Quilt Show Day 1

 The show is set up and we had an amazing opening day. I love this view from the balcony.

 Julia is home for the weekend. She was happy to pose in front of Fred's quilt.

Genevieve came to the show with her today, and they were happy to see our Girl Scout troop quilt. It has traveled to five college girls in five different states.

Come on down and see us this weekend! We'll be here at the Westerly Armory on Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm.

 

Inspiration

Ninigret Quilters spent the day setting up our quilt show.  One of my friends commented that she really liked the setting I used for the 9-patch swap blocks. I told her it was from a book, and I rarely do anything original. With that in mind, I'd like to share my inspirations for the following quilts.

Chris and Jamie's Wedding Ring won a few ribbons...

1st Place Exemplary Piecing

1st Place Exemplary Applique

1st Place Exemplary Use of Color

1st Place Exemplary Machine Quilting (by Pat Harrison)

Exemplary Edge Finish

and

Best of Show !!!

 All the credit and many thanks go to: 

Judy Niemeyer for her spectacular paper piecing pattern,

Erin Russek for her lovely applique patterns,

Kate Spain for her glorious fabric,

Pat Harrison for her amazing machine quilting,

Sharon Schamber for her youtube videos on how to stitch a scalloped binding,

and my friend, Maria Lage, for suggesting insisting on the scalloped binding!

Oh, and I should thank my nephew Christopher and his wife Jamie for patiently waiting for this quilt to be completed, 9 months after they were married!

If that were not enough ribbons for one person, a few other quilts were recognized.

Mod Bento earned a ribbon for 3rd Place Exemplary Scrap Quilt. Many thanks to all who participated in the Mod Bento Swap including my RI friend Jodi.

 Sugar Wave earned 2nd Place Exemplary Machine Quilting, Domestic. Thanks to Melissa Averinos for her awesome fabric line, Sugar Snap, and to Elizabeth Hartman for her New Wave Pattern.

Emerald Selvedge Spiderweb earned 1st Place Exemplary Scrap Quilt and Exemplary Innovative. Thank you to Karen Griska for creating my obsession for saving selvedges, and to Chris Bagley for teaching this workshop at our weekend retreat in March.

 

As quilt show chair, I'd like to invite beg you to visit us this weekend.

A woman with a plan! (to scale)

Ninigret Quilters present Stitching Stars

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm each day

Westerly Armory, Westerly, RI

If you live within a 90 minute radius (and beyond) of Westerly, it is worth the trip!

WIP Wednesday

Today is Wednesday, right? Monday holidays always throw me off, and this is just a crazy week. No time to dilly-dally. Let's get to the projects.

Finishes:

Eleven mug mats/thank you gifts were finished yesterday. Assembly line stitching works for me!

 

I realize this is just a top that could use an outside border, but I'm calling it finished. It will be raffled off to quilt show volunteers this weekend, and the president of the guild gave me permission to not quilt it. Thank you, Ellie!

 In progress:
After seeing this article and photo in my newsfeed this morning, I realized I have 2 Quilts of Valor projects to finish. I'm moving them to the top of the list.

I just need to piece the backing of Pete's quilt and it will be off to Pat, my award-winning machine quilter.

I signed up for Schnitzel and Boo's mini quilt swap that will ship in November. I think my partner will like this stack of fabric. A lotta Tula Pink and a little Lotta Jansdotter.

And because I was ordering from Pink Chalk Fabrics, I threw in some extra goodies. The green Tula Pink print is a yummy voile that will become a scarf for me.

Gotta run!

Stitching Stars Prep

 We're in the final stages of preparation for Ninigret Quilters' Stitching Stars quilt show. To take a break from paperwork, I spent the long weekend stitching stars.

 I pieced together some block parts and fabric leftover from the raffle quilt to make this little top. I'm planning to raffle it off to the quilt show volunteers. Surprise, Ninnies!

 I had a few more stars and scraps to play with, so I made eleven mug mats. Most of the stars were rejected from the raffle quilt because they were too big. They were perfect for improv piecing.

Simple straight line quilting is effective on these small pieces. They are roughly 7X10".

The guild is planning to teach a beginner quilting class starting in January. We thought the show would be a great place to publicize it. A few of us are making samples, and here's mine.

I've had these music prints for years, and it was time for them to be used!

OK. My break is over. Back to quilt show prep!

Cranberries!

 Bill and I are thoroughly enjoying our new status as empty-nesters. Today we drove up to Massacusetts to attend the Cranberry Harvest Festival. If you are in the area, the festival continues on Sunday.

I've always been curious about cranberry harvesting, so it was fun to watch it happen.

In full speed, it would only take them about 20 minutes to fill this truck!

 

 Yummy rubies!

There is fun for the whole family. Check out this little cutie.

 

There is a lot of sand involved in cranberry farming, and they let the kids climb this giant sand pile. We passed on the helicopter rides. No SPIE rigging!

 

We had a great time, and we're looking forward to our next adventure.

 

P.S. We got our second letter from Pete this week. He's doing really well in Marine Corps boot camp. He has a few leadership billets already. He really likes his senior drill instructor. It's amazing that Pete can see the humor in almost any situation. I'm so proud of him!

WIP Wednesday Finishes

 For me, there's no better motivation for finishing a project than a firm deadline! I've had a very productive week.

Finishes: This baby quilt was made in less than 2 days and was finished a full 24 hours before the baby shower!

Ninnie Nines was actually finished on Thursday before I started the baby quilt, but there was no time to take pics until today. It had to be done for quilt judging on Saturday. If you remember, our guild had a nine patch swap last Spring/Summer. I used a layout from Camille Roskelley's book Simply Retro.

I took an Angela Walters Craftsy class called Dot to Dot Quilting and tried some of the ideas in this quilt. The judge wasn't crazy about my choices (I agree with her), but it's good to have some new quilting designs in my toolbox.

I wasn't sure what to do in the outer border, so I used it as a label and I stitched in the names of all the members who participated in the swap. It's hard to see now that it's washed and crinkly.

Can you read "Ninnie Nines?"  I should have used a heavier thread.

The baking fabric is a cute print that I picked up at JoAnn's on sale.

Being home alone all day, I had to find a way to get a full body shot. Clip hangers on the curtain rod worked pretty well, but it's not taught across the top. (Edited 10/24/18: This quilt was sent to Wilmington, NC to be given to a victim of Hurricane Florence.)

Up next on the to-do list: I need to make a sample quilt for a guild project so we can publicize it at our quilt show next week. I've had the music prints for years. All I bought was the yellow/gold.  I'll add scraps of red and blue leftover from Pete's quilt. It's a simple nine patch design, so it should only take a few days to get it done.

Pete's quilt will be next. I bought this awesome backing fabric. Isn't it perfect?

Speaking of Pete, we have received one letter from boot camp and he sounds great! He told a couple of funny stories, and he was made a squad leader on day 1 with the drill instructors.

My super sweet husband brought home some gorgeous roses. The colors are so lovely!

Oh, how I love WIP Wednesday!

Baby Girl Quilt

I'm back with a finished quilt to share. I was busy last week finishing up a quilt to be judged which I'll show you tomorrow. As soon as that one was done, I started this baby quilt for my nephew's baby-to-be.

 

On Thursday afternoon, I made a test block and cut everything out. On Friday, I pieced like a mad woman! The top was done at 5pm, back was pieced, quilt layered and pin basted by 6pm. Half of the quilting was done by 6:30, but I had to take a break to attend a concert with my husband. (Buddy Guy with special guest 14-year old Quinn Sullivan. Amazing kid!) 

I finished the quilting after the show. It's my go-to swirly loop.

 

I posted this "Binding at Midnight" pic to instagram. It gives you a view of the striped and dotted Kaffe print in the binding and the adorable Riley Blake print in the border. I hand stitched the binding on Saturday morning, when I wasn't needed in the judging room.

 

Jamie, the mom-to-be, is truly glowing. 

 

I'll have to do another post with the cute DIY baby shower details. My sister and Jamie's mom did an amazing job.

Baby Quilt

Started 10/3/13

Completed 10/5/13

44"x56"

9" blocks, 1.5" sashing, 4" borders

Inspired by this quilt