A few quilts from Mid-Atlantic

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival had some awesome quilts. Overall, the best I have seen in years! This one was fabulous and just my style! Made by Nancy L. Losee. Love the cheddar in the border!

Mary Chalmers of Alexandria, MN made two fabulous crazy quilts.  Amazing work. Above is Crazy with a Twist which won first place for traditional quilts. We are crazy about her twist! 

 Here is a close-up for you to drool over!

 This is a close-up of Mary's other quilt called In Praise of Wool.
Check out Lisa Bongean's blog for a much better picture of In Praise of Wool. What an artist!

Blogger is giving me grief loading photos today, so I will close for now. I know that Mrs. Goodneedle posted photos from Mid-Atlantic also, so check out her blog, From the Strawberry Patch.

More later! 

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest

Yesterday was one of those days we quilters wait all year for:  Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival! It is held in Hampton, VA at the Convention Center. I drove up there with my friends Joan and Sue, as usual. We start out together and get separated very quickly as we each see things that interest one of us more than another. So many different things for so many different quilters. Look what I spotted right off the bat--our friend Karen's book, A Bountiful Life! She would have been delighted with the setting as it was nestled in with nice rolls of wool and other cozy things.

 Minutes later I ran into Mrs. Goodneedle! We hugged and visited for a few minutes then met later to visit some more. Love that lady! One of the benefits of blogging is making some wonderful friends, such as Karen and Debbie.

 

 Notice the booth we are in, Attic Heirlooms, and the neat stuff they have. The quilt in the background is awesome. Check out their website. Lots  of wool and primitive, etc.

I ran into another friend, Janna-the president of Bloc-Loc. I met Janna and her husband Paul in Houston at Quilt Market a couple years ago. Their booth was right by mine. They totally sold me on their product and now I can't function without their amazing rulers. Their rulers each have a groove in them that gets placed on the seam line of a half-square triangle so you can trim it accurately. The groove locks in on the seam for greater accuracy. These are perfect for a scrapper like me because I am always trimming down triangles and flying geese. Yes, they have one for flying geese and they keep coming out with new ones. Be sure and check their schedule because they go to shows all over America and if you are a block trimmer you must have these rulers. They are only distributed through Bloc-Loc! I had to get a new 1-1/2" HST size because I left mine in Arizona.

Other purchases? Well, I made out OK. I bought titanium coated sewing machine needles at the Superior Threads booth. I had to get these after watching the very interesting and informative videos on their website. When you have some time you really should watch THESE. At least the ones that look interesting to you.

I also found fabric. Can you believe it? Honestly, I tried to resist, but there were a few that I had to have. Barbara Brackman's Battle Hymn  fabric is wonderful! From Moda Fabric.

One booth that I am always happy to shop is called Traditions of the White Swan. I always come away happy from that booth! They are from Hagerstown, Maryland and have lots of kits on line. Last year I bought the whole collection of fat quarters of Little Pink Stars, and designed a baby quilt that will be in McCall's Quilting magazine--June issue, so keep an eye out! This year I found this darling collection of grey and blue Buggy Barn prints from Henry Glass. I wonder what these will become?

Finally, I broke down and purchased this beautiful basket. I have been looking at these for years each time I go to Quilt-Fest. They are made in Africa and come in all shapes and sizes. The beautiful bag is a gift from my friend Sue Cruthers who made it for my i-pad! Isn't it the cutest thing?! I LOVE it!

All in all, it was a great day! I will post another day with a few quilt photos. There were some awesome quilts this year!

 

 

Post Toasties

Does anyone remember that cereal called Post Toasties? Is it still around? I have no idea, but that title came to mind as the weather turned on us last night! I went to bed and snuggled under my electric blanket (don't tell the girls at Primitive Quilts and Projects, but my bedroom is not that primitive)! The wind was battering the house and snow was falling. Snow--here in Virginia Beach. That does not thrill me. So I am being lazy and staying toastie while I post on my blog. Now do you get it?

