Quilt Show is Around the Corner

A guild quilt show that takes two years to plan and execute can seem to take forever to arrive.  Then, BAM!, it's right around the corner and there are all those little things, and some not so little, to finalize.  Three weeks from today, October 9, 2015, Fanfare 2015 Quilt Show and Sale will open in Huntsville, AL.  See all the info about the show here.  There is also a Facebook Event here.  If you are anywhere within driving distance, come to the show--you'll be glad you did!!

We have arranged for several nice incentive prizes to encourage our members to volunteer for all the jobs that must be done.  The committee has done all it can to prepare, the rest of the jobs have to be filled by the membership.  As an incentive to sell raffle tickets, the person who sells the most tickets will be awarded this little quilt that I've been working on this week:

 

It is a replica of the Raffle quilt, Celtic Solstice, designed by Bonnie Hunter and used with her permission.  These blocks are 50% smaller, 6" blocks, vs. 9" blocks in the quilt and is 21" square.  The fabrics are leftover from the Raffle quilt.  I used wool batt and will add some free motion quilting on my new machine--when I get the courage to tackle something I really care about instead of just "practice" blocks. 

Here is the Raffle Quilt and it's not too late to buy tickets--you don't have to be present to win:

Queen-Size, 94" square

The other thing I make time for each week are the Stars in a Time Warp QuiltAlong from Barbara Brackman.  This week it's Lancaster Blue and/or Greek Key designs.  I didn't have any Greek Key fabric but I did have the lovely Lancaster Blue:

I still have to finish hand quilting one of my show entries, sew the binding in place on a very large quilt and add all 3 labels to my 3 entries.  It will all get done, I just have to keep at it. 

Tomorrow I'm riding our guild bus to the AQS show in Chattanooga where I will meet up with my good quilting friend, Ellen and her daughter, Lauren, and see Anne Francoise again, she's visiting from Switzerland and seeing a lot of the South this trip.  She brought a sweet onesie for my grand-girl Stella, featuring the Swiss  National Flower, Edelweiss--may you have an earworm all day of that song from the Sound of Music:

Edelweiss...
Edelweiss...
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Quilt! Knit! Stitch!

  

 I'm on my way to Portland, OR for Quilts Inc.'s first show:  Quilts!Knit!Stitch!  This will encompass all things stitchery and attract both new and experienced folks who love this stuff.

In addition to my duties on the Education Team, I'll be presenting my Lecture:  Houston!  Why Not You? on the show floor.  As this is our first show in the Pacific Northwest, we hope to inspire folks there to plan a trip to the mega-show, International Quilt Festival Houston, held each fall.  The largest quilt show in Houston, we will have more than 60,000 guests this fall--it's going to be a blast.

This is my first trip to the Pacific Northwest and I'm looking forward to being there--the getting there, not so much.

Stay tuned for photos of all the happenings this week.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Show News!

Just got word that two of my quilts will make their big debut at the AQS show in Phoenix, February 2014.  I'm excited and pleased.  If you're at the Phoenix show, I'd love a photo or two.

A-Round with My Friends--worked on this for 7 years.  Hand applique'd and hand quilted
2011 Best of Show at my guild

Red and White--By the Numbers
2013 Best of Show at my guild



Details of the magnificent quilting by Pam Dransfeldt



Pam's Website--see more of her work here.  She is Joyful Quilter on Facebook--that's how I found her 5 years ago.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

 

 

 

How to Make an Award-Winning Quilt

This is a recap of a lecture I gave April 18, 2013,  for the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville.  They have a show in October 2013, the 13th biannual judged quilt show, and so this is a timely topic for discussion.

Whether it's international or local competition, there are some elements of award-winning quilts that are the same. 

1.  Design:  Is the quilt interesting to look at?  Does it capture your attention and make you want to look closer? 



Harmony Within
Sue McCarty

2.  Color:  Are the colors appealing, appropriate, eye-catching, exciting?  Do they create a mood?  Sometimes,  the choice of color that is unexpected is what adds that "wow" factor:



Lynn Jones Droege pieced and appliqued
Quilted by Lisa Sipes
Sue Garman pattern Ruffled Roses

3.  Workmanship:  Is it well-done, with precise piecing, beautiful quilting, excellent finishing?





Scarlett Serenade
Sharon Schamber

4.  Quilting:  Does it grab you?  Does it make you look closer, does it enhance the overall effect of the quilt?

Sarah's Revival
Sue Garman
Hand Quilting

Georgann Wrinkle's Quilt
Sue Garman Longarm Quilting

5.  That Extra Special "Something":  Maybe it's a piped or curved binding.  Or embellishments that add the perfect sparkle.  Perhaps it's the statement the quilt makes, the emotion it evokes.  Maybe it's just such a spectacular quilt you have to give it all the glory it is due.  I feel that way about this quilt:

America, Let It Shine
Sherry Reynolds

The next time you go to a quilt show, think about these five things as you admire the quilts.  Whether you agree with the judges or not, perhaps you will understand their decisions more as you compare the quilts based on these elements.

Not every quilt has to be an award-winning quilt but that's a topic for another day.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara