A Retreat, A Road Trip, and A Little Quilt Show

Posted on April 21, 2024 by zippyquilts

Last week I went with friends to spend a few days in Northern Virginia. We rented a little house with a living room/dining room combo large enough for us all to set up and do some quilting, we went to a local quilt show, and we tried to visit some quilt shops.

Here are some of my favorite quilts from the Northern Shenandoah Valley Quilt Show, presented by multiple guilds from the area.

The theme of the show was “My Favorite Color is Plaid”. Members of the local Modern Guild challenged themselves to make small modern quilts using fabric from plaid shirts.

“Curved Plaids” by Heidi Haynes was made for the plaid challenge in the traditional category

Springtime in Plaid Land, made by Susan Adams, was an interesting entry in the plaid challenge

Intersections, made by Melissa Mattice, was another interesting entry in the plaid challenge

Mexican Star Dance, made by Elaine Breiner

The quilt above was one of many well made, beautiful quilts in the show. I was especially interested in it because the pattern is by Annette Ornelas, who will be speaking at one of my guilds soon.

As for the shopping, we did some at the show but found that most local shops were closed in order to vend at the show. Of course, we really didn’t need anything so we went happily back to our rented house and sewed for a few more days! I didn’t finish anything, so further show-and-tell will have to wait 😀

Asheville Quilt Show 2023

Posted on October 15, 2023 by zippyquilts

I always enjoy the Asheville Quilt Show. There are so many excellent quilters in the Asheville guild, and I always find inspiration at the show. Here are a few of my favorites from 2023.

Sizzle by Kathryn Zimmerman won an award for Outstanding Machine Workmanship

Detail of Tiny Houses by Janet L. Ervin. There were many of these little houses, hand appliquéd and embroidered!

Stripes Rule by Diana Ramsay caught my eye

I thought Lightning, by Tricia Vinson, was a clever use of an ombre fabric. Please note my photo is crooked; the quilt isn’t!

Tierra Nirvana, by Stephanie Wilds, particularly appealed to me because I’m making map quilts this year and have a similar one in mind

Sedona Spectrum by Judy Grebe had an appealing mix of vibrant colors

I loved the geometric shapes in Orange Sherbert by Sana R. Moulder

Our Song, Your Reflection by Audrey Pantas was a gorgeous variation on a traditional design

It Was A Puzzle, by Jane Butckovitz, interested me because I’ve been struggling with how to use this beautiful Wild Blossoms fabric from Moda.

The fabrics chosen for Haze Kilim by Mary Ellen Simmons positively glowed

Tropic of Capricorn, an original design by Catherine S. Beemer, was spectacular in both design and workmanship

There are so many wonderful quilts at the show that I’m sure it’s difficult for the judges to select the winners. As usual, it’s hard for me to see why some won and others didn’t, but I enjoyed them all.

A Quilt, and Sending Quilts

Posted on September 24, 2023 by zippyquilts

First, here’s the latest donation quilt, made to use up 5″ squares in floral fabrics. I just added the strips as “leaders and enders” while working on other projects, and here it is.

Quilt Stats

Name: Floral Crumbs

Design: Variation of the “crumbs” pattern from The Quilt Police

Finished size: 60″ x 73″

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

Sending Quilts–solved!

I occasionally enter quilt shows where I’m not able to physically deliver and/or retrieve my quilt, and this has presented a problem.

Last year I took the packed quilts to UPS, FedEx, and USPS asking to purchase a pre-paid return label to include with them. The first two flatly refused. The lady at USPS finally explained that I could purchase stamps and include them with my own return label inside the package.

This year I researched online and figured out that I could purchase a prepaid return label by going through a third party, such as GoShippo.com. The GoShippo service is intended for businesses needing to offer pre-paid return for merchandise, but I was able to set up an account as a non-business individual.

So this year, I packed my quilts, measured and weighed the box, and entered the information at the GoShippo site. I was immediately given prices for UPS, FedEx, and USPS, including the various levels of service for each and transit time for each. Much easier than running around to all the various shippers and being turned down!

Here are the quilts I’ve entered in the Asheville show. I’ll be attending but won’t be able to pick them up, so they’ll use that return label 😀

Improv 2022, 42″ x 57″

Circular Reasoning, 56″ x 68″

How do you manage shipping to shows when you need a paid return label?

Goodbye To My Favorite Quilt Festival

Posted on May 7, 2023 by zippyquilts

I’ve just gotten word that the Vermont Quilt Festival (VQF) is cancelled. It has been my favorite quilt show for years, so I am especially sad to see another victim of the COVID pandemic. Here are a few photos of the wonderful quilts I’ve seen there and some of the many things I liked about the show.

