Quilt Show Preparations

Next weekend will be the opening of the 14th Bienniel Quilt Show presented by the Columbus Star Quilters and the Evening Star Quilters.  Final preparations are in full swing.  This past week, I've quilted two quilts that will be entered in the show and they are STUNNING, a direct reflection on the piecing.  I do hope the quilting enhances each of these quilts and I think it does.  Of course, I'm prejudiced in that regard.

One of the quilts will go to a Quilts of Valor recipient.  Rosie did a tremendous job piecing the quilt using one inch square scraps and she entrusted the quilting to me.  Here's a quick peek at a small portion of her quilt:

Rosie's piecing is superb and her placement of fabrics in this quilt is exquisite.  It really does look like stained glass windows when you look at the entire quilt.

While at the Beaver Island Quilt Retreat, I was sitting across the table from Carol and saw her quilt being pieced using "Liberated" techniques.  When she asked me to quilt it I was thrilled.  And I came up with what I thought was a "Liberated" way of quilting the quilt, using some of the strategies that Gwen Marston used in quilting her quilts and some I invented on the fly.  (Shhh - don't tell Carol they were on the fly.)  As I was working on various sections of the quilt, I kept envisioning Carol's work to develop each block in a unique way and tried to let that thought process guide my quilting.  Here's a teaser from Carol's quilt:

Straight lines and a variety of spacings were used to great advantage on Gwen's liberated quilts.   Carol decided circles in the border would be a wonderful contrast with the angular piecing in the middle of the quilt.  I had lots of fun working on this quilt and we both think it looks great.

The border treatment is one that I had great fun with and one I'll use again.  Don't know when but it's a keeper.  As much fun as the front of this quilt is, the back is even better!  Be sure to ask a White Glover to show you the back of the quilt.

I'm also finishing the binding on my bed quilt entry:

I still love the shape of this vase on the bottom border of my quilt.  This binding is now completed.  Still have to add the hanging sleeve, however.

Saturday afternoon, Carol and I worked on the final preparations for the Quilter's Boutique.  We tagged each item with a price and packed them for transportation to the venue this coming Friday.

Here are just a few of the latest additions to the Boutique selections.  You'll want to be certain you shop early for the best selection - we're hoping for a sell out!

If you're within easy driving distance of to Columbus, be sure to visit our quilt show us at Donner Center (22nd & Sycamore, Columbus, IN) on either Saturday, October 2nd from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. or on Sunday, October 3rd from Noon to 5 p.m.  We'll be looking for you!

Cheers!
Margaret

I'm Liberated!

Last week I attended the 27th Annual Beaver Island Quilt Retreat, hosted by Gwen Marston.  This is the second year I've attended and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Jeannette, Lois and I left bright and early Tuesday morning and headed north towards Elk Rapids, MI.  We made it to Midlebury, IN by lunchtime, looking for the lunch spot Lois and Jeannette remembered from years past.  Unfortunately, it was no longer in operation so we stopped at the Village Inn.  This cafe/restaurant is reminiscent of small town cafes I've been to in lots of midwestern small towns.  The most enticing items on the menus were the pies so we saved room for dessert.  In my case it was easy - my ham and cheese sandwich came without ham!  But the waitress adjusted my check as she brought me my pie.  Yummy.

We just happened to notice a fabric shop next door!  So despite the edict that there was to be "No Stopping" along the way, we figured we were already stopped so we shopped.  I found a great fabric for a backing and both Lois and Jeannette managed to find some fabric to purchase as well.

Then on to Elk Rapids with No More Stopping along the way.  We actually made good time and arrived just as the Rules of the Week were being pronounced.

Gwen Marston sharing a preliminary overview of the Liberated Quilts she would be sharing with us.

This year's theme was Liberated Quilts Revisited.  Gwen has quite a stash of liberated quilts, liberally pictured in her two books, Liberated Quiltmaking and Liberated Quiltmaking II.



This antique quilt, c 1925 - 1950 and pictured in Gwen's first book, displays liberated techniques.   

 The display of quilts started with some antique quilts Gwen had collected and progressed to those she had created while investigating how to become liberated.  Rest assured that liberated doesn't mean sloppy.  It means using tried and true designs in a new fashion.  Placing square blocks on the diagonal, skewing the sides of blocks, angling flying geese in different directions and all other manner of liberated techniques were discussed over the course of the retreat.

