Asheville Quilt Guild

 I had a lovely trip to Asheville, NC recently to present a Lecture and Workshop to the Asheville Quilt Guild. 

Google said it was 5 driving hours but no, with stops and some slow traffic in places it was over 7 hours and we lost an hour going into the Eastern Time Zone. So I was very glad the decision was made months ago to go on Monday for the Tuesday evening Lecture and Wednesday Workshop.

Tuesday my husband and I went to Biltmore Village, with lots of shops, eateries and my favorite place, the Southern Highland Craft Guild Gallery: 

I love all the handmade items for sale, especially the jewelry, and bought myself a pair of earrings:

These handpainted silk scarves were so beautiful but way beyond my budget:

There were quilts, the tags were too high off the ground to read and I wasn't in the market to buy so didn't ask the prices:

Lots of wooden objects:

And Treenware, which I did buy a piece of as a gift: 

After meeting with a few board members for dinner, we got set up at  a great meeting place for the evening Lecture--A Quilter's Last Will and Testament. The A-B Tech center was such a nice meeting space and the young tech guy made it a breeze to connect my iPad with  PowerPoint to the big screens in the auditorium:

Set up for the Lecture

President Shelly addressing the guild

Members on the left

Members on the right

The lecture was very well received. Many came up to me at the end to tell me how much they appreciated the topic and how they now had ideas and a plan to prepare for when they are no longer the owner of all their STUFF. It was the first time I gave this lecture, based on the extremely popular blog I wrote on the topic a year ago: A Quilter's Last Will and Testament

The next day we met at a local church for the Workshop, Antique Rose Star by Machine. There were 11 students and a wonderful helper. Class went very well and everyone learned how to make one block. And a variety of ways to set those blocks, or make a table runner or other project. The secret to that dreaded Y-Seam is So Much Fun to teach. A few photos from the day:

Judy

Linda

Shelly

Melissa, who has a date with her stitch ripper when she gets home

The happy crowd at the end of the day

The best thing about driving to a job is having two bed quilts with me. Both my husband and I slept very well under these quilts, after throwing off the hotel duvets that are just too hot:

The next day we had another 7 hour drive home but picked up the hour we lost a few days before. We were blessed with great weather, about 20 degrees cooler in the mountains than at home. All in all, it was a good trip and I so appreciate the welcome and kindness of the Asheville Quilt Guild.

Let's quilt.

Barbara