Quilt Show Ramblings

My local quilt guild has some amazing quilters among its ranks! We host a phenomenal quilt show every two years. When walking through the show, one quilt is better than the next and the one after that is even better than the last. You would be fascinated by each and every one. There are traditional quilts, art quilts, pieced and appliqued quilts. Colors and patterns abound.

This year I entered 4 quilts in the quilt show. Like always, I signed up to have them judged. I do that, not necessarily in the hopes of winning anything, but just to see what the judges have to say. Some quilters find entering their work in shows nerve-racking (at best) and absolutely excruciating (at worst), but I find it exhilarating. While the judges negative comments can sting, postitive comments confirm (or inform me of) the things that I do well.

I have friends who are "ribbon driven." They enter quilt shows expecting to win ribbons. They are sorely disappointed when/if they don't. I like to go in with a more positive attitude. I enter to share what I've been working on since the last show. Of course, I 'hope' to win a ribbon! (I'd be lying if I said I didn't.) The difference is...it's a pleasant surprise when/if one of my quilts is a winner.

This year, I entered as a professional since I make quilts for money from time to time. Although, quilting isn't my primary occupation the definition was a bit vague and I decided to err on the side of caution. This dashed my hopes of winning ANYTHING this year!

Are you a follower of my blog? YOU may have seen my show entries in a previous post. When I located my quilts, this is what I saw:

Oops! The camera is unavailable. I'll have to show you later.

Until then...Happy Quilting!

My 1st Finish for the Fall 2010 UFO Club

Butterfly in 3D - #3 (side view)
Originally uploaded by basketcasejoy

The (Ravelry) Fall 2010 UFO Club only began 14 days ago and we've had a number of finishes already. This session has 10 members and, so far, 4 have completed at least ONE quilt each. We're off to a good start!

Butterfly in 3D - #3 is fresh off the sewing table. It's the third in a series of butterfly quilts using the same butterfly print and an easy technique that I developed for making the 3D butterflies. It's my first finish for the Fall 2010 UFO Club.

This butterfly quilt is a bit larger than the last one. At 9" square, instead of the 8" square of the last quilt, I'm hoping that I didn't throw the balance off. Hopefully, the recipient will be pleased.

I plan on making these butterfly quilts until the fabric is all used up. I may even sell kits in my new Etsy shop. More on that later...

UFO Club - Fall 2010 - The List

Here’s my list for this session:

1. The Margaret Mystery
2. QE2 Goodbye Quilt
3. Hollis’ Iris Garden
4. Circle Denim Quilt
5. Black, White, & Red All Over

These were leftovers from the Summer 2010 UFO Club and can be seen in an earlier post.

Additional UFOs un-earthed after the Summer session began (shown from top to bottom, as listed below.):

1. Circle of Friends
2. Friendship Stars Rav Swap
3. “New” Green Batik Jacket
4. Crumb Quilt
5. QUILT Quilt
6. Purple & Green Coins
7. Patriotic Improv Jacket
8. Anne’s Butterfly Quilt (DONE!)
9. Patriotic (With a Twist) Donation (DONE!)
10. Teal, Turquiose, Burgundy Twist Donation

Yes. That’s 15 UFOs for this session. The scary part is…there are MORE!!!

I better get busy!

UFO Club - Summer 2010 - The Results

Eight members participated in the (Ravelry) Summer 2010 UFO Club. Those eight members churned out 21 quilts. Congrats! to the following finishers:

basketcase9702: 5 quilts completed
fidissimus: 1 quilt completed
MonsoonCalamity: 5 quilts completed
barbknits: 4 quilts completed
damascusannie:
liebschien: 1 quilt completed
IvyW: 3 quilts completed
needleb: 2 quilts completed

Thanks for cheering us on. We are now gearing up for the Fall 2010 - UFO Club. Watch for the List!

Loose-y Goose-y (Completed)

Loose-y Goose-y (Completed)
Originally uploaded by basketcasejoy

Another UFO, but not one on the list! I started the binding at my quilt bee meeting this morning and finished it on the way to the Carolina Longarm Quilt Show this afternoon.

I posted the bulk of this quilt's story when I finished the quilt top, but you may be intersted to hear that it took three times to get a good photo of the quilt. I also had to apply the binding THREE times before I got it applied properly. Oh, and you’ll never believe it, but all 3 of the people in our car won door prizes at the quilt show! Perhaps, the quilt needs a NEW name!

NAH!!!

Aside from the free-form Flying Geese featured in my design, this little quilt showcases a "new-to-me" pebble quilting design. The "pebbles" really add a textural element to the quilt!

In my last post, I shared my quilt called Flying to the Candy Dish. It was made of the same design, but what a difference fabric selection has on the overall feeling of a quilt! The finishing details are different in each quilt. Where I added machine feather stitching to that quilt, this one was finished using a satin stitch zigzag for the machine applique. That one had the geese on a black "path" in a field of color and this one has geese on a colorful "path' in a field of black.

Loose-y Goose-y was made as a Journal Quilt and measures 8" x 10'. Not the "standard" size the other quilts in my JQ series, but several friends have assured my that it's perfectly OK!

Thanks, quilting friends!

Flying to the Candy Dish - Completed

Flying to the Candy Dish - Completed
Originally uploaded by basketcasejoy

Today I decided to do some decorative stitching to secure the raw edged applique and add a bit of interest around the completed quilt. In retrospect, I probably should have added a piped binding, but it's too late now...the quilt is DONE!!!

This isn't on my UFO List, however, I'm glad to have it done ahead of schedule. It started out as my "Dye Frenzy Challenge quilt and may end up being my donation to the "Little Bit of Pink and a Whole Lot of Love" charity quilt auction at the DOQ "Quilting - A Needle Runs Through It" Quilt Show 2010 to be held at the American Tobacco Campus, Bay 7, Durham, NC Oct. 22 - 24, 2010.

Enjoy!

Remnants - A Completed UFO!!!

Remnants - Odd Angle
Originally uploaded by basketcasejoy

While this quilt LOOKS like a full sized quilt, it measures just 11" square. It started as a possible design for a teacher gift and ended up being one of my entries for DOQ's "A Thread Runs Through It " Quilt Show 2010 (Oct. 22 - 24th, 2010, American Tobacco Campus, Bay 7, Durham, NC.)

This mini sat on my table for more than a YEAR waiting to be quilted. Ultimately, I decided that I wanted this one to be extra special so I enlisted the help of a local longarm quilter. I think it was worth every penny!

The name of this quilt is Remnants. To quote www.dictionary.com,

rem·nant   /ˈrɛmnənt/ [rem-nuhnt] – noun

1. a remaining, usually small part, quantity, number, or the like.

2. a fragment or scrap.

The fabrics in this mini started life as the makings of a king sized quilt. Being the math whiz that I am, once made, there were a number of quilt blocks remaining...so I made a lap quilt. After making the lap quilt, four blocks remained so I made a wall hanging. You would think this would be the end of those fabrics...but NO!!! There's MORE.

School was ending and I needed a gift for DS2's teacher. Upon finding that she was fond of hunter green and burgandy, I knew that I had JUST the thing...a miniature quilt from the "quilt that keeps on giving."

Most of the pieces had been trimmed up. All I had to do was come up with a design. It turned out that I came up with three designs and implemented two of them. Remnants is the second of those two designs to be completed...and there are STILL more scraps!!!