Highlights of our road trip to Fall Paducah quilt show

Mary Olsen and her quilt

Mary and I went on a road trip to Fall Paducah quilt show with 2 of our quilting friends, Carolyn and Barb.  It was our first trip to Paducah.  We were surprised at the weather – it was hotter in Paducah then where we live in Wilmington.  When we arrived in Paducah, we stopped at Hancock’s of Paducah before going to our hotel.  Talk about overwhelming – so much fabric, pre cuts and kits – but we did have fun shopping.  On Wednesday we spent the day at the show to check out all the amazing quilts and of course more vendors.  I loved looking at the interesting borders that quilters use.  I got some good ideas – I think I need to spend more time making more interesting borders and bindings.

my practice panel from Trish Stuart’s class

Flower painted with Inktense pencils

On Thursday, our group took classes.  I took an all day class with Trish Stuart who I had first met on a quilting cruise to Alaska in 2011.  I really enjoyed my class and learned about shading (“Inktensify Your Fabric: Adding Color with Inktense Pencils”).  We had a practice panel to try out shading techniques using inktense pencils.  I also started on a small flower drawing which I finished once I got home.

I got to talk with Mary Olsen about her award winning quilt – 2nd Overall Winner. Also on Thursday afternoon they served cake from Carlos Bakery in NJ and the largest quilt cake was on display.  Mario was there from the bakery to help AQS celebrate their 35th anniversary in Paducah. I heard that there were 30 sheets cakes to feed the quilters – the cake tasted awesome – yellow and chocolate cake with fudge filling and butter cream frosting.  Yum.

My tree from Marina Landi’s class

On Friday night I took a class from a quilt instructor from Brazil – Marina Landi (“Landscape Fiber Collage: Create with Wool, Thread, and More”).  This project is not finished yet.  We drove back home on Saturday.  It was a fun road trip with friends.  I really enjoyed seeing the quilts and taking classes.

Keep having fun sewing and quilting.   Donna

Sacred Threads – Eye Contact

One of the special exhibits, at the Sacred Threads Exhibition in VA, was titled “Eye Contact – making a connection”. They got 230+ entries and Donna and I both participated.   They even published a book with all the eyes.

This was an impressive art installation and really made an impact.
In these trying times, we need to put down our phones and make a connection (by looking at someones eyes).

Here are some pics of the installation.   Enjoy.

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We just got word that some venues contacted Sacred Thread and requested that the Eye Contact Installation travel.   So we agreed to have our eyes travel with the exhibit.   They will travel to multiple venues for two years.   We don’t know the locations or schedule yet, but we’ll let you know.  How cool is that?

Happy Stitchin,

Mary

 

“A Year of Hope” quilt at Sacred Threads Exhibition 2019 in Herndon, VA

Mary and I are back from spending several days at the Sacred Threads Exhibition.  We participated in the “Experience Weekend” with lots of fun activities: collage quilt class with Deborah Boschert, bus trip to DC to 3 museums (DAR, National Museum of Women Artists, and the Renwick Gallery), and Quilt Alliance seminar. Vikki Pignatelli who founded the Sacred Threads quilt show was present and spoke about one of her quilts.

The quilts in the show were awesome – so creative. The quilts were divided into 6 categories: Joy, Inspiration, Spirituality, Healing, Grief, and Peace & Brotherhood.

My quilt was in the Healing sections.  Each quilt’s story was posted next to the quilts.  It was very interesting and emotional to read the stories behind the quilts. Usually you don’t know the stories behind the quilt making so the printed stories make this show special.  Many of the quilters taped an audio recording about their quilts with additional information.  If you would like to hear my recording call: 703-520-6404 (my audio – 402#). The show ends on July 28.

If you check the website: http://www.sacredthreadsquilts.com , you can learn more about Sacred Threads and see the quilts in the “Gallery”.  There are also about 35 quilts from the show that will travel for 2 years.  There was a book with all the quilts and the stories.  The whole experience was truly inspiring.

Keep having fun sewing and quilting.

Donna

To see post on the making of the quilt, search for the word “hope” in the upper right hand corner of our blog.

 

Piecework Quilt and Fiber Art show

We live in the Wilmington, NC area and are members of our local quilt guild (Quilters by the Sea).   Last Fall, I volunteered to Chair the committee for our 2018 Quilt and Fiber Art Show (aka Piecework).    It is held at the Brooklyn Arts Center, a beautifully restored church & annex that host lots of events in downtown Wilmington.

 It was a much bigger project than I ever imagined and at times felt like a JOB (yikes….. I’m retired and don’t want a JOB).  As a result of this JOB and other family priorities, I have not had time/energy to focus on my quilting (with the exception of finishing off a piece for the show).      So, I thought I’d share some pics of the show which was held last month. 

Vendors below the quilts hanging in the Church.

Community Outreach quilts (Habitat for Humanity and Neo-Natal quilts)

Community Outreach quilts (QOV)

One of Donna’s pieces that was displayed on the fireplace mantel.

One of my pieces – ‘Snowdrops’.

More pics can be see on our Guild website.

