MQX West - First Half of Day 1

I've had my first class at MQX West 2011, the first time this machine quilting expo has been held on the west coast.  My class was called Lions and Tigers and Templates, Oh, My! taught by Kimmy Brunner.

First let me say, Kim Brunner is a really good teacher, and I would encourage anyone to take a class from her.  She is patient and clearly repeats her information when she's asked and I liked her very much.  The class is very well organized and the flow of information worked really well.  Kim obviously enjoys teaching.  I've been reading her column in Machine Quilting Unlimited, and she touched on the subject of using templates in that article, so I was familiar with some of what she covered, but it was good to have that reinforced, and then hear new materialo in conjunction with it.

The room, though, was not  setup properly for this presentation.  There were 2 rows of tables for students, holding approximately 12 people, but there were at least 60 people in the class.  That meant that everyone else had to try to work on the drawing handouts on their lap, using the notepad that they were supposed to bring to class.  To say the least, this was not a good first impression for the organization of the show.

The Awards Ceremony and "sneak peak" of the vendor mall will be tonight.  I'm a little disappointed that the vendor mall isn't open during the day because I was planning on using this time to go shopping, especially since my friends are taking classes. 

So, while I was waiting to take my first hands-on class since I first touched a longarm, I went to a local burger place, Burgerville, for lunch.  Blackberry shake was absolutely wonderful, the half salad, while flavorful, was too small, and so I had to order a sandwich to complete my meal.  I got the crispy chicken sandwich and ended up taking off the breading (I didn't realize it came with that) which included a smattering of barbeque sauce....which also needed removing.  I think I've experienced all that Burgerville has to offer me.

I'm really looking forward to the hands on class...Exploding Texture and Background Fill, with Judy Woodworth.  I really want to expand my free motion repertoire and think this class will help.  I'll let you know!