Aurifil Thread

Sharon introduced me to Aurifil thread for piecing at a quilt retreat a few years ago.  Since that time I've come to appreciate the improvement in my piecing accuracy as a result of this thinner but very strong thread. It was only this year that I inquired about using it in my longarm and found that there are those who do use Aurifil thread in their longarm.

I gave it a try and it was wonderful!

Large cone of Aurifil thread purchased at MQS this year.  Found I had a smaller spool of thread so I used it to wind the bobbins.

It was the perfect color thread to use in an all over pattern on Earlene's bargello quilt.  Her piecing is superb and I love the color runs on this quilt.  She has it entered in the Bartholomew County Fair this year.

Try it.  You'll like it!

Cheers!
Margaret

Book Bonanza

I was excited to see three packages of books on my doorstep this afternoon.  I had recently ordered some books to expand my knowledge of quilts, quilting, color, composition and other quilty things.

Lots of color and design books - the area in which I need the most help!

These books will make interesting reading and study material as I am currently enrolled in the NQA Judges' Certification program.  I received a list of questions that I need to answer and several of them are on color and design topics where my knowledge base is pretty thing.  Thus the need for these books.

I also ordered one that has been of enduring interest to me - Quilts Their Story and How to Make Them by Marie Webster.  It's the green book - from the Brooklyn Public Library and was purchased by them in the days before zip codes.  Their address is listed Brooklyn 17, NY.  Who else remembers those days?  It's been culled from their stacks and at one point was a reference book.  I couldn't resist purchasing this and love the old library smell!

Time to read!
Cheers!
Margaret

Quilts of Valor - Summer 2012

I've been somewhat remiss in working on Quilts of Valor quilts this year so I was surprised to see three quilts with my quilting in this showing of the Columbus Quilts of Valor group.

Deb, Kathy and I had lunch to talk quilts and fabrics and then headed over to the Community Church of Columbus where the local group meets every Monday morning to work on quilt tops and bindings.  Their periodic showings of the quilts completed over the last few months is always stunning and today's exhibit was right on target with 160 quilts on display.  Take a look....

The selection of red, white and blue quilts up front was beautiful, with lots of stars in the mix.  

Ken made this quilt - a nice southwestern theme.  You can see the cacti and the stetson hats quite clearly.  You have to look close to see the boots - you can see the heel and upper part of the boot.  While the fabric he chose for the foot part of the boot is spot on when compared to actual boots, it fades into the background fabric in this picture.

I vaguely remembered quilting the quilt with yellow sashing and when I looked up close - sure enough!

The mixture of friendship stars and the white chain blocs are wonderful in this quilt.

Another quilt with friendship stars.  The light stripes includes red, white and blue star s on a light background.

The aqua quilt above Kathy's head (far left) was made by Alice.  It's a lovely design and beautifully done.

Love the bright thread - I don't have this thread....yet!

Susan was on a roll and completed 8 postage stamp quilts.  They look great from a distance as well as up close.  

I'm becoming a lover of scrappy quilts - or is it the chains running through them?

Cheers!
Margaret

Shipshewana Shopping Spree

Shipshewana's annual Quilt Festival was this week.  Kathy, Deb, Gabrielle and I drove up Thursday and had a wonderful two days of shopping, quilts and sharing.

Our first stop on the way up was at Calico Point - now a favorite quilt shop.  They have a wonderful selection of fabrics and their prices are great - several dollars below the typical quilt shop.   If you're ever near Goshen, Indiana, make sure you look them up.

Additions to my batik collection of fabrics.  All but the pale lavender at the far right are from Calico Point.

We got to Shipshewana mid-afternoon, checked in at the quilt show to pick up our tickets for the evening's entertainment and checked into our hotel.  On the way back to town (all of 4 blocks or so), we stopped at several stores to investigate their wares.  We also went to Lolly's, well known for their enormous selection of fabrics.  After checking out most of the shops in downtown Shipshewana, we had dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant - a favorite.  We ate and ate and I ate even more but their meatloaf is hard to resist.  Kathy & Deb made sure they got a side of chicken & noodles.

Thursday evening, we had tickets to see Ricky Tims.  He not only played the piano and sang, he told engaging stories about growing up, learning to quilt and connections to people throughout his life.  We laughed, enjoyed the music and had a wonderful time.  

