Hawaii - What more do I need to say ?

Had a GREAT time in Hawaii (Maui). Beautiful weather, yadda yadda. We did the bike ride down Haleakala, Road to Hana, Surf lessons and the required Boose cruise (on a sail boat/catamaran). Loads of sun, fun and sand!

We took around 400 pictures, and I might post some, but they all seem to be of scenery or us grinning ear to ear! !

More later . .

Getting Ready for Hawaii !

Well, it's finally here! We take off for sunny Hawaii tomorrow. We're celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary, and it's one of the few times we're taking a big vacation and one or both of the kids aren't coming with us. Last time we went to Hawaii, we met my brother and his wife, and Lindsey came along as well. We had a great time, but was a little crowded getting 5 people in the Sebring convertible.

This time we're going to Maui. Jon has the whole trip planned out. I do believe we will need another vacation to recover from all the activities. We're riding a bicycle down the mountain, road to Hana, snorkeling, Scuba lessons, SURFING lessons (he DOES know how coordinated I am), and he even is going to pilot an airplane while we're there. He just has to bring his airplane logs.

One of my best friends just found out she has a brain tumor. Needless to say she is terrified, waiting until next week to do a biopsy to find out more. Several of us are getting together today, and are putting together a big surprise for her. Can't say what it is (it does have to do with quilts though, as she is a fellow quilter), but hopefully will cheer her up and take her mind off of things. Keep Michelle in your prayers.

Best of Show 'Thread Nest'

OK, As promised, here is the thread nest on the back of the BEST OF SHOW quilt at MQS !!!

Sharon Schambers' "Flower of Life" won the Best of Show, but I took a fun picture of the BACK of the quilt where she left a HUGE thread nest.

OK, OK, don't get me wrong, this quilt is gorgeous and also won at the AQS show in Paducah in April. Lots of discussions going on as to how she managed to pry it out of the hands of the AQS people if she accepted the $20,000 in prize money (which AQS becomes the owner and displays the quilts in their musuem). I assumed that she already had it entered in this show, and just discussed it with them. Several people (probably sour grapes) didn't think it should have been entered since it had won at AQS. I didn't see the problem.

Oh, the other gossip from the show. Linda Taylor's quilt got disqualified because the office girl that filled out the entry form paperwork mistakenly checked 'wholecloth' and it wasn't. MQS disqualified it rather than just moving it to the correct category. Linda was a bit miffed and had it hanging in her classrooms instead. She asked that we not take pictures, so I didn't.

MQS - What a trip!

Well, Sharon Schambers' "Flower of Life" won the Best of Show, but I took a fun picture of the BACK of the quilt where she left a HUGE thread nest. We also found a whole area on Renae Haddadins' "Sugar and Spice" quilt that looks like she forgot to quilt it! Made all of us feel better that 'those' quilters aren't perfect!

I spent a LOT of time speaking with the different vendors for computerized quilting options to add to my Gammill. I think I'm still most impressed with the IQ (Intelliquilter) , which uses the little notepad computer. All of the others use a Dell computer, tower and monitor. Seems like that would be a problem, running back and forth to the computer if the head was down at the other end of the table. My only real concern on the IQ is whether vibration could effect performance.

I was put off by the salesman from Accomplish Quilting who told me several lies. Told me I HAD to trade in my 1 1/2 year old Gammill Classic for a Gammill Optimum and that my basically new machine was only worth $10,000. He told me several other 'fibs' that were contradicted when I talked with 2 other Statler stichers dealers - either of which I would be happy to purchase from if I go with the Statler).

Did buy the micro drive handles for my machine. That way I can start using the new chair and track that I bought so that I can sit and quilt!

Will post pictures after I unload the camera.