APWQ Show

Yvonne and I drove down to Tacoma on Saturday to see how our quilts looked hung in the APWQ (Association of Pacific West Quilters) show

 Here is Yvonne posed with her lovely quilt "Birds with Bling" which was accepted as part of the competition exhibit.

 She was afraid it wouldn't hold it's own with neighboring quilts, but it stands out nicely and we heard lots of compliments for it.

 I entered my Dahlia quilt into the member's exhibit of floral quilts, it was jurried in but wasn't in the competition for prizes.  Here it is in the exhibit, it was dwarfed by the large quilt next to it.

 Close up view if you need to see it again.

 I had a couple of shopping goals for the vendor booths, and I can tell you that I completed them all.  I replenished my stash of Kaffe fabrics from Island Quilters.  I need to take a road trip down to their store on Vashon Island.

This is the quilt that caught my eye in Sisters, and luckily they had it hanging again at the Stitchin' Post booth because I didn't take a picture before.  I collected a few more fabrics for this quilt but I haven't put them in my stash yet to see if I bought duplicated of ones I already have.

Trip to Sisters, Oregon

I had a lovely time attending Quilter's Affair in Sister's, Oregon.  What is better than sharing a week with 4 friends, taking quilting classes and being so inspired by the beauty of nature and the quilts of others.

This year I was able to attend the Sister's Garden Club Tour.  There were 5 homes and gardens to visit and besides all the lovely plants and flowers, many had quilts posed around their yards.

Isn't this a great setting for an outdoor meal!

Jan posing with a lovely Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

I did take a lot of photos of quilts from the show.  Yvonne entered 3 of her quilts and they looked so lovely and got lots of attention.

Yvonne's Lolly Pop Quilt

Here's the quintessential Sister's Quilt Show view, the employees challenge displayed on the side of the Stitchin Post.

I took 2 classes during the week.  First was a 2 day class with Hilde Morin called "Cityscapes".   I got a lot accomplished on my piece but I think I'll wait till it's is done to share.

I also took a class called "Soul Searching" from Kathy Doughty.  The piecing of the quilt is fairly simple, but we worked on the use of color and different fabrics for effect.  I'm excited to work more on it.

Quilts of Valor Show

 On the way to a meeting, I took some time to detour to the Ferndale library to see the display of quilts that will be donated to Quilts of Valor.  The quilts are hung from the library rafters so the pictures all have an upward angle.  And there was some lighting issues, so the colors might not be accurate.

Click on any picture if you want to see it bigger.  I didn't record the names of the quilters but it anyone wants me to attribute their quilt, just let me know.

Moonlight Quilters Show

The day before the show, it started with an empty room and a forest of quilt stands.

Then the hanging of quilts began.

 

 

On the first day of the show,  Linda and Betsy greet you, take your admission fee, and sell you tickets for the raffle quilt and raffle basket.

Look at what you see right after you walk in the door.  The quilt on the right is mine, I made it a few years ago, but it’s never been in a show before.

And since I’m pointing out my quilts, these 4 small black and white quilts were done by members of my What Knots group, the tree on the bottom is mine.

From there it’s a random/eclectic mix of pictures of things that caught my eye.  Of course anything that’s bright…

Lovely white glove hostesses, Anara and Dana ready the show you around.  Any yes, Anara is wearing special yellow gloves that her sister made for her.

Suz’s amazing quilt, lots of detail and bead work.

A collection of black and white blocks from a guild block of the month project.

A pair of lovely quilts made for past Presidents of the guild.

Just one of the vendor booth, Yvonne and Patty had a wonderful selection of special items.

        

It was a great show, lots of amazing talent in the guild.

More Quilts from Innovations

Category: Teacher Quilts
Majestic Bugs by Irena Bluhm, Antlers OK
size: 104" x 107"
"This quilt is a whole cloth with painted surface. Top and back 100% cotton sateen. Colored pencils were used for color application after all quilting was complete. Step-by-step instructions for this quilt are in the book "Start With a Blank Slate" by Irena Bluhm"

Category: Pictorial
Painted Ladies by Jo Banner, Bellingham, WA
size: 19.75" x 16.5"
"This quilt was inspired by a snapshot that I took at a street fair. I wanted to capture the mischievous personalities that was evident in their faces. Not knowing how to do that, it waited until I took a class from Hollis Chatelain. The entire quilt surface is hand painted with Procion dyes. It is free motion quilted on my Bernina"

Category: Pictorial
Woodlands Bay Leaf by Beverly Dunivent, Olympia, WA
size: 32" x 32"
"Began in a class with Ruth McDowell. I found the original leaf on the trail to the Woodards Bay historic log dump site and knew it would make a great quilt."

Category: Pictorial
The Shipley Corner by Linda Nelson Johnson, Moscow ID
size: 12" x 12"
"The Shipley Corner many years ago, my brother and I celebrated our home by carving pumpkins to set on every fence post surrounding the yard. We used every candle we could find to light up the night. This quilt celebrated that memory, family and the warmth of a loving home. This is an original design"

Category: Teacher's Quilts
Untitled
by Dian Keepers - Centralia, WA, 36" x 42".
"This project was a class I gave. When I was done I decided to fill in the background with ink pens. I inked the back of the quilt because I didn't think this would do the entire quilt. After 12 ink pens I finished. Then I decided I would add crystals in areas that need color. I just want to say the crystals are not to cover up bad stitching, just to add bling."

Category: New Quilter (less than 1 year experience)
Muted Transitions quilted by Susan James, Fircrest WA, pieced by Linda Ziemer

I didn't note the quilter on this one, but I like the design.

Fabric Folding

The bulk of my fabric collection resides on these bookshelves. OK if I really admit all the other places fabric is stored, this is about 1/2 my collection on these 2 bookshelves. In preparation for the remodel I have been going through, sorting and refolding my fabric, these are the shelves that are done.

To Do Pile.

In progress, look at the neat color organization. I am ironing and refolding everything, it's a boring yet meditative process, fun to see "new" fabric and think of what I want to do with it. I'm also listening to a book on tape, which helps the time go by.

And here's what has been culled out. Luckily my quilt guild is having a "garage sale" at their meeting next month, perfect timing.
I went to the Innovations Machine Quilting Conference in Tacoma last Friday, thinking in error that there would be lots of vendors. But it was not crowded so I took lots of pictures of the quilt show, this one was probably my favorite.

Summer by Brenda Hodge of West Kelowna, BC. Here is her statement:
"I was feeling a little uninspired about quilting until I saw this pattern in the August 2009 issue of McCalls Quilting magazine. I thought it would be fun to see if I could quilt and applique at the same time. I quilted the background first, then one at a time spray basted each flower in place and "appli-quilted" it in place. "