Minnesota Quilters' Annual Show

I had missed out on going to the MN Quilters' show for several years, but last Thursday I had a perfect chance to go with some friends to Duluth for the day.  

The quilts I am showing have a very distinct theme--scraps!

They also are quilts that are one-of-a-kind, in most cases.  

Maybe they will inspire me, or you, or anyone watching, to dig into those scraps or bits and pieces of fabric that just really need a home in a quilt.

This is a small section of a quilt with an overall neutral tone effect.
Mostly beige/tan/gray with random slivers of colors.
Then all heavily hand quilted!  It was striking!

Here are some blocks that we use in many quilts,
so there's nothing technically difficult about this one.
But the overall combination really creates a textured look.

This is a pattern I have seen before but I can't find the name.
I know it is by Brigitte Heitland, designer of Zen Chic fabrics and patterns for Moda.
She designs some great "modern" or contemporary quilts.

I loved this version of a different layout for scrappiness.

This pattern is apparently well-loved, because I saw it more than once in the show.  The quilting is shown in better detail below, and was done by Karen McTavish.  She had the honor of being "MN Quilter of the Year", and had a great exhibit of her work.  She is a very talented and innovative machine quilter, who teaches worldwide and has published several books.  She is from Duluth, and has a studio/store there for classes and use of her longarm machines.

Karen's name has been given to a specific quilting style, McTavishing.  It's the echoed circles and swirls shown in one section above, and makes for a great background texture.  I've taken a class from her and applied the technique to some of my own quilting, although not in the teeny tiny scale shown here!

Here's a design I've seen many times in quilts,
but this just popped out at me as something I would like to make.

Again, back to the scraps!  I've included this quilt especially to show
the straight-line quilting that doesn't have to always be straight to look great!
Random sizes of strips sewn into groups, then chopped up in sections combine
to make a design-it-yourself quilt!
Notice that seams don't need to be aligned and sections are different sizes.
So much freedom!

Improvisational triangles trimmed to make squares of one size give this quilt a
much more organized look, but still allowing for lots of
freedom in fabric choices and piecing angles.
The quilt info said that many of the fabrics came from mens' shirts.

 And lastly, below, a luminescent quilt that seemed to glow!

I had to get up close because I thought it was all painted, 

but, in fact, it's all fabric pieces appliqued onto the black background.  

It had an eye-catching result.

A work of art!

There are also a lot of shopping opportunities at a show like this.  I guess having worked quite a few years in a quilt shop makes me a poor consumer when I go to the vendors' booths, because if I see something I like I can make a note and then order it for Bear Patch.  I ended up buying only 1 pattern, but I had my hands on a couple of different quilt kits that were tempting.  I reached into my fortitude and resisted!  Maybe I'm actually understanding that I have more than enough fabric and patterns to last my lifetime already!  But I do appreciate all the hard work that goes into setting up and running a booth at a show.  I've done that a couple times for the store, and it is no picnic!

I hope you've enjoyed the quilts, and I wish I could provide more information on designers, patterns, maker, etc., for them.  It was a fun field trip, and I thank Jean and Mary for doing the driving for our group!  It was a pleasure to ride with you!

Happy weekend to you!

Do you know how much energy it takes to keep up with 2 little boys all day long??!!  Thank goodness I had lots of energy about 35 years ago when the kids were my own little ones, but I think might have used it all up!  We have been having such a good time with Ian and Jack (and Brita and Ben, too!).  In fact, yesterday was Ian's 4th birthday, so it was pretty much a party all day long!  The meal we prepared, at his request, was chicken strips, french fries and ketchup!  With chocolate cake and chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles for dessert!  It even snowed for Ian, like a special birthday treat from God.  Both boys enjoyed tromping around in the fresh snow (only 2" but enough for them) and making tracks and looking for tracks.

I still haven't unpacked from my recent retreat, too many other things to do, but here's a picture of progress I made on my stash Scrap Hap quilt--

This is all fabric pulled from my own shelves, but since it takes only a 2 1/2" strip of each fabric, there is still some left on the shelf!  This is about halfway done.  I'm trying to decide what to do for the outer border.  For the batik quilt made from this pattern, I used a neutral tan shade for that.  Now I'm wondering if I should use a variety of fabrics in one color for that.  Not sure.

I made this wallet a little while ago, but I didn't take pictures of it.  It is called the Diva Wallet and uses a metal frame and closure.  I love this fabric by Lori Holt that fit right into the front and the back sides.

And here are those little angels, Ian and Jack, playing on the church piano last Sunday!

scrap deliveries

Now, I usually am not on the receiving end of scraps from friends.  Most often, I am the one passing scraps on to friends.  But lately, the tables have turned!  These are selected scraps that fit my needs, so they are most welcome!

This batch came from my South Dakota connection, after she saw my posting about the Gypsy Wife quilt over on the Bear Patch blog.  These are from the PBandJ group that I am using as the basis for my color choices in that scrappy quilt.  And I really needed some help in the blue and yellow category, so these are perfect!

I am doing well by South Dakota lately, as this piece also arrived from there--

I had admired this print used in the background of a block that my friend had made, and I benefited from her scraps!  This will also go into Gypsy Wife.

And then yesterday, at the Paper Pizzazz class I am teaching at Bear Patch
, one of our "regulars" (sounds like a what we would call Norm at Cheers!), Elaine, pulled this out of her bag of tricks for me--

The story behind this is from awhile back.  Elaine was working on an English paper pieced project with hexagons and Halloween prints.  She likes to work with small scale prints in little pieces, and I remember commenting to her about this print used in her project.  Well, she remembered, and gifted me with a piece of my own!

It's so good to have friends with scraps!

happy scrappy

 Here's a really fun quilt for inspiration--

Made by Joyce, multi-talented quilty buddy, from lots and lots of little bits.  Using 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles sewn in long columns, she ended up with a good-sized (78x94) quilt from a whole lot of what usually gets thrown away!  This didn't happen overnight, but has been a work in progress for awhile.  I'm not sure if she had a pattern of some sort to start with, or just let it develop along the way.  The black strips are cut 4 1/2" wide, and do the work of stabilizing all of those little pieces.  If you want to make something like this, put out a message to your friends and let them help you with collecting the thousands of little bits that you can use.  It was fun to quilt and note all of the interesting little designs.  This could even be assembled as an "I Spy" quilt for a child.  Use little cutouts of kid-friendly designs, and use it as a story-telling or learning tool.  Help the child learn the alphabet by finding pictures that start with a chosen letter, or learn numbers by counting puppies or flowers, etc.  So many possibilities, so little time!

This quilt also serves as an illustration of really good construction that makes a really good quilt top for me to quilt and ends up as a really good finished quilt.  Some key points:

1. Joyce pressed all the seams of the little rectangles open and FLAT.  The seams between columns were pressed toward the black and FLAT.
2. No long threads were left hanging!  Trim as you go to keep it neat.
3. Make all of the pieced columns from the same number of strips, and when they are all done take an average measurement of the length.  Cut all of the black strips that same length.  Cut them on the lengthwise grain of the fabric if possible to eliminate the need for seams and take advantage of the less stretchy direction (on the warp) of the weave.  Pin and ease the rectangle strips to fit the black strips, and your quilt top will be just as square and flat as Joyce's!

Now I just need to get this back to Joyce so she can put on the binding.  I wonder what that will be?  Lucky girl is on a Stitchin' Trips retreat at Beaver Lake Landing right now, probably collecting more little bits!

Looking for a good idea for a delicious and easy meal for the cooler weather we are having?  We made a crockpot meal of Chicken Taco Chili last Sunday and really liked it.  Well, Bob put it all together while I was at work, and I made the cornbread from the recipe that accompanies it when I got home.  Bob is a fan of the little Jiffy mixes for his cornbread muffins, and he bakes them often.  But this cornbread from scratch really rises above the box mix, and since I now have some buttermilk to use up I think I will be making more.  We chose not to put any jalapeno pepper in the cornbread and liked it just fine.

I have enjoyed listening to another Jodi Picoult novel during my drive-time.  Click on the link to get a little synopsis of this story.  

As usual, she has put together a very thought-provoking storyline.  This one really took me back to situations I experienced when I was a nurse in trauma/neuro ICU.  I suggest you give it a try.  And make sure you are an organ donor and that your family understands your wishes.   I could get on my organ donation soap box for awhile, but I can sum it up with one thought-- if you or any of your family or any of your friends ever want to receive an organ to save a life, then you had better be an organ donor.  I would like to make it a law, but I think that won't be happening!