White Birch Lodge is the home for the retreat - a lovely, old family-oriented lodge (think of the camp featured in the movie Dirty Dancing) with placques on the dining room wall honoring those families who have attended for 15 years, 20 years and even 30 years!  By the time the quilt retreats start, the lodge is through with family camping for the year and the dining room becomes the sewing room.  All 30 of us quilters set up our sewing machines, cutting mats, irons and began sewing and talking. 

Jumping to the end of the retreat, here are some of the results of the Columbus crew that was at the retreat.  How many of these will be in our upcoming show???

Lois with her Hallowe'en quilt.  Individual blocks were given to her by friends and she assembled this quilt during the retreat.  See the polka dot type fabric just above the three eyed monster?  That was purchased in Middlebury during our Non-Stop Stop.

Carol completed Riley's quilt.  After the quilt display Saturday night, Carol actually got the inner and outer borders attached.  The quilt is now loaded and ready for quilting.  It was fun to watch Carol assemble this variety of blocks using materials purchased at a Guild auction.  The only fabric added was the striped fabric which complemented all of the solids beautifully.

Jeannette actually COMPLETED a quilt.  See the small square hanging on point?  That even has batting, binding and has been quilted.  Jeannette also completed the quilt top above with liberated square-in-a-square blocks.  The sand pail is also Jeannette's.  I can't wait to see the quilt that has that block in it.

Stay tuned for more pictures. 

Cheers!
Margaret

Mum's the Word

This weekend I took time out from quilting to participate in my P.E.O. chapter's annual fundraiser.  P.E.O. is a Philanthropic Educational Organization and Chapter DN has sold mums each fall to raise money for the scholarship programs we support.  It involves asking friends if they'd like to add some fall color to their yard by buying mums and then delivering the mums to them.

Over the years, my chapter has developed a proven system for assisting with the unloading of mums from the Elsbury's truck and sorting them into groups for each P.E.O. sister who sold mums.  Each of us then delivers the mums to our loyal customers.

This year, however, there were a few wrinkles in that system.  The originally scheduled time for Elsbury's to deliver the mums was 12 noon on Friday.  At 9 a.m. Friday morning they called to say the mums would be delivered at 9:45 a.m.  I called those I knew who had volunteered to assist with the unloading to inform them of the time change and hoped for the best.

This truck is full of mums to be unloaded.  LOTS of mums!

The second wrinkle - well, see if you can guess by looking at the picture below. 

These mums are actually three different colors.  Can you tell which is which?  We couldn't either!  The back row has some that are bronze-orange and some yellow!  The ones in the front are lavendar.   Fortunately, they had been loaded onto the carts in color groupings more or less and there were individual tags in each mum.  But looking at the colors on the tags was sometimes misleading - or how the bronze-orange and yellow mums got intermingled.   And while you might think the taller patch of mums in the back row was all one color, that was where the yellows and bronze-orange mums were mixed up.

Each year, there is usually one color with buds so tight you can't tell what color it is.  But this year, virtually NONE of the buds were blossoming.  Okay, there were a few of the red mums that had slightly opened.  Apparently, many varieties of mums don't start blooming until the weather starts to cool down.  And with the hot weather we've had all fall, the mums were still waiting for the right time.  To those in my chapter who have wished for mums that haven't opened yet --- we'll let YOU do the unloading and sorting next year!

We finally got the mums unloaded and sorted with some expert assistance from Michael, Laura's son who has helped us unload mums since he was first able to walk.

Ellen, Laura and Michael were troopers in unloading the mums.  These are yellow, white and red mums.  Can't you tell???

The third wrinkle was a mix-up in the number of mums needed.  No matter how we try, there always seems to be some glitch in pulling the numbers together.  Being a numbers person, I thought it would be easy to sort out but I have to admit I was struggling Friday.  Perhaps the 3 hours sleep Thursday night had something to do with it.  I was up making ribbons for the Columbus Star Quilters upcoming quilt show after having gotten my repaired sewing machine back on Wednesday.

