Sunday. Goodbye, Palm Trees, for a while:

I had a super time and my classes were well received by the more than 100 students I had the pleasure of instructing. I plan to apply for 2022--this show has their teachers skip a year in between teaching assignments.

Lastly, this student, Missey, I believe. wore a great T-shirt I just had to share. My blog is called "My Joyful Journey" and this pretty much sums up what I get from my quilting journey:

Hope to see  you in class, let's quilt!

Barbara