Maine Coast, by Lynne Rainen at VQF in 2018

There were many wonderful things about VQF, including the fact that it was in Burlington, Vermont, a town we enjoy visiting. We especially liked the Shelburne Museum and Shelburne Farms, both just south of Burlington. The museum has a collection of antique quilts and had a show of Maria Shell’s quilts in their gallery during our visit.

Quilt building at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont

As for VQF itself, there were the usual prizes like “best in show”, but they had an award system ensuring that almost nobody came away empty-handed. There was a relatively objective scoring system and quilts were awarded first, second, or third place ribbons based on points earned. There were three judges and their points were averaged for the final score. Best of all, each judge provided written feedback in addition to the points. I never got better than a second place, but I was well satisfied with that given the quality of quilts. I was especially happy with knowing exactly where I had done well and where I might improve.

Port Kent Beauty, by Alyce Fradenburg (who is from Port Kent, NY), at VQF in 2018

Another delightful part of VQF was the champagne and chocolate reception the night before the show opened! I was able to get a ticket for my husband so he could attend, and he enjoyed seeing the quilts in that way. It was fun to visit the vendors and see the quilts in a festive atmosphere. My only mistake was taking most of my pictures while drinking champagne one year. I’m not sure those pictures were as straight as in other years 😀

This quilt, made from a pattern, got a 3rd place ribbonl. The circle is on a black background, so the quilt is square, VQF 2016

Finally, there was a significant children’s’ quilt contest and I believe each child who participated received a sewing machine. I am unable to uncover details of this by going back through information about the show, but it was a special part of VQF.

This quilt involved extensive work and I think it is very “artistic”. It got a 3rd place in 2016.

The show was 45 years old and had been New England’s oldest and largest quilt show. I enjoyed it and appreciate the years in which I was able to participate. I saw many wonderful quilts there and learned a lot. My thanks to all the volunteers who worked for years to make this possible. I will miss VQF and I know many others will, too.

These fish by Velda Newman were SO realistic! VQF 2014

My hope is that others will take some of the best aspects of this show and continue them.

Quiltfest in Greenville

Posted on April 30, 2023 by zippyquilts

My husband and I recently went to Greenville, SC, for a few days including Mancuso Quiltfest. I didn’t take any classes, but here are a few of my favorite quilts from the show.

I was especially impressed with this cross section of a downed tree trunk:

Fallen Hero by Barbara Dahlberg

I was interested in this small crazy quilt shown above because I’m always wondering what to do with my vintage textiles, and a crazy quilt seems an appropriate use of them..

Crazy Patchwork by Denise Flynn.

I thought the following wall quilt was an especially effective use of color because it is so straightforward.

Hard Rain by Betty Colburn

And I enjoyed the way the quilting (scribbled lines) enhanced the appearance of this quilt, which I think most people would have quilted with the same old matchstick quilting:

Scribbled Lines by Sherri Lipman-McCauley

There was a special exhibit of “Fabulous Faces” by Jean Impey and Freddy Moran. I loved them ALL, but here are a couple:

And, lest you think I only admired the art quilts, here are some of my favorites among the quilts of a size to be used for warmth.

I enjoyed this scrappy variation on a design I know as Perkiomen Valley. The maker attributes this variation on the design to Bonnie Hunter, and it certainly has enough pieces to be one of hers!

Split Nine Patch, pieced and quilted by Jean Anderson

I love this unusual arrangement of colors, which the maker states is her variation on the Modern Mystery 2023 quilt hosted by Modern Quilt Studio:

New Day by Karen Foster

This one had wonderful colors, and I enjoyed the use of the “broken dishes” block for a quilt about (unbreakable) melamine:

Melted Melamine by Ben Millett

This gorgeous Celtic design quilt was large and I had trouble getting a good picture of it, but hopefully you can appreciate some of the work that went into it:

Celtic Dream by Elizabeth Ann Thackery

This quilt is made from a pattern, and I thought it was an especially effective design:

Starfield by Diane Poor. Pattern is Niagara Stars by Mara Quilt Designs.

Of course there were many more beautiful quilts! I would go to this show again, especially because there were other things we enjoyed in Greenville.

A Quilt Show–In Person At Last!!!

Posted on October 23, 2022 by zippyquilts

I’ve thought for years that quilt shows should be held simultaneously with woodworking shows, and many of you know exactly why!

Happily, I found that the Catawba Valley Quilters’ Guild in Hickory, NC, holds their show concurrently with Klingspor’s woodworking show! My husband and I attended this past Friday and were so happy to be able to do so.

Here are just a few of the quilts that were on display.

This beautiful quilt was at the door. It had no label, and the nearby greeter knew only that it was “last year’s first place winner”. I loved it!

Here are pics of a few of the blocks (are they still blocks if they’re round?)

Some of the quilt labels had no information on the design source for the quilts, though I recognized some of the patterns. Where information was given about the design source, I’m listing it.

