Ladies of the Lake Quilt Show

Hello Everyone,

 

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend beginning with the set up of my Sew'n Wild Oaks booth at the Ladies of the Lake Quilt Show in Lakeport, California.



 

I can squeeze more quilts, product, and props into a 10' x 10' space than you can imagine!

By the time a couple of shoppers enter the booth, it's pretty small and cozy.

No one wanted to buy my lanterns this time.  During one of my shows, they were the hottest item in the whole booth!

 

 I heard one lady comment that my booth "sucked her right inside."  That made me chuckle.

 

Our friends Patty and Jeanne came by the booth to see us yesterday afternoon.  Gail is proudly displaying her cookie.  Those of you that follow my blog know that her reward for helping me is a cookie.  I didn't have to supply the cookie this time.....it came in her lunch!  After this weekend, I think I owe her a large quantity of cookies for being such a big help.

 



I had the honor of drawing the winning name for the Country Charmer opportunity quilt. Here I am with Linda, one of the very helpful guild members was the lucky winner.

 

As I was driving home last night from the show, I was mulling today's post over in my mind.  The recurring word that kept popping into my brain was "community".  I loved the little community of Lakeport nestled right on the banks of Clear Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in California.  Even more than the area, I loved the community of quilters. Gail and I were welcomed with open arms by the guild members from the minute we drove up to the front door of the exhibit hall at the Fairgrounds.

 



This was our view from our restaurant at dinner.  Can't beat this!

Now let's get back to community and fellowship.  Gail and I drove through Middletown, the area ravaged by the Valley Fire.  The land went from parched to scorched for MILES.  We could see the indiscriminate nature of the fire.  One house would be standing surrounded by the ashes of former homes.  As we drove by the turnoff to Cobb, the epicenter of the fire, we saw a sign than said, proceed at your own risk.  We didn't take that route to our destination.

We met with six of the guild members who lost EVERYTHING in the fire.  As luck would have it, some of them were returning to their homes from the quilt guild meeting and saw the smoke.  If they had been home, could they have saved some of their belongings, or would they have been unable to escape? The quilting community has embraced these six members with their heartfelt love and donations to get them back to quilting and some semblance of a normal life.

The Ladies of the Lake couldn't have been more gracious, or helpful to Gail and me this weekend.  We enjoyed all of you so much!  We made so many new friends and we both look forward to a return visit. Thank you so much Ladies of the Lake. 

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of quilts that were on display at the show.  The Ladies are amazing quilters.  I'll bet some of them can walk on the waters of Clear Lake too!

Soon,
Lynn