Shipshewanna Quilt Show

The quilt show was wonderful. Surprising for a 1st quilt show, but definitely worth the trip. I had gone the the quilt show at Essenhaus last year, and thought it was nice, but I wouldn't travel 2-1/2 hours just for the show. Now, I would travel to see all the shops, however...yes, I did make it to Yoders and Lolly's. What's a trip to Shipshewanna without going to the quilt shops?

This was my favorite quilt. So colorful and I love the name, "Who Let The Dogs Out"?

A close up of one of the hiding dogs. I love the purple flower with the green background.

This was the grand prize winner. I definitely agree with their choice.

I am in awe of the quilting on this quilt. Love the hummingbirds.

Love the colors...

Pictorial quilts are my favorite quilts to look at.

Love the center of this quilt

This one is on my to do list

Love the colors in this quilt. I seem to be attracted to brights...

This one won an award for hand quilting

Close up view of hand quilting...awesome!

You can see all the pictures I took by clicking here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39917877@N06/sets/72157620697421990/

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Karen

Woo Hoo!

What a day I had yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I took a break from my seminar and went outside to find beautiful, mid-70 degree weather with a nice breeze. I was even more surprised when my husband called to say that I was going for a hot air balloon ride that evening. Every year, our town has a hot air balloon festival, and his employer sponsors a balloon pilot. So, they get a ticket for a ride in a balloon, and I got to go. I'd never been in a hot air balloon before, nor had I ever been so close as they were launching.

It was fascinating watching the balloons get inflated

And getting bigger...

The crew inflating the balloon I rode in (isn't it pretty?)

The carousel balloon getting ready for take off

Under the Sea balloon

And there was even a quilt balloon!

And then we launched. I looked back and saw this...

I looked up and saw this...

Then I looked out and saw this...

When we landed, the balloon took a little hop and landed on this...

I have to say, it was a little nerve-wracking not knowing what to expect, which wasn't made easier by the 2 hour wait before the actual launch. They make you sign all kinds of paperwork telling you about the dangers. The side of the basket was kind of high, and I'm kind of short so I needed my husband's help pushing me to get in the balloon. This has to be done quickly after the balloon is ready to go as there were several people who had to hold down the balloon to keep it from going up too soon. It was pretty hot out there with all the propane being shot into the balloons.


I was holding on for dear life as we ascended. I'm sure it was safe, but the higher we went, the smaller the sides of that basket seemed to get. And then they tell you the landing is the most dificult part, and you have to brace yourself so you have that on your mind. The landing actually went very well. The work that goes into preparing for launch and packing up once the flight is done is incredible. I've talked to several people who have gone up in hot air balloons, and they seem to have the same opinion I do. It was fun, it was interesting, and now that I've done it, I don't think I would do it again. Thank you Nancy for allowing me to experience this.


If you want to see more pictures, go to here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39917877@N06/


Hope you enjoyed the show. Karen

What other blogs do you read?

There are several blogs that I follow on a regular basis. Since I love to look at quilts, many are quilt related. Some are former myquiltblog contributors who've gone to another blog. Some are funny.

I stumbled on to this pair of blogs several months ago. I don't know if the same person does both blogs, but they seem to compete with each other to see which one will be the funniest. Here are the links.
http://beenchasingsquirrels.blogspot.com/ http://beenteasingdogs.blogspot.com/
Honestly, where do people come up with these ideas? And where do they get these pictures?

This is another funny blog about funny looking cakes that people find in bakeries:
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

What prompted me to write this blog today was that I checked in with one of my favorite blog writers, and found the most georgous pictures with the very cute captions and commentary. This woman lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and has the most beautiful pictures of her life on the farm. There are lots of different sections to her blog that I find fascinating to read. Here is the link to today's blog. She changes her blog every day, so if you miss today's posting, it is worth it to go back and look at it.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/confessions/

Hope you enjoy what you see. What blogs do you find interesting?
Karen