ByAnnie.com sponsored a Bag Challenge at Road to California 2018.Participants submitted their finished bags to compete for cash and prizes which were awarded during the show.
The judges were delighted at the 31 entries and had a difficult time choosing the top five prize winners. Here are the winners along with the judge’s comments: 
Karen’s original design received $400 from sponsor Road to California. Karen has used her bag for numerous family reunions. The bag carries plates, wineglasses, wine bottle, silverware. napkins, placemats, potholders, serving spoon, & napkins. A unique feature is that she used elastic ponytail holders for the expandable side closures and the bow is a separate pattern that consists of bias strips sewn and turned over yarn.
Comments from judges: The silverware set on the front button is awesome! This bag is incredible! Bias strips OVER YARN are perfectly done. Amazing. Never would I have guessed this was not commercial cord. Well done!
Mirla used a Cecile Franconie pattern to showcase her large collection of African fabrics. This jewelry bag has pockets for make-up as well as jewelry.
Comments from judges: Love the Bohemian feel of this bag, with its intricate and unusual construction. Love the bells, charms and special gold stitching. Great use of different fabrics, and nice, consistent mix of textures.
Amy was looking for a way to use up her stash when she created this bag. It was inspired by a 1950’s style vacation souvenir tablecloth and two leftover garment sewing fabrics, red wool and blue/white striped cotton. Recycling these materials helps Amy remember memories of past trips.
Comments from judges: Very interesting! Love the wool (stunning) and rivets. Good fussy cutting. Very well made! Love the special pocket inside.
Kathy loves to wear backpacks when exploring and traveling. She has an RV and travels throughout the US in it. Backpacks free up her hands and can carry a lot of things. The train case bottom separates items for easy location. It also has a convertible strap that can be changed from backpack straps to a cross body or over the shoulder style bag.
Comments from judges: Beautifully made and perfectly done. Great job with all the zippers. Love the cork-bottom and fabric combinations. The cording in seam is beautifully done!
Rebecca gives lectures on her quilts to local quilt guilds as well as teaches Orange Peel machine applique. She needed something to hold the money she gets for selling her patterns as well as her iPad when she is doing her presentations and came up with this idea to showcase her skills with this purse.
Comments from judges: The Trapunto flowers are gorgeous! 5 stars on the cotton, lining and quilting. Love the Orange Peel design. Good contrast. Beautiful!
Road and ByAnnie.com will be sponsoring another bag challenge soon. Start thinking about your designs and styles and stay tuned for details. 
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Archive for the ‘Road to California’ Category
Trending: Award Winning Bags
Friday, April 13th, 2018Bohin France Has A New Owner
Wednesday, March 28th, 2018 Bohin France has been a popular vendor at Road to California for several years.
Recently, President and Chairman Didier Vrac, sold the company to Fabien Regnier and his wife, Audrey. This young, dynamic couple are thrilled to take on this new adventure and grow the company.
Why would a 33-year-old banker and a 31-year-old employee at Bohin’s Museum want to buy the Bohin factory? Because they both love French products and wanted to promote a brand they were familiar with. They feel lucky to own a company that has such a good reputation with consumers.
Since investing in Bohin at the end of December, 2017, Fabien and Audrey have poured all their energies into learning the business. They work from 8:30 AM until 6:00 PM every day and then put in an additional 1-2 hours each night. They confer often with Mr. Vrac who is staying on with the company until June, 2018.
Fabien is responsible for the day to day details of the company. Audrey’s role is with communication and marketing, developing the brand. In addition to running their new business venture, Fabien and Audrey are also very busy with their young family. They have three sons, ages 4 years, 21 months and 9 months old!!
Even though he had only owned the company for two weeks, it was important to Fabien to be at Road 2018. He wanted to talk to customers face-to-face and hear their comments, both good and bad, so that he can get to work on improving Bohin’s products and services. 
He had only been to California once before when he was a 15-year-old exchange student. Fabien really enjoyed meeting people as he worked in the Bohin booth. At the end of the four days, he felt Road was “a very good first show for me.” Fabien said he will definitely be bringing Bohin back to Road in 2019.
What does Fabien see for the future of Bohin? He is looking forward to improving their current line and adding innovative products based on their customer input.
We wish Fabien and Audrey Regnier the best of luck as the new owners of Bohin France.
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Jenny Doan’s Favorite Quilt Block
Wednesday, March 21st, 2018 the half square triangle.
The classes were actually titled: Mystery Half Square Triangle because as Jenny explained, you can create literally 252 different versions of a half square triangle, providing limitless (and mysterious) possibilities for quilt top designs.
Jenny says everything she does has to be “quick and easy.” If any of her classes or YouTube weekly tutorials look hard, “it’s a lie.” They are meant to show different methods to get you started so that you don’t have to “remember everything” when you are on your own.
To create a half square triangle block, Jenny says to:
1) Take two square pieces of fabric (you decide the size) and lay on top of each other, right sides together.
2) Stitch along the outside
3) Cut on the diagonal
4) Press open and create!!
Each student received a handout that shows the 252 different versions of the half square triangle that they could put together. In addition, all around the room were examples of half square triangle quilts to inspire the students.
Jenny McKinsey from Porterville, California has been quilting for 7 years and was attending Road for the fifth time. She always comes to Road with four friends. They share the ride down from Northern California and a hotel room during the show. While Jenny regularly watches the Missouri Star Quilt Co’s weekly YouTube videos, she took the class because she thought “it would be fun” to experience Jenny Doan in person.
A quilter for over 50 years, Linda McGregor has traveled from her home in Wyoming 15 times to attend Road to California. She started her quilting journey making tied quilts and today loves to make wedding ring and other traditional patterns. Like Jenny McKinsey, Linda has been watching Jenny Doan’s weekly tutorials for many years. When Linda found out that Jenny Doan was going to be a teacher at Road 2018, she “signed up as soon as I could.” Linda said that Jenny was “just as wonderful in person as she is on her videos. I haven’t seen a quilt in the classroom that I don’t want to make.” Linda likes coming to Road because “there is always something new. Everyone is warm and welcoming.”
Also seen in Jenny Doan’s classroom was her husband, Ron. He says he helps Jenny at home and in the classroom, answering questions from quilters.
Ron says, “I help wherever I can with the little things” whether it be working on quilt machines or in the warehouse. What did Ron think about his first experience with Road to California? He admitted that he didn’t know what he was coming and that he was surprised to see how big Road is.“ Road to California is pretty awesome.” And we would have to agree!!
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Road's Baltic Sea Cruise
Wednesday, March 14th, 2018
Gillian Travis lives in a small village in the north of England. Her classes present modern uses for embroidery and quilting. Gillian’s cruise classes have been designed to provide memory pieces for this special cruise. I attended a class with Gillian last summer and loved the class and her.
Jen Kingwell is a well known quilt designer. Her quilts are crowd pleasers. She will be offering a hand piecing class, a curved piecing class and an applique class. The highlight of Jen’s classes are her unique sense of color and print. She has a lot of information in her creative brain, which she shares willingly.
I’ll be teaching a hand piecing class, an embroidery class and an English paper piecing class using a half hexagon shape. The embroidery class will be sewing on a cutout of your initials. These are all fun, no- stress classes.
I know all the teachers on this cruise. I know them as friends and I know them all to be excellent teachers. I am looking forward to spending time with them on the cruise. I also look forward to meeting all the students. Husbands are welcome too. My husband will be on board… and he’ll talk to anyone! If you haven’t signed up for the Road to California Baltic Sea Cruise, please do. We offer lots of fun, interesting experiences and lots and lots of yummy Holland America food!
The ship is filling fast and reservations are about to close so don’t delay! For pricing and more details go to: Worldofquiltstravel/Baltic.htm]]>
The Nite Owl Quilters Guild
Friday, February 23rd, 2018 Carolyn Reese founded the current model of Road to California 23 years ago. She also founded her local quilt guild, Nite Owls. Over 200 members meet the fourth Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM at the James L. Brulte Senior Center located at Central Park in Rancho Cucamonga. 
The guild is all about sharing homegrown talent and experience in promoting the art of quilting. Member Elizabeth said she appreciates how the guild brings in speakers as well as offers in-house workshops taught by their members. Two Saturdays a month, the guild offers Open Sew Days 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM at the center. Members are invited to come and bring their unfinished projects and receive expert advice from experienced guild mentors.
