Empire Quilt Show

All the quilts of the Empire Quilt Show a week and a half ago have been put on their website, so I'm just going to share some of the closeup photos that I took. For my favorite quilt, the one that won Best Pieced, Grandma's Hexagarden by Mary Anne Ciccotelli, I'm going to give you her blog, which has better pictures than I took. I voted for this one for Viewer's Choice. All those tiny folded hexagons are amazing! Also the black background hexagons are folded. For this hexagon junkie, it was a treat to see! My next favorite things in the quilt show weren't quilts at all! They were the handmade Best of Ribbons. They have them on the website, but the closeups don't show much. So, here are some. Click on each photo for a larger version so you can see the beading and embroidery.

Here is a closeup of the Best of Show, where you can see the use of the black and white fabrics a bit better.

My favorite non-award quilt is by Karen Griska's Firing on all Cylinders in the Pieced category. Below is a portion of the quilt to click on and see larger. She's the Selvage Blog lady and author of Quilts from the Selvage Edge. This one looks a lot like her selvage quilts. This is proof that you should never throw out even the thinnest strip of fabric!

Enjoy! Debbie

Quilt Shows

I haven't posted in too long. I was away in the U.S. and just came home on Tuesday. Still trying to catch up. I spent a week in Florida with my grandson and his parents and this past weekend in New Jersey with my parents. I was thrilled to be able to spend the day Sunday at the Empire Quilters Guild quilt show. One of the highlights was the lecture by Brenda Papadakis, of Dear Jane fame. Below is a photo of the two of us right after the lecture. It's the first time meeting in person. I've been on the Dear Jane list from almost the beginning and have made a Dear Jane quilt, sort of. All the blocks were made years ago (many) and it all just needs to be put together. The center is together and the triangles are made and the alternates are cut. But it's been sitting in the closet for almost ten years, I think!

Within the next few days, I plan to post photos of some of the quilts that grabbed me. I'll also write about the quilt exhibit that I went to in Florida. Have a great weekend, Debbie

Collecting Selvedges (or Selvages)

About a year ago I started collecting the selvedges of the fabrics I've been using. I don't have so many yet, but I'm thinking of going through my stash and cutting off the selvedges there! If any of my readers are inclined to, I'd love it if you could send me any selvedges that you are cutting off from the fabrics that you are working with. In the meantime, I'm hoping to win one of three of Lissa's selvedge giveaway's on her blog! Check out the Selvage Blog to see some of the things that are being made with selvedges. There you will see links to many other blogs with amazing things made with selvedges. Debbie

Hexagons

I love making things with hexagons. So, I recently joined The Great Hexagon Quilt - Along (also see logo in my sidebar.) Here are two little quilt items that I made a couple of years ago. This triptych I made for the Ricky Tims MicroCosmos Challenge. They're each 5"x7". The theme was Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. There were so many different types of interpretations. Some of them I couldn't even figure out how they fit into the theme! (They really are rectangles, it was the camera angle.)

I made a whole bunch of these for a fabric postcard swap that I participated in. I really enjoyed making them and did not get bored making the multiples! It's 4"x6". It was even more fun getting the postcards from the others in the swap.

Debbie

Current quilt I'm working on

I recently participated in the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler red and white block swap from the SBS mailing list. Above are the blocks I received. My plan is to make a baby quilt for my granddaughter using most of the blocks mixed together, probably in some kind of diagonal setting, with some redwork blocks. But, instead of the traditional red on white embroidery, I'm going to make them white on red. Below are the fabrics I'll be using for the backgrounds.

I found a lot nice free redwork embroidery patterns here. And, I had downloaded these when they were first offered as a free block of the month. Some of them are really cute.

More on the threads I use

Superior Threads is having a giveaway again. But, you'd better hurry, because it ends today! You can read all about it on their blog. Their most recent blog post talks about pre-wound bobbins. I use them all the time! The L style ones work perfectly in my 1630. I bought them when they were on sale, and when they were on sale again, I bought some more. I use them mostly in the neutral colors, but I have a good selection of colors. Sure, it *might* cost more than winding it yourself, but probably not much of a difference and it's worth every penny to me. They say that there's three times as much on a prewound than on the one you wind yourself. Debbie