Thursday, September 9, 2010

Valdez Quilt Festival!

Two years ago, a few QBees and I attended a quilt festival hosted by our neighboring quilters in Valdez, Alaska. 
Here we are taking a pre-conference Columbia Glacier Cruise.  It was the first time any of us had ever met and taken classes from "Quilt Rock Stars"!  We really enjoyed learning new skills from Judy Neimeyer and Jackie Robinson ... it was so exciting!

The Valdez quilters host this four day conference, The Valdez Quilt Festival, bi-annually ... so yesterday ...
QBees Lila and Valerie
... we traveled by ferry ...
QBees Julie and Barb
... giggling ... chatting ... knitting ...
QBee Terry
... and relaxing our way across Prince William Sound.  Traveling to Valdez on the fast ferry takes only three hours ...
... and usually includes spectacular views ... this was our view yesterday ... ;-) ... gotta love this Alaskan weather!
We met three other quilters on the ferry ... they were from Anchorage ... had traveled by ferry to Cordova the day before and spent Tuesday night there.  Gosh, we wish we had known ... we would have shown them some real Cordovan hospitality!
 They were busy working on embroidery projects ... and enjoying the same scenic view.  ;-)
We arrived in Valdez around 11:00 am ... it was too early to check into the hotel ... we went and had lunch ... then made our way to the local quilt shop ... 
... The Calico Whale ...
... owned by Shelly ...
... and her sidekick, Sweetie, who is responsible for customer service.  Sweetie makes sure that all customers feel welcome and relaxed!  She is well named ... and quite a character.  I am convinced that Shelly wouldn't be able to manage without Sweetie! ;-)
The Calico Whale had samples ...
... inspiring displays ...
... lovely fabric ...
... beautiful yarn ...
... and a comfortable spot to sit while waiting in line to purchase new treasures!  It was fun to run into our new quilting friends from Anchorage! Yep we spent a couple of very enjoyable hours at the Calico Whale ... noooo ... we are not going to discuss how many $ we spent!  ;-)
The QBees and I are very excited to begin our classes this morning!  Learning from Quilt Rock Stars ... discovering new quilting techniques ... making new friends!  Yep ... I love my dillydally life!

2 comments:

  1. I have such good memories for the last time! I can't wait to see what wonderful things you all bring home. Happy Quilting!
    Ria

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  2. Can't wait until you post the results of all that dilly-dallying...Have a fun time!

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