Road 2 California Quilt Show

Angela on the longarm

the master at work

check out her gorgeous quilting- this girl has SKILLS

feathers and swirls!

quilted by Angela

Jenna and Angela talking quilts

more quilts by Angela

Angela posing by her work

gorgeous quilts

also quilted by Angela- I love the colors

close up of her quilting

this one was also quilted by Angela and was one of my favorites

check out the amazing quilting

all the negative space was a platform for lots of beautiful quilting

tiny pebbles in between all those poppy letters

show quilts

this one was actually quilted by the amazing Karen McTavish

awww... i love that piggy!

some of these show quilts are just awe inspiring

look grandma- the HQ Sweet Sixteen!

Cheese!

lots of activity at Jaybirds booth

Jaybirds lovely quilts all quilted by Angela

Julie "Jaybird" and I

Angela and Jaybirds

Angela and I with her new book

I was lucky enough to get to attend the first day of the Road 2 California quilt show in Ontario CA yesterday.  This was my very first big quilt show and I couldn't have had better company to enjoy the show with.  My pal Angela Walters told me about the show over 9 months ago as she had been booked to teach some classes and do some speaking.  She knew I was in So Cal and wondered if I might like to come to the show and get to meet her in person to hang out for a bit.  Heck Yes- I have been counting down the days for a very long time and finally yesterday arrived.  We almost never get rainy weather down here but yesterday was an exception to the rule- My lovely BF drove me the 1.5 hrs to Ontario and it poured the whole time.  Once I got into the show I contacted Angela and met right up with her along with another gal Jena who had taken all three of her longarm classes the 3 days prior to the show opening up.  Us gals spent a few hours walking the show looking at all the loveliness.  I got to see several of the quilts Angela had quilted for customers hanging in booths amongst many show quilts.  She took us over to the long arms and I got to try long arm quilting for the first time- which is similar to my new mid arm set up but even better!  She also did some stitching and it was so neat to watch her do her thing live and in person.  She also heard that my dear Grandma had bought a HQ Sweet 16 and since she lives 1100 miles away I hadn't had the opportunity to try it out yet, so we found the booth with those and she made sure I got to try it and get a picture for Grandma Pat.  We went over to Sharon Schambers booth and I bought a Quilt Halo.  Sharon was very nice and her quilts were phenomenal.  It was quite a memory to meeting her.  After that we had some lunch and then made our way over to Jaybird Quilts booth where we got to meet the infamous Julie.  She was a total bundle of energy and it was amazing to see her work her booth- she is such a motivated business woman- demoing her rulers and selling her patterns- it was inspiring to see the passion and energy that goes into the kind of success she has had- as well as the amazing talent.  Her quilts were gorgeous in person and Angela had quilted most all of them- they make a fantastic team- and it was so fun watching them interact.  After meeting Julie we tracked down Emily Cier- who was on her lunch break from teaching her class- and I got to meet her as well.  She was a very nice warm hearted woman who had beautiful books and her class was very engaged in her teaching with many of her students working through their lunch break because they were having so much fun.  Shortly after meeting Emily we got some coffee and had a bit of a break from the very crowed show and then Angela had to go back to Jaybirds booth to do a book signing for her books Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters and In the Studio with Angela Walters.  It was great fun to see many excited faces come up to get their books signed and pictures taken with Angela- especially the happy women who had taken her class and fallen in love with her teaching style and warm personality.  It reminded me how very lucky I was to have gotten to walk the show and spend the day with her and get so many wonderful introductions and a behind the scenes look at the industry.   It was truly a magical day and one I will never forget.  I met a very like minded woman whom I hope to be friends with for life- and I still keep wondering if all that amazingness really happened, then I pinch myself and remember that it did!  Enjoy the eye candy as of course I took pictures for you all!