The Magpies' biennial in-person meet up was this past week. The 'Pies met in the late 1990's on the Usenet newsgroup Rec.Crafts.Textiles.Quilting. We created the Magpies so that we could chatter off-topic to our hearts' content. We've added some members and we've lost some. We've celebrated milestones: weddings, births (children and grandchildren), birthdays, graduations. We've had deaths of spouses and parents (and a Magpie, too). Our first in-person meetup was in Ruidoso, NM, in 1999. We've had subsequent gatherings in Madison, NJ; Kansas City; Vancouver; Lowell, MA; Las Cruces, NM ; Chicago ; Santa Clara, CA; Perth, Australia; and, this year, Dallas, Texas.
We "gathered" on Wednesday evening: from Maine, Massachusetts, British Columbia (2), Western Australia (2), Nebraska, Virginia, Missouri, Texas (4), and Illinois. One of the other Illinois 'Pies could not come because she had a devastating house fire Monday. We missed her!
On Thursday we went to the Fort Worth Stock Yards. We arrived in time for the morning cattle drive. The guide for the two-hour walking tour was excellent.
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| Treadle bases for a display cabinet |
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| Online livestock auction |
We spent Friday at the Dallas Quilt Show. There were many beautiful and creative quilts on display.
Quilt historian Gerald Roy had a special exhibit of 35 19th and early 20th century quilts from his collection.This log cabin was stunning. The logs are about 1/2" finished. If you stand at the far right and look across the quilt the dark bands appear blue. If you stand at the far left they appear purple.
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| African-American Double Wedding Ring |
Friday evening a group of us went back to the stock yards--specifically, to the Coliseum--to see the rodeo! The Friday and Saturday night rodeos are the longest-running sanctioned rodeo events.
On Saturday morning Stevens' niece Lyn, who lives in suburban Dallas, came to the hotel to join me for breakfast. I hadn't seen her for quite a few years and we had a nice visit.Later that morning some Magpies stayed at the hotel to chat and sew and craft. I joined the group who went to the Montgomery Street Antiques Mall in Fort Worth -- 51,000 square feet! I bought a 13-piece tea set (table mat, napkins, coasters)--hemstitched linen with embroidered daisies, a lustre ware sugar bowl, and a vintage (1946) sewing book.
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| Inside Quilt Country |
s Here's the Magpie swag, the favors we traded among ourselves. (The cowboy boot mug rugs I made were a big hit.)
What with dealers at the quilt show, a stop at a Fort Worth quilt shop, and then Quilt Country -- such temptation! I got FQs for my New York Beauty project, some alphabet and number prints, and a few others that I could not resist. Total: 17 yards. I also got two patterns. Here's the entire haul.
My flight today (Sunday) went without a hitch and I pulled into the driveway at 5:30. TexFest was an unqualified success -- and now we can chat about where we'll meet for our 20th anniversary in 2018!
I'm linking up with
Oh Scrap!
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
What fun! My "magpie" group is more local, though 5 of the 21 live outside Tennessee. We do the same kinds of things, including swapping little gifties at our twice-yearly gatherings. Female friendships are so important.
ReplyDeleteBoy do you gals know how to have FUN! Love the swag items. I also am enamored with the the Elizabeth Hartman design you bought. I keep seeing all sorts of uses for the animals maybe all in one quilt like she showed but also the possibilities when the animals strike out on their own!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness What fun!!! and those quilts - ohh la laa!!
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