What’s a Show & Tell Extravaganza? It’s a recreation of the live Show & Tell we all remember but in a Zoom world.
Remember how you would pack up that recently completed quilt to take with you to that evening’s monthly Guild meeting? The only requirement was to sign up for show & tell when you arrived and line up along the room perimeter when it was time. You would have the attention of the room while standing in front of your quilt and tell us about your inspiration and the challenges you felt making the quilt. There were often 15, even 20 or more, people participating in Show & Tell every meeting. We all miss that. Some of us miss participating and we all miss seeing the beautiful work of our fellow guild members.
Here’s how we recreate that same enthusiasm on Zoom. The day of the Guild meeting, hang up that quilt you recently finished. (In our estimation "recently" at least means since the last time you participated in a live Show & Tell!) Hang it up on a wall, clip it to a bookcase, pin it to the closed curtains on that picture window - any way to make it your backdrop in your Zoom camera.
When it’s time for Show & Tell during the meeting, we’ll ask everyone who has a quilt to show to “Raise your Hand”. You’ll find that option under the Reactions button on your Zoom screen. This brings you to the top of the list seen by Carole so she can find you easily. Kind of like lining up around the perimeter of the room in the live days.
When it’s your turn, we’ll spotlight you on Zoom. The only thing technical thing you need to know is the best way to show us your quilt is having the quilt and the camera stationery. When its your turn, all you need to do is stand up in front of your hung quilt and tell us your name, your inspiration and any other details important to you.
If your camera is stationary, you could also have the quilt ready to hold in front of your camera. This is a little harder for large quilts but we’ll tell you which way to move to get us the best view.
If your quilt is hung, you could move your camera in front of it but this is the hardest way to do a Zoom Show & Tell. And if you’re holding your camera and your quilt, well, you’ll need to be a contortionist for this to work! Either way, don’t worry about it going perfectly. It never went perfectly in the live meetings either. You will bring smiles to all in the “room” and we’ll be able to see your smile too.
What about everyone watching? The good wishes in the chat are OK but the person showing their quilt can’t hear the chats and they can’t easily see your smile. Hearing and seeing you are a big part of what we’ve all missed about Show & Tell in a Zoom world, so let that quilter know how much you like their work by speaking out after they've shared their story. Yes, that might get noisy but if it gets to be too much, well, Carole has a way to mute everyone! Don’t worry, sometimes the live meetings got a little noisy too.
I’m as excited about this Extravaganza as I’ve been about any paid lecture. I hope you’ll join us and show us your beautiful quilt.
This month we will also decide the winner of the 2021 Panel Challenge. We'll be voting by Zoom Poll and awarding 1st, 2nd & 3rd place ribbons. Some of the Challenge quilts will be available for viewing at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum event on July 10, 2021.
