Grieving with Gratitude

I love my Virginia quilters!

This past weekend was the Quilters Unlimited show in Chantilly, VA.  I have done this show for 3 years.  It's really a wonderful show at a huge venue with lots of great quilts and many vendors. It's organized by a consortium of VA guilds and each guild has a different responsibility.  It's one of my best shows.  And thanls to this show, I have been invited to many of the guilds as a presenter.  

The invitation to be a vendor arrived while Don was pretty sick.  I didn't sign up.  I wasn't sure about the future.  After he passed away, I received an email from the Vendor Coordinators, Carla and Ellen, with their sympathies and gently asking if I was planning on returning.  I told them I just wasn't sure.  In their final email, they told me that if I didn't decide by a certain date, that I couldn't have "my spot", but they would always find a place for me no matter when I decided.  Their kindness and consideration helped me to decide to take the plunge and return for 2019, and I am so glad that I did.  As I wrote in my first sentence "I love my VA quilters".

They came and they came and they came.  Some came to give me a big hug.  Some approached and quietly told me how sorry they were.  Some brought actual finished projects from my workshops.  Some came to show me photos of their finished projects.  And some came to tell me to make sure I saw the Mini Mosaic quilts from my workshops in their show.  I was overwhelmed with kindness.  My heart was bursting. Some of them had meant Don at a quilt show, but they all knew how important he was to me and my success. To say that I was overjoyed that I had decided to come was an overstatement. 

Don used to come with me to all my shows.  I would demonstrate either Curvalicious or the Mini Mosaics and he was the cash register.  We made a great team, because I was interested in sharing my quilting and  he  was happy that I was making money doing it.  He even attended the shows when he was on the portable oxygen.  He was reticent and embarrassed but I told him that anyone who walked away or judged him because of that, I wouldn't want as my customer. It worked and he came.  But after a while he just didn't have the strength. I was sad not to have him with me, but I had some wonderful friends that came and helped me. Here's something that not many people know.  He was able to monitor my sales as I swiped credit cards.  He knew when my first sale was, when it was slow, what was selling and how I was doing by logging onto my Paypal account.  It made him feel connected and part of the action.  We would debrief every night and he would always say that he wished he could be with me.  

So instead of having my honey with me, I did the next best thing.

 She kept me company underneath my table resting on one of my quilts.

Quiltcon East

Quiltcon East is halfway through and it has been quite an exciting event. We're in Savannah at the International Trade and Convention Center, Booth #443. It's located on Hutchinson Island right across the river from Savannah and can only be accessed by ferry or bridge.

It is a quilt show put on by The Modern Quilt Guild (MQG). I have so much I can say and share about this show, but I will try and limit myself. This is, I think, the 5 th major show where I have been a vendor and I can't even count the number of shows that I have attended. This show makes me feel the excitement that I felt at my first quilt show. Quilters have traveled to Savannah from all over the country and even from outside Europe and Canada to share in the Modern Quilt movement. There are lots of younger quilters and everyone is eager to learn and buy and meet the quilting rock stars.

I have been surprised by the huge presence of the major fabric manufacturers. They have huge booths with hands on activities touting their latest fabrics. I view it as an attempt to build name recognition and to build loyalty.

There are classes starting at 8:30 in the morning and into the evening. Their website could not handle the volume of quilters wanting to take classes and it crashed within hours of opening class registration. It took them several days before it was up and running again.

This is the tote that was given to the volunteers and quilters taking classes. I tried to snag a couple as a vendor, but was told they were only for volunteers and students, but they were for sale.

It's adorable and I was planning on picking up a few for some of my quilting buddies and me. Before the show opened on Day 2, I went to buy them and was told they sold out in the first 3 hours of the show. Bummer.

And the quilts. I know many quilters think Modern, shmodern! What's the fuss? These quilts are not traditional quilts. There is a completely different aesthetic. They are modern, from the design to the quilting. There's a lot of straight line quilting as well as a lot of solid colored fabric. The viewpoint of these quilters is much different than mine. They really think outside of the traditional box. They are not ho hum in any sense and there were so many that made me stop and give pause. There are too many to share, but I'll pick a few. I can't even say they are my favorites, because there were sooooo many that impressed me. (Please forgive me for not giving credit to the quilter. It was just too much. ) To see all of the winners, click HERE.

Best in Show - "Bling" by Katherine Jones of Australia

 

There were halls filled with quilts from MQG chapters all over the world. These were group quilts that were to represent their home town/city with certain guidelines and will return home for a charitable purpose. It's so hard to describe the uniqueness of these quilts.

 

This skyline, from the D.C. MQG, depicts our nation's capitol.

Florida sunshine and beach.

The next quilts from 3 MQG chapters are such an excellent depiction of how modern quilters take a traditional block like the churn dash and turn it on its ear.

 

 

 

 

Check out this van

 

With the photo of Jenny Doan on the back.

And there was a touching tribute to The Orlando MQG and their spearheading of the hundreds of heart quilts made for the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. This chapter collected blocks and then quilts from all over the world. They were overwhelmed with quilters generosity and kindness and gave quilts to not only the victims families but to first responders, and the nightclub workers and many others who were directly touched by this tragedy.

And my humble booth

It's been a great show in so many ways. I met lots of Instagram friends and made lots of new Curvalicious friends. I'm sorry it will head back to the west coast next year, but I may have to go to a Pasadena. In 2019 Nashville here I come.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Do Something Good

 

Here's my sweet little Bailey. She doesn't think she's a dog, probably because of the way that I spoil her. She is the best companion and is always by my side, especially here in Key West. There are very few places that I can't take her. There are no dogs allowed in the Post Office, and thanks to many of you I have had to make a lot of trips there. She's not allowed in the grocery store, but I don't go there very often. That's my husband's domain. And she's not allowed in the Dollar Store. I was asked to leave when I went shopping there. Most other places, dogs are welcome including most restaurants with outdoor seating. At Home Depot, the sales people walk around with dog biscuits in their aprons.

But there are lots of dogs and cats that aren't as lucky as Bailey and are living in shelters. As quilters, it's wonderful that we can use our talents and heart to create items to help others. My quilt guild, Calico Cutters, as well as many others make quilts for Veterans and donate children's quilts to local women's shelters. It's so satisfying to help others doing something that we love.

As an Island Batik Ambassador, a February project was to create Kennel Quilts, or pet mats, for animal shelters in conjunction with The Quilt Pattern Magazine and Petfinder. They measure 12" x18".

This is a project that has been sponsored by lots of our favorite companies including Aurifil, Bernina, Benartex as well as Island Batik. Some local shelters would be happy to have the small quilts or they can be sent to Petfinders or specific places in need.

I chose to make simple Kennel quilts to show off the beautiful Island Batik fabric. They don't take long to make and there are guidelines and free patterns on The Quilt Pattern Magazine website. There's even tips for the most economical way to ship them. I sent mine to the SPCA in Louisiana, as they were listed as a special needs. If you want to join in, click on this link for directions. I know I plan on making more as soon as I finish the quilt show circuit and return to PA.

As I finish these Kennel quilts, I am getting ready to leave Key West. It has been a very productive 2 months with wonderful weather and lots of visits by family and friends. The time has flown by. We are heading North and will be itinerant vendors for 3 weeks. We've loaded up the car and there's just enough room for clothes, quilts and fabric!

Our first stop is Quiltcon in Savannah.

Will you be there? Stop by my booth #443 to see my newest Curvalicious quilt, Funkytown and get a free keychain and tattoo!

And to see the debut of my Mini Mosic Kits.

For my monthly newsletter video, I'll be sharing my favorite quilts from Quiltcon. I am amazed by how these quilters think outside of the box. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, here's the link: http://eepurl.com/bx1BbH

After Quiltcon, I'll be visiting All Star Quilters Guild in Jacksonville, Daytona Beach for the AQS Quilt Show and then on to Atlanta where I will be vending and teaching 3 classes at the Original Sewing and Quilt Show. My Mini Mosaic class is already full!

If you are visiting any of the shows, stop by and say hi. It should be quite an adventure for Don, zbaikey and me. I'm hoping that Winter will be gone by the time we arrive home.

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's Quilt Show Season

 

It's quilt show season and this is a great local show.  Come and be inspired by local quilters and do a little shopping with vendors.  

I am thrilled that I will be there in the afternoon for a book signing.  You can see all the projects in Sew Embellished! plus I will be doing a Curvalicious demo.

