And... More Quilts!

Are you ready for another walk around the Broward Quilt Expo? Got your comfy walking shoes on? No need for a lot of chat, let's get going. Again, in random order, here are more of my favourites (yes there were many favourites!) Warning, this post is photo heavy...

First a few more wonderful pieced quilts...






You know anything blue always catches my eye.
This quilt hung so beautifully, perfectly straight and square.















Dimensional Star by Joanne Oelschlanger

So beautifully quilted by Eleanor Sasnett







Although blue will always be my most favourite colour to work with, I have to admit, red is growing on me...


Free Range Sheep by Elena Madara
Quilted by Nora Bordach

The border fabrics were cute sheep prints, and I really liked the block design...



(This RED one is for you, JKS!)

Owl in the Nines by Charlotte Noll really appealed to me visually. Isn't the optical illusion well done?

Honorable Mention, Small Pieced, Single Maker.

There were some wonderful appliqué quilts to admire.. Appliqué is not my thing, but I sure do appreciate them and how much time and skill goes into them....


Anna's Blue Baskets
by Rose Valentine
(I am sorry, I don't have the quilter's name for this one.)

Honorable Mention, Appliqué Duo








Wow! Look at all those perfectly turned edges...
And what a great choice of background fabric.


ULV Breadfruit by Rose Valentine

1st Place, Appliqué, Single Maker

Another beauty!

Ella the Elephant is Watching
by Linda Levine

Honorable Mention,
Appliqué, Single Maker

This one was incredibly beautiful!

Hungarian Rhapsody 
by Elizabeth Kiss

Special Merit for Hand Quilting



And did I get a good clear closeup shot of that beautiful hand quilting? Nooooo.... Sorry! Trust me, her hand quilting stitches were fine and even.






And we'll finish off with some wool appliqué.

Safari by Cheri Guariglia

3rd place, Appliqué, Single Maker

This was another that I could have spent a lot more time studying... the longer you looked the more you saw.















There is so much to enjoy at a quilt show. Not only are you treated to seeing some incredible work up close and personal, you can learn so much from studying the quilts... design elements, technical skills to admire and aspire to, colour combinations that you would not have thought of, border treatments, quilting designs, and so on. I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend this high quality show.

Next up I'll show you a few of the special exhibits and the quilt that won Best of Show.

Piece!
Linda

Appreciation is the act of feeling the beauty around you.

...And More Quilts

I've had a busy week, with appointments and commitments, and working on several pieces for  upcoming classes. But you don't want to hear excuses for my absence here - let's just look at more quilts from the Broward Quilt Expo. It seems like ages ago now, especially as I look out at our snow covered backyard, chickadees on the feeder, snowflakes in the air... a far cry from green grass, palm trees and dolphins seen from Sandi's deck. Sigh....

Let's look at more quilts, in no particular order... these are just some that caught my eye. I'm proud to say I know the first two quiltmakers; Carol Cheek and Brenda Sirmans are both members of Sandi's guild.

Big Yellow Sunburst 
by Carol Cheek

2nd place, Small Pieced - Single Maker

Carol made this quilt for a 2016 Guild Challenge to use half square triangles.
Well done Carol!!

Colors by Brenda Sirmans


You really have to see this quilt close up to appreciate the quilting...














Wowzers, Brenda! These lines must be 1/4" apart! Bet you worked on that for "a while"....

Meandering Thru Time and Space by Annie Weinstein

Honorable Mention, Innovative Design

Sunflower Study by Jo Wilson

So pretty! I love sunflowers.

Summer Solstice by Carl Stevens
Quilted by Helia Ricci

Honorable Mention
Two Person, Large Pieced


I thought this quilt was spectacular. Such great use of color and it hung perfectly straight and square.

This is a poor quality photo, a little blurry, but I loved the quilting design in the border.

Rainbow Gallery by Carl Stevens
Quilted by Helia Ricci

Honorable Mention
Two Person, Small Pieced


I think Carl likes Color!!

Rabbits in my Garden by Linda Nastro
Quilted by Helia Ricci



This was a quilt that you really needed to look at closely to appreciate... look below to see the amazing quilting...

  More to come tomorrow....


Piece!
Linda

Quilts are a lot like chocolate... it's hard to pick just one.

Quilts, Quilts, Quilts.