Made by Ann Becker in a class with Margaret Solomon Gunn

“Escher’s Christmas”, made by Teena McRary, based on designs by M. C. Escher

“Garden Jewels” made by Pat Carson and Pam Bowman. The label indicated the pattern is from the book Kaffe Quilts Again

“Connected Places” by Dianne Johnston and Julie Wilson

“Fun With Pinwheels” by Libby Sigmon and Rebecca Mullins

“Arizona Friends” by Cindy Konarski. Pattern is “Happy Together” by Sew Kind of Wonderful.

“Happy Trails” by Maryann McCormick and Rebecca Mullins. The smallest squares finish 1/2 inch!

“My Mountains” by Gigi Miller

Of course there were many more beautiful quilts, but this gives you some idea. I hope we can all go back to “in person” quilt shows soon!

AQS Paducah 2022

Posted on May 15, 2022 by zippyquilts

After a 2 year wait due to you-know-what, 3 quilty friends and I finally met up in Paducah for AQS Quilt Week.

Paducah is an interesting town to walk around. There are lots of old houses as well as some interesting new ones. These two were next door to each other!

Then there is the gigantic Hancock’s of Paducah, a must-visit for fabric collectors. I saw a woman there wearing a shirt that declared, “Quilting and Fabric Collecting are Two Different Hobbies”. Apparently I agree 😀

There used to be a number of other fabric shops, including Eleanor Burns’ Quilt In A Day, but they have closed due to COVID. We did find an interesting shop, though.

Photo courtesy of Trip Advisor

Tuscan Rose is a wonderful shop selling clothing, apparently collected from thrift shops and then overdyed. Of course I bought a shirt, and so did one of my friends. Tuscan Rose also had such beautiful hand dyed yarn that I was tempted to resume knitting. (As a favor to the beautiful yarn, I left it to be bought by someone who actually knits well!)

The quilt show itself was something of a disappointment. There were hundreds of beautiful quilts, but before long it was overwhelming. The workmanship was exceptional and I think I would have enjoyed seeing a few of them, but after a couple of dozen my head was spinning.

Modern quilts were rare. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Kandinsky’s Sewing Circle by Holly Hull

Morning Fog by Sarah Lykins Entsminger

I also liked this one, but I can only assume that nobody at AQS understood what “one in every four” referred to, based on the AQS history of avoiding even a hint of controversy.

One in Every Four by Carolina Oneto

I didn’t hear that any of you were going to Paducah. What is your experience with AQS shows?

7 Years and Counting!

Posted on June 7, 2020 by zippyquilts

As of this month, I’ve been blogging here every Sunday for 7 years! I’ve debated what to do for my blogiversary, having largely skipped it last year. My decision is to show my favorite quilt from each year I’ve blogged. So here we go…

First year blogging:

My entry for the Quilt Alliance Challenge 2014; I think it won a judge’s choice award

Second year:

I designed this quilt for Modern Quilts Unlimited

Third year:

Improv Table Runner for Modern Quilts Unlimited

Fourth year:

Quilt I designed from a QR code used by Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Northwest, shown here with their staff

Fifth year:

My donation to the Quilt Alliance auction was used in their publicity

Sixth year:

My “Little Green Man” quilt included Kraft-Tex applique

Seventh year:

I’ll have more to say about “Fiddlesticks” next week

Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned for Year 8 🙂

Asheville Quilt Show

Posted on October 7, 2018 by zippyquilts

So I went to the Asheville Quilt Guild’s annual show, which usually has lots of inspiration. There were many nice quilts, but two quilt makers stood out, in my opinion.

The first is Diana Ramsay, whom I know from the Modern Quilt Guild, which used to exist in Asheville. Here are her quilts:

Dutch Holiday by Diana Ramsay

Detail of Dutch Holiday

Fascinating Rhythm by Diana Ramsay

Bulls Eye II, by Diana Ramsay

Although I don’t know Linda Fiedler, I was very impressed by her quilts, as well:

Moonglow, by Linda Fiedler

Detail of Fusion by Linda

Fusion, by Linda Fiedler

The guild’s gift shop always has something I wish I had made, and this year it was a little pyramid bag. Of course I bought it.

I’ve always liked pyramid bags, which I first saw years ago in a craft store in Berea, Kentucky. I had a pattern to make one, but it seemed pretty complex. The internet to the rescue! I found several sets of instructions and even videos. Here are the instructions I used:

http://www.loganberryhandmade.com/sew-triangle-zipper-bag-pyramid-pouch-sewing-tutorial/

And here is the first set of pyramids.

They were quick and easy! Do I hear a Christmas gift idea?

More from Quiltfest

Posted on August 26, 2018 by zippyquilts

One of the good things about Quiltfest (held in Jonesborough, TN every July) is the quilt show. This year there was a contest in addition to the show of quilts made by the teachers. Here are some of the quilts made by people who taught at Quiltfest this year: