Whacky Ladies Sew-In Day

Today was a day of fun and fellowship for the Whacky Ladies, my local quilt bee.  For three years in a row, our January meeting has been a sew-in day to make charity quilts to donate to Capital Quilters Guild.  The guild donates to neonatal intensive care units, rest home residents, children whose families are in a program for  prevention of child abuse, and other worthy causes.

Instead of meeting at Quilts Like Crazy, our LQS, we met at Donna Sontag's new storefront business, Whatever's Quilted.  Donna was formerly housed at Quilts Like Crazy, but has moved just down the street at 1318-156 S. Main St. in Wake Forest, NC.  Donna offers both hand-guided and computerized longarm quilting service, and also is a dealer for Handi-Quilter machines.  She will even train you to use the machines and then rent them to you to quilt your own projects.



 Donna showed us the raffle quilt for the Carolina Longarm Association's next show.  She did a fabulous job using both computerized and hand-guided quilting.

Many members contributed green fabrics and helped piece the quilt top, which has Tree of Life blocks with an applique vine in the outer border.

Donna cleverly extended the outline of the vine into the plain parts of the border.

The alternate blocks have a beautiful feathered design.

She will turn it in at the CLA meeting in Greensboro on Saturday for someone else to bind.

Another show-and-tell was this amazing American Flag quilt top that Kathy Miller and a group of women are working on for the Veteran's Administration Hospital.  It will be used when there is a death of a patient, to respectfully honor and cover the body when it is being moved.  Much nicer than draping a white sheet, yes?  It will be quilted and donated.

Mary made a quilt at home and donated it to the guild.  I think it will be perfect for a Safechild quilt with its happy colors and frog motif.

On to today's projects!  I went through a stack of my UFO's and handed them out.  Marilyn finished a top made from a pattern in Quilts From Aunt Amy.  It is made from muted Civil War reproduction fabrics.  It has free-hand circles cut into quarters, then sewn together with raw edge remaining.  Once it is quilted and washed, the edges will fray, making a ruffled look.  I think this will be great for a rest-home resident as it will have a tactile quality.

Kathy took some of my 5-inch cut squares and made this joyous quilt top for a child.

Two years ago, I made a Yellow Brick Road quilt for Quilts on Wheels, and had lots of leftover blocks and partial blocks.  Mary put those together along with some other fabrics that I cut up for her as needed. 

Lori also dove into her UFO (Un-Finished Object) pile and came up with enough blocks for two quilts.  She made one and Carolyn made the other.  They both have nine-patch and alternate blocks in a scrappy design.

Sharon came late and started putting together a top from some orphan blocks of mine.  Donna got out her quilt tops from our meeting two years ago, and got them started on her computerized machine during our get-together.

It is so much fun to work on these projects together.  In just a few hours we made a lot of quilt tops which will later warm their recipients, body and soul.

Carolina Longarm Quilt Show-Part 1

Lots of great eye candy to show you over the next several posts!  I am home tonight after spending two days helping out at the Carolina Longarm Association quilt show in Clemmons, NC.  It will still be going on tomorrow, September 18.  At the end of the show, the beautiful  quilt pictured above will be raffled off to its new owner.

The show's theme is Romance is in the Air.  Displayed on both sides of the raffle quilt were vintage satin wedding gowns.  One is from 1942 and was custom made for our member Elaine Brower's mother.  It was in beautiful condition, but has only been stored in a cedar chest all these years.

Here is the picture of the bride and groom.

On the right side of the raffle quilt was this wedding gown from 1952.

The setting was lovely.  Surrounding the quilt show were our vendors.  One, Quiltricks, was from my own guild, Capital Quilters of Raleigh.  Karen Comstock is a quilt pattern designer and had a beautiful display.  She also designed the raffle quilt.

One of my favorite booths was Hunters Woodcrafts.  I have seen them at many shows.  They make beautiful glass quilt cabinets and sell other quilt-related furnishings.

Here are some of their quilted teddy bears in chairs.

and quilts on ladders.

I purchased something I have been needing...a wooden ruler holder that hangs on the wall. 

I loved this embroidered patchwork pumpkin

and the other cozy items in this vendor's booth.

I did pretty well on refraining from purchasing too much, mainly because my visit to the eye doctor the other day ran up a huge bill for new eyeglasses.  But I did add to my stash of black and white prints from Sew Together, a fabric, yarn, and Janome shop in Advance, NC.

We had rather wide aisles between the rows of quilts, and it was not overly crowded today.

The handmade, embroidered ribbons were gorgeous

and there was a breath-taking selection of quilts.  I will show the challenge quilt display in this post.

