It's A Mystery

It's most likely been a mystery to you as to where I have been since June 2.

I guess it's good that my spray painting spree on wicker furniture, flower pots, and galvanized pails stayed up for as long as it did. It seems as though it inspired Monica to spruce up her garden decorating in her favorite Happy Zombie red and aqua! This bit of inspiration inspired Autum to do some spray paint redo's to her Creative Little Daisy porch. There's no telling how many other bloggers have gotten inspiration from my spray painting fun, so if you spray painted something and made it gorgeous, do share!

So, are you still wondering where I have been? I could give you clues with mystery and suspense. In fact, there would be times that you would be sitting on the edge of your seat (yes, it's been that kind of excitement), but I'll leave the mystery writing for this beautiful lady, Mary Higgins Clark

and her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark.

My kids and I are huge fans of Mary Higgins Clark. We have just about every book she has written. Laura and Wade couldn't go with me today to the International Mystery Writer's Festival, but Julia did. Doesn't she look adorable by her favorite author?
Julia brought the book I'll Be Seeing You and I brought the Christmas book that Mary and Carol wrote together, The Christmas Theif. I don't know why we didn't get our picture made with Carol. My only guess would be that we were busy trying to help other people get their pictures made with them and forgot to shoot our own. Oh well. I'm sure if Carol reads this(yeah right)she'll understand.

Okay...so back to my mystery of why I haven't written on my blog or hardly visited any of yours!

For the past 2 years Terry(bff/no blog) and I have been planning a quilt show in the convention center in the largest hotel in our area, and the second largest in Kentucky, The Executive Inn. It wasn't just any quilt show; it never is because they are all special. However, this one is our 25th Anniversary Quilt Show.

In 2006 we chaired the quilt show at the "E", as we call it here in our town, and it was perfect. Everything was great. The 160 women in my guild were happy with it, so we took a vote and decided that we would host our 2008 show there, as well.

To make a really long story really short...the show is June 27 and 28 and we found out the "E" closed with no real warning on June 9. So much was going on in our town the entire summer. Not only was our quilt show planned, but so was The Mystery Writer's Festival, The International Bluegrass Festival, a huge Truck Show, a Dog Show, sporting events, not to mention weddings, weddings, and more weddings. A lot of people were coming to our little town on the Ohio River and it was exciting! In fact, a newspaper reporter called me to interview me about the quilt show because so much was going on that weekend. All the hotels were filled to capacity; excitement filled the air.

A week after he called me, rumors began to surface about the possible closing of the hotel due to the owners not being able to keep the hotel running and pay their employees. Karen Miller from tourism e-mailed me to see if there was anything the tourist commission could do to help us. How sweet.

Kathy Olson, curator for the Owensboro Museum of Science and History, contacted us and told us that if the E closed, she would love to have our guild host our show at the museum for free. Wow! I was so touched that people in our community really care for each other. I knew it, but I have never experienced it on such a personal level. Believe me; when you work as hard as Terry and I have over the past 2 years and there's a possibility all the time was wasted, it is personal!

Unfortunately, the E closed. It was a sad day, to say the least. It was a sad day for our city, for our tourism, and for the wonderful people that worked there. I can honestly say that unless a person has had to host an event at the hotel they don't know how each worker went above and beyond the call of duty. I wish them well.

The newspaper reporter called me again. I had good news, and good news is what our city needed to see! Yes, I was the only "happy camper" in the article, but I do pray for someone to buy the "E", for the employees, and for the festivals and other events going on this summer.

These past 2 weeks have been the equivalent to throwing a wedding with 160 bridesmaids and 1200 guests together in a hurry. Invitations had to be sent out again announcing our new venue. Advertising had to be completely redone. Hotel reservations had to be made for out of town vendors and our special guest, Patricia Knoechel (Eleanor Burns' sister from Quilt in a Day). Visits to the museum consisted of viewing what we had to work with, to laying out a plan on where to put 300 quilts, 11 vendors, an antique quilt display, an area for us to put a quilt in a frame for our members and the guests to hand quilt, and much more.

I think it's going to work. The show is this coming Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28. It's our 25th Anniversary Celebration!!! Quilts from all of our past presidents, including mine, will be in the show. Each time a president's term of office is over she is presented with a quilt top made by the members. Here's mine. My Vice-President, Nell, made it for me. It is a reflection of Nell, and I am going to have the members sign it. That's what I wanted: a signature quilt.


Oh yeah, that's right. I did tell you this was going to be a short story.

I'll leave you with this: I love my city's newspaper. Every time I have had to work with a reporter (all of it has had to do with guild events that I have chaired over the past 12 years) they have quoted me correctly, and got my message out to the public. I love to read the articles they write and get their views. A lot of times they are writing what I am thinking.

Then there are the writers that write a column once a week. One such writer is Greta McDonough. Every Wednesday she writes a column in the community part of the paper that is funny, enlightening, has brought tears to my eyes, and makes me think that being on a diet and thinking about being on a diet all the time really isn't weird after all. She's honest and I love that! I wonder if she would think it was weird that, while trying to decide what to wear to a book signing, I googled "what outfit do you wear to a book signing"? I always say to myself "I should e-mail her. She needs a blog!" I could read her every day like I do Kim or Alicia and so many others.
Oh, and by the way, you can wear whatever you want to a book signing!

This past Wednesday her article talked about all the fun things the International Mystery Writer's Festival was doing. Big things were happening here in our little city. She said in her article that she would be at one of the kiosks in a red vest at the River Park Center. She was excited because Gene Hackman was going to be there signing books. She teased and said that she was going to grab Gene by the arm, and take him away to the coffee shop around the corner.

Little did Greta know that when she wrote in her article the exact time and place she would be somewhere, someone would actually get out of line to see Mary Higgins Clark to ask her for her autograph? She was shocked and totally surprised when I pulled out my camera to have our picture made together. I felt like I was Sharon being the paparazzi.

Do you see me cheezin' there, Greta? Do you see that same smile on my face that almost makes my cheeks so big that they cover my eyes when I'm with Mary Higgins Clark? I don't think so! :)

So, there you go. Mystery solved. This busy little quilter has been busy coordinating a quilt show and stalking meeting contributing writers for the newspaper and famous mystery writers. It's a fun life.

By the way, come to our little town on the Ohio River to see quilts and listen to bluegrass. It'll be fun!