AN "INTERESTING" TRIP

Recently I flew to Denver to meet with Colorado Quilting Council, a statewide guild that meets in person and on Zoom. Overall, it was a great trip and the people were wonderful. BUT, a few funny things happened that will make this trip memorable.

I start out in Huntsville Alabama and almost always make a connection in Atlanta. This doesn't bother me at all, that's just what travel looks like for me. I know my way around ATL, rarely use the underground train, I walk between the various terminals. It's all good. Both my flights were fine--the ATL to Denver flight was about an hour late leaving so I arrived an hour late. 

The day before I made sure the person picking me up had the flight info so she could keep an eye on the flight. Do you know the easiest way to do this is to text the flight numbers to yourself--DL1708 and DL530 for this day. That creates a link to PREVIEW FLIGHT which will show in real time when the flight left, when it is expected to arrive, which baggage claim it will use, etc. Very easy to keep up with flights that often have changes the day of travel.

Sue met me at Baggage claim where she already had my big purple suitcase as we had exchanged photos so we each knew who we were looking for. Now we were off to find her car.

She parked in 3N--you can't there from here or almost anywhere at the Denver airport. Most elevators said 3 was not accessible from that elevator so off we went to find another elevator. Airport construction is always ongoing and what worked a month ago may not work at all today.

After 45 minutes of twists, turns, wrong floors, wrong parking areas, we asked the nice young man at the INFORMATION booth--it was his FIRST DAY and he didn't know. BUT he did have a map and I found the very small print that showed how to get to 3N--it wasn't easy. But we got there and eventually were ready to head south for the drive of a little less than an hour to the hotel. 

The Residence Inn by Marriott at Highlands Ranch is the hotel this guild uses. Rooms are large with a full kitchen: refrigerator, cooktop, microwave, dishes, silverware, and a table with chairs as well as a large desk and couch. It was clean and my room was in the building nearest to the Lobby/Breakfast area--that's good, there are several buildings. You want a ground floor room as there are no elevators--hauling my 50 pound suitcase up and down stairs would not be fun.

After we saw my room was fine, I had Sue drop me off up the street at the Lazy Dog restaurant so I could pick up dinner to go. I took it back to the hotel and was a bit disappointed that my "medium" burger was exceptionally well done. My husband would have loved it. It was tasty... 

The next day I had an excellent breakfast--lots to choose from. I could eat wisely and the banana and yogurt would be for later. There might have been a bagel too...The staff person did an excellent job keeping things refilled. I made a point to tell her what a great job she was doing:

Ready for the day:

Sue picked me up right on time to go to the meeting at a lovely Lutheran church. I like to arrive an hour early so the technical side gets all set. The church audio/visual system is used, my PowerPoint is on a thumb drive and that always works. 

EXCEPT something had changed with the system, the church contact person was on vacation and the guild person did all she could to make it work. To no avail. Those watching at home on ZOOM were able to see the entire meeting, including my PowerPoint. The 125 + people in attendance could not see anything on the screens. 

I was told about this just prior to the meeting beginning at 10 am. During the meeting I had time to consider how I would present the Lecture: A QUILTER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT aka Your Kids Don't Want Your Stuff, to the audience without the slides that illustrate the various points.  I used my Ipad so I could see the presentation and just gave all the information as usual. 

The president reminded the audience they could watch on ZOOM on their phones as the guild tech person feverishly tried to get things working--unsuccessfully. I gave the guild permission to upload my PowerPoint to their Members Only, Password Protected website--they were given 48 hours of access. This is a big deal--I do not let my "intellectual property" be saved, recorded or shown in any other way. Most teachers I know do the same. We are paid for one presentation of the lecture. 

Before my presentation there was Show and Tell--my favorite part of most meetings. They did something interesting--after the person told about the quilt she brought to share, it was draped over chairs so it could be seen after the meeting up close, for those who wanted a better look:

The guild had an "opportunity quilt" on display and it was lovely. It will go to a lucky winner in December. It was pieced and assembled by two members and beautifully quilted by another. I had a card with their names but can't find it currently. Please comment that information so I can give credit:

Photos of the quilting I took--simple but lovely: 

All in all, the day went well. Those at home saw the Lecture as usual. Those in the audience appreciated the chance to go home and watch it again on their computer. 

