Why I Went to Colorado

As it turns out, there are so many reasons to go to Colorado!

Did you know that Colorado is the healthiest state in the U.S.?  All that clean air and outdoor living, I guess. People kept telling me about all the fabulous hikes I might enjoy.

I don't know about the rest of the state, but the part I was in (Loveland, CO) boasts an impressive number of artists, thrift stores, artist co-ops, and outdoor sculpture.  What a lovely treat!  Here is an *amazing* typewriter I found in a thrift store for only $65:

Unfortunately, it did not come home with me, because it was ridiculously heavy.  But, it's so, so pretty, don't you think?  Sigh.

There was spectacular weather - both in the good and bad sense.  First the good: warm days and cool nights.  Always the best combination.  As for the bad: tornado warning and golf ball sized hail while I was there.  In fact, I walked out of the hotel one morning and discovered a fleet of storm chasing vehicles parked outside.

The Denver Airport is really lovely.  Seriously.  I flew out of LaGuardia in New York.  LaGuardia is a miserable airport.  It's old and broken down and just a generally unpleasant experience.  

The Denver airport, however, is palatial.  Miles of glass windows, moving sidewalks, and beautiful inlaid floors.  There's public art and tons of shops and restaurants.  It was not a bad place to have to wait a few hours.

Finally, it turns out that I know some people who live in Colorado!  This was the best surprise of all.  I had lunches and dinners and some impromptu shopping with a few of my internet friends.  I was terrible about taking photos, but here's one of me and Ronda Palazzari:

I stole the image from her blog, right here. 

She was kind enough to take me to the quilt store (where I bought shameless amounts of printed canvas) and to see her fabulous scrap room (where we took the photo above).  I also saw Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero, Emily Pitts, and Arleigh, aka Little Ducky.

As you can see, there are lots and lots of reasons to go to Colorado.

But why did I go?

Here's a hint:

Can you guess?

Here's another hint:

Do you recognize the woman on the left?  That's Helen Gregory, Managing Editor of Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors. 

Can you guess now?

Should I just tell you?

I'm bursting with the news!

Sometime around the end of July you will be able to purchase my hour-long DVD!!

Eeek!  How exciting is that?

I was delighted when Helen contacted me and asked me if I'd be interested in creating a DVD workshop for Cloth Paper Scissors.  You can see some of the existing titles here.  Of course, as the taping date got closer and closer I got more and more nervous.  I was something of a basket case by the time I arrived in Colorado.  

This is a photograph of the monitor in the studio as I was taping.

No matter how many times I go on camera, I'm nervous every single time.  Butterflies in my stomach.  Sweat pouring down my face.  Cotton mouth and a brain full of mush.  But I think that's a good thing.  My Father has always told me that it's when you're not nervous that you're likely to give a bad performance.  The anxiety pushes you to do better.

I hope that's true.

Helen and the whole Interweave crew did a great job keeping me calm and keeping things moving.  They were all so very sweet and complimentary and it was much appreciated.  Here's a photo where we're discussing the upcoming segment:

And, of course, no matter how organized you are, taping always feels chaotic.  I had everything laid out on trays, but even the best laid plans...well, you know.

The studio is in a basement, so there wasn't a lot of ventilation.  It was quite swampy and I'm a sweater.  And boy did I sweat.  Here's a peek at what I looked like at the end of the shoot:

Tired and sweaty.  Ick.

But it was a good experience all around. 

I brought too much with me. 

But we managed to do each of the segments in one take. 

I'm curious to see what they choose for the cover art of the DVD.  I'm curious to see what they decide to name the DVD (my suggestion: "Quick and Dirty").  I'm curious to see what they end up cutting and what they end up keeping for the final DVD.  Mostly, I'm so gosh darn excited, I can't even tell you!!! 

I hope, I hope, I hope it's good!

I'll leave you with a silly photo I took in the hallway outside the studio.  They have all these funny paintings and I decided to step into one of them (Mary Poppins style):

(I think it really looks like I'm stepping on the stair!)

Thanks for letting me share my happy news!