Jefferson Quilt Show, La partie Trois

Here are the final photos I took at the Jefferson Quilt Show.  I forgot to get the information as to who made them or their titles for these first two.

                                          Red & Green Appliqué

 

More embroidery – the black basket.  Loved the clamshell-looking  fabric surrounding the basket.

The next two pictures are of a vintage quilt found in the antique shop called Granny Had It.  It’s a variation of the wagon wheel block.  I was tempted to buy it until we discovered the large stain near the middle of the quilt.  That was the deal breaker, but I sure did love the design and colors.

 

It was a wonderful weekend.  We walked all over town to the exhibit hall, restaurants, and antique shops.  Jefferson is my kind of town.

Jefferson Quilt Show 2010, La partie Deux

Getting good photographs at this show was difficult, especially on the second floor where the quilts were displayed down both sides of a long hallway too narrow to get back far enough to capture the whole quilt. We did the best we could with the space allowed and the other show attendants sometimes in the way. I was probably in their way some of the time, too.

More pictures from the Jefferson show (remember to click on the photos to see a larger view):

“Days of Old” by Myra Lewis of Avinger, TX; I loved the blocks along the outside edge that tied everything together so well.

“Miss Breezy” by Judy Van Winkle of Sulfur Springs, TX. The embroidered border and flowers in the little girl’s hand set this quilt apart.

"Life With Emma & Oliver" by Betty J. Bowling of LA using redwork embroidery on pre-printed panels.

Close Up of Little Emma Washing and Ironing

Notice the embroidery theme here. I love hand embroidery! There were even some embroidered kit quilts at the show, some appearing to be from the 60s and 70s.

A few more pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Jefferson Quilt Show 2010

As usual, we had a wonderful time in Jefferson, TX.  The quilt show is the main reason and eating my birthday dinner of lasagna at Lamanche’s Restaurant is the other. 

Here’s some photos of quilts I particularly liked at the show.  Click on photos to see a larger views:

Album Cross Bed-Sized Quilt Made by Peggy Sympson of Trinity Valley Quilt Guild and Jo’s Little Women’s Club at Cabbage Rose Quilt Shop in Fort Worth.

Album Cross Miniature also Made by  Peggy S.

 This miniature Texas Christmas Cactus made by Peggy S. was exceptional.  The sawtooth border is one-half inch finished half square triangles.  She credits her precise piecing on a workshop with Sally Collins.

Point the Way – the one my husband and I voted as Viewer’s Choice  - is NOT made by Peggy, but I believe Virginia Hughes of Shreveport, LA.

I’ll post more tomorrow.  In the meantime, enjoy!

New Quilt Challenge

Our Jo’s Prairie Stitchers Yahoo Group put forth a challenge to do the Crib Toile quilt pattern contained in Jo Morton’s book, Yesterday’s Charm. 

 

Although I planned on working on my next mission church block, I couldn’t resist the challenge after pulling out my book to see the pattern and photo.  There was plenty of fabric in my “collection” to do this quilt without buying anything.  I was in!

I’ve made all of the half-square triangles needed for the sawtooth inner border using triangle paper.  So much more accurate and easy.

The other fabrics are cut and ready for piecing.  Two test blocks , measuring 4” finished, were made so I’m ready to rock ‘n roll!

 

The quilt will finish to 46” square, just the right size for my display area.

Tales of the Prairie Basket

Sad Little Prairie Basket

This Prairie Basket wall hanging quilt has a long, sorted story. I started it when I first started quilting early on in Jo’s Little Women Club. Making those tiny, tiny (1” finished) little 20 Patches did not go well for me. You will see from my less than perfect alignment, it was a huge challenge not completely met by me. The center appliqué was relatively easy compared to the blocks. When I put it together, it was truly awful, so I just shoved it in an unfinished stuff pile and forgot it for several years.

When I came across it again four years later, I decided I would unsew each 20-Patch block from one another, try to square them up, and put it back together again. They were squared but not evenly. The little blocks on each of the four sides really got chopped off but I was bound and determined to use them no matter what.

After all the trouble I had and it's less than stellar appearance, my
inclination was to leave off the pointed border from the pattern(more work than it was worth on this project) and just put on a plain outer border. Well, I quilted it on my machine in an uneven grid pattern except for the outlining around the appliquéd
section (my first outline quilting). The quilting within the sixteen blocks was just awful, but I wasn't going to give up.

Then I had the bright idea that I would use my letter embroidery feature on my sewing machine and print out the title “Prairie Basket” under the appliqué. Got that done, and then discovered after I stitched it I misspelled Prairie by leaving out the first "i". Too bad my sewing machine doesn't have spell check. I couldn't let that pass. By the way, don't try to rip out small embroidered letters. It doesn’t work. It was a mess.

Had to put on my thinking cap, then figured out that I would re-embroider the name, correctly spelled, on a colored strip and appliqué it over my "stupid" error. It worked, and actually turned out better than how I first tried to do it. Something went right!

The moral of this story, keep trying. It was pretty much a lost cause but I learned so much in doing it. Certainly not my best work, but when looking at it and remembering the ups and downs plus trying new things, makes me smile.

The Label on Back

Cleaning Sewing Room Today

Before I start on another new project, it is imperative that I clean up my sewing room  so I can find:

1.  My cutting board top

2.  The rubber stamps needed for my Lemoyne star

3.  Anything else that I run across.

Our Bee meets tomorrow and I needed to take some handwork.  That’s what prompted the search for the rubber stamps.

While cleaning, I’m throwing scraps that are at least 2” square into a box for stamping and cutting.

Once I get the room cleaned up, I must move on to the closet with all my yardages of fabric.  Oh boy, not looking forward to that!

Little Pink Houses (For You and Me)

I participate in a web group called Small Quilt Talk that is associated with Kathleen Tracey and her quilt books.  Our current challenge is to make a quilt from Ms. Tracey’s book Prairie Children and Their Quilts.  I chose to the the Little Red Schoolhouse quilt but with a twist.

Pink Houses, a song by John Cougar Mellencamp, is one of my favorites and the line “. . . little pink houses for you and me” inspired my fabric choices.  It’s a small quilt, just 16 1/2” square, and such fun to make!  I made an extra house block to use as my label on back.

What next?  I think I need to work on another Mission block.

Welcome to 2010

No New Year’s Eve celebration for us.  My hubby goes to bed by 10 p.m. at the latest, and I’m up until all hours.  Just gave him the usual good night kiss before sending him to sleepy time.

However, on New Year’s Day we spent time together seeing the new “Sherlock Holmes” movie, ate good food at The Cotton Patch Restaurant, and spent some quality time together.  That’s what I call a good start to a new decade.