I made an attempt to put things away in my sewing room. It is a mess. I know I don't have to explain to you quilters how this happens. It is really time for a knock down, drag out fabric fight. In the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara, "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival is coming our way in a week. The shops are all gearing up in preparation for lots of traffic from out of towners. It is always exciting around here. I have been getting ready also. I am introducing three new patterns. I worked on these while I was in Arizona and have been writing directions and preparing covers.

 Tinder Box 38" sq, Hickory Sticks 19" x 26", Diamond in the Rough 60" x 80"

The covers are on order and the directions are in the works. These will be up on my website soon. Hope you like them!

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-

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!

JUST FLYING BY

The weekend is once again slapping us in the face. "Wake up", it says, "your life is flying by"! At least that is how I feel. At least I can say I got some things done this past week. For those that are interested in my newest little pattern, Feathered Friends, it is available on my website and you can click on the little picture of it on my side bar to take you there. Thank you for giving me such positive feedback on this little cutie!

 

I am frantically working on another larger quilt that I want to have ready for the LQS, What's Your Stitch 'N Stuff, by Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest in February. It is going to be awesome! The little blocks I showed in my last post have grown into bigger blocks, as shown above.

 

And I have border strips completed and ready to be added very soon. I love designing quilts and creating them, then writing the directions isn't even that bad any more, but the whole thing is such a long process! I keep wondering how the "big girls" do it all so seamlessly?

Have a great weekend everyone!

A BRIGHT DELIGHT

I am not usually into the wearable arts thing. I admire it, and the fine work involved, but it is just not me. Being the conservative soul that I am, I could never wear this jacket either. But isn't it just so cool? It is all wool! Apparently the judges liked it also.

This is just a short post with another picture to share from Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest '09. Enjoy and be inspired!

ENLARGED

What is the point of showing a whole quilt if it doesn't enlarge? So I reposted these pics with the hope of better viewing.

WEATHER OR NOT

Whether or not to go back to Quilt-Fest was actually the question. See that foreboding sky? The birds are holding on tight to the wire, which wouldn't be my first choice in inclement weather. The weather was very nice on Thursday when we went, but over the weekend it turned miserable. Sunday Joan and I faced the storm with the heat turned up in the car and drove back to Newport News.

This time we really had no purpose other than just wandering. We wandered back to the Olde Green Cupboard, of course. This time I got a picture of my new best friend, Gloria, who also happens to own the shop. See Karen Dianne's quilt on the left behind me? And of course my Indian Paintbrush quilt too. I should point out that Gloria kitted it up with a scrappy background, like Karen Dianne made hers. Everything comes out looking rather vintage by the time Gloria is done picking fabric. Anybody want a kit? Call the Olde Green Cupboard!

I really feel bad for those that have to drive today in this nasty weather. At least OGC is heading south.

A little show and tell: I loved this quilt! It is so beautifully done. I love house blocks. Look at this darling block with the little trellis going up the front of the house and the darling tree, etc. Beautiful!
Here is the whole quilt to feast your eyes on. I do not do this kind of work, but I surely appreciate and admire it.

Hope you are having a beautiful day where ever you are. I am not, but I will make the best of it---indoors!

QUILT FEST '09

Yesterday was such a great day! Sue, me and Joan, pictured above in that order, drove up to Newport News to attend Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest! We are the Three Amigos, and sometimes just as goofy! It is so fun to be with friends who all relate to each other in a relaxed way that only good friends can. It is funny how different we all are, and yet how many things we have in common. Sue was at the top of her game in the humor department yesterday. We were laughing all day.

It was exciting to see my Indian Paintbrush pattern made up and kitted at the Olde Green Cupboard booth! See it on the wall behind us? They did a beautiful job, as they do with everything! I love their booth. Everything in that shop speaks to me! Gloria, the owner, does an amazing job with color and fabric in the quilts displayed. It was an honor to have my quilt right smack in the center! I hope they sell lots of kits and patterns!

I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Goodneedle herself! She is totally wonderful, and I loved visiting with her. Funny how well you can get to know someone through their blog and just get a feel for what kind of person they are. I wish we could have spent the entire day together. She was there with her friends too, and it was good to connect in real life!

By the way, the quilt behind us is all wool! It was being offered as a block of the month, and my friend Joan signed up for it. She is thrilled! It is a design from Primitive Gatherings.