Friday morning found us at the quilt show.  And I forgot my camera!  Fortunately, Kathy had her Iphone and took this picture of me beside my quilt.  She sent it to my phone and I was able to upload the picture for the blog.

BIQR Star was completed at the 2011 Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.  I love the way the black background contrasts with the batiks.  Note the red ribbon hanging beside it - 2nd place!  I was tickled.

There were 152 quilts entered in the show this year so it has grown by leaps and bounds in just 4 years.  There were also several quilts from out of state and Claudia Pfeil entered her Fire and Ice quilt that had been entered in MQS last year. 

Balloon Bouquet by Gail Lysett - this got my vote for Viewer's Choice.  What a fun idea this is and she appliqued all of those small circles beautifully.  

Shopping isn't limited to just fabric - what a concept.  We found time to use our coupons for "free food!"  Buy a pint of jam and get a free mini-loaf.  I got Sweet Pepper Jam - it was delicious with peanut butter on the sandwich I had at lunch.  I also got some pickled beets (yum!) and onion cheese.  That made a great grilled cheese sandwich for dinner tonight.  My other big purchase (using a coupon!) was a new purse.  I love the color and the funky stitching on the front of the bag.  Kathy bought a purse, too.  And while at Yoder's Department Store, Kathy and Gabrielle bought new sandals. 

My treasure trove of non-fabric purchases.  I splurged on the Corn Chips with flax seed (delicious) and honey roasted sesame sticks.

On the way home, we went through Middlebury and stopped at the Gunn Bros. Lots of quilters there, too.

I bought these funky dinosaurs to use in a Stack & Whack pattern.  We saw a Stack & Whack quilt in the show that had bright colors with a black background and it was spectacular.  

 It was a wonderful trip with good friends.  We had a great time, laughed alot, bought lots of fabric and ate well.  Put Shipshewana's Quilt Festival on your calendar for next year - June 26 - 29, 2013.  You'll have a great time.  


Cheers!
Margaret

NQA 2012

I'm still decompressing after a fabulous three days at the National Quilting Association's 2012 Quilt Show.  My primary purpose in going was to take a Design course for Quilt Judges.  Full disclosure - I have judged only 1 quilt show so far.  I've scribed and been an aide at 4 quilt shows and am fascinated by the judging process.

In the meantime, I know I have lots to learn and that was the reason for attending the Design course at NQA this year.  Taught by Beverly Fine and Andi Perejda, both NQA Certified Judges, this course was helpful in outlining design elements and design principles and how knowledge of those elements and principles can be helpful when evaluating a quilt's design.  They used Joen Wolfrom's book Adventures in Design as a starting point.  And it is just a starting point - there's so much more to learn!

One of the features this year were mini lectures by a variety of people.  "Confessions of a Scrapper" was the title of Cindy Erickson's talk.  Cindy was one of the judges at MQS and I enjoyed getting to know her there so just had to listen to her talk.  She is witty, fun, and had a wonderful collection of quilt tops to share.  Some were waiting for the borders "to be born," and with other quilts the borders were born first with the insides following.  It was interesting that she buys fat quarters and finds that's sufficient in most cases with only borders taking more than that.  I guess that's pretty much the definition of scrap quilts - lots of different fabrics, right?!

Cindy Erickson talking to a room full of quilters about scrap quilts.

Here's one of Cindy's quilt tops - complete with the border!  All of her quilts had some unifying fabric with the scraps providing lots of color and interest.

 Another fun thing was attending the live Auction Friday night with Cindy Claycamp, a friend who was vending in her Quilting Memories booth.  I was delegated to bid on a quilt for Nancy but the price rapidly exceeded her maximum bid.  I did bid on a quilt for me - and won!

"Grace Note" by Jean Power of Larchmont, NY.  Thanks, Jean, for such a wonderful little quilt.  I love it!

On the way to the auction, Cindy and I ran into Mary Buvia, a master quilter from Greenwood, IN.  We sat and talked with Mary for at least an hour - what a treat that was.  NQS had a special exhibit of Mary's quilts, "The Magical World of Mary Buvia."  Mary had done a workshop for our guild in 2011 and I've taken several of her classes.  She's a wonderful teacher.  Her book on the making of her award winning quilt "The Loading Dock" should be coming out in August.  She was in the process of writing it last year and I know it will be full of wonderful information.  

