QBL Update

When leaving my family to attend Quilting By The Lake, I told everyone I was going to a quilting conference. I wanted them to take me seriously and understand that this is serious business. My friend Christine old her family that she was going to Quilt Camp. They howled and made fun of her. QBL can be serious, but it really is like camp for us adult quilters. We get to play with fabric and designs all day, have someone else prepare our meals and have an evening program.
The last time I went to QBL was 2 years ago and it was held at SUNY Morrisville, a NY state college. It was blazing hot, in the high 90's and very few places were air conditioned. We stayed in dorm rooms without air conditioning and some of the classrooms did not have A/C either. I vowed NEVER to go back. It was hard to have fun when you were roasting. They did set up these industrial size fans in the classrooms that were so noisy and ended up blowing your fabric and papers all over.
So this year QBL moved to Onondaga Community College with air conditioned dorms AND air conditioned classrooms. I decided to give it a try again. As I wrote in the last post, I signed up for a class with Bob Adams. It's about the stitch. The facilities are a million percent better. The dorms and classrooms seem brand new. We were assigned to a suite with bedrooms and a living area and kitchenette. There were dollies and elevators to ensure a smooth move in experience. Dinner the first night was even accompanied by tablecloths and wine. And there is a lovely 3 mile walking loop around the campus so that I can do an early morning walk to burn off those dessert calories from the previous night's dinner. There was a great quilt show and vendors in the gym. (Of course there must be vendors. What if you forgot something, or just had to have some new fabric?)
One of the best parts of QBL is being in a quilting community and meeting quilters from a diverse geographic atmosphere. Not only do you learn from the teachers, but you also learn from the other participants. To the right is a photo of my favorite storage solution. (I was also extremely impressed by the number of sewing machine needles that Mary Ann owns!)Who would have thought of using one of those JUMBO pill containers?
Will I come back next year? They have already listed the faculty and classes for next year, but I think I will take a year off again. But it certainly won't be because of the facilities or how we were treated!