It's time to show you some of the quilts from the Broward Quilt Expo in Fort Lauderdale. The entries were varied - traditional, modern, improv, challenge pieces... there was a good variety, just what I like in a show.
I'm more of a traditional quilter but I must admit, there were a number of "modern" quilts that I really liked. Since today was the first full day of spring, and also my birthday, let's start with a big bouquet of flowers!

This is Flower Power by Sarah Michaels.

3rd Place, Appliqué Duo

5 More by Karla Irby

3rd Place, Large Pieced, Single Maker

Confusion of Life 
by Deborah Krajkowski

Design: Flutterby by Jen Kingwell
















A Day at the Sklar Museum
by Barbara Kline

Diamonds in Luxe
by Jane Taylor

Honorable Mention, Modern Design

Curiosity by Karla Irby

3rd Place, Modern Design




















The Space Between 
by Deborah Krajkowski

The darks in this quilt are from shirts worn by Deb's husband and sons when they were younger.















I really liked the quilting on this one. I thought it was very effective, with the wavy lines softening the graphic angular lines.  Deb is a friend of Sandi's. She has recently opened a long arm quilting business, Quiltographic. She is doing great work, be sure to click on the link to see some of her awesome quilting.





Peace,
Linda

"The older you get, the better you get. Unless you're a banana." ~ Betty White

Surprise!

I'm back! Oh wait, you didn't know I was gone.. I'm just back from a lovely week in sunny warm Florida. What a treat it was! Blue skies, green grass, palms waving in the breeze, bougainvillea in bloom... Sigh.

(On cloudy dreary days, remember, above the clouds, the sky is always blue and the sun is shining...)

My wonderful friend Sandi Mac invited me down and she always coordinates my visit with a big quilt show. This year it was the biannual Broward Quilt Expo held in Fort Lauderdale, a large show presented by six quilt guilds of Broward Co. in southern Florida. Sandi picked me up at West Palm Beach airport, and we headed directly to the show after dropping my luggage at our Pompano Beach accommodations. As always, we agreed to "do the vendors" first, then look at the quilts the next day, but as we entered the show, she said "Just come see this one thing first." I was expecting to see a spectacular "Best in Show" or perhaps an amazing art quilt that she loved, but we rounded a corner to see a display of miniature quilts. (Ah yes, she knows me well.)

Do you see anything that looks familiar?
















Look a little closer...

Do you see what I see?






















It took me a few seconds to realize I was looking at "my" quilt (made by me, now owned by Sandi) with a first place blue ribbon on it!!! What a thrill! She had entered "our" miniature without telling me, and that 1st place ribbon made the surprise all the sweeter. Oh yes, there was a sweet prize cheque too, in US dollars of course. What a great way to start off a wonderful week! THANK YOU Sandi!!!











The ribbon is larger than the quilt! :)












You can read the background story on the miniature quilt here and here. It was made from the trimmings when Sandi squared up the blocks while making this king size quilt. Yup, one extreme to the other.. king size to miniature!











I have lots of photos to share with you, from the show and otherwise. I've been busy catching up today, unpacking, laundry, watering my plants. etc. but once that's all out of the way, I'll be editing photos, so come back soon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you've been wearin' the green today!



Piece!
Linda

May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true,
And the kindness you spread keep returning to you.
~ Irish blessing

Stitching Update

Here's a quick update on my little stitching project. You can see I've made fairly good progress since my last post here. All that's left now is filling in the background (sky and snow) and then all the beading. So it's coming along.. The background will take me a while...




Peace,
Linda

"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~ Mary Kurtz

In the Kitchen

I recently had some buttermilk to use up. It's not something I purchase very often but needed a small amount for a new recipe I was trying, and then had almost a full quart to use up. After making buttermilk biscuits one night to go with homemade soup (yummy!) I thought "what now?" I'm not one to throw out good food so began searching for recipes using buttermilk. Then I remembered this recipe which I've had for many years. I love bran muffins, and always have All Bran cereal on hand. This batter will keep safely in the refrigerator for 3 weeks, so it's great to have on hand if you have unexpected overnight company, or friends who drop by for coffee- you can have fresh baked muffins in literally minutes!

Large Quantity Bran Muffins

5 cups flour
5 tsp. baking soda
1 Tblsp. salt
2 cups brown sugar
3 cups natural bran
3 cups All Bran cereal
2 cups raisins
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 quart buttermilk
1.5 cups water

Combine all dry ingredients and raisins. Beat eggs, add oil, molasses, buttermilk and water. Pour into dry ingds. and stir until well moistened. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Flavour is better if refrigerated at least 1 day before baking.
To bake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray muffin pan with Pam or use paper muffin cups. Stir cold mixture and fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for ~17 minutes. Makes 4-5 doz.

