A Quilter's Heart

A friend and I went to the Smoky Mountain Quilters Quilt Show on Friday, in Maryville, TN. What a wonderful show. Lots of quilts, great vendors, and a lovely bed turning of antique log cabin quilts. The area Quilts of Valor group, did 3 presentations of Quilts of Valor to 3 service members. Although, I was not able to attend the presentation, I have attended several. What a wonderful way to present a service member with tangible evidence of our deep appreciation of their service and sacrifice. Get more information at www.qovf.org.

Best in Show

 


The Quilt of Valor group also had a gallery of quilts. I love this one.

This one is my show favorite. Sorry, I didn't get a close up of the quilting. The whole quilt was just so sweet, and the quilting was absolutely perfect for the quilt. And it came with a nice story. It was made by a bee to remember 3 of their members who had passed away. 

 

 

 

News from the Studio

The Amish Pinwheel quilt (from the Craftsy Precision Piecing class) is ready for quilting. But first – gotta practice a bit. Every machine quilter, whether domestic or longarm, needs a practice sandwich to play with. When I was quilting on the domestic, I kept a stack of fat-quarter sandwiches to warm-up the coordination and practice new designs. As a longarmer I do the same thing. I’ve got a growing stack of  well-used practice “quilts” for reference, and one all ready to zip onto the longarm leaders at a moment’s notice. Today, I practiced the border designs for the Amish pinwheel, and now feel ready to get started.  Since the quilt is all batiks, it was important to practice on batik with the same thread I will use on the quilt.  

Key Learning for the Week

Do you ever feel a little inferior or inadequate when you see all of the amazing talent at a quilt show? I do. But I fight the feeling. No quilter is inferior or inadequate – every quilter has a style, things they are good at, things they don’t need or want to be good at, and skills they want to develop. Embrace your style, your joy of fabric and thread, and the fellowship of your sisters of the craft.

Now, let's go quilt something!

Appalachian Heritage Quilters Quilt Show - Huge success

Milky Way

The AHQ quilt show was a huge success!! Approximately 160 quilts were on display at the Crossroads Christian Church in Gray, TN this past Friday and Saturday – and they were beautiful! Best show we have had since I have been a member. Check out the Facebook page for Appalachian Heritage Quilters to see lots of pictures and info. I can hardly wait for next year. I was blessed to sell one of my quilts, Milky Way, to a local couple who will put it on display in their home. 

 

 

To get ready for the show, I needed to put hanging sleeves on 8 quilts, and a binding on one of those.  It was a customer’s first quilt that she agreed enter into the show. She did a fantastic job, didn't she?

Customer's first quilt!

As you can guess, I spent last weekend with needle and thread. If you are looking for a needle for hand sewing that glides through the fabric and has a big enough eye, that you can actually thread it – I have the answer: Dritz Embroidery needles, size 8. Then there's the only thimble I can wear now. I don't remember the name of it, but it has a rubber body that is comfortable and functional on my aging knuckles. 

By the way, setting up a quilt show is a major deal. Not to mention, getting it all out of the church sanctuary quickly, so it could be set up for Sunday morning!! Here are just a few pictures of set up.  Hmm, the few pictures I have here seem to imply that Angie and Sandy were the only ones working - but there were a bunch of us. The others must have been just out of picture range, or taking a cookie break. A BIG thanks to everyone who pitched in to make it happen!

If you have never entered a quilt in a quilt show - just go ahead and do it. It is great fun and very rewarding.

Now y'all have a great week, and let's go quilting!

Surprise! Surprise!

I usually don't like surprises. I'm afraid I won't like what I'm surprised with, or that it won't be exactly what I would have bought for myself. The same is true with me and fabric. To get that guarantee that all the fabrics in a quilt go together, I've been using pre-cuts and yardage from the same line. It's a safe way to get a well-balanced look in a quilt. But I love to use batiks. Since most batiks bleed, I must be able to pre-wash them, which is impossible with pre-cuts. So, I use a limited number of batik fabrics in a project, and agonize over selecting ones that coordinate with each other. Thankfully, there is a little collection of color cards that are a big help to me. If you are color-challenged, check out the Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool by Joen Wolfrom. It is a big help at the quilt store, and I'm usually pleased with the results.

Lately, I've been wanting to make one of Jenny Doan's easy, scrappy quilts with batiks, but have been thwarted by the idea of finding a myriad of fabrics to work with. Lucky me! Batiks Etc has been having a Fat Quarter Frenzy (20 fat quarters for $30). So, I just sucked it up and ordered a bundle online! Scary, for sure, trusting a total stranger to pick 20 fabrics for me, but I could get 20 fabrics and not have to select a single one. I told them that I like cool colors, and which colors I like the best and just waited to see what I would get. Well, today the happy collection showed up in my mailbox and I am very pleased with them! Whoever had the job of picking out the fat quarters did a wonderful job!

Seems like a lot of us quilters want to be in control of our fabric choices - at least most of the time. My hunch is that many of us need to be in control of other things in our lives, as well. Maybe it's time for us to learn to relax a little, and trust someone else to make a fabric choice for us. We might be pleasantly surprised.

Have a great week! Now, let's go quilt something.