Here are some images of the Southwest from Saturday's AQS show. It's seems appropriate to start off with the commemorative Arizona quilt  :-)

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These next 3 were part of a large Route 66 collection.

This one of a dream catcher was much more impressive than my picture shows - there is much detail (with metallic thread) that just doesn't come through.

Arizona's icon, the mighty sahuaro

mining bucket

This was exquisitely executed - down to the 'blurry' fabrics chosen for the crowd, which definitely conveys the feeling of speed!  All done with small pieces, except for the girl's face, which is photo fabric.

This close-up of the horse's head may give you some idea of the work involved in the piecing.

This 'postcard' from Arizona incorporates fabric photos - great use of them!

Arid Agua speaks for itself!

While not as much detail/work in this landscape as in some of the other quilts, it was still lovely - and I like the petroglyph/pictographs in the border.

Bargello piecing worked great to create these baskets!

cowboys gabbing at the saloon

Again, lots of detail proves this wasn't the quilter's first rodeo! (Notice how many different pieces it took just to make up that head of white hair or that one red sleeve.)

A lot (!) of detail in this one, and I like how his mane/ears 'escape' the inner border.  I'm working on thinking outside the box more in my next quilts.

A lot of incredible detail in this mountain and eagle - stunning!

Patti came over yesterday for a bit to view all the pix, and she approved of my selection.  She also declared the fabrics I'd bought for MY landscape project "perfect"!  We'd taken a 3-hour landscape class together at QUILTZ some years ago - and never even got close to the part where you actually sew on the machine (yes, we'd schlepped them with us as instructed.)  That class really needed to be 2 days long.  And then everything just sat, tucked away for 'someday down the road'.  But when I found fat-quarters of stunning hand-painted fabrics in a landscape booth I knew I needed some.  Trouble was, the watercolor picture I'm using as my template was at home.  A call to Tom to photograph it on his phone and send it my phone met with grumbling - he was dealing with riding lawnmower issues, but he did send the photo - so I was able to select the perfect fabrics (thank you, Kim, for your help!)  Once I get my wall-hanging done (and you definitely don't want to hold your breath on that one!), it will be a lot more detailed than this cutie, a sample for one of that booth's patterns.

Shortly afterward hearing Tom gripe about my 'interruption' to his day, I saw these guys and asked to snap their photo. (They were surprised by my request, until I told them my hubby story.) One guy is carrying his wife's purchases, the other is carrying the credit cards.  They're spending the whole day at the show; so taking a couple of minutes to snap a photo on a phone and send it along seems quite easy when compared to that, right?  (This was early on - we'd ended up doing the vendors in the morning and the quilts in the afternoon, the reverse of my usual quilt show schedule - so I'm guessing his bag was considerably fuller by the time they left - and wallet considerably emptier?)

I want to take this opportunity to thank Mary, who insisted on carrying my purchases in her bag.  She said it was no problem, especially since they were small and light - but any extra weight I don't have to carry makes a huge difference to my back, so her help made a tremendous difference to me!

Check out this yo-yo vest Marilyn is wearing.  I bet some of the ladies I know could whip out one of these!

I bought this yard of sewing machine fabric, and it goes great with some of that black/white/gray pin fabric leftover from Tami's quilt years ago.  And this cutting arrangement takes up a lot less space than the conventional cutting table, vital when you are working out of a booth and space is very limited.  

I also bought fabric at this booth, but it's going to end up in a quilt (someday!) for someone who might be reading this, so I'm keeping it a secret.  Even though I had no intention of buying the Red Solo Cup pattern and making the quilt, I asked if I could still take a picture of it.  The vendor suggested that I be in the picture while he snapped it. This picture is for Alex!

I liked the purple ribbon embellishment at Hannah's booth - it definitely was an eye-catcher.  She's from LA, and didn't know about the upcoming AQG show in March.  Although she's already booked for March 2014, she's very interested for the 2015 show, and appreciated the info I was able to give her.  

More quilts later (I've barely made a dent in the 150.... LOL)

Yesterday I had called Mom around lunchtime (here), and she was watching the OLY ice skaters.  Figured I had missed them (it wasn't on the Sunday schedule I was working off of) but I hadn't; they didn't start airing that portion here until 6:30 last night, so I caught the ladies' competition and the ice dancing after all.

Last night I got a call to sub at the high school on Thursday, when I'll be teaching Algebra. Fun!  

So much for scheduling a (heavily discounted) massage on my one (reasonably) free day; the only other thing I'd had on for Thursday is irrigation that morning.  Tom will now get to take care of that, but since it's not until 10:30 it shouldn't be an issue.

Sure hope I can work in a massage before the coupon runs out February 21!

Now time to shower and get ready for my day.  The tree trimmers will be here at 8:00 for another (expensive) day, and then I'm off to the gym.

Enjoy your Monday!