Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, Here I am (Finally)

It's lovely here.

The quilts are bright bits of color and pattern everywhere. (Pat Holly's Paisley Peacock was a real standout -- so was a beautiful pictorial of a Paris street scene, a dandelion pictorial wall quilt, an amazing woolen outfit -- all recycled from the owner's college clothes -- and surprisingly, a close-up triple view of a cat labeled the 'Dirty Harry of the feline world.' That quilt's name was "Do you think you're lucky, Punk -- do ya, huh?") I don't think I have seen as much consistently good workmanship in a long time. (A gentle reminder: not keeping your quilting even throughout the quilt -- doesn't matter if you're quilting a lot or a little, just be consistent -- will give your piece the impetus to RIPPLE big-time along the bottom!)

Especially since these are fresh out of the boxes, and it's been raining off and on for quite some time, leading to a higher humidity. The streets shine like fresh-minted pennies, and the skies are blueberry and black raspberry swirls, gleaming.

But the monkey of discouragement has been on my back the past few days...and he's heavy. (He ain't my brother!)  I got bumped off the plane I was supposed to take to Virginia -- so instead ended up taking the last plane possible from Denver, got into Atlanta around 9:30 p.m....and the last flight to Newport News was only about 10 minutes later. (And would have cost another $230-plus.) I did what seemed practical at the time: spend the night in the Atlanta airport, then take the first flight in Tuesday morning.

Considering I'd only get a few hours of sleep at a hotel before having to turn around and come back, I opted to spread out some of the quilts in my suitcase, and sleep at the airport. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, except for some maintenance guys' tendency to break into passionate song when nearby! (One of the selections last night was a very nice baritone version of "Some Enchanted Evening.")

I grabbed my suitcases at baggage claim, jumped in a taxi and made it to the conference center at 10:30 a.m. this morning, only to find out I'd been replaced as a judge. (I'm guessing they did it within an hour of when I first called Monday afternoon from Denver. So in a way, even if I'd spent the extra money and managed to catch the flight, it wouldn't have mattered.) I can't blame them at all -- I was late, and judging started earlier that morning. But to spend sooo much time in airports getting here, as well as being a little punch-drunk, anyways, from fatigue and hustling to get here...

As The Mama pointed out...it couldn't be helped. But it sure was a discouraging way to start the week. I've got a Quilts of the Golden West class tomorrow, plus a lecture right after class...my busiest day. And the one-year anniversary of my dad's death, as well. It's going to be a long one.