The fourth wrinkle was a mix-up in the color of additional mums I thought were needed for one order.  I asked for an additional 11 white mums when I should have asked for 11 YELLOW mums.  The new owners of Elsbury's were wonderful to work with and allowed me to trade the white mums for yellow mums.  Problem solved.  By the way, Millie's Cafe located at Elsbury's has great food.  I can highly recommend the pulled pork sandwich - best I've ever eaten.

Eventually, we got the mums sorted and the right colors in the right groupings.  We sold a total of 474 mums this year which means that somewhere close to $1400.  As much as I was pulling out my hair during the sorting and resorting, for me this is a great way to connect with friends, provide them lovely mums, and raise a significant amount of money that can assist women in pursuing their educational dreams.

We always seem to have extra mums and due to a mixup somewhere along the line.  There were lots of extras this year.  We also always seem to need the extras and I'm happy to report that every last one of them has now found a happy home somehwere other than on my lawn.

Now all we need is rain - lots of rain.

Finally, I think we need a new award this year.  The Best Dressed Mum Deliverer award goes to Debbie and her husband Chris.  They showed up Friday evening in their dress clothes to pick up their mums.  To top that off, Debbie stopped by after church on Sunday to get some of the extra mums for another person who asked for some.  How classy is that? 

Cheers!
Margaret

Quilt Treasures

Having returned from the beach on Saturday, Mom and I finally went swimming at CCRA - the pool where I learned to swim.

Sunday was Mom's birthday so after church, we went downtown to the Smithsonian American Art Museum to see the exhibit of Norman Rockwell prints and paintings.  It was interesting to see the exhibit which had works from the collections owned by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.  While I'm familiar with Norman Rockwell's work, there were several that I had never seen before.  It was also interesting to read the comments by Lucas and Spielberg about why they were attracted to individual works - reminding them of events in their past or providing inspiration as they work.

My sister, Helen, had seen the exhibit a few weeks earlier and mentioned we should go to the third floor.  She didn't tell me why.  As we stepped off the elevator, we were faced with the exhibit of Christo's and Jean-Claude's Running Fence, erected in California during 1976.  As interesting as that exhibit was, I didn't think that was the reason she mentioned the third floor.  We walked through an exhibit of portraits  and I finally saw what Helen was referring to.  One wing of the third floor had wonderful tile and stained glass with beautiful possibilities for future quilting designs!  The only problem was I didn't have my camera with me.  Never again will I make THAT mistake.

On Monday, Dad and I went to an auction.  He was interested in some bank stock and I was interested in the Featherweight and quilts that were advertised.

The quilts were auctioned early and I was the winning bidder on this Bow Tie quilt.  Only $5!

All of the blocks are bow ties so you can tell how much some of the fabrics have faded.

I think the reason there were only 2 bids on this quilt was that someone had sewn a piece of muslin over a portion of the quilt on one end.  The muslin had frayed so all that was left of it was some ratty looking muslin strips still attached to the quilt.  I'm not an expert at dating materials and haven't had much of a chance to research the materials in the quilt but I'm guessing 1930's - 1940's.  It's hand pieced and quilted.  It is quite dirty - just folding the quilt released clouds of dust, there are some spots and a rip or two.  Part of what makes it so interesting are the fabrics and how some have faded.

Never did see the featherweight but there were some other sewing machines for sale.  It was interesting to see the decorations on the sewing machines and the cabinets.  I struck up a conversation with a gentleman who said one of the sewing machines was his grandmothers.  He remembers her sitting at the treadle machine sewing - clothing, quilts, all sorts of things.

Look at the decorations on this machine.

How about the ornamentation on this one?

The real treasure, however, was found at home.  On a routine trip through the house, I noticed a red and white quilt folded up in the attic.  I jumped on it and asked if I could take it with me.  I would have left the $5 quilt behind in favor of this one but I was able to get them both into my bag.  Lucky me!

This is now my absolute favorite quilt in my collection.  (Does 4 quilts constitute a collection?)

It was made by Dad's Grandma Kepler.  Hand pieced, hand quilted and in wonderful condition given its age and the fact that it has been used for years and years.  Dad remembers sleeping under the quilt when he was a little boy.  I remember sleeping under this quilt when I was growing up.  And it's my all time favorite pattern - Double Irish Chain.  I've always wanted to make one in two colors - I think the impact is stunning.  It just barely covers the top of this double bed but I love seeing it as I walk past the bedroom.  

