Ontario, California Quiting Convention - I was there!

After years of wanting to attend, I finally crossed the threshold of the Ontario Convention Center and was part of the crowds at the opening day of the annual quilting convention yesterday. My kindly husband insisted we go and he used his day off to make it happen.

Naturally, the normally dry California weather was wet and rainy and, naturally, we had to park across the  highway from the convention center but we dodged raindrops, got our tickets, and waited in line for the doors to open. A huge tent had been set up for a luncheon, later, so they had everyone line up in there to keep warm and dry. It was a friendly bunch and we were about 100th or so in line. By the time the doors opened, there were about 300 people behind us in line.

Almost immediately upon getting in line, a woman started chatting with us and shared stories, talked about quilting, etc. Turns out she has a sewing room, three renovated bedrooms, and a shed out back dedicated to her quilting. Oh, and she also has 35 sewing machines! I thought I was extravagant as I have two sewing machines. Since embroidery machines seem to be the talk of the day, she shared that her favorite machine, and she has 53 machines to compare them with, is one that is computerized, embroiders, quilts, and, oh, yeah, it sews, too! She said I should take a look at it if I get a chance. I thought it best to avoid such temptation!

The doors opened and the crowds streamed in to begin the day of looking, shopping, and admiring. We barely got into the door and found ourselves directly in front of the booth dedicated to the sewing machine our new-found friend had been telling us about. It was impressive. We were about to walk on when a sales lady offered to show us around this miraculous machine. I couldn't resist seeing if it was, indeed, the machine among machines. And it was! People are shopping to buy that early in the day so the sales lady happily spent an hour with us showing us the amazing attributes of the machine. And, the machine was amazing.

Meanwhile, my husband is standing behind me during the demonstration and keeps thumping me on the back and whispering, "Let's buy it!" I ignore him. We get to the end of the demonstration and my husband is back to stage whispers of "Let's buy it!" To show him that this was not going to be possible, I ask the deal breaking question of, "How much?" I gasped when I heard the price. We prepared to continue our browsing when the sales lady showed us the discounts being offered during the convention. There was a substantial reduction with a trade-in no matter what kind of machine you had on hand. No questions asked! An additional reductions in price as some of the machines had been used in classroom demonstrations. I was blessed to get one that was not! Interest-free financing. A software upgrade for free which cost more than I could have ever considered. and a $400 Visa Gift card. I let my husband win this one!

My current machine was over 25 years old and I certainly got my money's worth out of it over the years. If I put my new one to good use, I think I will have paid off the value we paid in a couple of years by the things I can made with it. Hey, and I've figured out how to turn the machine on . . . Now to the hard part of totally figuring it out but, from what I heard, you can always discover something new every time you use it.

Jeff Foxworthy at his best - The Fence Test!

THE FENCE TEST, THINK ABOUT THIS, IT IS TRUE. You can't get any more accurate than this! This is straight forward country thinking...by Jeff Foxworthy Which side of the fence? If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test! If a Republican doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a Democrat doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed. If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone. If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life. If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect. If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him. If a Republican doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels. Democrats demand that those they don't like be shut down. If a Republican is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A Democrat non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. If a Republican decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A Democrat demands that the rest of us pay for his. If a Republican reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh. A Democrat will delete it because he's "offended". Well, notice that I shared it!