Mine was the first one, right next to the sign.

There were eighteen made from the same or similar fabric and pattern.

Here are the first six

the second six

and the third.

And here are details of some of them.

Kathryn Meranda used variegated thread for some of her quilting.

This one by Gloria Stickney featured our state bird and flower, the cardinal and dogwood.

I loved the hummingbird design in the center of this one

and the blue thread on the daisy quilt really set this one by Sandy Zuker apart.

Even the lobby of the church had eye candy, with an art display on the walls

We finished hanging the show early on Thursday, so I stopped at the Triad Farmers Market near my sister's house.  It looks like they are ready for fall!

I bought some peaches, hoop cheese, jams, and a big pot of mums for my sister and BIL.  When I got back to their house, I visited my nephew's three goats that were borrowed to "clear the garden" in back of their house.  Here are "Darkness" and her baby, "Snowflake." 

I thought this one must be the daddy, but my sister says "Peanut" is also a nanny goat despite the beard.

I will have more quilt pics for you next time...but maybe not until after the grandkids go home on Sunday!

Carolina Longarm Quilt Show

Tomorrow I am getting my eyes checked, then my hair re-touched, and then I'm heading to Kernersville, NC, to spend the night with my sister and brother-in-law.  The next day I will help hang the Carolina Longarm Association quilt show, Romance is in the Air.  I have four quilts entered for judging, and one in the Challenge category. 

Fun With Feathers, 2010

 All challenge quilts have the same fabric and pattern for the top, but each of us quilted it to our own preferences.  That should make an interesting display!

Romance is in the Air-Carolina Longarm Quilt Show

Friday, September 17, and Saturday, September 18

New Hope Presbyterian Church

2570 Harper Road, Clemmons, NC 27012

9:00-5:00, Admission $5.00

Clemmons, NC is just north of Winston-Salem, off 421.  It should be a beautiful day for a ride to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

I'll spend one more night with Katy and Kenny, work at the show on Friday, and then come home to see my son and grandkids.  We will babysit during the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert at Walnut Creek in Raleigh.  Looking forward to all these events!

I tried hard to finish the white antique quilt before leaving.  I have the bottom third of two stars, two corner squares, four setting triangles, and one long rectangle left to do---not that I'm counting! When I got to the very bottom it was looking like a dust ruffle.  But, as before, it is "quilting out" nicely.  I ran out of bobbin thread after going through 16 bobbins.  And my thread is breaking so often that I am thinking about washing my own mouth out with soap.  It will be two years this weekend since my sister-in-law entrusted me with this quilt and its twin.  It will be a little past its anniversary before it is complete!

Not sure if I will be able to post until I get home this weekend, but will definitely be blogging about the show sometime soon.

Fun With Feathers

Fun With Feathers, 26" x 26", 2010

Here is a little quilt OF MY OWN that I finished yesterday.  In fact, I was stitching down the binding during the guild meeting last night. 

I made this quilt for the Carolina Longarm Association quilt show challenge.  All participants got a kit with the fabric and instructions for making the exact same quilt top.  Then, we could quilt it any way we chose.  The idea is that they will be hung together at the show, and viewers will see that the quilting makes a remarkable difference in the finished product.

I started with a feathered circle stencil, but I just can't make a formal quilt.  I just have to add lots of free-motion swirls and flowers.

I used plain old white thread and managed to refrain from painting or adding beads or crystals. :)

For the back, I rummaged through my stash and found a beautiful floral print in perfect colors to coordinate with the blue fabric.  I have no recollection of buying this fabric, but, it is good to have a stash!

We have had over a year to get these challenge quilts completed.  Our show had to be postponed a year due to renovations at the church which will again be our venue.  So, when did I begin my project?  Two days before I had to turn it in.  But, at least I made and finished a quilt! It seems I have only made two this year!

Here are two more of the challenge quilts that were actually finished LAST July.  The one with circular quilting was made by Donna Sontag of Wake Forest.  She has actually finished a second one to turn in this weekend!

The quilt that I donated last night to the Heritage Days auction was my challenge quilt at the last Carolina Longarm Association show.  It is slightly smaller, but in very similar fabrics and another traditional design.

Only four quilts were completed for the challenge in that show, and as you can see, the tops did not exactly all turn out identical as planned!

I will be missing the CLA quarterly meeting tomorrow as my brother-in-law scheduled his annual Pool Party for Saturday.  But...a visit to BIL Richard in Rutherfordton, NC, usually means a quick stop on the way at Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia...oh boy oh boy!  Did I mention I have a stash?