Sunday, February 28, 2010

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Day


My friends, Joan and Sue and I, spent all day Thursday in Hampton, VA at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. As we were driving up to the show Sue asked me if I was looking for anything special. I couldn't come up with an answer, so Joan piped in and said, "She will know it when she sees it"! Well that was certainly true. And for me, it didn't happen in the display of quilts in the show. Most of the quilts in the show are art quilts. And if you want to see art quilts, you will have to look for another blog. There were some fabulous quilts, but the ones that set my heart to singing were those in some of the vendor booths--like Bonnie Blue Quilts, for example!



This is the first year that Paula Barnes, of Bonnie Blue Quilts, has had a booth at this show. It was a beautiful booth, and I just wanted to swallow it whole.


Here I am gushing all over poor Paula. She was as nice as could be and even posed for a picture for my blog! I, in turn, bought a lovely FQ pack of her newest line of fabric. Yeah, it was a hard sell. Just look at her quilts! Aren't they wonderful!!!

I also met up with Mrs. Goodneedle again this year! I neglected to get a photo, but here she is from last year. She is such a neat lady and I just feel like we are old friends every time we meet.

This may well be the only traditional quilt in the show. (To tell you the truth, I didn't look that hard) Isn't it beautiful! It was made by Lynn Nycum and Judy Iamuzzi of Winston-Salem, NC. I am not sure, but Judy may have been the quilter. 

There were so many great vendors with booths to investigate! We loved every minute of our wonderful whirlwind of a day! We came home with aching feet, knees, hips, necks. We were all hurting somewhere, but we were blissfully happy! -THE END-


Friday, February 19, 2010

INCA GOLD

Here is the unveiling of Inca Gold. I have been showing teasers for a while, and here is the whole enchilada, so to speak. My quilter on this was Rosemary Skinner, a local Virginia Beach gal who did a fabulous job quilting this for me! The photos should open up when you click on them to give you a better view of her quilting. I LOVE what she did!  

  


 




I love designing and creating quilts, but darn it all, those long arm quilters really bring the whole thing to life, don't they? My hats off to all you quilting artists out there and special thanks to Rose on her beautiful work!

This quilt will be going to What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, the LQS here, to be on display for the Shop Hop that starts next week. Also next week is The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, just across the bridge from here. If you are passing thru town be sure and stop at the shop and tell them that I sent you! They will treat you right over there, I promise! It is a GREAT shop! Plus, they carry a complete line of Patchalot Patterns! Whooo hoo!





Saturday, February 13, 2010

A COKE AND A KISS




Happy Valentine's Day my friends! 
Wish I could share with you a Coke and a Kiss!
I know at least a few of you share my passion for this food group!

And then there is our other passion! Quilts-Quilts-Quilts! Seems like I have heard that somewhere before. Here is a long shot of my split 9-patch. I pulled the blocks from the drawer last week and began sewing. When I got all the blocks together it measured 60" x 60". I decided to do some ad-libbing, and this is what I came up with. I seem to have developed an interest in funky top and bottom borders. It makes it my own. This one finishes at 64" x 80". I totally enjoyed the mindless sewing of squares into 9-patches. I have lots more, as I couldn't seem to stop myself. So now a 9-patch design is definitely in order....some day, sooner or later.


 
Happy Valentine's Day and may all your UFOs 
start flying to the finish!



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

MY OWN ADVENTURE LAND

I know my posts seem to get further and further apart, and that is because, as you well know, it is difficult to get anything done in the sewing room or elsewhere when you are glued to the computer. I did that for quite a while, and began to feel frustrated that I was showing little progress in other areas. So I am trying to limit myself. But the truth is, I do enjoy writing and I do enjoy visiting blogs, so I am trying to do it in a sensible manner. I am not commenting as often either. But I am still around and want to let you all know that. And there are soooo many quilt blogs out there now that if you come to mine less often it will give you a chance to visit elsewhere. Capice?

Last week I mentioned that I delivered Inca Gold to my quilter. Always such a relief to know it is done and on its way! Now at a loss for what to do next, because as you well know, there are so many things to do next, I started digging thru some storage looking for something small to finish for my grandson who has new bedroom furniture and needs a little quilty something for his nightstand to protect it from all the things that teenage boys toss on their nightstands. I pulled this little quilt top out of a box and decided to quilt it up at long last. I made it several years ago for a class demo. Now it is quilted and washed and crinkly and adorable. It measures 17.5 inches square, so it was just a little big for Kyle's nightstand. Instead I mailed it to his other grandmother in PA who is so wonderful and sends us chestnuts every fall for our turkey stuffing. I hope she likes it.
Back to the sewing room and more digging. I found all these split 9-patch blocks that I made several years ago. The pattern was in a magazine and it was supposed to be queen size. Well at this point I decided to just start sewing blocks together to see how big it would get. It is now 60" x 60" and I really like it. So I am re-designing to make it larger. Always an adventure when you find an old project to finish up. Hopefully next time you stop by I will have this top completed and I will have more pictures. 
The best thing about these projects is that there was no pressure to finish them for any particular reason. I sat and sewed up my stash of 2-1/2" squares into 9-patch blocks just for the satisfaction and pleasure of it. Ahhh. My kind of adventure. Enter the sewing room and see what happens!
Kyle's quiltlet is still waiting to happen. Another adventure awaits!