Red/White Mini Quilt Show

October 2, 2011February 24, 2012 Elizabeth E.8 Comments

After seeing the quilts along the streets of Temecula, I headed to the Temecula Quilt Company, a shop that specializes in reproduction fabrics, which lies about 4 miles inland from Old Town Temecula.

As usual, she had done the displays in such a perfectly arranged fashion. There’s a little excitement when you have a quilt in a show, even a mini one, and I hunted for my two.

Right away I see one of mine: the folded quilt on the lower left.

It’s a deeper red than those around it and I like how she harmonized all the patterns together along with color tones.

Some quilts were tiny, some small, some larger. Sometimes we think we can only make giant-sized quilts, but these little ones carry great visual punch.

Some quilts have more red, some have more white.

What makes this starry quilt intriguing for me, is the tilting of the central stars in the blocks.

Teensy little rooster quilt.

With a fabulous label. Wouldn’t it be very cool to have a “signature label” like this one? I suppose that #184 in the upper left corner is her personal number of quilts? I’ve got to make smaller quilts so I can catch up!

The quilt on the upper right (center-ish) is compelling with all the applique symbols.

In the classroom area, she had this giant red/white quilt top started.

More classroom quilts.

Close-up.

I started chatting with the shop owner as I exlaimed at how much I enjoyed her display. Next year, she said “Blue and White!” I laughed. She asked me if I’d seen my quilts and I told her I hadn’t found my table runner.

“The sampler from around the world?” she asked? “We put it up front where we could display the full length of it.”

Ah, there it is! Thanks again to all my participants. It looks great.

As I sat and ate my lunch — she’d provided All-American Hot Dogs to go with these deeply All-American quilts of her mini-quilt show — I could take in all the quilts around in this area. It was a lovely, satisfying day, spending time with quilts and with other quilters, and I appreciated all the efforts of those who put up displays for all of us to enjoy.

I strolled around the shop once more, trying to see everything.

The show will be up for the month of October — if you are in the area, I’d suggest heading there to enjoy all these quilts!

Quilt Shows

Temecula Quilt Show, 2011

October 1, 2011February 24, 2012 Elizabeth E.2 Comments

I woke up early, excited for my quilty day. I’m dividing this up into two posts. First up is the Temecula Quilt Show, out on the streets of this Western town. Tomorrow will be the red/white mini-show at Temecular Quilt Company.

**********

A license plate on the way down: QWILTN. Think she’s going the same place as I?

I arrived a bit early in Temecula, and as the main street was already clogged with cars, I detoured to a side street and found a parking place quickly. Camera ready, I walked down to the street with all the quilts.

I have Christmas quilts on my mind. This is a very good example of using traditional patterns — a double nine-patch — in new ways.

This was a beautiful sampler quilt, but points out one of the difficulties of an outdoor show: mottled shadow that obscures the design. You had to be there, I guess.

And some quilts are up really high, so I apologize for the picture quality–this was another beautiful quilt. Love that star.

Since so many of you are doing hexies, here’s a vintage quilt.

Close-up.

I think this is one of those quilts we should all make at least once: Storm at Sea. Mine’s still in the future, although I have made one block.

Cute Halloween Banner on the left, in purples, blacks and lime green.

Cute snowman faces.

Snowmen are on the brain, I think. This, in a town that never sees a snowfall!

The metal banner over the main street, still clogged with cars.

Temecula is known for its western history, its vineyards and its hot air balloon festival.

I loved this series by Sandy Besanson. This one’s called “Bike Ride,” and the one below, “Gondola Ride.”

And finally, Dancing Chickens. Wonderful series.

These quilts (above and below) were hanging outside Quilters Coop, a shop in Temecula.

And this one, too!

On the front of the shop were hanging several Quilts of Valor.

Stunning yellow and blue Log Cabin quilt.

Their raffle quilt.

Tomorrow: the quilts of the Red/White challenge.

Quilt Shows

Entering a Quilt Show

September 17, 2011February 24, 2012 Elizabeth E.7 Comments

I haven’t entered a quilt show for ages, largely because I haven’t had time to make a quilt that was quilt-show level. I’ve been making lots of quilts for children and daughter/daughters-in-law and some to throw over our sofa at home, but I always think it has to be a hard-enough quilt to enter a show.

I read the application and they said clearly, “no color correction.” Oh-oh. I’d taken all those photos for my quilt journal, but I had to color correct some to get the gray day out of them. And then they said “no cropping.” So I had to retake them all. I hope the judges enjoy the photo of my garage door studio. I tried to get in close enough, and covered the lock with a tissue (for disguise). Above is Come A-Round, one I’m going to enter. I’ve seen this design before in this show, and they may not want to have it in again. Plus I don’t quilt every 1/4″ all over the top of the quilt (I like my quilts to “move” a little) and that has sort of become popular at this particular show.

