More from Paducah 2014--Basket Quilts

I always find the AQS show in Paducah to be a more traditional show than most, but I felt that was particularly true this year. There were several recurring "themes/techniques." There were several basket quilts. I took these pictures of two of my favorites; then, I realized (as I was putting these pics together for this post) that they were made by the same person, V'Lou Oliveira.

The name of the above quilt is called "String Baskets." The black really makes the baskets pop. I think using all different blacks (rather than one black throughout) makes this quilt much more interesting. Why use one fabric when you can use "hundreds!"

The quilt above is called "Easter Baskets." I love the lively color scheme and the wonky basket shapes. This quilt definitely makes me smile.

Stay tuned for more Paducah quilts and comments.

 

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Block of the Month Quilts

PENGUIN CHEER BLOCK OF THE MONTH

I showed you my first block and explained the reason behind my doing this block of the month quilt here. I recently got my second and third blocks finished. Here they are.

COUNTRY THREADS BLOCK OF THE MONTH

I have shown you some of these blocks for this block of the month in a previous post. This is the last block I had to finish to get caught up--just in time since May is just around the corner!

If you are at all interested in jumping into doing these blocks of the month, you can find the links in the previous posts referenced above. They are really fun, free, easy, and scrap busting!

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The Rotary

I hadn't been to the quilt show at the Paducah Rotary Club for quite awhile. They usually have The Hoffman Challenge and an antique quilt show going on (along with several vendors) during the same days as the big AQS show in Paducah. I figured it was time I checked it out again this year.

I must say, I'm ALWAYS amazed when I see the antique quilts. How those tiny pieces ever came together to make those wonderous pieces of textile bliss I will NEVER know. To think that they were made without the use of acrylic rulers and rotary cutters is even more amazing. I remember my grandmother cutting out quilt pieces using scissors and templates cut from brown paper bags. In my mind's eye, I can still see her holding the paper template against the little piece of fabric (with just her fingers--no pins) and cutting the piece out with her scissors. Amazingly enough, the vast majority of her quilts ended up flat!

I didn't take lots of pictures at the rotary; but since I'm currently enamored with hexagons, I DID take a picture of my favorite antique quilt at the show. (Evidently, I'm not the only one enamored with hexies. The winning "1st Place, Bed Quilts - 1st Entry in a Paducah Contest" sponsored by Statler Stitcher at the AQS show is a quilt with hexagons. "Perseverance," contains 10,509 half-inch hexagons! Here is the antique hexie quilt I found at the rotary show. It was labeled, "Mosaic Quilt...made approximately 95 years ago with a very deep scrap bag of fabrics covering a 20-year period." As it is with many quilts of this time period--the 1920s, the quiltmaker is unknown. It is hand pieced and hand quilted and measures 62" X 80". There are over 8,000 hexagons in this quilt (back when there were NO pre-made templates).

This is the full-on view of the quilt. Sorry this is a bit blurry. I had to get into a vendor's booth and QUICKLY shoot the picture between shoppers. The next two are a bit better.

There are a WHOLE lot of little hexagons in this quilt!

I have some pictures from the "main" show to share with you later this week. Check back.

 

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Paducah 2014

Let me start off this post with a little rationalizing--I didn't get to come to the Paducah quilt show two years ago, and I was here for only a day and a half last year (before the show started) and had to leave early because my Dad got really sick. I bought VERY little last year (definitely not enough to write about). Now...

Does this look like a vendor's booth at a quilt show? Well, it looked like that to me when I laid it all out tonight! This is my "haul" from Paducah--so far.

I set out to get white and off-white tone-on-tone fabric for the scrap quilts I've been making. (I'm trying to use up my stash of dark fabrics I won't use in my art work.) I also will be using the whites for the background on a quilt for my granddaughter. My criteria for that fabric was that I had to actually like the fabric and I had to be able to get it at a bargain price. Well...if you look at the back left of the "stuff," you'll see I succeeded with that objective. I also wanted to get various shades of black and gray fabrics for the new art piece I'm working on. I did that--front right. I also picked up some fabric I couldn't resist (like the fabric to the left of the black.) I also had fabric for my granddaughter's quilt on my "Things to Get While at Paducah" list. I didn't want that to be too baby looking, so I got some Kaffe fat quarters and a jelly roll. I didn't pay more that $6 per yard for any fabrics (except the Kaffe stuff), and at least half of it was $4 a yard! Now how can a good quilter pass that up? I scored 53 1/2 yards of fabric plus one jelly roll!!!!!! OK, stop gasping...you know you would have done the same thing!

As you can see, that isn't all I got. I added a king-sized batt (on my list), two snow-dyed ponchos (next to the batting), two new black Frixion pens, some RetroClean (hopefully, that will work to clean some really old quilts and tops I'll share with you later and also on my list of things to get while in Paducah), one pack of Sulky Petites thread, a Cherrywood hand-dyed t-shirt, 16 books (all half or more off the original price), pigma pens, Zentangles tiles, and blending stumps. All in all a MAJOR haul. I LOVE everything I got and will put it ALL to good use.

What's pretty funny is that the actual show hasn't even started yet! I'm hitting the show and all the show vendors tomorrow. I'll let you know how I do. If you aren't sure whether to make the trek to Paducah, come on down. There are some GREAT bargains to be had. I just LOVE shopping for quilty things...don't you?

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Fifty Shades of Gray--Post 2

If you are wondering what this blog post is all about, see "Working on a New Art Quilt--Fifty Shades of Gray."

My first step was to convert the photo to a drawing (sketch). I used an app on my iPad called "Photo Sketch."

Next, I darkened the lines of the photo so I could get a better copy and, also, to define the lines on which I'd need to sew.

My next step is to take this sketch to Staples and have it enlarged. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

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Working on a New Art Quilt--Fifty Shades of Gray

I mentioned, in one of my latest blog posts, that I am going to be starting a new art piece and that I'm going to be documenting my progress along the way. Well, here goes...

I've had a picture in my "Inspiration" file for quite some time. I took the picture while I was with my husband on one of his business trips. I was in the hotel looking out over the city. (I can't even remember which city it was--they all run together after awhile.) Anyway, this is the picture.

It came to mind because SAQA currently has a call for entry for an exhibit called "Concrete and Grassland." This is the part of the "show concept" that made me think of this photograph--"This call for entry asks artists to submit works that explore either the soft lines of nature or the hard lines of urban structures..." I'm thinking this photo fits the "hard lines" part; the lines are what drew me to the photograph to begin with. I don't know if I'll try to get into the exhibit or if I'll get it finished in time, but it has given me an incentive to get to work on a new piece. Now, I just have to figure out how to put my rendition of this photograph into fabric.

Look for my Fifty Shades of Gray (so named because I'm thinking of making this first piece in lots of shades of gray) blog posts to follow my progress (or lack thereof).

 

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