Dawn, Sue's partner in programs/workshops took me to Chicken Salad Chick for lunch where we met up with about a dozen guild members. Several told me they watched on Zoom on their phone, the rest were going home to see the slides on their computer. Everyone was sympathetic and understanding about the "technical difficulty".  We all did the best we could and it worked out. 

Since I was on my own for dinner and Lazy Dog was not my favorite, I got smart and ordered a different Chicken Salad Chick meal to go for dinner. That worked out fine. I had a quiet afternoon in my room, talked to my husband for a while, handled email and business stuff, etc. My plan to swim that afternoon went by the wayside when I realized I didn't want to be out there in the 96 degree heat, at a mile  up in elevation--no sunburn for me. 

On these trips I often don't sleep well. Different bed, different sounds, etc. But I was sound asleep at 2 am Sunday morning when the fire alarm went off. I jumped up, put on clothes I could wear in public, called the front desk  which took a while to get answered. The fellow knew about the alarm and said the fire department had to put it out. I got back in bed, fully dressed, put a pillow over my head, and listened to the very loud alarm for 15 minutes. The good news: there was no fire and the alarm works.

There wasn't much sleep after that. But in the morning I had another great breakfast. While getting dressed for the workshop day I had a "wardrobe malfunction"--my new Taos Sandals broke--the velcro on one of them came un-stitched from the leather--not to be worn again. What else could possibly go wrong?! I talked to me husband early that day and he said "BE CAREFUL!" 

before the shoe broke

I love meeting people who know me from my blog, The Quilt Show, and from taking classes at other venues. They often want to show me their quilts from the Block of the Month or our classes. One of those in attendance saw on my blog the week before that I would be in her area that next weekend. Janet Miller joined the guild, signed both herself and her daughter up for the Sunday workshop and came to the Saturday meeting. She asked if I wanted to see her BOM quilts and, of course, I did. She brought them to the workshop Sunday:

Garden Party Down Under

Homeward Bound

Janet's turned edge machine applique is exquisite. She used Superior's MonoPoly thread for a tiny blanket stitch. I dare you to tell it's not hand applique. She quilted these on her domestic sewing machine. I was thrilled to see such excellent work and all the other students got a special Show and Tell during lunch.

Class  went very well--Oh My Stars! has been a popular class for me. The 15 students did well, there were lots of "teachable moments" and it was a good day:

After class Sue took me to a Modern Market to get a Salmon Caesar salad--no more Lazy Dog or chicken salad this trip. I took it back to the hotel, Sue and I said our goodbyes, and a quiet night was ahead of me.

No fire alarm that night. Not a bad night's sleep. I was up at 5:15, packed and at breakfast at 6 am. Jeanette, my ride back to the Denver airport, was right on time and we headed north. We had allowed ample time for the trip since it was a Monday morning but we made it in less than 45 minutes. Within 30 minutes of saying goodbye to her, I had checked in, gone through TSA and gotten to my gate, A two hour wait doesn't bother me, I have plenty to read and I'd rather be safely at the airport. 

The flight to ATL was perfect. The flight to HSV was delayed about 15 minutes because the inbound plan was late. But I was going HOME and my husband was eager to get me back, safe and sound. The next day he fixed my shoe with some powerful glue--he is a very handy man!

I have been making these kind of trips for 12 years, 8-12 times a year. There have been very few issues on all those trips. Only once did I get stuck overnight, for TWO nights, in Dallas due to weather. There are a lot worse problems than spending two nights at an Embassy Suites. 

With all that travel I have been lucky.  I am cutting back on travel in the future. Big shows, Empty Spools Seminars, and teaching locally, that is where you'll find me. It's time to spend a little more time at home. 

Next up is the Fall Retreat in Livermore CA September 29-October 4, 2026. There are a few spots left--see the  FLYER HERE.  I will be teaching Oh My Stars! and The Village. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara