I went to a quilt show last Sunday--long

It was my first time at a quilt show. I tried to get my mom to go
too, but she wouldn't because she didn't want to be discouraged in her
own efforts by looking at totally perfect quilts. I thought about
taking the Rose Dream twin quilt she finished for me but I didn't
because I thought it would be silly of me to take it.

I was surprised at how many quilts there were and the various levels
of expertise shown by them. I was so awed by the amount of work done
on three double bed size cross stitched quilts that I forgot to even
look at the quilting stitches. There was a small (less than a meter
square) French white work piece that was quilted but had no batting
and the stitching lines were as little as 1/8th an inch apart. It was
exquisite. There were baby quilts, pet quilts, wall hangings, table
runners, placemats, Christmas tree ornaments, and various pieces of
clothing. There were two big lovely round quilts, double, queen, and
king size quilts but oddly no twin size quilts. There were really old
quilts and very new quilts. The ones I knew the names of were Rail
Fence, Ohio Star, Lone Star, Baltimore Album, Sampler, Anniversary,
Friendship, and Bargello. There was an unusual Bow Tie that had two
sizes of ties and the smaller ones were put together to form circles
around the larger ties.

There were animals, pastoral scenes, still lifes, and for lack of
better words--Art. There were quilts that were pieced, and appliqued,
and embroidered in various ways. One even had ribbon embroidery tree
leaves. Some had raised work and others had trapunto. Someone had
even made a copy of a painting in applique.

There was one exceptional quilt that was about double bed size, it was
a vase of flowers on a black background. I saw it first up close and
thought it was very nice, great use of tone on tone black fabric and
interesting raised work flowers. Later I saw it from across the room
and it took my breath away. I actually said "Oh my God." and my mouth
hung open. I must have said it louder than I thought because a white
haired lady with white gloves and a smile on stepped towards me and
said "That's the effect it was meant to have."

There were several "crazy" quilts there. I think they were all made
by one person from fabrics bought specifically for each quilt though
because I did notice all the "crazy" blocks were made using one
template and the fabrics used were used throughout the whole quilt
rather than different fabrics in each block. This took the random
effect out of the quilt totally and I don't think they have the same
feel as a crazy quilt made of blocks pieced from left over fabrics. I
learned from those quilts, stitch whatever left over odd shaped fabric
I have to the ground and reach for another odd piece and add that one
as long as it doesn't clash with the colors that are next to it. Do
not use a template or cut pieces to specific shapes or sizes because
the results will look too planned. Also, vary the fabrics greatly in
both color and print size or the quilt blocks will be boring.

There was a lovely quilt made of Asian printed fabrics pieced as crazy
blocks, sewn together without sashing, and there were thin black bars
sewn across them reminiscent of a shogi screen frame. It looked kind
of like a stained glass shogi screen. Yes I know that's a weird
thought, but that's what it looked like to me.

There were some vendors selling fat quarters, notions, and patterns
but I didn't buy anything. There were also some demonstrations on
various techniques and I got to see how to do the "quilt as you go"
method. That demo person had used a very thin cotton batting called
Quilter's Dream for her examples and I think that is what I will be
using on those pieces that I have inherited.

It is a good thing that it was a small show otherwise this post would
be much much longer. The show was in Lynchburg Va. It was held in a
local school's gymnasium and auditorium. Hopefully there will be
another show next year. I've got the e-mail addy for the show's
contact person and I am going to find out about possible future shows.

PS: I dragged my DH to the show and even he found things to Ooh and
Ahh about.

Debra in VA

Sounds like you had a great first show! No shopping though? Sounds
like you need some training. You should go to Houston and let some of
this gang initiate you into the joys of quilt show shopping ;-)

marcella

In article ,
Debra wrote:

It was my first time at a quilt show. I tried to get my mom to go
too, but she wouldn't because she didn't want to be discouraged in her
own efforts by looking at totally perfect quilts. I thought about
taking the Rose Dream twin quilt she finished for me but I didn't
because I thought it would be silly of me to take it.

I was surprised at how many quilts there were and the various levels
of expertise shown by them. I was so awed by the amount of work done
on three double bed size cross stitched quilts that I forgot to even
look at the quilting stitches. There was a small (less than a meter
square) French white work piece that was quilted but had no batting
and the stitching lines were as little as 1/8th an inch apart. It was
exquisite. There were baby quilts, pet quilts, wall hangings, table
runners, placemats, Christmas tree ornaments, and various pieces of
clothing. There were two big lovely round quilts, double, queen, and
king size quilts but oddly no twin size quilts. There were really old
quilts and very new quilts. The ones I knew the names of were Rail
Fence, Ohio Star, Lone Star, Baltimore Album, Sampler, Anniversary,
Friendship, and Bargello. There was an unusual Bow Tie that had two
sizes of ties and the smaller ones were put together to form circles
around the larger ties.

There were animals, pastoral scenes, still lifes, and for lack of
better words--Art. There were quilts that were pieced, and appliqued,
and embroidered in various ways. One even had ribbon embroidery tree
leaves. Some had raised work and others had trapunto. Someone had
even made a copy of a painting in applique.

There was one exceptional quilt that was about double bed size, it was
a vase of flowers on a black background. I saw it first up close and
thought it was very nice, great use of tone on tone black fabric and
interesting raised work flowers. Later I saw it from across the room
and it took my breath away. I actually said "Oh my God." and my mouth
hung open. I must have said it louder than I thought because a white
haired lady with white gloves and a smile on stepped towards me and
said "That's the effect it was meant to have."

There were several "crazy" quilts there. I think they were all made
by one person from fabrics bought specifically for each quilt though
because I did notice all the "crazy" blocks were made using one
template and the fabrics used were used throughout the whole quilt
rather than different fabrics in each block. This took the random
effect out of the quilt totally and I don't think they have the same
feel as a crazy quilt made of blocks pieced from left over fabrics. I
learned from those quilts, stitch whatever left over odd shaped fabric
I have to the ground and reach for another odd piece and add that one
as long as it doesn't clash with the colors that are next to it. Do
not use a template or cut pieces to specific shapes or sizes because
the results will look too planned. Also, vary the fabrics greatly in
both color and print size or the quilt blocks will be boring.

There was a lovely quilt made of Asian printed fabrics pieced as crazy
blocks, sewn together without sashing, and there were thin black bars
sewn across them reminiscent of a shogi screen frame. It looked kind
of like a stained glass shogi screen. Yes I know that's a weird
thought, but that's what it looked like to me.

There were some vendors selling fat quarters, notions, and patterns
but I didn't buy anything. There were also some demonstrations on
various techniques and I got to see how to do the "quilt as you go"
method. That demo person had used a very thin cotton batting called
Quilter's Dream for her examples and I think that is what I will be
using on those pieces that I have inherited.

It is a good thing that it was a small show otherwise this post would
be much much longer. The show was in Lynchburg Va. It was held in a
local school's gymnasium and auditorium. Hopefully there will be
another show next year. I've got the e-mail addy for the show's
contact person and I am going to find out about possible future shows.

PS: I dragged my DH to the show and even he found things to Ooh and
Ahh about.

Debra in VA

Debra,

I almost feel as though I had been with you -- you did a great job of
describing the effect the show had on you! I'm so glad it wasn't a
disappointment, but I agree with Marcella when she says you need some
training. Isn't it almost a sin to go to a quilt show and not buy
*something*??? Oh, well, you came home inspired and with some ideas for what
you want to do with your projects (Quilters Dream is a wonderful batting),
so we'll forgive you this one little oversight!
--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Debra" wrote in message
...
It was my first time at a quilt show. I tried to get my mom to go
too, but she wouldn't because she didn't want to be discouraged in her
own efforts by looking at totally perfect quilts. I thought about
taking the Rose Dream twin quilt she finished for me but I didn't
because I thought it would be silly of me to take it.

I was surprised at how many quilts there were and the various levels
of expertise shown by them. I was so awed by the amount of work done
on three double bed size cross stitched quilts that I forgot to even
look at the quilting stitches. There was a small (less than a meter
square) French white work piece that was quilted but had no batting
and the stitching lines were as little as 1/8th an inch apart. It was
exquisite. There were baby quilts, pet quilts, wall hangings, table
runners, placemats, Christmas tree ornaments, and various pieces of
clothing. There were two big lovely round quilts, double, queen, and
king size quilts but oddly no twin size quilts. There were really old
quilts and very new quilts. The ones I knew the names of were Rail
Fence, Ohio Star, Lone Star, Baltimore Album, Sampler, Anniversary,
Friendship, and Bargello. There was an unusual Bow Tie that had two
sizes of ties and the smaller ones were put together to form circles
around the larger ties.

There were animals, pastoral scenes, still lifes, and for lack of
better words--Art. There were quilts that were pieced, and appliqued,
and embroidered in various ways. One even had ribbon embroidery tree
leaves. Some had raised work and others had trapunto. Someone had
even made a copy of a painting in applique.

There was one exceptional quilt that was about double bed size, it was
a vase of flowers on a black background. I saw it first up close and
thought it was very nice, great use of tone on tone black fabric and
interesting raised work flowers. Later I saw it from across the room
and it took my breath away. I actually said "Oh my God." and my mouth
hung open. I must have said it louder than I thought because a white
haired lady with white gloves and a smile on stepped towards me and
said "That's the effect it was meant to have."