  I'll be bringing dupioni silk and lots of tools for sale.  

Bob DiCarli will be there in the morning with his latest book, that's hot off the press.

Stop by and say hi.

And don't forget to sign in for the giveaway.

Blogger On Line Fall Quilt Festival

Blogger's On-Line Fall Festival - This is my quilt: Family Musings in Blue


This is my first time participating in the on-line blogger's quilt Festival. To view more of the quilts click on this link, The Blogger's Quilt Festival. or the icon on my sidebar. I have only had a blog since February and I am very excited about participating and being part os this on-line community. This piece, called "Family Musings in Blue", was made to celebrate my family. It is really like a modern day crazy quilt in that it has many sections and lots of hand stitching and beading. The sun arch above the quilt is covered with beads and was result from inspiration from the Broadway Show, Fiddler On The Roof.

The song, "Sunrise. Sunset" was in my brain as I was trying to stitch my feelings for my family into this piece. Lyrics like :

"Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play ?

I don't remember growing older,
when did they?"

My family has grown, and it sure is bittersweet to let go and let them fly on their own. Here are some close-ups of some of the sections. This sections is made of hearts, covered with vintage buttons. The background is done by hand with chicken scratch.

This section shows what is hidden behind the doors along the bottom edge of the quilt. It's photos of my family.
And here's another section. The white squares are actually the old fashioned Shrinky Dinks material. It is now called Graffix Film. You can print on it and then shrink it in the oven. Before I shrink it, I punch holes along the edges. After shrinking I have small holes that I can then use to stitch the plastic onto my quilt. For this quilt, I included the story of the quilt on the plastic squares.

Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza

The Mancuso brothers have brought the PNQE back to the Philadelphia area. We were all excited. It had moved to Harrisburg for 3 years and that was about a 1 1/2 hour drive for me. The show seemed to get thinner and thinner both in terms of quilts and vendors. So I was ready for a great show.

I volunteered to white glove. In return for this, our quilt guild, Calico Cutters, was allowed to sell tickets for our raffle quilt. So I had a lot of time to peruse a lot of the entries and exhibitions.

I’m going to stick my neck out here a bit and give my opinion of the new venue and the new show. The venue was nice and bright and ccccccold! The aisles were very wide and there was plenty of room to get around. There were lots and lots of vendors with a huge assortment of merchandise. Liza Lucy with Glorious Color had a great booth with tons of Kaffe Fasset fabric and some great new appliques patterns.

My favorite quilt in the entire show was a quilt that won a first place ribbon in the innovative category in a travelling exhibit from the World Quilt Competition.. “Parrot’s Island” was made by Claudia Pfeil from Germany. Although I am not a big fan of bling and crystals, the applique and machine workmanship on this quilt was outstanding. And even more exciting was the back of the quilt. She used black fabric and for her quilting, she used the same color thread in the bobbin as in the top. The result was spectacular. Here are 2 pictures of the back.

Now as to the quilts. I found the quilts to be OK. I felt that some of the ribbons were well deserved and some – not so. The most glaring mistake was a completely machine created quilt – including both piecing and quilting. This quilt was awarded a blue ribbon for Best Hand Workmanship! What was that about? The woman white gloving that aisle even pointed this out to the management and they pretty much blew her off. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

The PA Mancuso show has historically had many exhibits. This was still true. Just as a pure guess, I would have to say that the quilts on display were 50/50 competition and exhibit quilts. I just feel like they use the exhibit quilts to fill in. Why aren’t more people entering this show?

So one of the exhibits featured the quilts of Rose Hughes. Rose is a prolific quilter and I really enjoy her use of silk, beads and hand embroidery.

To

Our quilt guild, also had an exhibit of our 2009 guild challenge entitled “Share The Bounty – Help Fight Hunger”. (Maybe I shouldn’t complain about the number of special exhibits.) We had 34 quilts and after the show, we are going to sell them and donate the money to our local food bank. (Mine is the one all the way on the left – titled “Food For Thought”.) I included lots of hunger statistics printed on some of the blocks.

Overall, I see some room for improvement. More quilters should be encouraged to enter their quilts. I know there are a lot of talented quilters out there. I have seen some wonderful quilts at guilds’ Show & Tell. I would love to see these quilts in this show.