Catch Up Time

So many things going on these days - hard to keep the straight!

Gabrielle has started a Saturday morning quilt group.  We gathered in February to share completed projects and talk about different finishing techniques.

JayDee is holding a beach towel to which she's added a fabric "sleeve" at the top.  This sleeve goes over the top of your lounge chair to hold the beach towel in place.  Love the bright fabrics.

Here's a completed basket quilt - was it Kay's?  Beautifully completed.

 Also in February was the Guild's annual auction.  Just look at the items waiting for eager bidders.  We raised over $1,100 at that meeting.

 We did have Show and Tell but I couldn't tell you who made these two T-shirt quilts.  I like the way solid fabrics are interspersed with the T-shirts to help fill out the quilt.

Another reason I've been busy has been my new job - Executive Director at the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.  We just held our Phil!Tastic fundraising event.  Love the decorations and the colors used in the decorations.  We had both a Silent and Live auction to raise money for the orchestra. 

 Entertainment was The Singing Hoosiers.  What a wonderful group of talented, young people.  This was the only shot I got of them but they had a few dance routines and at the end of their performance, they came down on the dance floor and got people up and dancing.  It was a super fun event.

 Finally, back to quilting stuff.  Deb, Kathy and I made our annual foray to the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in Bloomington, Indiana (not Bloomington, IL as Bonnie Hunter posted on her blog).  There weren't as many quilts this year - don't know why - but the quilts on display were a wide mixture of techniques and designs.

 Birgit Schueller had this eye-catching quilt.  Her quilt last year had concentric circles in the piecing that were very restful.  This really makes you take a step back, doesn't it?

I loved this quilt with the penguins marching among the rocks - or seals!  Look closely and you can see their cute faces among the rocks.  I see at least 5 seals - how many can you see?

Of course, there were fabric purchases involved.  Now to quilt!!!

Cheers!

Margaret

A Fresh Start

This year has gotten off to a running start ... busy, busy, busy!  Our Guild met on the 9th and we had a great turn out.  Lots of show and tell!  I thought there wouldn't be too much because of the holidays.  Boy, was I wrong!  Take a look.

Susan is showing a gorgeous quilt top.  

Sara showed the cute Snowman Santa quilt she had completed.  I think she used it as a door hanger.

Here's Lillian's Block of the Month she completed.  She did this through Sharynn's Quilt Box in North Vernon.  Harriet Carpanini quilted it for her and did a fabulous job.  It was gorgeous!  Harriet is a HandiQuilter Educator and you can see why they have her teaching about longarm techniques.

Jamie had these applique blocks - I think she bought them from an antique store.  She set them in this quilt and then had an Amish friend of hers hand quilt it.  Beautifully done.

Here's another of Jamie's quilts.  Don't you love the scalloped greenery?  I forget the story behind this but it certainly is  wonderful to see.  I really like the green binding - helps frame the quilt.

I moved when I took the picture but you get the idea.  Hard to believe that this was the first T-shirt quilt done by Kathi!

Here's Harriet hiding behind her granddaughter's quilt.  She designed the quilting design and then had her computerized HandiQuilter do the quilting.  What a lucky grandchild to have such a talented and loving grandmother.

When Show and Tell was over, we had delicious treats.  We were then treated to a program by Lois Griffith titled "I Can't Draw a Straight Line therefore I Can't Draw!"  She show us the way to overcome the creativity block that we often run in to when designing patterns for our quilts.  Lois is an extraordinary teacher and even helped me!  I know I can draw a straight line (using a ruler) but she helped me see how other simple shapes can be combined into the more complex shapes that look so good when appliqued.  It was a great start to the year.

Cheers!

Margaret