Tag: quilt show

Quilt Show Eve

The quilts are all hung, the ribbons attached.  Our guild members have been busy today “getting the show on the road.”  Well, not on the road, but ready for viewers to enjoy.

Here are some teasing photos of ribbons awarded.  These ribbons are awarded in ten categories by votes from guild members.  Some quilts have more than one ribbon, being blessed with bling.  All the quilts there are wonderful, and have stories to tell.

It’s no surprise that the most decorated quilt is a Baltimore Album quilt by Joyce Jones.  Joyce is ninety-something and is a shining light in our sisterhood.  She reminds us that we are never too old to learn, to teach others, and to set a good example.  We all hope to be like Joyce when we grow up.

I wrote about Joyce when this quilt was in progress here.

I’ll share more stories later, but for now, enjoy some sights from the show.  These sample images might whet your appetite.  We are hoping you will come see us at The Methodist Childrens’ Home (the Rumford Center), 304 Pierce Avenue, Macon.  Hours are 10:00 until 5:00.

Click on any image to enlarge and zoom in.  Know that these were taken at night with an iPhone, so some low light conditions prevail.

Quilt Show Time

One of the delights in my life is the family that has come to me in quilting.  The work entailed in getting ready for our quilt show every two years is rewarded by the opportunity to spend three days with my closest friends.  As with any family, reunions are treasured times together.

Sharing our quilts with non-quilters is important, too.  We hope to educate people about the joys of quiltmaking, the processes involved in that endeavor, and the love that goes into every stitch. We always meet fellow quilt makers and want-to-be quilt makers and I never know which is more fun – talking with new friends who are already addicted, or sharing the fun with people who are just getting interested.

In between meeting and talking with new quilt friends, there is time to visit with fellow guild members.  For me, one of the biggest pleasures at the quilt show is examining each others’ quilts and sharing details of the techniques involved.  Just visiting.  As I’ve heard Susie say before, “it’s OUR three-day party.”  Though we see each other at meetings once a month, that’s only a couple of hours, and we are sometimes busy with, well, business.

But at the quilt show, the work has been done ahead of time.  We spend one day hanging the quilts and setting up, then the two days of “the show” to admire our collective work and visit.  On the evening after the quilts are hung, our spouses join us to see the display as we vote for our favorites.

The idea of reunion is continued here.  Jim and Ted reconnected at our guild’s show in 2012, having not seen each other since Army days 40 years prior.  Ted’s wife is a quilter, too, and seeing an announcement on Facebook about our show brought the guys together!  Such fun we always have visiting with them!

The photos here are from past shows. Like the photos here, if you visit with us, you will see quilts of all colors and sizes, using varying techniques and fabrics.  I hear that the total on display next week is 147 quilts.

 

This year, the show is March 9 and 10 at the Methodist Childrens’ Home in Macon.  This is a new location for us, and oh, so appropriate, since every resident at that facility is given a handmade quilt as they are settling in.  This tradition is nearly forty years old!  Some of those quilts have been made by members of my guild and by members of other quilt guilds in Georgia.  Stories of those quilts and the impact on the lives of the recipients can be found in a book entitled Patches of the Quilt.

If you live nearby, I hope you will join us.  If you aren’t close enough to come to our guild’s show, I’ll bet there’s one near you.  Spring is a popular time to schedule a quilt show!

The basket quilt you see at the top, and the closeup photo featured is by Alice Smith.

Earlier posts about quilt shows are here: https://sandygilreath.com/the-ribbon-maker/ and here: https://sandygilreath.com/my-new-friend-janet/ and here: https://sandygilreath.com/deadlines-are-good/.

Deadlines are Good

I’m easily distracted.  I love to start projects, but sometimes other obligations (or newer projects) call, and this gets put aside for that.  Sometimes the “this” languishes.

buttonwood farm pruningButtonwood Farm is a wool appliqué project (adapted from Maggie Bonanomi’s book by the same name) which I was anxious to have hanging in my dining room.  To help ensure it was finished in a timely manner, I entered it into our local quilt show.

