Victoria's Abstracts in Fabric Show Opens for all too see....

I am so excited, I went to the opening of Victoria's show last night.  Through the storm and all...smiles.  It was truly a wonderful sight to see.  She is very special to me.  In case I have not told the story....my beginning days of quilting began in January 2000 when a work colleague's wife had a dream that she would revolutionize the world with a quilting bee.  (No, seriously in December 1999 she had the dream, and that's really what she said...it went along with empowering women, etc..)  Anyway, in January 2000 about 9 of us met at her house on East 86th Street, NYC armed with a book "Quilting for Dummies", quilting needles, fabric, and thread.  We read through the book, decided on our projects, and agreed to meet monthly to quilt, sew, and talk.

A year later, we had completed some projects, others fell off, and we sort of disbanded, but my desire was stoked.  I went on to find other groups and classes to expand my skills, and then I created Cocktails and Thread after taking a sewing class near the bowery.  The name came up because we always went for drinks  after our class, and by our second series of classes, we began to bring a bottle of wine or a wine cooler, to sip as we stitched...  Now, as life happens, people come and go but I continued to quilt, and sew and teach knitting etc.

In about 2007 I met a fellow quilter through the New York State Bar Association, so then I had a pal to chat with about all things quilting.  Over the years, her and I would meet after our events and go to see all things quilt related, i.e., quilt exhibitis, fabric shops, quilt shops, quilt classes.  This is still ongoing.  However, late last year I realized that I wanted to be in a community of quilters.  The problem was, I was never in a guild, never sought out a guild, because I was not sure I would belong.  I was not a "traditional" quilter, I never took quilting classes, etc. and I simply was not sure.

So with the use of the trusty internet I began googling quilting groups and guilds.  I saw the Empire Quilt Guild (which I am now a happy member, and realize I could have been getting discounts from my favorite Quilt shop all those years...).  I was a bit overwhelmed because they were so large and organized, that I was not sure if that would work for me.

So I searched some more, and then I found a group on ning called the NYC MetroMod Quilters and they also had a blog.  I joined ning...drooled over the blog and decided I wanted to hang with them.  I reached out and met a lovely person named Victoria, also known as BumbleBeans, Inc.   I went to my first meeting in October, armed with my woven strip, and I was excited.  The people were so wonderful, welcoming, exciting, interesting, and just truly amazing.  They are indeed a talented group...And Queen V was especially encouraging and welcoming...so I was hooked...

So, as you see I am soooo thrilled and pleased to attend her show...and am so happy to say that I know the woman that created these lovely works of art.