Greetings from California where I have been vacationing and visiting family. Of course every holiday is not complete without local quilt store visits. Yesterday I squeezed in a visit to the 25th Pacific International Quilt Festival at the convention centre in Santa Clara.  There were many beautiful quilts from around the world, and a large vendor component. 

Many of the quilts were displayed on the periphery of the vendor booths making it difficult to put space between the quilts and the crowds visiting the show.   I have to say that the lighting and layout at our show was significantly better!  There were representatives from nearby guilds around the room, each featuring their raffle quilts and upcoming shows.  There was even a guild for wearable art!  Several pictures from the show are in the newsletter.

Late in the day I attended an inspirational Kaffe Fassett lecture.  He spoke of his love for traditional quilts. “No one ever says that Shakespeare is not modern…..Every time you look at it it speaks of some other world”.  He also spoke of his fondness for simple geometrical boldness, and how you can never have too many stripes!  And of course colour is everything. Asked about unfinished works, he has very few.  His advice –  keep going, it turns out better than you thought.  Perhaps good advice for all of us and a boost to those considering participating in the guild’s PHD (Projects Half Done) sign up.

Thanks to those of you for your feedback on last month’s experimental seating arrangement.  One of the strengths of our guild is the diverse nature of the membership and every opinion matters!  

The aim of this initial seating experiment was an attempt by the executive to see if this might promote, at the guild meetings, an atmosphere that is friendly, welcoming and comfortable for all members but certainly not make it unpleasant for anyone. We learned that not everyone feels at ease with this arrangement and we need to provide alternative options to our membership.  The executive is currently exploring ways to better accommodate the diversity and welcomes your ongoing feedback.

Looking forward to seeing each of you at our next meeting!  

Bena Luxton