Cheers!

Margaret 

Family Ties

I took time off last week to spend some time with my family.  For the last several years, I've gone to visit my folks for a few days around Labor Day.  My folks live right outside Washington, D.C.  The timing is perfect for spending a few days at Rehoboth Beach with my sister's family.

This year it was a quick trip to Rehoboth.  Mom had a meeting Thursday evening and the beach rental ended Saturday.  So we drove over Friday morning.  If you remember, this is the time that Hurricane Earl was making its way up the East coast.  We only had light sprinkles on the way there and arrived just in time for lunch.  Timing is everything!!!

We walked to Grotto's Pizza with umbrellas in hand.  Had a great pizza lunch and then wandered down to the boardwalk to look at the waves.  I did take my shoes off and walked to the water's edge.  Had to stick my toes in the Atlantic while I was there!  There were lots of people walking up and down the beach but the lifeguards were keeping people out of the water and the tricky rip currents that accompany a hurricane.  By mid-afternoon, the skies had pretty much cleared.

Mary, Bob, Diane & Mom on the Boardwalk.  Look at how tall Diane is! 

Back to the house to work on some sewing projects.  I brought materials to make a Snap Bag and so that's what we started on.  Of course, the first seam I had my niece Diane sew was in the wrong place.  And because they FORGOT to pack the sewing supplies that Diane had gotten for Christmas (how could anybody forget those important articles???), we went to several places looking for a seam ripper. 

Finally went to Mares Bears Quilt Shop up in Lewes and bought not only a seam ripper but some fabric for the other project Diane wanted to complete - another tote bag.  She uses the one we made last year so much that she wanted another.  The saleslady at Mares Bears was nice enough to cut the fabric for the tote bag into the sizes we needed.  Then back to the house.

The next challenge was finding an iron so that the fusible fleece could be fused to the fabric.  No iron.  By this time, it was close to dinner time so this is a project Diane will get to complete at home.  Hopefully the instructions (created for a Kid's Club project at Gabrielle's Quilts and Comforts) are clear enough so they'll be able to complete this.

After a wonderful dinner at Jake's Seafood House, back to the house where it was time for bed - at least for Diane & Mary.  They both are programmed to crawl into bed early.  So....that was the end of the beach sewing projects.

We broke camp Saturday morning and had an uneventful drive home.  It was good to see them if only for a few short hours.

Cheers!
Margaret

A Stitch in Time: A Quilt of Love

Jane Link presented the program at today's Columbus Star Quilter's Guild meeting.  What a wonderful program it was - displaying quilts made by  her great grandmother, her grandmother, her mother, herself, her daughter and her granddaughter.  The quilts themselves were a wonderful history lesson but most impressive was the fact that Jane had the stories that went with the quilts.  Even the one Mystery Quilt had a story!

Here's Jane holding her favorite of all the quilts - one pieced by her mother when her mother was only 11 years old.  Hand pieced, hand quilted and gorgeous.

Guild president Susan exclaiming over another of the wonderful quilts.  The fabric colors are still vibrant in most cases - some have faded with time.  But the hand quilting is still as beautiful as the day the stitches were made.

Jane had wonderful pictures of her family.  Her parents are featured in the large picture and the frame with three pictures is Jane herself.  The fabric in Jane's dress is in one of the quilts she displayed.  These quilts were really the first memory quilts, weren't they?

Jane (on right) with her daughter and granddaughter. 

The quilts that her daughter and granddaughter each made during their high school 4-H experience. 

Look at the wonderful collection of quilts - all had pieced and quilted.  Another of Jane's favorite is the basket quilt.  Just think of all the piecing that went into that quilt!

One of the earliest quilts.  I think this is the Mystery Quilt - one of the few Jane has where she's unsure of who made the quilt and in what time period.  As stunning as the vase and flowers are, look at the quilted feathers and other designs.  Exquisite!

A closer look at the quilting designs.  Fabulous!

 One of Jane's urgings was that we talk to those who are familiar with the stories our quilts tell and document those stories for our children and grandchildren.

Cheers!
Margaret

 

This picture got in by mistake and I can't get it out!  A separate post on this later!