 On Saturday, there was learning integrated with more fun stuff.  I took a class from Deb Karasik and had a blast.  I missed hearing Deb talk at the MQS banquet and when I saw that she was teaching at NQA, thought it would be a good opportunity to check her out as a potential speaker and workshop presenter for my guild.  She passed!!!  Not only did I learn new techniques for paper piecing (yes - I now enjoy paper piecing, a 180 degree turn from my initial paper piecing experience), I enjoyed meeting Kathy who let me sit beside her for the day.  Kathy bought a new sewing machine at the show - lucky lady - and her daughter is getting married in a few weeks in Wooster, Ohio.  What a coincidence - I attended The College of Wooster!

My table partner - Kathy.  I love her jacket - all my colors.  I was standing there with my camera in hand and told Kathy I was going to take her picture - not sure she believed me!

Deb Karasik and "Mr. Deb," aka Jeff, holding Deb's latest quilt.  Her quilts are so vibrant with their color  combinations and this one, set against a black background, is especially stunning.

So...here's my paper pieced block.   I still have some areas for improvement but I'm pleased with the result. 

After a full day, it was a quick drive home.  My head is spinning with ideas - which one do I work on next?  Actually, there are a few quilts waiting to be quilted and they are absolutely next in line.

Cheers!

Margaret

Guild Meetings

I attended two guild meetings last week.  At Wednesday's Columbus Star Quilters Guild we were celebrating our birthday - 25th anniversary of the Guild's founding if my memory is correct.  We had a brief program on blocking quilts as well as Show and Tell.  Look at this fun stuff!

Here's Jan modeling a cap that Kathi made for her husband.  She called it a "welding cap," as that's what he wears as he is welding things, I guess.  He loves the fun fabrics like this one with cartoon characters.

Susan and Dottie are holding this wonderful quilt.   I'm thinking this is Dottie's quilt that she hand quilted. 

Susan and Dottie holding another of Dottie's quilts.  This one was for a granddaughter - flannel fuzzy quilt will be warm for her to snuggle in.

Susan sharing one of her knitting projects for the upcoming birth of a granddaughter!  Susan is so excited...first girl baby in the family in forever!  She was working on a little outfit to go along with the blanket.

Don't you love the colors in this bright quilt of Ruthannas?

Cathy displaying one of her artworks.  I've got to get a faster shutter speed or have them pose while I take pictures.

 On Thursday, I was privileged to join the Greenwood Quilt Connections Guild for their evening meeting.  I was actually doing a presentation on Fractured Quilts for them.  Before my presentation, they had their  Show and Tell.  I don't have names of the quilters but I loved the quilts they shared.  It was interesting to me that the quilt designs felt so different from the ones seen at the Columbus guild meetings.

This relatively simple structure is really appealing to me.  The white blocks have streaks of color that are then emphasized by the blues and greens in the alternating blocks. 

This quilt was done by a high school student - her granddaughter.  What a  great design and it was nicely done as you can tell from the ribbons attached to the quilt.

There was some debate by guild members as to what this quilt represented.  But the quiltmaker  set us straight - an African mask.  She had the red fabric and wasn't sure how to use it but she incorporated it well with her other color choices. 

The Greenwood Guild also had a discussion about their upcoming quilt show in September.  It was interesting to hear them talk through the same types of issues we discuss regarding our show in October.  Even more interesting was their discussion about items that would be for sale at their show.  I picked up some good ideas for our Quilters Boutique.  But now the challenge is to get those items made in time for the show!  On to quilting!!

Cheers!
Margaret

Sonoma Rose

It's been a busy time recently - lots of quilting stuff, lots of family stuff and lots of other stuff!  During a quick trip to visit my parents, I was able to read Sonoma Rose, the latest novel from Jennifer Chiaverini.  I won this book by visiting my friend Loris' blog.  What a cool thing to do!  So I'll pass the book on to some lucky reader of my blog!  Leave me a comment if you're interested in reading this Elm Creek Quilts novel set during Prohibition times.  It's an interesting read about a woman's efforts to save her family and herself.  I'll draw randomly from the responses received and will contact you for your address if your name is drawn.

I've got to prepare for a presentation to a guild later on this evening so other posts will have to wait!

Cheers!
Margaret