[caption id="attachment_5600" align="aligncenter" width="480"]
Carolyn Reese showing off her stuff!![/caption]
Nite Owls is also known for contributing “lots” of charity quilts to local hospitals (Kaiser in Fontana and San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland), to the local police department to be used in comforting children who need to be picked up in police vehicles, and to area homeless programs.
The guild was on hand at Road to California 2018, selling tickets for their current raffle quilt, Rhapsody in Blue. 
Road to California appreciates and supports the tradition of local quilt guilds, making a difference in their communities.
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2018 Marie White Masterpiece Award
Tuesday, February 20th, 2018 Marie White Masterpiece Award winner, Pat Holly, received $7,500 for Turkish Treasures from Sponsor Road to California, Inc.
The Marie White Masterpiece Award is the second highest cash award given out during Road to California’s annual quilt contest. Named for the mother of Road to California founder, Carolyn Reese, Marie White was very active in the quilting and doll making world until she passed away seven years ago, six weeks shy of her 93rd birthday. Marie and Carolyn established The Fabric Patch fabric store in 1981. Their store was featured in the third issue of American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine, naming it one of the top thirty stores in the United States. Marie’s specialty was doll making. She also loved working with ribbon embroidery and crazy quilting.
The 2018 winner of this prestigious award was Pat Holly for her quilt, Turkish Treasures.
6 Tips For Your Quilt Business
Saturday, February 17th, 2018 Jamie Wallen, has owned a longarm quilting business for over 20 years.
During his classes, not only did he help students improve their longarm quilting skills, he also shared advice about how to be a successful lonngarm quilting business owner based on his own experiences.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Practice your craft at least a half an hour a day by drawing designs on paper, creating “muscle memory” for when you take the design to the machine. As you practice, learn new designs and techniques. Be willing to learn and grow with your talents and skills.
Go Online.
Jamie shared that there are 100’s of quilt block quilting design ideas online. Search for contour line quilt blocks. Print them off and practice the designs. Also search for current trends in quilts and come up with three different ways to quilt a particular designed quilt.
Clients Will Come
“No need to worry if you will get clients, ” assured Jamie. “They will come.” He recommended practicing your business pitch right along with practicing your quilting techniques. You won’t have time to practice when a customer drops off their quilt.
Sharon was a student in one of Jamie’s classes. She has been quilting for over 20 years and started longarm quilting four years ago when her kids got out of school and she had more time. She has owned a longarm business, Bee Squared Quilts, for 2 years. At first, she quilted for friends and their friends. She is ready to expand her business so that is why she took Jamie’s class. Her first longarm quilting class was with Jamie at Road 2016. She loved learning his design techniques and hearing his stories, so she signed up again in 2018. Her best take-away? Keep drawing.
Use Your Time Wisely In Your Studio
When Jamie first started his business, he found he was spending 10-12 hours in his studio but that he was wasting a lot of time. “There are lots of distractions and interruptions when you work out of your home. It’s takes self discipline to have a successful business,” stressed Jamie. Some things that Jamie does to stay on track is to have a running timer on his machine. When he walks up to the machine, he hits it on and whenever he walks away, he hits it off so that all through the day he keeps a running total of the time he actually spends quilting. Today, he has cut down his quality time to 7-71/2 hours quilting.
Jamie recommends avoiding television when in the studio. Television causes a distraction because you often look away to see what it on. He prefers books on tape or podcasts because they keep you at the machine. “We need stimulation while we quilt and non-visual is best.”
Another suggestion is to take advantage of answering machines and voicemail. Stop every hour to stretch, check your messages, and do other tasks.
Make Friends With Your Clients.
Jamie shared this observation: “Your clientele are not just there for your services. They are also looking for friends. Make appointments with your clients to show you respect their time. Find out about them, their work, their interests. Offer them coffee. A mediocre quilter who treats his or her client kindly will be more successful than a superb quilter who doesn’t take an interest in their client.”
Another one of Jamie’s students, Chrissy, is new to the longarm quilting business world. She says she puts a lot of love in the quilting she does for her business, House of Threads. Chrissy said she liked “the touch and feel” of the machines during her class. She appreciated the opportunity to meet fellow quilters, see Jamie’s quilts up close, and have him answer questions. “Jamie is amazing.”
