The days are racing past, and I'm just not keeping up! But I am making progress; the appointment with the accountant went off fine, no major drama, so now it's just a matter of packing everything I could possibly require for 5 weeks on the road.

I went and bought warm clothes yesterday, which was sort of fun. Today I have to do shoes and hair. I wish wigs were in fashion and I could forget about my hair entirely. I have one cut a year, usually before a big show, and the hairdresser sighs and looks tragic as she contemplates my sorry locks. Trust me, if it had ever once looked nice I would take better care of it. And I've saved about $5000 by neglecting it. More money for fabric....

Sharon asked when I was in Kansas City. I was at the Spring Market in 2002, in the Convention Centre. I thought the city centre was really deserted for a major city, but that suited hicks like us. I liked KC, especially a barbecue place called Fiorelli's. John and I were in heaven; we shared a plate of just the burnt bits and it was divine. Must...go....back...

And the Arabia Steamboat Museum was utterly fantastic, I'll be paying another visit there.

I'm really looking forward to the antique quilt vendors at Paducah, they have such lovely old quilts, and often vintage fabric as well. I will be keeping an eye out for Maverick quilts to share. Some vendors don't allow photos, which is a pity. I couldn 't afford even one of these quilts, so it was nice to have a photo to remember them.

This Sunburst quilt was part of a display at the 2002 Spring Market, and it was stunning in person. I love the way the colours seem to pulse outward. I've wanted to make one of these for decades, but I cna't decide whether I would do it by hand or machine. It would seem like hard work by machine; maybe this pattern is best left to leisurely hand piecing.