A Wonderful Evening

Posted on August 2, 2016 by prairiemoonquilts in Studio News

It’s always a wonderful evening when you get to look at and talk about quilts, right?

I spent yesterday evening at the Macon County Historical Society Museum in Macon, Missouri, presenting a program about The Life of Hazel Ilene. I showed all the quilts from my book “A Simple Life: Quilts Inspired by the ’50s”, and talked about the area’s history.

There was a huge turnout! Larger than we expected. They even served homemade refreshments!

refreshments

An entire delegation of guild members from one of the guilds I belong to carpooled down just to be there! It was the sweetest thing.

KVgroup

This was the first time I ever took My Cowboy along to one of my presentations. He dutifully helped me fetch and carry the quilts back and forth from the truck. As we were walking through the parking lot when we first got there, a lady (named Pat) was coming out, and she spoke and said, “Hi, Shelly,” then gasped when she looked behind me, and exclaimed, “Are YOU the Cowboy??? I just enjoy you so much on the blog!” I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him blush before!

I’ve always teased him about being more popular on my blog than I am, anyway. Now he knows!

I think this was probably the first time any of my family has watched one of my presentations! My sister was there to help hold the quilts for me, and help with book sales. Not sure what I would have done without her.

trunkshow3

And my Daddy showed up! He sat there while I told embarrassing stories on him, and I’m still not sure what he thought of the whole thing! The poor man — what I put him through.

Daddy

I normally don’t write out my presentation, or refer to notes, since I’m pretty sure I can remember what to talk about based on the quilts I have along, but this time . . .

I figured this crowd was in attendance as much for the history of this project as they were for the quilts — some of them probably more interested in the history part than they were the quilts.

So I wrote an outline, so I could be sure to get the dates correct on the things I was talking about.

hazelsdiarynme

I also didn’t find out until I got there that they were recording this for the local cable TV station! And that I would have to hold the microphone. That made me a tidget nervous. Since I normally talk with my hands a lot, it was difficult to keep from waving the microphone around in the air and keep it where I could talk into it!

I put My Cowboy in charge of taking photos for me. I got one blurry overall shot, two 2-second videos, 6 photos of his boot and the floor beside it, and 17 pictures of his hand! All the photos in this post? Graciously sent to me by my friend, Barb, who thankfully took plenty of pictures. Even a closeup shot of one of the quilts:

DearDiarycu

There was a long line for the book signing afterwards, for which I am grateful. I’m so grateful to everyone who came out to see the program last night, and to all those who purchased books, and to the museum for hosting me. Thank you so much.

booksigning

One lady who reads my blog even drove all the way down from Iowa just to see my presentation — I was so honored, and excited to get to meet her in person! Check out Melody’s fabric shop HERE.

I got to meet the sister of one of the diary characters, and a lady who went to the same school as my mother, and the sister of one of my high-school classmates. Lots of my friends and relatives were there. I was also treated to a lovely introduction given by one of my mother’s friends, a lady I have known all my life, and whose daughter I was best friends with in junior high — Pat Teter. Pat works at the museum, and kindly helped me with some of my research while I was writing the book.

Such a fun evening, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to do it. Thanks again to everyone who came out last night!

15 responses to “A Wonderful Evening”

  1. Cindy says:

    Sounds like an awesome evening, sorry I couldn’t be there

  2. Sounds like a great event. I lol when you told us about Cowboy and the photos. So sorry I missed it. Any chance that local station will post online or on You-Tube so we can watch it, too?

    Congrats, Shelly.

  3. K. Holt says:

    I think you should post Cowboy’s boots and hand LOL

  4. Rose Marie says:

    I’m glad you mentioned Pat Teter’s name. I kept trying to remember it last night. I really loved the presentation. And the quilts are so spectacular.

  5. Judy S. says:

    What a special night for all of you! Thanks for sharing.

  6. Krista says:

    It was a fun evening. The stories were great and you did a lovely presentation. The Cowboy’s pictures sound wonderful. He did his cowboy best! You, my dear, are an inspiration.

  7. I knew everything would go well Shelly – you are a natural! Cowboy’s presence was just what you needed.

  8. Wendy says:

    What fun! If I lived closer, I would’ve definitely come!

  9. Sue H says:

    I really wish I could have came – I am sure it was wonderful.

  10. Jocelyn says:

    How fun! What a great way to spend time with other quilters. It sounds like you and hubby did a great job!

  11. Michelle says:

    I would have loved to have been there! So glad you thought to ask Mom and that she could arrange the evening for you!

  12. Susan says:

    Thanks so much for sharing these photos and the story. I laughed so hard at the photos the Cowboy took to help you. How come we didn’t get to see his boots? LOL

  13. Pat Teter says:

    So proud of you and your beautiful work, Shelly. As for the TV station, the video will appear only on their local CVTV channel. They don’t post online or provide You Tube videos, but you can purchase a DVD from them.

  14. Paula says:

    What a wonderful event! So happy for you. Your work is beautiful. Thanks for sharing – would loved to have been there.

  15. Elna Williams says:

    Glad you had a good presentation and glad Pat and other locals could be there to share your joyful past. Keep doing the event at other places and keep posting so that those of us who couldn’t be there can see you later.

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