IQA Long Beach

I have returned home from several fabulous days attending the quilt show in Long Beach, CA. While this show is not as large as Houston, I can see it happening in a few years. The exhibition of all the quilts and fashion was, as usual, top notch. Karey Bresenhan and her crew put on a first class exhibit and the reception for SAQA and QA list members was lots of fun. I got to meet people I would never have otherwise. I finally got to meet Jamie Fingal who is such a hoot. I caught up with her for a few minutes while she was creating a new wardrobe for her mice. I also volunteered some time at the SAQA table ( I learned how to work the credit card machine). The SAQA exhibit was truly awesome and pictures do not do the quilts justice. I was able to spend some time talking to Carol Larson who seems to share some of my opinions and also met some other big name (to me) quilt artists.
Unfortunately, I am not able to post pictures so what you see here is my "masterpiece" from Make It University where I took a short class from Rebecca Gill of the fantastic Stewart Gill line of fabric paints,etc. I love that paint and have been adding to my stash for the past 2 years. I picked up more thread from Superior, some more Misty Fuse and Transdoodle from an overworked but smiling Iris Karp, a few polished wooden buttons, and I found some wonderful old carved wood blocks that I will use for stamping. I also broke down and bought a pattern for a handbag that I saw some woman carrying around that has lots of inside pockets.
After dropping off my girlfriend (we drove) I met my DH for dinner and had a well earned chocolate raspberry martini and blackened Tuna. Yummy.