Buggy Barn Quilt Show

I'm heading to the Buggy Barn Quilt Show next week where Im meeting up with some friends to enjoy a week of classes, shopping, great food and fun.  Those Buggy Barn gals know how to host a quilt show, this will be the second time that I've attended.

I'll be taking a class with Kim Diehl.

I think I own all Kim's books but have yet to make a single project, I don't know why, I pretty much love everything she designs.  Well that's about to change.

I'm also going to take a class with Pat Wys.

I've signed up for Road Trip, the cover quilt on her Knockout Neutrals book.  Pat's another designer that I have admired and am excited to learn all I can about her take on working with neutrals.

I'm also going to take a wool mat class with Stacy of Buttermilk Basin.

My projects are all cut out and my sewing machine is packed, I'll be back in a week to tell you all about it.

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Are you ready for . . . .

Are you ready for some Buggy Barn Quilt Show Pictures?

As if hosting a week of classes isn't enough fun (and work) for the folks at the Buggy Barn, they wrap things up with a quilt show and folk art festival on the weekend.  On Saturday and Sunday, what is normally a farm in the middle wheat fields, is converted into an outdoor exhibit hall.

This is the Buggy Barn Shop, each side covered with quilts.

Here's another barn, also covered in quilts.  That flag at the top of the barn is a quilt!  Doesn't it look just perfect up there!

Clotheslines and fences are also used to display the quilts.

It's something to see in person.  We could not have had a nicer day for an outdoor show.  This show has never been rained out!  Pam and Janet, their families, and the staff at the Buggy Barn, get up at 4 am Saturday morning and start hanging quilts in order to have the quilts on display by 10, when the show opens.  The quilts then come down for the night and they do it all again Sunday.

There was a nice variety quilts made by folks from everywhere.  Out of all the quilt shows I've ever attended this one had the best light and most room.  It was a wonderful change of pace.  I sure hope I get to go back.

And hey, are you ready for some.....FOOTBALL!!

Yes, it's finally here, football in America officially kicks off tonight.   Edy's icecream and Nabisco were nice enough to commemorate the occasion with some nice football themed food that I couldn't resist picking up.  I enjoy most sports but football is by far my favorite.  I root for three teams but enjoy watching almost any team play. And as much as I enjoyed my Summer of Fun, there's nothing like football in the fall to keep me smiling.

What about, are you ready for a  . . . Giveaway  !  

To celebrate the start of football season, and the fact that sometime over the summer I posted my 400th blog post, accumulated over 400 followers, and surpassed 800,000 hits on my blog, AND because I was so busy with my Summer of Fun that I didn't have the time to respond to all my comments but you kept stopping by and commenting, and to give someone who didn't get a taste of the Buggy Barn a little  morsel, 

I'm giving away this kit to make this pattern, Harvest House.  The fabric is from the Buggy Barn's line Harvest House and is full of fall colors, prints and plaids. 

To be eligible to win this pattern and bundle of fabric just leave a comment on today's post telling us what you did this summer that was the most fun.  It can be something as simple as sitting on your porch and watching the fireflies to an amazing trip, to whatever, it was your summer and I'm sure you had some fun.  The contest will close midnight, CDT, September 7th, with the winner announced Saturday, September 8th.  If the United States Post Office will deliver to your address you are eligible to enter.

Finally, thanks for all the wonderful thread storage tips, I'm researching your suggestions and will let you know what I decide when my thread is organized. And thanks also for the 3 or 4 brave souls who admitted to having the same storage system that I have, that just made me smile!

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I'm Back . . . .

This is the Buggy Barn! 

The Buggy Barn is "a unique quilt shop in the country", run by Pam Soliday and Janet Nesbitt in Reardan, Washington.  They are also fabric and pattern designers.  I spent last week at an amazing retreat organized by these two wonderfully sweet and talented ladies.

This was the 16th year for this retreat, it was nothing but fun, I can't believe I missed the first 15!

I'll blog more about my week of classes, the wonderful food, and the quilt show later this week.  Since this is my normal Tools Tuesday slot, and since I got so many questions about it, today I'm going to blog about  my sewing machine travel bag.

I'm happy to report that I checked my sewing machine and it made it to the show and back home just fine, it even changed planes in Minneapolis!

This bag is made by Omni-Glide.  It's a lightweight, hard case bag on wheels with a great pop up handle for easy maneuverability.  It comes in several sizes but I needed the X-Large for  my Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0.  I added the pink daisies to the outside of the case and every single daisy also made it back home!

Inside the hard lined case is a padded bag for the machine,

with a padded top.

That bag is then attached to the inside of the case with clips to keep it in place.  Just to make sure my machine didn't move around at all, I also added the following in the case with the machine.

At one of my first classes at a quilt show, on the list of class requirements,  was listed a padded seat cushion.  I brought one to that class and have brought one to every class I've had since.  I placed that cushion on one side of my machine and around the top, the cords were also on the outside of the padded liner.  My Omnigrid cutting/pressing mat went on the other side of the machine.  I then used fabric for my class to pad each end.  The fabric in the picture above was used to pad the sides on the way home, it's Lucy's Crab Shack by Sweetwater for Moda and it's going to be my new sewing machine cover.

Anyway, with all that stuff stuffed in that case, my machine didn't move at all.

The TSAs took a look inside the bag on the way to and from the retreat.

I had it locked with one of the TSA approved locks, nothing was amiss and the sewing machine made it so I guess it passed inspection.

I spent no time last week looking at blogs or reading my email but I hope to get caught up this week.

I also hope to finish this, Dimestore, the August Schnibbles of the month, the parade is just a few days away!

For those who asked, the background fabric I'm using is Great Harvest by Debbie Mum for South Sea Imports and it's a perfect match for that Phenomenal Fall line by Sandy Gervais.  Plus it has dots, who doesn't love dots!

In addition to the two Paula Barnes classes I attended last week, I also attended a wool class, my first, and I'm hooked!  Stop back tomorrow for a look at my project. 

Nicole, from Sister's Choice Quilts blog,  met me in Washington and we attended the classes together.  Stop by her blog for her posts regarding our week of fun.

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