Ami Simms (left) and Sharon Pederson have been tireless in their efforts to raise money for research and education to help stamp out this awful disease. 
We began in South Carolina at a large fabric outlet.....it's the sort of metal warehouse building that you may not even notice if you drove by....and if you did....perhaps you might not bother to stop. Good thing Nancy, our lead in finding all sorts of great bargains is adventuresome!
Bolts and flat folds fill this warehouse as well. Except for myself, my friends all dye/paint/print their own fabrics.....so the hunt ended with many exciting new fibers to play with.
I wonder why anyone would need so much netting.....I'm guessing there were at least 10 bins full of it!
Next door to the fabric outlet there's a resale shop.......most of it is true junk that I didn't want to paw through. Instead, I amused myself looking at the clothing.... Oh my......this dress must have weighed 50 pounds.....why anyone would think a evening gown should have one sleeve is a puzzle??
This one was designed by Della Roufogali.....a company called Niteline.......at a price of $40.00....but lots of the beads threads were broken and beads missing.
This was the best find.....size 44D.....for $4.00. I tried to get one of my pals to model it for my photo but she refused!
Next we traveled back to NC, outside of Charlotte to Long Creek Mills, and industrial sewing and embroidery thread store. It had EVERYTHING one might need for machine embroidery....from stabilizers.....
.....to rows and rows of thread..... prices appear to be very good. They do a lot of online business we were told and ship orders daily....check them out here.
Once the quilt layers were hand quilted.....I decided the design needed my trademark touch.....yup...that's right....some beads. This spider web was made using size #10 silver lined seed beads. Because this quilt will be for sale, I carefully stitched through the top two layers only to prevent an unsightly bunch of threads on the backing.
Okay, so given the fabrics I had, the background design took some figuring out. Of COURSE I could have gone out and purchased more....but like many of us quilters who have been stitchin' for years and years......I'd like to utilize what I have in my stash, even though my stash is actually not that impressive.
After I felt like I had a good feel for the design, I decided to experiment with the stitching (applique) method, since distortion of the background was a concern. If there would have been more time, I would have hand appliqued the branches. Instead, I tried fusing, attaching with machine applique...both with a zig-zag and blanket stitch. Even using a stabilizer, I could see this would end up being a huge mess.....and in part, it's because I'm not an accomplished free-motion stitcher.
This approach worked, but due to all the handling.....some of the edges became fuzzier than I would have liked....the problem increased as I hand quilted the piece. Ultimately, I had to trim each one with a sharp embroidery scissors....difficult to do for fear of cutting the background. I blame this problem on the fabric. Though it was supposedly a good quality quilters cotton.....the weave wasn't as tight as it could have been......oh well....problem solved in the end.
Finally, the ridges were hand appliqued, the trees were attached with machine stitching, the quilt sandwich was made and the layers were hand basted. The hand quilting took some patience because the needle had to travel between the layers beneath all the branches. 
I wanted to explore a landscape design, featuring pine trees on a mountain ridge at dawn. Since I have yet to conquer free motion machine stitching, it seemed sensible to do some experimenting. I learned this particular motif choice was terrible...... the design didn't work, plus even with stabilizing, there would be too much distortion, given how many more 'needles' I wanted to stitch on each branch.
Instead, I decided to use fabric 'branches' and some samples from sketches I made on freezer paper secured to black fabric. 
Next I got out some fabrics and began playing with the background on my design wall.....
I'll save you the trouble of viewing all the different fabric placements I tried.......eventually I realized I didn't have enough gradations to visually move from color to color....
So, I tried one color family instead.....still trying to maintain a horizontal landscape background. (But you can see.....I'm beginning to play with squares instead.)
And, that's the direction I went instead by deciding to utilize a patchwork background. The decision again was mainly due to the lack of appropriate fabric for my earlier vision.
I rip the backing to measure at least 3" larger than the finished quilt top. Though in general, I don't like ripping for other tasks, for this process I want to work with fabric that will be on grain. 
For quilts that are smaller than the table, the backing is secured with painters tape.
If the quilt top's construction has patchwork, I like to use a ruler to double check that the seams are straight.
I always baste using cheap white basting thread....which seems to be harder and harder to find. Serger thread is a good substitute. Here's why......one never knows how long the quilt will sit around before all the hand quilting is complete....and we all know that the dyes of some threads are not always colorfast. Wouldn't you be bummed if the dye of that fuchsia thread you were trying to use up migrated to your fabric due to humidity? Believe me, in my judging duties, I've seen more than one quilt with tiny dots, left from basting threads.
Once the basting is completed, I turn the excess backing to the front, meeting the edge of the backing to the edge of the quilt top. Then I fold the fabric layers in half again, and baste together. This will keep the batting secure and the outside edges from unraveling.
I don't know what these are called....somewhere we have the landscapers 'map' to all our plantings.....but that means finding it! We have two varieties.....one is a redder version than the other....I love the delicate stamen web inside these flowers.....
Besides being in a safe area, the hotel MUST have inside entrance to the room. Of course it needs to have a presentable lobby. Hallways should be well lighted and clean......it's even better when the carpet has a great design.
Yippie......I do a happy dance when I get upgraded as I did on my Texas trip. I was thrilled with the Hampton Inn's wonderful King suite which had lots of room to spread out all my suitcases and STUFF.
A KING bed......all to myself where I'm in control of the remote....which I make sure is working before I crawl into bed. (Heck, before I unpack!)
Fool me once but not twice.....another thing on my check list is making sure the hairdryer works.
And because I prefer to use my own alarm clock......I check that the clock isn't set to a rock station which will blare at 3:00 AM!
The old favorite.....rail fence is a great way to use big print fabric......
But...that was just the beginning.....the quilter used her leftovers to make this quilt....awesome!
Another traditional beauty.......the use of black really makes the colors pop.
Comforting 'muddy' colors with sparks of color makes this quilt sing......
Careful placement of color provides an unexpected design for this traditional pattern....
Here's Michelle......president of the guild.......I asked if I could take her picture because frankly, I couldn't stop looking at her beautiful head of hair........she's a walking Barbie Doll (that's a compliment folks.)
