Steve and I are in Canberra, Australia! It was a 3-plane trip: Dallas to Los Angeles to Sydney to Canberra. The long ride over the water took 14 hours but it wasn’t as bad as I remember it being. The Qantas aircraft was a practically new A380. We were in economy but the seats were pretty comfortable and there is a really nice foot-net under the seats. It’s not really a foot-rest – it is more of a net (or sling) that supports your feet and lower legs. Every plane should have them.

We bought some flat, inflatable seat cushions from LL Bean before we left home. I will never again fly without mine. Plane seats are very hard and these help.

On the flight from Sydney to Canberra we were on a prop plane. The propellers were right outside my window. I try not to dwell on them when they are moving.

It was a short flight but the flight attendants hid time to serve tea and coffee. They gave us each a tablemat ‘package’. The mat is similar to a thick paper towel – but better. I got a green one and Steve’s was a purple/indigo. When open they almost cover the tray table. A fold on the left holds a sleeve with a napkin, sugar, and stirrer. I have to say that Qantas pays a lot more attention to design details than I am used to in an airline.

It is hot at home in Texas – hovering around 100 degrees. It’s late winter in Canberra and the trees are just budding out. We got out and walked in the breezy cold air – and later in the rain. As Steve says “we are training our circadian rhythm to a new zeitgeber” (zeit means time and geber means giver). I hope to go to bed around 10:00 PM and wake up in the morning good as new.

PS – That didn't happen. We crashed at 7:30 and slept for 11 hours!

…for the World Series Challenge benefiting the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. All eight quilts look like the quilter who made them. Remember as you look at these that they are all 16" x 16"!

Ricky Tims's entry is very convergence-y:

Mary Sorensen's applique is flawless…

Sue Nickels' (who is on my team) has made an even more amazing whole cloth entry:

Hollis Chatelain's finished quilt is haunting and amazing (she's on my team too):

And John Fllynn's quilt, quilted, is even more stunning (luckily, he's on my team too. Or I should say that I'm on John, Sue, and Hollis's team!):

I've shown Caryl Fallert and Judy Mathieson's quilts on the blog already. Trust me, you'll probably see them again before the auction.

Click here to go the link to the Challenge home page. The idea here is to raise funds to Alzheimer's awareness. The smaller part of the challenge is the actual 'challenge' part. I admit to being just a little competitive – I would love it if my quilt raised the most money! So save your pennies and buy my quilt quilt for the most money (how's that for a naked appeal for your money!). Here's my quilt (which you've seen before and will see again). Read more about my entry here.

You can go here and vote for your favorite quilt. Every vote is a dollar and every vote (and dollar) counts.

Just because they are pretty…

I think if you click here you can get to all my gallery of Paducah photos.

I'm on my way to Australia as you read this with Steve, my husband and sherpa. I really like having my own sherpa! Since I'm likely to be to bleary to post I thought I'd give you a two more days of photos from Paducah.

I love this shot. Who knows why.

Of course an artist lives here! I want that screen door…

I have two pots by the pool that are so much in the sun that the plants keep wanting to die. This may be what I need!

I got to go to a potluck dinner at the home of the artist who made this guy. I love it!

Paducah is at the convergence of three navigable rivers. It's a seriously important inland port. When there are floods, Paducah is at risk but they have a wall to keep the river out of town. Artists have painted murals all along the wall in town. Imagine the water up to the top of that wall!

Here's a detail of one of my favorite murals:

First – do you know that the National Quilt Museum is not financially supported by AQS? I didn't. Of course the Meredith Corporation does support the Museum, but the Museum is a separate, non-profit entity. As is true for every other non-profit, they need money. They REALLY need money. So, if you have a bit and can write a check to support this premier museum for quilters, click here for how to give your support.

FYI – I got to get up close and personal (no touching, just looking) with last year's best of show – Tribute to Tolkien by Sue McCarty. Well, it is an amazing quilt to see. Of course it was best of show! I had forgotten that one of the most wonderful aspects to this museum is that you can get really close to the quilts. You should go.

Caryl took me on some morning walking tours of Lower Town Paducah. Paducah has made a real effort to bring in artists and the Lower Town artists' community of thriving. I was lucky enough to go with Caryl to a couple of events. It's been a while since I've been to Paducah and I've never seen the city this way – empty of the thousands of quilters who come for the big show. 

So many of the warehouses and houses in Lower Town have been renovated. It is beautiful to see. The textures and colors made me happy.

The Finkel building is used during the quilt show but in the off-season it houses a Christian motorcycle group. I really love the look of this building!

More tomorrow….

Today was a background making day. My students are working from our book Applique Outside the Lines and so were piecing backgrounds and not using a ruler. It's not easy when you aren't used to it but everyone's background turned out well. I took photos, but they didn't all turn out. Here is Rene with her background:

And Toni with her background:

And isn't this a pretty spread of fabric?