Eureka!

Meaning: I have found it! I knew there were other contemporary/arty quilters in this area...someone else must be buying all those copies of Quilting Arts that can be found at every local bookstore. But I sure couldn't find where any of them were hanging out, at least until my excellent and talented friend Pamela Mostek invited me to a lecture Friday night at Sew Uniquely You.

I've seen the Sew Uniquely You name attached to various events over the past few years. Events I never seem to be able to make it to. I didn't realize they had a store. I couldn't make it to Pam's lecture Friday night either, but she said enough intriguing things in her email that I called the store earlier this week and forcibly dragged my family there yesterday afternoon. It was lovely! There were lots of people in and out and they all oohed and aahed over the work I brought in and nobody asked me what I was going to do with it when it was finished.

As near as I can tell, the primary purpose of the shop is to provide a place for contemporary/arty quilters to hang out and sew and learn. The gals there yesterday encouraged me to come and sew with them. The owner, Anna, is delightfully bossy and loves to encourage contemporary work. She asked if I dye fabric and when I said no, she demanded "well why not?!?" Anna brings in excellent teachers for special events. Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer is coming in April to teach and to judge the contemporary quilt show Anna is putting on. I was strictly instructed to expand on one of my lime/turquoise pieces to make it big enough to enter in the challenge portion of the show.

Best of all, when I started to explain that at most of the quilt groups I've gone to the ladies are nice but they think I'm rather odd with my smallish non-traditional quiltlets, everyone there started nodding - "yes, we know, come hang out with us, everyone here is odd just like you..."