Spools of Friendship

I am so happy to have this finished. My Spools quilt, now called Spools of Friendship is finally done. It was put into my quilt show last week using Boutique fabric by Chez Moi a favourite of mine. The spools of friendship remind me of the threads that bind us together as quilters and the threads of friendship that bind me together with the people who support and appreciate my quilting.  It started 3 years ago as a quilt along with Nicole of Sister's Choice Qults, Thelma of Cupcakes 'n' Daisies and Lisa of Stashmaster  for the Spools pattern by Camille of Thimble Blossoms. I changed the arrangement of the Spools a little bit, and then it sat for a couple of years while I tried to decide if I want to add another border. The original pattern had the simple white border, but I kept feeling like something needed to be added to it until late last year, when I decided that done and loved, was better than perfect. I am looking forward to using this, but with the heat and humidity we have had lately it may be a while. I still have some scraps left of this fabric and will definitely be making another quilt using them.

Linking to TGIFF, Finish It Up Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop!

Mother's Day Quilt Show

 

My husband and children planned a huge surprise for me. My daughter had wanted us to go to a quilt show, for Mother's Day but the nearest one was a few hours away and we weren't going to have time to do it and have supper with her grandparents. They came up with the idea instead of having a quilt show at our house with me as the quilter of honour. My son came out for a walk with me, which is my favourite thing to do, and while we were gone my husband and daughter set it up. They strung some line in our family room, front foyer and kitchen and put up a lot of the quilts. There were 14 in the show. They made a sign for the front door, and charged an admission of $5. My son had the $5 hidden in his shoe, so that he could pay for me. There were gloves available at the front table, and we were told not to touch the quilts unless we had a glove on. After the tour was complete, they also had the lunch room, which is my daughter's favourite part.  We had egg salad sandwiches in the tea room, along with ice cream for dessert because the quilt shows always have dessert. I was completely blown away, touched and shocked by all they had done. They decided not to award a best in show, because every quilt was the best. Definitely, the most wonderful Mother's Day ever. I told my husband he won't get it as good for Father's Day. I was amazed at how much my children had paid attention to all of the details of a quilt show and remembered all of them. They have been going to them since they were babies, so they are veterans by now.

AQS in Lancaster

I went to the AQS show in Lancaster last week with my guild. We took a busload down. We left early Wednesday morning and came back late Saturday night. I had a wonderful time. The trip was well organized by 2 members of the guild and no one was ever late. The quilts at the show were incredible. It is amazing what you can do with fabric. One of the members of my guild had a quilt entered in the show. It was great to get to see it.


I decided to go there with a very specific wish list. I was able to get everything on my list, except for one particular fabric I was looking for. Since I do a lot of online shopping, I focused on things that were more challenging to ship, like batting. I cried at how cheap batting is in the States. I bought 7 yards at Joann's, and bamboo batting in twin and king size at the show. Now I have no excuse not to get my bed quilt made.

 I also got backings for some of the quilts I have been working on. I bought backing for my Jelly Roll Sampler quilt, and for my Aster Manor quilt that I am going to make using a Honeybun.

I found the Scrap-Basket Surprises book for a great price. I had to get it after seeing Darlene's fabulous quilt from it.

The big thing I noticed at the show was all the rulers. That seemed to be the popular thing was to make your own ruler to go with your patterns and then sell them. I did end up buying one that is suppose to help you accurately cut your flying geese units. I am going to use it to make my potholders. I also got a great deal on rotary cutter blades, and bought a seam ripper recommended to me by a friend.

There were definitely a few highlights of the trip. One of them was spending time with my aunt-in-law who came on the trip with me. We had a fabulous time together. She is a quilter as well but does not live near me so we don't get to spend a lot of time together. Another one was getting to meet Eleanor Burns. She was so nice and friendly, and I was able to thank her for helping me in my quilting journey.

 Julie and I

My last highlight was getting to meet and spend time with Julie. We have been corresponding for almost a year and are in the Bee Beautiful group together. I had emailed her to tell that I was going to the show and she rearranged her schedule so that we could meet.  I had a fabulous time with her and it was great to meet her dad as well. She is a wonderful person, and a wonderful quilter.


I thought I was going to be all quilted out, after the non stop quilting environment for 4 days, but on Sunday I was back at my sewing machine with renewed energy to get my projects done.

Quilt show eye candy

I went on the weekend to a quilt show. It is one of my dh's favourites. My kids are veterans by now of them, but I know we get a lot of looks when we bring young kids into the show. There were some absolutely stunning quilts.




This car was parked at the front entrance.







I liked how the circles were quilted with straight lines.





This stack-a-whack was my dh's favourite.








The different 9 patches intrigue me for the 9 patches I am doing.










I love how this one has been quilted. It is such a stunning quilt.




Finally the selvedges quilt.

Oops she did it again ......

No, not me. My daughter. I had a wonderful weekend. Sunday was my birthday and they were calling for rain here. We decided to be out and about on Saturday and then have a lazy day together on Sunday. Saturday, we went to a tea room for lunch right beside a waterfall. It was a beautiful view. Then we went to a park with the kids. After that we went to a quilt show about 1 hour from where I live. It was fabulous. There were so many gorgeous quilts. They had a tea room as well. Each place had a different place mat and it made me smile, thinking of my place mat which I did finish. I also won a really cute door prize.






Okay, to get to my post title. There was a vendor's market there and because it was a fairly local show I knew some of the vendor's there and had been to a few of the stores. Well, my daughter (who's 4) decided that we just had to buy this fat quarter bundle. The last time she thought that this quilt ended up being made. I had to admit this was beautiful fabric and it turned out to be Christmas fabric called Have a Sheri Berry Holiday. She was quite insistent, and since I have yet to make a Christmas quilt, and since it was my birthday the next day, and since it is so hard to resist someone wanting a quilt, especially my daughter I bought it. Unfortunately, my dh came over just as the vendor was telling me the total.


Sunday was a great day. I got to play games with my kids, do some reading and had some quiet time for quilting while they went out to buy a cake for me. We went to dinner at my favourite restaurant along with my parents. After dinner, I got my presents and I am so spoiled. My kids got me cushions for my patio set, which I really wanted, and my dh got me EQ6!! He had told me there was no more left in our city but that is because he bought the last one. I was so excited and shocked when I got it. My parents got me Fresh by Deb Strain charm squares and the Still Stripping book by Eleanor Burns. I did get a few looks when I asked for it for my birthday. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Quilt Show Photos Part 2

This is similar to the mystery quilt I am working on right now but in a different layout. That is one of the things I love about quilting. One block can be changed in so many different ways.


I thought the use of colour in this was incredible.



I love this quilt. I may have to make one.

I love the quilts that form into pictures. I have a crochet pattern that uses small squares to create the bear. I made a trip around the world crocheted blanket. I was have to put up a picture of it.


This was called the big bang quilt. My favourite flower is the tulip and I love red, yellow, and orange tulips. I found this quilt to be so appealing.

The quilting on this was something I had never seen before. They had quilted constellations into the quilt.

Quilt Show Photos

A bento box quilt is definitely on my to do list.

I love how the stars are created with pockets for the stuffed animals.

Traditionally, I have never been a favourite of white as a background until I saw such amazing quilts on other people's blogs. I love the soft use of yellow for the background.

I am just amazed at the perfection of all the circles that you can see.


This border reminds me of the one my son created.



I love the use of all the different reds together. I have a hard time matching them up so I think this quilter has done a great job.


Here are some of the quilts I saw on Saturday at the quilt show. The work was absolutely amazing. These quilts provided me with so much inspiration.