Election Day Festivities

I Voted...early!!

This past Tuesday was Election Day.   Since I was able to vote early, I elected to celebrate Election Day by visiting the Mt. Tam Quilt Guild to present my "Challenge Yourself!" lecture/trunk show.

I was warned about traffic conditions en route, so I left early to beat the traffic and make time for a few detour destinations!!  My first pit stop was New Pieces quilt shop in Berkeley, CA.  There I observed a large tour bus parked outside and braced myself for the possibility of competing with a quilt shop hop tour.  Well, my instincts were correct and the bus was transporting a large group of quilters from Australia who were trekking all over the United States visiting the Houston Quilt Festival, quilt shops and museums along the way.  Fortunately, I arrived just as the last few Aussies were heading off to lunch and so I had the store mostly to myself!  New Pieces carries a fabulous selection of fabrics including an impressive array of ombres.  In fact, I was excited to discover a few new ombres that I just had to add to my growing ombre stash.

Good Ombres!!

I also found some other fun finds...including some brown prints!!

So many wonderful candidates...so hard to choose....so I chose them all!!

My next stop was my first visit to the Dharma Trading Company store which was in the same city as the quilt guild meeting.  I just love the amazing selection that Dharma offers via their website and catalog, and their equally exceptional customer service.  Typically if I place my order by 11 AM, it is processed that afternoon and sent out for delivery...and arrives at my door the very next day!!  Mostly I have ordered fabrics, dyes and supplies...but they carry a large selection of prepared for dye clothing and accessories.  So I took this opportunity to try on some of their apparel and pick up my order of Pimatex PFD and some new dye colors:  grape, eggplant and fire red!  

Rocking the PFD White in Honor of Suffragettes

Afterwards, I did a bit more shopping and ate dinner before arriving early to the meeting venue, which is a small church perched at the top of a large hill.  I arrived just as the sun was setting and greatly enjoyed the panoramic views.  At one point I looked out at the parking lot and even saw a deer walking past!

Red, White, Blue and Beautiful!!

Just as the sun finished setting, it was time for the Mt. Tam quilt guild meeting to commence.  Before the meeting was a flurry of activity and excitement, as members shopped at their boutique and library, picked up outreach quilt kits, dropped off blocks and signed up for workshops.  They begin their meetings with the presenter, so I was up first.  The timing of my "Challenge Yourself!" lecture was perfect as they have an Architecture inspired quilt challenge due in December.  Several members thanked me for providing motivation and inspiration for them to finish their entries before their next meeting, which just made my night!!  Equally awesome was the number of members that signed up for my Walking Foot WOW! workshop following my presentation (class spots filled and a wait list started!!)  

Many thanks to the entire Mt. Tam quilt guild for welcoming me into their community.  I had a lot of fun and look forward to returning in late January!!