There were several "crazy" quilts there. I think they were all made
by one person from fabrics bought specifically for each quilt though
because I did notice all the "crazy" blocks were made using one
template and the fabrics used were used throughout the whole quilt
rather than different fabrics in each block. This took the random
effect out of the quilt totally and I don't think they have the same
feel as a crazy quilt made of blocks pieced from left over fabrics. I
learned from those quilts, stitch whatever left over odd shaped fabric
I have to the ground and reach for another odd piece and add that one
as long as it doesn't clash with the colors that are next to it. Do
not use a template or cut pieces to specific shapes or sizes because
the results will look too planned. Also, vary the fabrics greatly in
both color and print size or the quilt blocks will be boring.

There was a lovely quilt made of Asian printed fabrics pieced as crazy
blocks, sewn together without sashing, and there were thin black bars
sewn across them reminiscent of a shogi screen frame. It looked kind
of like a stained glass shogi screen. Yes I know that's a weird
thought, but that's what it looked like to me.

There were some vendors selling fat quarters, notions, and patterns
but I didn't buy anything. There were also some demonstrations on
various techniques and I got to see how to do the "quilt as you go"
method. That demo person had used a very thin cotton batting called
Quilter's Dream for her examples and I think that is what I will be
using on those pieces that I have inherited.

It is a good thing that it was a small show otherwise this post would
be much much longer. The show was in Lynchburg Va. It was held in a
local school's gymnasium and auditorium. Hopefully there will be
another show next year. I've got the e-mail addy for the show's
contact person and I am going to find out about possible future shows.

PS: I dragged my DH to the show and even he found things to Ooh and
Ahh about.

Debra in VA

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:21:24 GMT, Marcella Tracy Peek
wrote:

Sounds like you had a great first show! No shopping though? Sounds
like you need some training. You should go to Houston and let some of
this gang initiate you into the joys of quilt show shopping ;-)

marcella

Can't buy if you don't have money. Besides, I didn't expect vendors
as the show was so small.
Debra in VA

so glad you enjoyed the show and came away inspired, Debra.
thats the whole point of going to these shows, eh.
hey, theres a gang from this ng going to the biggest quilt show in the world
in Houston end of oct every yr. alas i wanted to but dont think i'll be
there.
so far to go. gotta make one trip before then so two in one yr is just more
than i can manage.

we've got one wee guild in our area that has a show once a yr with one
merchant. always the same guy, he travels the country to all the shows big
and small as well as having mail order and two shops.
the guild also has their own table of goodies donated by the guild members
and for sale to the public... used mags, patterns, fabric scraps, hand dyed
fabrics, bits and bobs, great fun.
i never go without money/credit card to a quilt show.
i missed it this past weekend this yr cuz i had a headache and dealing with
some weird rash, stress related i'm sure.
jeanne
--
http://community.webshots.com/user/nzlstar
real reply is san-fran at ihug dot co dot nz

"Debra" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:21:24 GMT, Marcella Tracy Peek
wrote:

Sounds like you had a great first show! No shopping though? Sounds
like you need some training. You should go to Houston and let some of
this gang initiate you into the joys of quilt show shopping ;-)

marcella

Can't buy if you don't have money. Besides, I didn't expect vendors
as the show was so small.
Debra in VA

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:40:11 GMT, "Louise"
wrote:

Debra,

I almost feel as though I had been with you -- you did a great job of
describing the effect the show had on you! I'm so glad it wasn't a
disappointment, but I agree with Marcella when she says you need some
training. Isn't it almost a sin to go to a quilt show and not buy
*something*??? Oh, well, you came home inspired and with some ideas for what
you want to do with your projects (Quilters Dream is a wonderful batting),
so we'll forgive you this one little oversight!

Not only did I get ideas for quilting, but also ideas for embroidery
projects. Had I known there was so much variety in needlework at a
quilt show I would have gone to one years ago. I told my mom and
girlfriend about it and they both want to go to the next local one I
find out about.

Debra in VA

http://www.quilt.com/QuiltShowsPage.html
this should find you a few to visit.
jeanne
rqfgau
--
http://community.webshots.com/user/nzlstar
real reply is san-fran at ihug dot co dot nz

"Debra" wrote...

Not only did I get ideas for quilting, but also ideas for embroidery
projects. Had I known there was so much variety in needlework at a
quilt show I would have gone to one years ago. I told my mom and
girlfriend about it and they both want to go to the next local one I
find out about.

Debra in VA