The Quilt Show Part 3: Taping in La Veta

My 2 hour drive from Colorado Springs down to La Veta, Colorado was absolutely gorgeous!!  I loved seeing all the mountains off in the distance, many of which had white peaks.        

Welcome to La Veta, Colorado 

This round of episodes was being filmed at Ricky Tim & Justin Shults' Art Quilt Retreat Center/Studio (which is where the first 2-3 seasons of The Quilt Show were recorded).  Upon arriving, I was greeted by Justin, (who I immediately recognized from each episode's opening scenes) and that is when the reality of me actually being featured on TQS finally set in for me!  We got to work airing out my quilts and hanging them behind my demo set.  Once all the quilts were in place, I had a chance to explore the La Veta area before meeting up with the entire TQS crew for an absolutely delicious dinner.

Guess Whooo Will Be on TQS?!?  Shadow, Aspen and Cedar

After dinner, we were treated to a presentation about Wild Birds, by quilt artist Gail Garber.  Gail Garber is well known for her amazing quilt designs featuring flying geese.  But it turns out that she helped to form Hawks Aloft, a non-profit organization dedicated to avian Conservatory & Educational organization.  She brought three special guests for her taping:  3 owls that had all been previously injured and rescued through Hawks Aloft.  When I first arrived to the presentation, I saw the wooden perches at the front of the room.  It took me some time to recognize that there were live owls accompanying each perch as they were either well camouflaged into their habitat and/or were so still that they appeared to be statues!  Gail gave a fascinating talk focused mostly on owls and their unique features that help them to be expert nocturnal hunters, while also taking questions from the audienced.

Quiet on the Set

My taping was scheduled for the morning shift, so I woke up early to get ready, packed and head to the studio for the 8 AM start time.  As this was the first episode of the week, the crew was putting the finishing touches to the set and synching up the cameras, finetuning the lighting and testing the sound equipment; giving me the chance to observe and get familiar with the taping process.  I was impressed by the small yet expert production team consisting of owners Alex, Ricky, Justin, John; Producer Shelly; Editor in Chief/Production Manager Lilo; Assistant Mary Kay; Cameraman Zumi; Sound Technician Trevor; and 3 volunteers!  It was immediately evident at how this small yet finely tuned team worked well together to deliver a high quality production value for the TQS audience!!

Alex Anderson's teaching segment was first.  This gave me the opportunity to observe the taping procedure, while also watching a true professional at work!!  And soon I was in the hot seat as I shared the story of my own artistic journey and my quilts.  Alex and Ricky were lovely hosts as they welcomed me to the show and helped me to feel comfortable.  Once we started to talk about quilting, I completely forgot all about the cameras, lights or crew!  From there it was off to my two teaching demonstrations:  Slice of Improv and Mod Molas! And just like that, my work was complete!  As I was packing up my quilts and supplies, I had a chance to watch Alex & Ricky record the promotional clips, as well as Justin film his opening segment!   By 1 PM, I had packed up all my gear, grabbed some lunch, said my good byes and was on the open road heading back to Colorado Springs to catch my return flight.

That's a Wrap!

As you can see from my big ole smiles, I had such a fun time with The Quilt Show crew!  Many thanks to the entire cast and crew for welcoming me to the TQS family and allowing me to share my love of quilting with the TQS membership!!

Special thanks go out to:

-Alex and Ricky for being hosts with the most as they expertly guided me through each segment

-Lilo for helping to coordinate all the logistics flawlessly

-Shelly for crafting segments that really showcased me as an Artist/Teacher

-Mary Kay for being a familiar face on set and taking photographs of me & my quilts!!

-Justin, John, Zumi & Trevor for all their technical expertise behind the scenes

-All my family & friends who helped to support me on this incredible journey!

In the next few weeks, I will learn the air date of my episode and will be sure to post updates and access information so you all can watch how the episode unfolds!!  Stay tuned!!