More from Quiltfest

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:

Debbie Maddy

Zen by Debbie Maddy

bunny quilt

Usagi by Debbie Maddy

modern quilt indigo dye

Pathways by Debbie Maddy

Lucille Amose

Twinkle Star made by Lucille Amos (likely from a Judy Niemeyer pattern)

Linda Crouch-McCreadie

Diamonds in Bloom, made by Linda Crouch-McCreadie from a Judy Niemeyer pattern

Karen K. Stone quilt

O. G. by Karen K. Stone

Karen K. Stone

Neutrality by Karen K. Stone.

This was a beautiful quilt and included lots of texture and metallic embellishment.  Here is a detail view:

metallic embellishment in quilt

Detail of Neutrality by Karen K. Stone

Sue Nickels quilt

New York State of Mind by Pat Holly and Sue Nickels

And here are some of the quilts entered in the contest rather than made by the teachers:

Quiltfest

Red Bud Winter by Melinda Tweed

Quiltfest

Leaves by Kristi Ottinger, quilted by Linda Crouch-McCreadie

It’s Complicated, by Kristi Ottinger, quilted by Linda Crouch-McCreadie

A Cute Little Bag

One of the classes I took at Quiltfest last month was a little bag from a pattern by Penny Sturges.  It was taught by Carrie Licatovich of Tennessee Quilts, who did an excellent job.  Bag 3

Carrie had made numerous modifications to the instructions for the bag, and it was one time I was really glad to be making something in class rather than on my own.  Her changes were improvements in the construction process, and I would not have wanted to make the bag without them.  Carrie was a warm and encouraging teacher and the class seemed to go well for everyone, even relatively new sewists.

Here’s my bag:

I enjoyed the class and I like the bag.  Next time I want a cute little bag, I think I’ll buy one!

Indigo Dying with Debbie Maddy

I recently took a one-day class in Shibori dying with natural indigo, taught by Debbie Maddy. This was part of QuiltFest, put on in Jonesborough, TN, by Tennessee Quilts. It was a good time as usual, and I’ll post more about QuiltFest later.

Indigo Dye

Debbie Maddy–her Shibori dying class was excellent!

Debbie brought many beautiful examples of Shibori dying with her.

In addition to the class, she gave a lecture about her adventures with Shibori.  To hear her tell it, she became interested in Shibori and immediately signed herself and her husband up for a 10 day Shibori class in Japan!  I can’t even imagine!

She gave us an introduction to how indigo is used for dying in various places around the world, then showed us how to mix the dye vats and prepare the cloth.Indigo dye vat

As always, the most fun was seeing everyone’s fabrics drying on the line!Shibori dyed fabric

Here are a few more examples made by students.  I’m sorry to say I didn’t get their names.

When we got home, we had to neutralize the dye in a vinegar bath and then remove excess dye with pH neutral detergent in hot water.finishing indigo dyed pieces

And here are my finished pieces:indigo dye

More about Quiltfest in future!  Stay tuned 🙂

So Many Plans!

I’ve been working on a project to be published in Modern Quilts Unlimited in late summer, so there have been no pictures of current sewing lately. However, that is now finished and I’m focusing on several other projects coming right up.

First, I’m going to be teaching a very un-modern quilt at Studio Stitch in Greensboro in May.

Sunbonnet Sue

Sunbonnet Sue Visits Quilt in a Day

This is an old, old Eleanor Burns version of Sunbonnet Sue but the pattern is still available.  It’s the easiest way I know to do perfect applique!  And it’s fun to add trinkets, like this fish bead hanging from Overall Sam’s fishing rod:

Also, I’ve signed up for Quiltfest.  Luckily, it’s in July when I’ll have some vacation time available again.  I’m going to be making a boxy tote with Carrie Licatovich and a star quilt with Renny Jaeger.  Then I’m signed up for “shibori resist with indigo dying”, taught by Debbir Maddy.  Which reminds me, I haven’t used the fabrics I made in my last dying class…  I always enjoy Quiltfest because it’s just the right size: There are well-known teachers, but not a crush of thousands of participants.  And of course there are sales at Tennessee Quilts, too!  Oops!

Finally, I’ve finished a donation quilt.  I’ve gotten far, far behind on my donation quilts, so those will be floating to the top of the to-do list soon.  Here’s the first one, finally quilted and bound:

donation quilt

The concentric squares are pieced; the other pieces are a print from Michael Miller

Do you have any fun quilt events coming up?