A Glittery New Day

I got some great news this morning. Remember my blogs about my whimsical quilt, A-Muse-ing Violette? I found out about the free-spirited artist Violette in Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine. Anyway, I have been reading her blog since then, and recently signed up for a give-away contest honoring her three-year blog anniversary. And just found out that I won! How cool is that! The gift package is described on Violette's blog on October 13. I will take pictures when my glittery package arrives. Here is a picture of the hanging sleeve on my Violette quilt, which features gold and silver foil, inks, and of course, glitter!

Back to the Piedmont Quilters Show. There was an absolutely stunning Latte quilt made by Martha Jackson. The quilting was exquisite, and won the Best Longarm Quilting award.

Click the pictures to see them in a larger size.

There was another quilt from the latte pattern made by Chris Bowen, titled My Version of the Latte Quilt. It looked totally different in pastels!

Here is a lovely art quilt that I greatly admired, Iris Garden by Priscilla Hair. It is listed in the professional category.

Another art quilt I liked is Simply Autumn, by Kim Frisk. The judges must have liked it, too, as it won first place in the Small Wallhanging category.

And one more...this landscape quilt reminds me of Ashe County, my North Carolina mountain home. It is Cherry Valley, NY, made by Julia C. Davis.

Thanks to the Piedmont Quilt Guild for a great show!

Introducing Violette

Yesterday I almost finished quilting my current project, a bed quilt for my granddaughter Lily's room. I am kind of proud of myself for sticking with this to get it done. I hope to finish the last three borders today. I just got an e-mail coupon for a fabric discount at my LQS, Quilts Like Crazy, so I will probably head over there tomorrow for some binding fabric. Quilts Like Crazy is owned by my friend and founder of our quilt bee, Nancy Pease, who is a very artistic person and fabulous quilter and teacher.

Speaking of artistic people, I have added links to Violette's website and blog. I found her through an article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. Remember my little art quilt, named A-Muse-ing Violette? That quilt was inspired by a line drawing by Violette Clark of British Columbia. Check out her website for lots of colorful inspiration, including her painted house which was featured on a Canadian TV program. Too bad they did not feature her painted and glittered van, as well!

Taking the Plunge

Today I decided it was time...to quit staring at my Round Robin top, and start quilting! It is a little intimidating when a project has taken over a year, and seven other people's work is represented. But, it is so pretty, and will never get to be displayed if it does not become a quilt! I am thinking that this will be a wall-hanging, since it has silk ribbon embroidery, some beads and crystals. Here is a reminder of what the quilt looks like:

Beautiful jewel colors, lots of flowers, some great quilting areas!

Yesterday, my box of pretty threads from Superior arrived. Don't they look gorgeous! I already had the Glitter, but everything else is new. Some SuperBobs of Bottom Line thread, some variegated, some metallic! The purple batik at the top of the photo is the backing I got last week.

In case I get timid, I have A-Muse-ing Violette on the wall behind the Gammill. I made her for a challenge in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. She is supposed to remind me to try new challenges and be adventurous.

And, while I was digging around my quilting room, I found this little project left over from the spring, and decided to stitch the trapunto designs with wash-away thread. The stitched outlines will be cut away from the white poly batting behind the top. Those areas will look white under the sheer batiste top. The rest of the white areas will appear green when I add a layer of green felt. I have used this technique five times now. The green squares contain silk, hand-painted fabric, ferny looking prints and others in all shades of green. This one is supposed to evoke springtime in the southern woodlands. The trapunto designs are from dogwood blossoms and leaves that I scanned last spring. I also added some trillium blooms and a small white wildflower. I have a feeling that this little guy is not going to remain square when I am finished with him!