The past couple of weeks have been very hectic. I accepted the job of Co-Rep for Texas for SAQA (Studio Art Quilters Associates). I had not been planning to come to Ohio for the SAQA Conference (and opening of Quilt National), but learned that there would be some training for regional representatives. It would be a good idea to get some idea of what I am expected to do in this new job so I decided to come. When I discovered that there was a 3-day pre-conference Photoshop workshop with Deidra Adams, I decided I should take that in also. Mixed in with a couple of other deadlines, I did manage to get my travel arrangements made and here I am.
I arrived on Sunday and shared a very enjoyable ride from the Columbus Airport with Ellen Lindner. The weather and the countryside were beautiful. We got registered Sunday night and a group went out to China Panda, an oriental restaurant. Food and conversation were both very good.
I have been using Paint Shop Pro for photo editing for some years, but it seems that most of the instructions or tutorials I run across are for PhotoShop, so I decided to give it a try to see if I need to switch to PS Elements, or whether I would need the full version of the program. Deidra Adams is leading us through exploring all those menus and I am learning a more systematic approach to editing my photos. I had been feeling that I was often doing things the hard way. Another two days of her tutelage and I should have a good tool kit to take back to my work.
I found a delightful Arabic restaurant – Salaam – around the corner from the dorm where I’m staying. The decor was rich in Middle East textiles, some of which I couldn’t guess the country of origin. The tables were spread with tablecloths from Turkey that were cotton with block prints in many different designs and colors.
On the walls there were some large quilted wall hangings, that I guessed were Pakistani (Rali?), with dense hand quilting in fairly large stitches and some l-o-n-g sleeved caftans or coats like the Dervishes wear.
The special tonight was a delicious home-style lentil and spinach stew with fried onions served with rice. I’m afraid I dived right in and forgot to take any photos until later.
Now I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep and another day of Photoshop tomorrow.
