I went to Arrowcraft with Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan (from Great American Quilt Factory) and Klaudeen Hansen. That’s Lynda and Klaudeen in the photo. Shopping with other quilters is always more fun!

There are many fine, handcrafted items in the Arrowcraft shop but these stuffed and mounted “trophies” are what caught my eye. There was a whole row of them over the front counter. It was nice of them to let me take a photo to share with you.

Jack is going to get this wooden car full of little wooden people in his Easter basket!

I visited Arrowcraft in Gatlinburg, TN, which is just up the road from Pigeon Forge. Arrowcraft is part of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. It’s a very cool place. There is a gallery, and a gallery shop that’s lots of fun! They offer classes in a wide variety of crafts.

The grounds are interesting. I’m not sure what is in the little log cabin. Luckily, it wasn’t me.

These totem poles are situated behind the gallery. I didn’t learn much about them other than that they have been there a long time. They are fascinating up close.

This is not a sign you see very often :-). Apparently one year at the show a quilter melted the vinyl-coated wall paper. What is it about a sign like this!? Every time I saw one I wanted to iron on the wall!

I wanted to take pictures the quilts at the Quiltfest show to post here, but I didn’t and here’s why: The owner of the quilt was not there to give me permission.

I know that a lot of quilters post photos of quilts that they take at shows and the vast majority of the time this makes everyone happy. But sometimes this makes the quiltmaker deeply unhappy. I do not want to make anyone deeply unhappy.

I read an interesting article about an ongoing copyright battle between the Associated Press and an artist by the name of Shepard Fairey. Mr. Fairey drew the now-iconic poster of Barack Obama that we have all seen. He based the image on an AP photo by Mannie Garcia. (Click the link above to see both the photo and the poster.) This article is a reminder to me that it pays to be careful with other people’s work.

I did take some fun photos in Pigeon Forge, just not of the quilts in the show. I thought you might like to see this little still life made up of one day’s shopping treasures. Nancy and I walked to the Old Mill Toy Shop and Candy Shop. The green guy came named (Charlie Black) and is from Boogily Bunnies. He has bendable appendages which is pretty fun. BTW – this is my toy, not the Jack’s!

Hello! I’m back from 7 days of teaching at the Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, TN. It was wonderful! The quilt show is put on by the city of Pigeon Forge with help from the local guilds. The quilts were lovely, the people were very friendly, and a good time was had by one and all.

I’ll share a variety of things from Pigeon Forge with you in the next few days. Today I want to show you this amazing African zebra print fabric that I got from the Traveling Quilt Boutique booth. It’s cotton and I love it! I have no idea what I’m going to do with it. I might wear it :-). I’ve already washed and dried this 2-yard piece and it’s even better than it was when I bought it.

I walked in the mornings with Nancy Smith (from the Great American Quilt Factory) and I spotted this door to an art supply shop. It makes me smile to see the two photos together.

I download the This American Life podcast every week. The stories are always good. Last week the show was Bad Bank and I especially recommend it. Alex Blumberg and NPR’s Adam Davidson explain what’s up with the banks today in plain, non-political language. You can download the podcast or listen to it for free on your computer.

These same guys did the amazing and scary Giant Pool of Money podcast last May (which you can still listen to) AND they are behind the blog planetmoney.

I’m a quilter, not an economist. But I have learned so much from these guys and the rest of the folks at planetmoney that I felt like I should share the links with you. Let’s face it, the economy is not so great right now. Personally I’m fighting fear with information and these guys have good information.