After the Festival of Quilts

I spent a few days in Birmingham at the Festival of Quilts. I was so busy every single day that I was there that I found no time to post anything. It was absolutely lovely to see so many friends in such a short time, and to be in a 1000%-quilting-environment! By the time I left yesterday afternoon I had actually managed to see every exhibition on the floor, done a bit of shopping, done a few interviews for the German Guild's magazine, and a lot of talking. Of the latter I would not have minded having done more, but I was also very tired by that time, so perhaps it was not that bad a time to leave. Although I probably won't be back next year as I have a few other plans for that summer...
In any case it was very well worth the trip and I am very grateful to my parents who paid for the flight, which had been my birthday present in May!
Perhaps I will post a few pictures of interesting quilts in the next few days, but I don't know yet. Definitely my absolute favorite on the entire was this one from the Young Quilters Groups/School challenge "on the seaside":

Fishergate Primary School York, "Seagulls on the beach looking for picnics!"

We had a very nice SAQA meeting, I spent the evenings with my co-rep Chrisse Seager who had booked me into her hotel and was so gracious to keep driving me back and forth. We've been working together as co-reps so well for the past year that it has really been a wonderful time despite the fact that she stepped in after Maggie Birchenough had to resign due to her fatal illness. It will be sad to leave when it comes to the point...

At the airport I got to be a bit crabby, perhaps because I was tired after these packed days - but somehow all these methods they are now applying for check-in and security somehow are spoiling the fun. Not only was I robbed of my best set of knitting needles on the flight to Birmingham - which I had been allowed to take on board the so-called safest airline of the world only a few weeks ago when I went to Israel. But Lufthansa has now changed every thing to self-check-in, in Munich you don't even get to see a person when checking your luggage. In Birmingham they make you walk miles to the machines where you do the self-check-in, then you have to walk all the way back to drop the bag, and there there are still people at the counter - why could they not do the check-in? Not that I can't do a self-check-in properly, I can very well handle that. But I don't unterstand why we are being forced to deal with machines everywhere and in any possible situation. Wouldn't it make more sense to leave these jobs as jobs for people, to keep them employed and give them an income so they can then be tax-paying members of society? Certainly something I don't understand!

On the plane I was then sitting next to a guy from somewhere Middle East who was constantly biting, no, chewing his nails and watching/playing with his cell phone, and it looked like he was listening to some muezzin. In days like these it does give you a bit of a worry - why is this guy so nervous that he has to be chewing his nails constantly (he wasn't eating his meal either...) I plugged in my music and started some hand stitching on my next Journal Quilt to keep myself occupied and not worry too much.

And today, although that one isn't finished yet, I started piecing the next one, because I only have this coming week to finish both of them if I don't want to be kicked out ... But I am optimistic I will make it.

So it's good to be back home.