DAY 3 - GSMAT

I'm posting early today......even though the day is not quite over. However, just in case the evening gets too late to share the day's events.......you are hearing from me now.

We began with a breakfast lecture by the very well known quilt lecturer/instructor Linda Cantrell. Linda was a painter who found her way to quiting 20+ years ago. Her work is famous for her colorful, detailed, skillfully constructed pictorial applique quilts. Linda nearly had coffee coming out of our noses we were laughing so hard as she animatedly presented a trunk show of her amazing quilts. She's a born quilter.....and a born comedian.

Here Linda is sharing with the group how she organizes her embroidery threads. Her theory is to pile everything into a bag.....which of course eventually becomes a tangled mass. No problem.....she explains, she simply searches for the proper color and pulls the strands from the tangle. When you need your embroidery threads.....you always know you can find them in this one tangle in that one bag.

I'm hanging my head because I only have two close up photos to share......I was busy helping to hold the quilts as Linda talked......so photo taking wasn't possible.

This is a closeup of her award winning quilt, A Day At The Beach. You can see just how detailed the applique is...... I'm sure one could study her work for hours and still find new treasures that will make you smile!

This closeup is from another award winning quilt of an apartment building. Each block features a view of a window. Here a little boy is hanging from a rope from the window above to peek into an artist's apartment where he's painting a nude woman. Linda's humor is evident in each and every block. These quilts are all perfectly hand appliqued and hand quilted.

Our group had the rest of the day free to explore Asheville some more. One great way to do that is to take a trolley tour. It's modestly priced and makes stops at a large number of historic places as well as shopping opportunities.

One favorite destination is the historic Grove Park Inn......a 5 star resort and spa. It was built in 1913 with granite mined from nearby Sunset Mountain. Their guest lists boasts of a long line of famous persons as well as nearly a dozen US Presidents.

Street musicians were out in full force today......making it so festive to stroll the charming downtown area.

We'll be heading out for an early dinner.....there are so many restaurants to choose from.......we'll toss a coin and see where we land......

Tomorrow is jammed packed with plans........I'll be reporting back......