The Quilt Show

A couple of months ago I received an email with an invitation to tape a segment for The Quilt Show – Alex Anderson and Ricky Tim’s program. If you’ve never heard of it, I invite you to check it out.

I was excited, honoured, and a bit terrified to tell you the truth, as immediately I started thinking I needed to have something new to show. Invitations like this one are always a good way to get you motivated to get work done and think of something new and fresh to show. The invitation also included two demos.

The first thing I did … go through all my half-done and unfinished projects to see which one excited me enough to get it done. And I found one – a finished piece (now) called “He Heard the Surf Roar”, which I shared with you in my last post. This was the deadline I mentioned at the time of writing. So that was one. What else?

I had just received the fabrics I had printed at Spoonflower with the peonies. I talked about my visit to the peony farm and shared some photos of the process in an Instagram post. I love the way those fabrics look printed. I decided to create some work with one of those pieces. I have plans for more. Stay tuned. Anyway … you get the idea – Invitation = new work.

Flights and hotel booked. Ready to go! I had a lovely conversation with Shelly – the producer of the show, where we discussed my life, how I came into quilting, and how I got to where I am now. Lots of information to create an interesting show.

On Thursday, August 18th I left bright and really early for the airport to catch a Delta flight to Dallas Fort Worth via Minneapolis. I had never been to that airport so I was kind of excited. You know? When you have nothing to do and a few hours to kill before your next connecting flight, I like to explore the airport to see what I can see. And find something to eat – not an easy task for someone who is celiac.

I arrived in Dallas with no issues, on time, and fingers crossed, my suitcase was there waiting for me. I had packed all my quilts in the suitcase and had packed the demo materials in the carry-on together with the clothes I was going to wear for the taping. And yes, I did go shopping and found a beautiful jacket at Purr in town.

Shelly picked me up at the airport and we went directly to the studio to set up. It’s such an interesting place. Mercury Studios is owned by Glenn Beck. He is an author and TV personality and collector of movie memorabilia so the studio is full of interesting things to look at. No photos allowed but I can tell you I loved the two robots, the Forrest Gump bench, and the collections in his office – which you can see through a glass wall.

Early the next morning, the crew started to hang the quilts. It is amazing how different your work looks in a large space when you can look at your quilts from a distance. They adjusted the lights and did all the things they needed to do to make my work look great. I am happy to say all pieces were straight and square.

I thought about doing this for months, since the invitation arrived, and dreamt about it. Prepared work for it, made sure everything was ready … and it was amazing how fast it all went! The production team would go over what was going to be said and in which order and then it was time to tape. It went without a hitch. Unfortunately, Ricky Tims was not there so I missed talking with him. Alex did a great job covering and flying solo. So impressed!

Then came the time for the demos. One at a time: Merging Shapes in Powerpoint and then Embellished Rocks.

And one more:

What a fantastic experience! I also got to watch while Denise Lopez worked on a long arm and Spanish artist Cristina Arcenegui Bono talked about her pictorial whole-cloth quilts. Amazing work! You won’t want to miss it.

A lot of stuff was going on behind the scenes and on set but I am not going to spoil the surprise. Catch it all online at The Quilt Show. I will keep you posted as to when the episode will air – I believe sometime during early 2023. We’ll have to be patient now.

Saturday morning arrived bright and warm and it was time to come home.

I hope you enjoyed this account of my experience at the Quilt Show. Enjoy your week. And until I write again, keep creating,

Ana