I finished the applique (some cotton and some felted wool on linen) weeks ago, knowing it “wouldn’t take much time” to quilt a project 43” square. As the show approached, I checked other things off the to-do list:  help with layout of the show floor, format and type booklet for the show, add sleeves to several other projects entered in the show.  Buttonwood Farm’s quilting kept getting postponed.

On Saturday, March 12, before the show was to be hung on Thursday, March 17, I pinbasted the quilt top to the batting and backing.  A few hours home alone that day meant I got the interior section of the quilt outlined and some filler designs done immediately.  In the next few days, sitting down to quilt gave me focus for a few hours, distracting me from the anxiety of the upcoming show.  Stitching soothes me.

On Wednesday, March 16, I added a binding, sleeve, and label.  Whew!  But after a ribbon was attached, I saw stray threads hanging.  One of our vendors loaned me some scissors to do a little pruning.

Oh, and I was “busted” during the awards ceremony.  The project was so fresh that I had forgotten its name and thought they meant the ribbon was going to a friend’s project with a similar title.  But now the quilt is finished and can hang in my dining room.

Details of quilt:  Cotton and felted wool appliqué on linen.  Quilted with Aurafil 50 wt cotton thread.  Dream wool batting.  The name “Buttonwood Farm” is Maggie’s.  I stuck with it when I investigated and found that buttonwood and sycamore were both common names for Platens occidentals.  My hometown of Sycamore was founded in 1891, so I changed the date on my rendition.

My new friend Janet

FullSizeRenderI arrived at our quilt show today to find Janet waiting for me.  Janet lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  She had read about our show, and my quilt, 52 Tuesdays, in our local newspaper while here working with Habitat for Humanity.

Janet’s first words to me were, “this is my life,” pointing to the quilt.  She said, “I taught high school math for 30 years, retired, and started quilting.”  I agreed, this is her quilt, too.  We share a love of geometry, retirement, sewing, and life!

janets dear janeJanet reached in her bag and showed me some Dear Jane blocks she’s been making while traveling around the country with Habitat.  She’s piecing them all by hand in their RV, buying a fat quarter in every stop they make to build a house.

That Dear Jane project is Janet’s journal of her travels and adventures.  I’m so glad that 52 Tuesdays led her to visit with me and tell me her stories. We talked math curriculum, joys of family, strategies for quilting, and the technical aspects of sewing machines.   Through the wonder of email, we can stay connected.  I can’t wait to see what her travel journals reveal.  Especially the ones in cloth.

The Ribbon Maker

Version 2

Just look at these ribbons!  My local guild is preparing for our upcoming quilt show.  My friend Tess has been making award ribbons for this show since 2008.  A cherished award in any show, a ribbon from our quilt guild is a work of art in itself.

Last week I visited with our local Queen of the Ribbons.  Her quilts have won many prizes, and her sewing room is overflowing with awards.  This photo shows the ribbons she has made for this year’s show.  A first, second, third, and honorable mention in several categories makes for a dazzling array.  The log cabin blocks on point (those are tiny logs) are all painstakingly pieced.  And the design each year is unique, Tess choosing an element of the show’s raffle quilt each year.

Tess has an amazing assistant (her husband) who puts his engineering skills to work to create the graphic design for the wording on the ribbon and for a label for the back of the quilt block.  With the tiny quilt blocks, glue gun, and miles of ribbon, Tess astounds us anew every show.  Maybe that’s one reason we are willing to work so hard to prepare for our biennial show…the hope that one of those ribbons will ride home on one of our quilts.

And, if you noticed the rosettes that go to Best in Show winners, there is a show pin in the center.  Tess designed the show pin, as well.    She is a gem in our guild’s crown.  And, she will likely get to keep at least one of those ribbons because her quilts are fabulous, too.