OUT ... But Not For Long

 Yesterday I patiently waited for the wind to die down before heading out.  I lasted until 9:00 because the wind wasn't going to calm down one tiny bit.  I think it ran about 20 mph, but those gusts up to 40 were the killer.  

Not wanting to walk the quarter mile from the parking area to the quilt building, I cheated.  I said I was going to the RV office, which I did.  Let me just say I never saw a smiling face ... only the grinch sitting at the counter.  She was pretty rude to the guy in front of me.  Someone should give her a happy pill.  I just wanted to double check the $5.00 dump fees.

From there I went around the back way (it pays to know your way around the fairgrounds) and parked in front of the building next to a bunch of horse trailers.  Apparently the rodeo is still going on.  I'll use that $5.00 savings to dump next week.

I was very surprised to find the entire building completely full.  It happens that the Phoenix show is competition at the same time.  Still, the number of quilts shown here was mind boggling.  Most of them were king sized to boot.

I don't think I have made one that big.  By the time I'm done with a lap quilt, I'm tired of the design and the fabric ... ready to start something else.  Just look at all the piecing work in this monster!!

Now this one was a little .... different.  Not my cup of tea, but a lot of work went into it.

At the Yuma show, Cindy and Ray told me a little secret.  If you see one you really like, take a picture of the card with the quilter's name and the NAME OF THE PATTERN.  Then you can go buy the pattern and make it yourself.   

This is a magnificent showing of paper piecing.  Just WOW!!!  Again, king sized, so you can imagine the amount of work that went into THIS!!  I think it just might scare Cooper to sleep on it.  Yes, Cooper has to give every quilt his seal of approval!!

This was my favorite of the show.  Paper pieced to be sure, but an amazing choice of colors.  There were way too many to take pictures of even a quarter of the quilts.

At the very back was a huge section from Cathey's Sew and Vac, the biggest sponsor of all things sewing and long arms.  I received a $5.00 gift coupon and spoke to the owner at length, of course mentioning my machine.  When I spotted my sales guy, I made a point to say I was still waiting for him to call me about my Monday delivery.  He pretty much ignored me, but what can I do.  They have my machine.  Maybe I need another piece of chocolate cake.

I wandered around the vendor tables, not finding much fabric and didn't want to fight that guy for any of the $2.00 quilting books for sale.  He was making sure he got everything he wanted before anyone else, literally holding his arms out so no one could look in the crates.  It takes all kinds.  Amazingly, I didn't buy one single thing.

In no time I was out the door and headed for my truck, which I'm happy to say had not been towed away.  That $5 coupon is of course burning a hole in my pocket, but with the winds still blowing, it will have to wait.

I was up most of the night listening to the crunch of tree branches blowing into the front awning right by my bedroom window.  My ESP tells me I'll be chopping and hacking very soon!!  In the meantime, I'll be on the couch listening to the howl of the wind through the trees into Tucson while I figure out what to buy with my $5.00.  As the old cowboys say, never look a gift horse in the mouth!!