
It’s been a day since the 2010 NC Quilt Symposium ended. My what a ride!
I absolutely loved interacting with all the Symposium teachers I garnered for this event. We laughed and joked and were even serious when we needed to be.
They are excellent instructors who are very generous with their time and knowledge. They are regular down to earth folk who definitely know a thing or two about quilting. I’ve made some new friends from this crew.

Karen Ekmeier & Pat Sloan
It was also fun being there amongst the over 300 workshop participants.Their smiling faces, ready to greet the day, were great to see every morning. The classrooms at Johnson and Wales University were bright and roomy. This student needed more light so she brought her work into the hallway where classrooms faced a wall of windows overlooking Trade Street in uptown Charlotte.

My cell phone rang off the hook and I’d go whizzing past students on my way to help someone somewhere and felt a bit like the energizer bunny. What I shoulda done was bought myself a pair of skates and then people would have just seen my dust. Ha!
For Opening Ceremonies all the teachers talked a little about themselves then showed either a class sample or some of their work. That’s where the inside joke of “big panties” started. People roared with laughter as Charlotte Angotti regaled us with the story of her 3 yr old niece (she could have a 2nd job as a stand up comedienne!). After that it was a running joke all weekend, including at Iron Quilter.
What, you ask, is Iron Quilter? Well last year, after we had secured Johnson and Wales as the 2010 Symposium’s campus, we got to thinking and it came to us……..JWU is, after all, a culinary school. We decided to recreate the popular Food Network TV show Iron Chef where 2 of our teachers would compete for the title of supreme Quilter. And so Iron Quilter was born!
I secretly contacted each of our Master Quilters to ask if they would participate. It was an immediate yes from both. Chef Daisy Blade (a.k.a. Karen Stone) and Chef Goddess of the Last Minute (a.k.a. Robbie Joy Eklow) were created.

We held the event in JWU’s auditorium that’s equipped with a double sided cooktop that had cameras overhead for great as-you’re-working angles. We gave members of the audience chefs hat to get them in the mood and went on with the show.
Our judges for the evening were a few more Symposium teachers……Elin Waterston, David Taylor and Laura Wasilowski (below primping for her big role). OMG what a funny bunch they were with their hilarious running commentary.

The premise of the evening was that each Chef would make 3 pieces of work - an appetizer, an entree with side item and a dessert - each piece to include use of the secret ingredients. After 45 minutes they would “plate” their work and present them to the judges who would then choose a winner. They each did such an excellent job that the judges could not decide so it ended as a tie. Closing ceremonies 0n Sunday was short as everyone was eager to be on the road back to their hometowns. What an event!
Thanks to all Charlotte Guild members who volunteered their help, to the NCQS board for stepping in when we needed them and to all students and teachers who participated. A special thanks to Johnson and Wales University for allowing us to use their campus and for their courteous and ever available staff.
And lastly, we could not have pulled off such a fantastic weekend without the hard work of our 2010 Symposium Steering Committee. For close to 2 years these women volunteered their time and worked tirelessly till the end and we could not have been more proud and grateful for all their work.
Thank you, thank you, thank you all!
Now back to my life. This Saturday my darling daughter graduates from high school so there’s more planning to be done. We’ll be celebrating this milestone later on Saturday with a blast of a party.
Toodles,

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