Tell The Truth.
“The human eye only corrects 75% of what it sees so the likelihood of your client catching a mistake isn’t that high. Still, it is better for you to bring it to their attention. Always come clean with your client if you mess up. Don’t try to cover it up. And fessing up to a mistake doesn’t necessarily mean you will have to always undo your mistakes.”
Jamie’s tips can be adapted for anyone who owns their own business but especially for longarm quilters.
]]>Our Staff Make The Difference
Friday, February 2nd, 2018 the Reese family knows that it takes many dedicated employees to insure the show remains the best quilt show in the West. Most of our staff have been working with the show for many years. They keep coming back because they love sharing their love of quilting with the thousands of people who attend the show through their contributions behind the scenes. 
Cathy Norell was Road’s first employee outside of the Reese Family. She started with the show in 1991 when it was housed at the original Marriott Hotel on Holt Boulevard. At the time, Road to California consisted of only a few classes. By its third year, Cathy remembers, it had grown to a full show offering not only classes but vendors and even a fashion show. Cathy started out helping with registration and has for many years worked with the vendors, personally greeting them every day, making sure they have everything they need for a successful show. She says that she really looks forward to seeing the vendors each year. They have become “like family to me.” A quilter for over 70 years, her favorite quilts are the ones “that can be dragged around and loved.” 
Traditional quilters Patti McCormick and Karen Jones, have become familiar faces to guests in the main hallway as they assist with registration and information.
Patti has worked with Road for 18 years helping with buses, classes, and registration. At Road 2018, she was in charge of checking people in, helping them with their packets, and answering general information. Her favorite part of Road is seeing the show come all together and meeting people from many places with many different quilt interests.
Stationed at the North Registration desk, Karen not only answered questions and gave directions during Road 2018, she helped guests with their entries to the daily giveaways. Seeing the excitement of the guests is one of Karen’s favorite things about the show. In addition, Karen really gets in to the spirit of the show with her quilt jewelry. 
Husband and wife, Rae and Michael, are both quilters and are both part of Road’s staff. Rae is busy before the show even starts, checking in the vendors when they arrive to set up. 
Michael also helps with setting up the vendor floor. During the show, he is busy offering support for the classrooms.
Rae says that working for Road is “fun” and that she enjoys getting to know the people behind the scenes.
We appreciate these and many more diligent staffers who truly make the difference in helping us present a quality show.
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Returning Quilts Safe and Sound
Monday, January 22nd, 2018Why do our guests come to our show?
Some come for the vendors. Some come for the classes. Some come to see friends. But everyone comes for the quilts.
Show quilts accepted for our annual contest and for special exhibits begin arriving at our office in December. The quilts are meticulously logged in and stored until the Sunday before the show when they are moved to the Ontario Convention Center for judging and displaying.
When the show closes on Sunday at 3:30 PM, dismantling the many quilt displays begins immediately. Each quilt is removed by white-gloved volunteers and carefully stored until the next day, when the process for packaging and shipping begins.
Other large shows can take up to a month to return their show quilts to the makers. At Road to California, we pride ourselves in developing a process where over 1,000 quilts are readied for pick-up by FedEx by Monday afternoon following the show.
Show Owner, Matt Reese, personally oversees the packing and shipping of the quilts. “I am 100% directly responsible for this special task,” commented Matt. “I do not delegate this responsibility to any of our staff. Through the years, I have retained full oversight even when I was in law school and even when I was sick.”
Matt has spent the past four years perfecting Road’s packing and shipping method. His goal is to have the job done as quickly as possible without compromise. Matt says using computers, having multiple packing stations, and hand-picked volunteers make the difference.
Road 2018 Teacher Pat Yamin of Come Quilt With Me, stays in California an extra day after the show so she can help volunteer with the process. 
Each quilt has a return instruction sheet completed by its owner that accompanies it throughout the 5-step Shipping and Packaging Process:
Step 1- Expediting
Step 2- Packaging
A volunteer folds the quilt as it was originally received, per the owner’s direction, and puts it in a plastic bag to protect it against any possible insect or water damage in shipping.
