QuiltCon 2015: Day 1

I made it to QuiltCon! I really should be sleeping, as I woke up at 3:00am PST to make it to the airport for my 6:00am flight, but I want to record a few things about the day before forget.

1) My new Fernando Volken luggage is awesome and received many compliments. After twenty years with the same suitcase, it was time to move on and I couldn't be happier!

I was one of the first to get one of the coveted Fancy Fox buttons from Elizabeth Hartman!

2) The day was like a snowball of quilting friends that started when Jo-Anne (juicyredbee) joined me on my flight to San Francisco. Then, Magdalena, a former VMQG member, found us in the SFO airport and it turned out she was on our flight to Austin. Elizabeth Hartman was also on our flight and immediately shared her awesome buttons! Check-in at the hotel, QuiltCon registration and the Canadian Meet Up were just more chances to see familiar faces and meet new friends!

Hello, Austin!

I loved the view from my room on the eighth floor! Hello rowers!

3) We arrived in Austin around 4:30pm CST and ran into Kristen, Terry & Janet at the baggage claim! At the hotel, my kind roomie Debra had brought Florida oranges. I also got to finally hug Lee, chair of the Leadership Conference Committee. Pin swapping has begun!

A blurry but happy group of quilters at registration. (Krista, Janet, Krista, Terry, Felicity, and Kristen)

4) Registration was cool, they just took your name and automatically printed your name tag with your schedule conveniently located on the back! Haven't even had a chance to look at my goody bag yet, but I'm excited to read the copy of Uppercase magazine in there (yay for Canadian content!). So many familiar faces at registration! Uber-busy Elizabeth Dackson and Alissa Haight Carlton zipped past. Met friends from Seattle and Portland who I've gotten to know through our PNW MQG meet ups. Ended up going to dinner with Jenn (pinkbrain_here) and Denise (walked out of Crave after 15 minutes with no service, but had a yummy Thai dinner).

5) The Canadian Meet Up! I organized this event along with Jaclyn, Joanne, and Alison. About 40-45 Canadians (and ex-pats, and a few Aussies, and one woman from Colorado who we let in because she had French on her sweater!) met up in the lounge at the Radisson. We had prizes kindly donated from several Canadian shops. Amy (amyscraftyshenanigans) was our mascot in a Canadian flag cape. Unfortunately, some folks had travel delays and weren't able to make it, but we look forward to seeing them soon!

A few pics from the meet up:

The Calgary MQG Contingent

 Paula, Linda, Kristen, Amy, and James

Lots of connections were made! It's fun to meet people who you know online, especially friendly quilters!

Ok, it's time to rest and get ready for the first official day of QuiltCon!

Hello, QuiltCon!

In less than two short weeks, I'll be in Austin for my second QuiltCon. I can't wait! I joined in on the #helloquiltcon hashtag on Instagram, but thought I'd post an introduction here as well. The old blog is pretty quiet these days (I think I just saw a tumbleweed blow by!), so if you want to find me, I'll be on Instagram as @hollybroadland. You can also learn about me on my About page. 

Hi! I'm Holly and I'm the founder and Co-President of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. For the past five years, the VMQG has been the main focus of my life outside of family. It has been a wonderful place to find new friends and get inspired to quilt. It's also been a way of defining myself outside of my treasured roles as wife and mother, and I appreciate that to no end! I'm also a keener who volunteers for The MQG on the Leadership Conference Commitee.

Here's my QuiltCon schedule (I'll also be at the Leadership Meet & Greet on Friday night and the Leadership Conference all day Monday):

A few random facts about me:

1) I was born in Campbell River on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

2) I'm a chronic procrastinator (case in point, I haven't ordered my #quiltconpinswap buttons yet and I fly out on the 18th!).

3) I was a high school rower for three years and competed twice in the Canadian high school rowing championships in St. Catharines, Ontario. If I'm on your team, I will pull hard and not complain.

4) I'm a wannabe librarian and I love substitute teaching in school libraries. 

5) I'm on the introverted side, but when I'm around my quilty peeps, my extroverted side comes out. I can't wait to connect with lots of online friends while I'm at QuiltCon!

6) I love books. I can't imagine life without a book on the go at all times. I'm currently reading "Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret" by Tui T. Sutherland because my seven year old got me into this series about dragons.

7) I'm a lefty who prints neatly.

8) You know the saying, "Who doesn't love free stuff?"? Well, it's me. I don't love free stuff. I'm an environmentalist who lives in a small space and I already feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in our two-bedroom condo. Last night, I ordered pizza and they gave me a free plastic plate and I handed it right back to the delivery guy.

9) If I weren't an elementary school substitute teacher, I could see myself being a copy editor. I just can't help spotting spelling mistakes!

10) I don't wear makeup. I didn't even wear any for my wedding because it would have weirded out my husband. The closest thing I have that resembles makeup is Burt's Bees lip balm with a little pink tint to it.

11) I love my Converse All Stars! I had a green pair in high school and now I have a red pair. I kinda want a whole rainbow of them (I am Rainbow Girl, after all!).

If you see me at QuiltCon, please come up and say hi!