The afternoon before the taping I got a phone call at the hotel asking if I could be at the studio at 7:30 instead of the scheduled 8:30. No problem. I am normally a late sleeper and perform better late in the day, but the time difference worked in my favour this time.

In the morning we took a taxi to the studio. On the outside it did not look any different from the other buildings in the area. The entrance at the side of the house was a large set of sliding doors that were almost like the garage at home. In the first room we entered there was various sorts of equipment on shelves and tables - clearly a work space. One of the producers greeted us and we were shown down a small corridor to the dressing room, which was a whole different story. First of all, there was a sign on the door with my name on it.

I had some time to unpack the quilts and sort my notes and project parts, and also hang the three outfits I had brought. The instructions I had received earlier included detailed instructions about what to wear - nothing black or white or checkered or heavily patterned or glittery. I was also instructed to bring several outfits to choose from so that I would not clash with whatever Alex would be wearing on that day. A lady in charge of dressing came to my room and helped me to choose my outfit, and would you believe it, whisked it off to have it ironed for me! My, that was a first! No one had ever ironed any of my clothes since my mother when I was a teenager and still living with my parents.

The dressing room also included a small TV which showed what was going on in the studio in real time. I was able to watch a little of Cara Gulati's* taping

Finally it was my turn to be in front of the cameras. The tables with all my materials were wheeled into the studio. The cutting mats with the pieces laid out on them made it easy to transport them to the studio table without ruffling the carefully laid out sequence. The decorations on the set were changed around a bit and some of my quilts were hung on the walls. One of the first things to be shot were stills of the Night and Day quilt with the flaps buttoned in different combinations. Christine and another member of the camera crew were the ones who got to do all the buttoning with me directing them. The quilt was hung rather high on the wall and I could not do the climbing myself due to my then one-year-old hip replacement which had been very slow to heal.

I had been forewarned that we might have to tape a segment several times if something or other did not go right. It could be a number of things such as the sound not being right, the camera focus, or my making a blunder. Nothing would be edited later. Once it is taped, that is the finished product. As it turned out, we had to start over only once during the first segment, which they said was because of a camera problem. The other two segments were done in one go.

Suddenly we were finished, and just in time for lunch, which had been laid out on a self-serve table in the first room. After I had packed away my materials we helped ourselves to pasta and salad and sat outside eating and chatting. The impression that had been forming all morning - that of a friendly and easygoing atmosphere - was strengthened as people were laughing and joking around us,

and all this in spite of a quite hectic schedule. As I understood it, they do the taping for all, or most, of the episodes during a couple of weeks in January, with four episodes every day, - two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The guest for the first episode in the morning would have to come in the day before to rehearse and make ready, so there were always tapings and rehearsals going on at the same time.

We were allowed to stay and sit in on the tapings in the afternoon, which we did for a while. It was a chance to see the process from the "other side." We relaxed in a chair while someone else was up there doing their job. This happened to be Sue Beevers who demonstrated how she paints on fabric. Alas, we had an appointment in mid afternoon, so I did not get to see how she did the actual painting, which I regret. The preparations we got to see were very promising and I would have liked to see the rest, too.

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My husband took lots of photos during the whole day at the studio including all of those you see here.

We had a very nice holiday afterwards, which included a trip to Seattle to visit a quilting friend whom I had met via the Internet and who had visited us in Norway the year before. She and her husband showed us a lot of the area there, including some quilt shops. We also visited the La Conner Quilt Museum, which is situated in the most charming old building in a small fishing village.

Our flight back was out of the Los Angeles airport, so we went back and explored more of that city before returning home. The weather was very nice all

the time. The sun shone and the temperatures were pleasant. The only rain we saw was on the evening we arrived in Seattle.

Thinking back I am very happy that I got the chance to have this experience - that all the little details that could have gone wrong and prevented my going, didn’t happen - and that at that time we had the economy available to go through with it as well as an additional holiday. Contrary to what some may think, the guests in the Simply Quilts show pay all their expenses themselves. However, the exposure guests of the show get may make up for the expenses in terms of added interest and demand for our quilts, our books, our patterns, or whatever our specialties are.

For myself, I see it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I was very lucky to get, especially in view of the recent decision not to produce any more episodes for the show. Having caught the tail end, I now have a memory to cherish for a long time.Who would have thought that my quilting hobby would one day lead to this? It can only make me wonder what lies around the next bend on the road.

*Note: Cara Gulati's book was featured in our March 2005 issue. Visit her website Doodle Press to read more about her.

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There are only 30 days in April and in at least 2 places you indicated April 31. 
- Fern

Thank you for pointing that error out to me, Fern. I cannot explain it since April is my birthday month and I know exactly how many days the month has. The errors have been corrected.
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