The night of a thousand quilters.

OK, I'm ready to move. I have met Alex Anderson!!!!! For you non-quilters out there she was the host of a cable television show called "Simply Quilts." It ran for 11ish years and was really what first got me excited about the prospect of quilting. It's no longer on the air but Alex followed it up with a podcast and now an online quilt show. I'm a big fan.

OK, so from day 1 of working at Back Porch Fabrics it seemed like everyone had their Alex Story. Heck the owner even co-taught a class with her so I was pretty sure I would get a chance to say "Thanks" in person at some point.

Six months later and nada! I was optimistic that she may come into the store today as she is teaching at the local Empty Spools quilt conference but no dice. Well the very nice thing about the Empty Spools group is they let local guild member quietly attend the speakers sessions in the evening free of charge. Last night I have the thrill of seeing Sally Collins (!!!), Kathy Sandback, Velda Newman and Melinda Bula (who is just hilarious). Tonight was Judith Baker Montano, Janet Fogg, Sue Benner and .... wait for it .... Alex Anderson.

Well me being so shy and reserved (not!) I went right up to Alex and introduced myself and explained I was the military spouse who wrote her several weeks ago for suggestions about storing fabric and shipping my sewing machine to Botswana. She had posted the email on her blog and about a dozen people responded with suggestions, several of whom I've started emailing for more info.

Well she remembered me right off and, I swear to God, teared up explaining that this was exactly what she was hoping for with her new online ventures as far as getting a world wide network of quilters comparing notes and sharing ideas. Wow! BTW, the is even prettier in person and you can totally tell she works out.

OK, so skip forward to a few hours later and she is speaking to the group. It's all very nice and myself and a thousand other quilters are laughing at her jokes and admiring the new quilts she brought. As she is wrapping up her speech she starts talking about receiving an email from "a young woman about to move to South Africa" and how happy she was that other quilters were able to give her suggestions and "where is Kristin? Stand up and wave." I'm paraphrasing, "she is what this is all about and I think she's under 30." O....M....G.

So I did.


(Background info: the quilt community is working hard to recruit new quilters so that is why being under 30 is a big deal.)

And then she said another sentence or two I can't recall because I was just in shock. Alex Anderson closed her speech with my story. And she thinks I'm under 30. And going to South Africa but I was not going to correct her on either issue.

Sigh. Today was also my last day working at Back Porch Fabrics. They have taught me so much and I am quite fond of the people I've worked with. (Hi guys!!! I told you I would start blogging!) As Alex says, "We quilters do get around" so I have no doubt I'll see them again down the road.