Not quite a year ago, I released my first solo CD, called Pieces of Time. The songs aren't only for quilters and lovers of quilts, but i admit that they do appeal strongly to those folks. I have been performing all around Michigan for a lot of years, and particularly with these songs over the past year or so.
So I wasn't exaxtly surprised when I received the invitation to perform on June 27th for a quilt show. I was surprised, however, to learn that it is in Council, Idaho!
"IDAHO?" My first thought was, "That's too far away!" But my mouth overtook my head, and I heard it say "Sure! I'd love to come!" and I watched my hand write it on my calendar in INK! www.councilquiltshow.com
So now it is April 1st, and I am in the process of booking places to sing my songs along the way. I leave on June 21st. All by myself. Just me, in my Suburu Forester named Snowball (She's just a little ball of white, rolling down the road.)
The tour is called Road By Road, which is a bit of a take-off on a phenomenon that occurs in the world of quilting, called The Row By Row Experience. This is the description of that from the Row By Row website: www.rowbyrowexperience.com
"Row by Row Experience began in 2011 with 20 quilt shops across New York State. In 2012 the event grew to include 62 participating shops. Pennsylvania came on board in 2013 for a total of 138 shops throughout the two states. In 2014 over 1250 quilt shops participated in 34 states and Ontario. Plans are underway for the biggest and best Row by Row Experience ever in 2015! All 50 states and several more Canadian provinces are planning fun for travelers throughout the summer. Although the quilt shops are organized by area, quilters have no borders. Travel, shop, collect patterns and add rows to your quilt from anywhere."
What am I doing? I am booking concerts in participating quilt shops! I am going "Road By Road", finding shops along the way, and will be performing one-hour concerts that will include a bit of Show and Tell (I'll take some old quilts from my collection along with me). I'll be collecting Row By Row patterns, and swapping fabric License Plates too! I will have some from Delphine's Quilt Shop, LC with me. Delphine's is my "home" quilt shop, located in Gaylord, MI www.delphinesquiltshop.com
I have some big goals in mind, and will tell you more about them as time gets closer. For now, my Big Goal is to fill up the calendar with concerts. I hope you'll come along with me on this journey.
I'm taking it Road By Road.