Piecework 2018 Quilt & Fiber Art show is done and I’m happy to be back to quilting again.   The last pic is one of mine.  More about it in my next post.

Happy Stitchin,

Mary

Pictures from Crystal Coast Quilt Show, Morehead City

Mary and I went with friends on a road trip to see the Crystal Coast quilt show last weekend.  We saw many beautiful quilts and were inspired to try some new ideas. Also got some ideas for quilt challenges. And of course there was some shopping involved too.  We also stopped at a couple of quilt shops on the way home.  It was a fun day for all.  We are already planning our next adventure.  Keep having fun sewing and quilting.  See a quilt show and be inspired.  Donna

Quilts from the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival

Here is a selection of the quilts from the quilt festival.  It is a fun show to attend since there are lots of special exhibits from guilds and quilting artists.  Of course, the vendors are fun too.  Cathy Wiggins had an exhibit with her leather quilts.  It was amazing to see what she was able to do with quilting on leather.  (Horse quilt is a leather quilt.)  I am always inspired by the quilts at the show and get motivated to finish up some of my projects too.  Keep having fun sewing and quilting.  Donna

Back from Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival – Workshops

We had a GREAT time at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.   Donna and I took in the show, spent way too much money at the vendor booths and we both took two workshops.

I first took a 1/2 day workshop with Joyce Teng on Fabric Inking 101.

Tsukineko inks

 

We used Tsukineko inks played with various methods of applying them on fabric.   This included using dabbers, brushes, spray bottles and TSC stencils.

Here is the stenciled tree that I did with the inks.

I was a fun class but it was only 1/2 day and we all wanted more time.

 

I then took and All day workshop with Ashley Nickels: Watercolor Quilting: Colorful Explorations in Free motion Quilting.   Ashley Nickels is Sue Nickels daughter (some of you may know her work).

In Ashley’s class we spent the morning painting on fabric squares with Dye-na-Flow fabric paint to make watercolor like images.

It was a blast!

My painted pieces.   Two of them in this pic have been thread sketched (free motion) with black thread.

After lunch we got out our machines and used black thread to free motion sketch our painted image.

My free form painted flower after it was thread sketched with black ink.

Close-up of my flower.

I’ve always loved watercolors and thread sketching.  This technique gave me both.

It was a GREAT class and we’ll definitely do more fabric painting.

Happy Stitchin’

Mary

Back from the Mid-Altantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA

         We had a great time at the quilt festival last month in Hampton, Virginia. Last year we had snow that weekend but no winter weather this year besides wind and cold. Another great quilt show with lots of beautiful quilts and fun vendors to explore.    There were many guild challenge quilts at the show: alphabet soup, Vogue magazine ads as inspiration, color challenges, and wind chines made with skinny quilts. A great place to go to be inspired for your next quilt. Mary and I met up with 2 quilter friends from Raleigh.     We took a fusible applique class with Laura Wasilowski which was lots of fun. Hope you will get a chance to go a quilt show and get inspired. Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna   

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Va (February 2015)

Mary and I went up the the Mid-Atlantic quilt festival last week.  We were lucky with the weather. We drove up there on Wednesday and had clear roads. Then Wednesday night through Thursday the snow storm hit – about 8 – 10 inches of snow. Fortunately Mary had selected the hotel next to the convention center so we were able to get to our classes and see the show.  We enjoyed the many special exhibits at the quilt show.  Enjoy some of the pictures from the show.  Donna

  

Back from Houston Quilt Market and Quilt Show

            I went to the Houston quilt market at the end of October  with the quilt shop owner who I work for.  We took an early morning flight  (5:15 am) and arrived at the Houston quilt market around 10 am. Hit the floor running!    This year we had our rolling totes to fill with all the samples and brochures – no more backpacks.  We started at the center of the convention center and worked one direction before stopping for lunch. Our goal for the first day was to see every booth – take pictures and pick up brochures.  We met our goal but the last few aisles were a blur – fortunately we had pictures and brochures.      On Saturday night, Moda fabrics (United Notions) hosted a buffet dinner as customer appreciation at the Houston Astros stadium.  Great Texas BBQ.         Then back to the hotel room to sort through our pictures and brochures and decide which booths to go back to on Sunday to order fabric, patterns, etc.  Saw some demos of new products at the Clover booth.  Met some fun new designers of fabric and bought some of their fabric and patterns.  Every booth at market is like a quilt show with lots of finished quilts.  It is great to see the patterns made into quilts.  On Monday morning before our flight  we did a little more booth shopping and then back home.

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   On Sunday afternoon, we did spend some time looking at the quilts in the quilt show.  We are fortunate that the quilt show is open during market so we get to see the amazing quilts.  I tried to take as many pictures as I could to get inspired with my own quilts.  There was a fun exhibit of quilts based on the Beatles songs.  While I was looking at this exhibit, I started to hear a Beatles song.  When I walked around the corner, there were 3 women who were listening to a song on a cell phone.  They were trying to figure out if they knew the song that the quilt was based on. Too funny!  I have posted a few of the amazing quilts.  Maybe next year Mary an I will be able to go to the quilt show later in the week and actually spend a whole day looking at the quilts.  Keep having fun sewing and quilting. Donna