But still. I’m going to try. Lyon Carolings, above. This one doesn’t have the garage-door-studio look. I found out a setting on the camera to counteract the grayed photos I’d been getting, so I didn’t think that was cheating. I guess it’s only after-the-fact that they don’t want us messing around in Photoshop.

The last one is I want to enter is All Is Safely Gathered In. It’s harder than you think to get the quilt perfectly squared up in the frame, and it has to do with making sure that your camera lens plane is absolutely parallel to the quilt plane, or surface, and that your camera is also physically level with the center of the quilt. This is trickier than it sounds. (I have seven of this photo to prove it.)

Then I thought about the close-up, and what they’ll do with the close-up. We have to submit digital photos and I just know they are going to get their computer out and magnify everything. Every missed stitch, every unbalanced thread, every backstitch instead of burying the tails.

It’s like looking at your morning face in a 15x magnifying mirror. Frightening! Now to fill the application out, put the photos on a CD, write the checks for entry fees, and wait for the ~~rejection~~ acceptance letters.

Quilt Shows

Springville Quilt Show, Part II

August 16, 2011February 24, 2012 Elizabeth E.2 Comments

Again, so sorry not to have lots of interesting information for the quilters. Our dead desktop computer has gone to the shop (cue: violins) and we’ll find out if our fancy back-up external hard drive system has been working for us. Or if we should just start crying now. Okay, let’s look at art to take our minds off of the hum-drum of our very dull twentieth-century-computer-dependent lives.

Upstairs, the museum has a lot of art from Russia; I’m giving you two of the paintings that just leapt off of the walls. This one is my sister-in-law’s favorite, and I can only imagine it’s because of the beauty and hope and passion of these young girls on their graduation day. I wanted to take it home with me.

This one could be a quilt! A May Day celebration, complete with balloons.

Here’s another exhibit room, and in the far right corner is another quilter who has the same thing on her mind as I do: the Lollypop Tree Quilt.

But Chris Manning’s version is stunningly different from the usual brilliantly lit up colors used on this quilt. I took lots of photos–lucky you, you get to see them all. I was so impressed by this coloration. Really fabulous. Title: Lollipop.

Those greyed-out greens, mossy colors work incredibly well with the pastels, the deep tones.

I covet this, really I do. Is it because it’s “done” or because it’s so beautiful in the tones and values and colors she chose. Both.

Last gallery.

Sorry the lighting is so dim on this quilt, but you have to believe me when I tell you that Rhonda Montgomery’s quilt My Favorite Things, is a real knock-out in person. They had the quilts really well-lit, so the flash wouldn’t go off on my camera (I know, try reading the camera book to see how to do a fill flash. That’s next on my list–right after solving the computer problem).

I peeked closely at these letters–either she went around each of them with a marker, or else it’s a very thin line of acrylic paint. Whatever the technique, it made them pop off the quilt.

Brenda Sommers’ Grandma’s Lemonade Stand was in that room with all the deliciously pastel quilts–again, this photo doesn’t do it justice. So I read her name, and then wondered–don’t I know her? That name is so familiar. I think she used to live in my neighborhood, but I guess I’ll never know. We quilters travel in a small world!

Julie Saville made this quilt, and I think it’s titled Road to Ohio. I love all the sampler blocks arrayed around the center medallion. Sampler blocks seem to be popular right now, with a couple of Quilt-A-Longs going on. Here’s an idea for putting it all together.

Kathy Young’s quilt, Not So Long Ago, is an homage to her childhood family and home.

Perfect!

This reminded me of the May Day painting in the upstairs Russian galleries. While I’ve been fixated on red and white quilts, this shows you what using red as a “neutral” can produce. It looks like another Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins design (like the dotty circles quilt, yesterday). They keep us busy with applique!

I believe this is titled Grandma’s Old Time Garden, made by Patsy Wall. I love those carnations in orange-striped fabric!

This is one where I have no idea who the maker is, nor the title. I apologize, but I include it even without that information, because I’m really impressed with her soft shading of color to color–using up lots of fabrics (an idea for a scrap quilt?) It quite possibly could be Carolyn Hulse’s Scraps of Rainbows, but I really don’t know.

It was beautifully done.

Strawberry Baskets is done by Valerie Marsh, and is another delectable pastel quilt. The quilting is quite amazing, and if I ever get the computer back–and restore its memory–I’ll let you know who did it.

By the time Janice and I finished the show (I’m on the far right and Janice is next to me), our niece Lisa (in the black) had arrived and followed the sound of our voices to find us. Becky, another sister-in-law of mine (Janice’s sister) came just as Janice and I had to jet–and she brought me two gigantor zucchini from her garden! I love getting together with these fine women, and how fun it was to do it in a quilt show!