Mary from Quilt Hollow was at Quilt-Fest also! We met up at the Olde Green Cupboard booth, where Mary bought the Indian Paintbrush kit! Yay Mary! Maybe she will show us her progress as she works on it. Mary and I have been e-mailing back and forth for a while, and it was so fun to finally meet up with her! I am so glad I was able to meet both these blogging friends, and seriously, if we hadn't arranged it, I never would have found them. It was not nearly as busy as last year, but still, the size of the facility is so large that I wouldn't have found my friends that I went with if we hadn't arranged a place to meet.

This last shot is another picture of the Olde Green Cupboard, just to show you how lovely their booth was. They even had lamps, giving a nice warm glow and making their booth appear so inviting. Above is one of their needle-punch projects beautifully framed. They also have demonstrations going on for needle-punch (or is it punch-needle?) and rug making.

Oh look! On the wall on the left side is a quilt made by our own Karen Dianne, Mistress of Leehaven! Gloria told me that Karen does beautiful work, and I got to see it for myself! Your quilt is wonderful Karen!

MY FAVORITE BOOTH!

I know you are all sitting on pins and needles, and probably threads and fabric strips, waiting to hear how the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest was. Well here is a photo of me feeling very proud of the display at Nancy's Calico Patch booth with my Williamsburg Medallion quilt front and center! To the left is part of my Pioneer Trail quilt. The whole booth looked very nice with the overall theme being CW reproduction quilts and fabrics. I was happy to be a part of it. They sold a ton of my patterns, so I am really happy about that! My friends and I were there shopping and looking at quilts for the day on Thursday (2-21-08) and we had a great time.
I didn't take too many pictures, but I do want to share this one quilt that I loved! A huge variety of toiles went into the quilt, and the designer did a great job with it! I should have been better about getting the name so I could give her credit. If anyone out there knows, I will be happy to add it. Isn't it great?!
Apparently the HatBox quilt is a design by Kaffee Fassett.
Apparently the Hatbox quilt IS ACTUALLY Kaffe Fassetts!--Thanks Katie!

On another note, I heard from Nicola in Australia that she was making Bonnie's Bargello quilt, so I added her to the list on the side. I don't plan to leave the list up too much longer, so be sure and take a look at what she has done. You may want to see what progress has been made on the other blogs while you are at it. Unfortunately I, myself, have done nothing more on mine. I plan to make it bigger and have lots of strips cut, so enventually I will get it done! For me it is a good project to pick up when there is a lull in the work at hand. Again, thank you Bonnie for all the inspiration and directions.
I hope I can sew today. I am all charged up to create after going through so many inspiring vendor booths! Happy weekend!

WELCOME TO MY WORLD

How many of you out there are going to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest this week? It takes place at the Hampton Roads Convention Center beginning on Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday. If you are going I hope you will check out Nancy's Calico Patch booth (#412). My new quilt, Williamsburg Medallion, will be on display there. I made a model just for them. This one consists primarily of the fabrics from the Windham line.
Nancy is devoting their booth to Civil War era reproduction fabrics this year, and focusing on the Williamsburg fabric from Windham and the Jamestown fabric from Andover. I am excited to be able to participate. They will have a couple of my other quilts displayed as well, so stop and shop and say hello. Well, I won't actually be there except in spirit, but say hello to my quilts and Nancy!

Also, I am very excited about the quilt that Libby made using this pattern! If you know Libby, you know she loves all things primitive. Can you believe this is the same pattern??? She appliqued a pineapple in the center (ala Linda Brannock), added the Welcome, and there you go---it's a Libby quilt! This stuff just never gets old, does it?

When I was trying to think of seven things about me for my previous post I was talking about it to my husband. He suggested that I write about how I am really into quilts. (Turn on laugh track). I told him that everyone already knows that. It is why I have a blog. "But do they know how much you are really into it?" he asks. "Honey", says I, "They are ALL really into it"! This is what keeps us hopping to the computer between seams---so we can see if our friends posted any new quilts today!

Addendum: I didn't mean to imply that I won't be at Quilt Fest. I will be there all day Thursday browsing around quilts and vendors. I am not working the booth or anything like that. But I will be there! If you recognize me please say hello!