Much of this past week was spent preparing and participating in Meet the Teacher (MTT) programs here in California. These programs bring traveling quilt teachers, quilt guild representatives, quilt shop owners, and quilt event organizers all together under one roof to promote quilt programming! As a teacher, they are a wonderful opportunity to promote my workshop/lecture offerings, as a way to schedule more teaching engagements for the upcoming year.
My preparations began several weeks ago as I designed and ordered new teaching postcards that showcase my menu of workshops and lectures, along with all my contact information (email me if you'd like for me to mail you one to share with your local quilt guild/organization/shop!) Each participating teacher is assigned a table or booth to display their workshop samples and space is limited so I must carefully curate which quilts to hang, display and have on hand!
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| MTT Packing |
The
Northern California Quilt Council's MTT was on Wednesday. Below left you can see my set up display. As most of my samples are fairly compact, I am able to present a large variety in my area. In addition to setting up our display, each teacher delivers a timed 3-minute presentation and mini trunk show featuring up to six quilts.
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| MTT Set Up |
Those 3 minutes sure can fly by, so I find it essential to rehearse and practice my content, timing, and delivery! While it can seem a bit daunting at first, once you realize you are talking to a room full of quilters who are just as passionate about quilting, it gets a whole lot easier!!
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| NCQC Quilt Enthusiasts |
With 28 teachers presenting, there is wonderful variety of different quilting traditions, styles and techniques on display: Modern, traditional, art, contemporary, surface design, and more!! Of course, it is a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow quilt artists and teachers, including the lovely
Youngmin Lee, who creates such delicate art in the Korean textile tradition of Bojagi.
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| Quilting Connections |
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| Long Beach Airport Walk About |
We arrived the night before to settle in, meet up with another fellow NorCal teacher,
Sheila Collins for some delicious mexican food and margaritas, followed by some relaxation in the hotel's hot tub!
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| Hotel Walk About |
The southern California MTT is similar in that each teacher has a booth and presents for 3 minutes, but it is a much larger venue in that there are nearly 50 participating teachers, double the number of guild reps in attendance, and each teacher gets their own table.
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| Southern California Set Up |
Not only is it a larger event, but longer too, with guild reps going around to all the tables for the duration of the program. This equates to nonstop talking for 5+ hours!!
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| Presenting My Workshop Line Up (Thanks to Sarah Goer for snapping the action shots!) |
Of course it is all worth it when as you make lots of connections and leave with contracts to teach for the upcoming year!! As you can imagine, by the conclusion of the program, my brain was absolute mush! So instead of signing contracts, I unwound with some relaxing handwork on the plane and a refreshing, non-alcoholic margarita, compliments of Southwest!!
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| Flying High |
Many thanks to NCQC and SCCQG for hosting these annual Meet the Teacher programs, and many thanks to all the guild reps in attendance!! Be sure to watch my
teaching schedule for new teaching engagements in the upcoming year!!
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| Could This Be An Omen?!? |
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