The quilt is then placed in a brand-new box that matches the dimensions requested by the owner. These boxes are put together on site and are filled with acid-free packing paper to avoid movement of the quilt during shipping.
Occasionally, when a quilt is received, the owner asks to have it returned in the box they provided. In those cases, Road holds on to the boxes until final shipment. And sometimes two quilts are returned to the same owner in the same box.
Step 4-Weighing
Step 4-Computer Station
Step 5-Sealing and Mailing
We know there is a a lot of trust in us and our system by the quilters. We take pride that we can assure them that they should be receiving their quilts safe and sound by the end of the week.
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A New Generation For Road To California
Friday, December 15th, 2017 family owned and operated show. Purchased by Carolyn Reese in 1996, it began with just a few classes and through Carolyn’s vision, has become what it is known for today: a week long premiere quilt show hosting over 39,000 visitors from all over the world who come to see the hundreds of quilts on display, take classes taught by experts in the quilt and fiber art world, and visit over 225 nationally and internationally known vendors.
This past year saw Carolyn retire from Road and the show acquire new Reese leadership. Road’s new owner is Matt Reese, Carolyn’s grandson and someone very familiar with what makes Road to California the special venue that it is.
Through the years, Matt has held many different positions at Road. He started out doing “go-for-it” work: moving teacher equipment from the storage rooms to the classrooms and back as well as handling other functions during the week of the show. In February 2008, Matt was hired to help with the logistical planning of the show which gave him the opportunity to get his hands in just about everything. After he graduated from California State University- Long Beach, Matt was promoted to show manager and worked full time at Road while attending and graduating from the University of LaVerne Law School.
Why did this young husband and father decide to purchase a quilt show? Explains Matt, “I am a fourth-generation small business owner. It’s in my blood to be in business. I was facing a decision of stability for the future of my family as to whether I was going to continue at Road, or leave to join the legal profession. I knew my grandmother was getting older and whatever uncertainty may occur if something were to happen to her, left me in a position where I would not be able to offer stability to my family. Therefore, my wife and I decided the easiest solution– and the one that I preferred the most — was to purchase Road.”
Of course, continuing to produce a top-quality quilt show is Matt’s highest priority. He is currently working on a couple of new and exciting ideas that will ensure that Road’s attendees continue to have the best possible experience. Additionally, Matt hopes these changes will have a positive influence throughout the quilting industry.
During Road 2018, Matt will be directing his staff, ensuring a smooth operation without micromanaging. Guests will be able to see him at a couple of the larger events like Party Time and the Trunk Show with Jenny Doan. Matt says he will know right away if he’s done a good job planning for this year’s show: the office will be quiet but the floor will be buzzing with activity.
Matt wants to assure Road’s guests that the familiar Reese faces will still be actively helping at the show. A cousin is still coming to be the night manager. His uncle Darrell will still be managing the daunting task of all the equipment and his Dad, Mike, will be up in the office. The Road booth will still be staffed by Matt’s mom and aunt and other cousins still living local will be involved and working the show. Guests will even see Matt’s wife Jen. She handles the contest quilt unpacking and shipping program. The only Reese not with a job currently is four-month-old Braden but Matt is confident they will find one for him as time goes on!!
After being in the business for so many years, Matt says he genuinely “loves all quilts” and feels that “they all have an important place in quilting.” He has quite the collection of Egyptian Tentmaker quilts and is starting to amass a collection of artistic miniatures. Matt has also started to think about collecting some antique quilts as well.
Through the years, he has had some wonderful gifted quilts given to him. One that stands out is from the ladies of Sew Kind of Wonderful. They presented Matt with a small, modern wall hanging last year which has become one of his favorites because “the quilting is fantastic and the color scheme perfectly matches my house.”
While Road 2018 is just a month away, Matt is already looking forward to 2019 and beyond. As Matt explains, “It takes between 18-24 months to fully plan and prepare for an event. We pride ourselves on covering details that some other shows aren’t able to cover. A lot of our special touch comes from the lessons I learned from Carolyn’s travel as a vendor oh so long ago.”
Join us in welcoming Matt Reese, Road’s new owner, who is bringing a new generation of leadership to the world class event that has become Road to California.]]>