**I think the next time I make these, I'll add a little more molasses (decreasing the sugar and water a bit to compensate) and add a little cinnamon too for more flavour. Do you like to "play around" with recipes, tweaking them to your tastes?

Peace,
Linda

Food is essential to life; therefore make it good.

Quilt Atlantic Retreat

Just a little shameless plug today.. I'm allowed that, aren't I? After all it IS my blog... Just wanted to make my local readers aware of the Quilt Atlantic Retreat coming up April 7-9 at White Point Beach Resort on beautiful Nova Scotia's south shore. Registration is now open and there are still spaces available. Why not come and join us for a great weekend retreat? I am thrilled to join the teaching faculty this year, along with several other well known NB quilting teachers, Sue McEachern, Juliet Nowlan and Brenda Dunsmore. Class topics include landscapes, wool appliqué, hand quilting, hand appliqué, top-stitched appliqué, stained glass quilts, miniatures, (that's me!) fabric jewelry, and there is a hooking class with Jane Steele of Riverhouse Rugs. Lots of selections to tempt you!

I've been told the meals are fabulous and just look at the venue! Although the trees won't yet be green and a walk on the beach may be a little cool and breezy, it's a beautiful resort and I know it's going to be a wonderful weekend of learning and camaraderie with Atlantic fabric artists and fiber enthusiasts.
Full details are available by clicking here. Register early to get your first choice of classes!

Peace,
Linda

Surround yourself with those who make you happy.

Noah Update

It's time for an update on grandson Noah. He is growing fast. At 7.5 months now, he's working hard on cutting his first tooth, and perfecting his crawling skills. For those of you who have been asking how he's doing, here are a few recent photos.

Photo Credit: Jolene Vovk

Photo Credit: Jolene Vovk

Photo Credit: Mommy Laura

He's really beginning to look less like a baby and more like a little boy, don't you think?

Peace,
Linda

"The child must know that he is a miracle. That since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him." ~ Pablo Casals

Anxious for Spring

March. That "in between" month. It's not quite spring, but you're hoping winter is on the way out. The sun is strengthening, it feels warmer on the face, but the wind is still bitterly cold. The snow has receded a lot, but now it's no longer pretty; the snowbanks are dirty, and sidewalk areas that had melted are now icy again. The potholes are rearing their ugly heads, or should I say bottoms - yes they seem bottomless! Hit just a couple and you need a wheel alignment. Although spring "officially" arrives (according to the calendar) in just over two weeks, we all know the reality can be a bit different. The fact is, I'm ready for spring now. I'm tired of winter. I'm tired of being cold. I'm tired of white. I'm ready for green.

So to feed my thirst for some green, I visited a local nursery/greenhouse this afternoon. I thought perhaps you are tired of winter too, and would appreciate seeing some colour. It just gives me a boost to see lots of green, and the odd bloom doesn't hurt either! The numerous shades of green and the many leaf shapes are always interesting... large, small, striped, fuzzy, curly, spiky, heavily veined, so much variety!

And of course, there were colourful blooms, from the seasonal shamrocks and primulas to the exotic orchids, all are a feast for the eyes.

Aren't these beautiful?
















And who could resist the hibiscus or the hellebore? Ahhhh, a winter greenhouse visit feeds my soul...
What about you? Are you dreaming of spring? Do you visit your local greenhouse for a taste of what's soon to come?





Peace,
Linda

"...when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." ~ Harriet Ann Jacobs

Stringing Along!

Four of my finished string blocks

Do you find that sometimes you just want something "mindless" to work on? Something that doesn't take too much brain power, planning, calculations, etc.? String blocks fit the bill. They are a great way to use up leftover strips, strings and bits. The width can vary so no cutting/trimming required to bring them all to the same size! I do like mine to be straight/even, so sometimes I need to do a little trim here and there just to straighten an edge. After a Guild workday in late January when we made slab blocks for CQA's Big Quilt Bee project, I realized I had a large container of leftover strips and strings all in blues (imagine that! ME with a lot of blues!) Many of them were left over from this string quilt I did a few years ago. It was donated to the Veteran's Unit and I've always thought I'd like to do another. So... or should I say Sew...
As I mentioned above, sometimes you just need a "mindless" sewing project, for various reasons... your brain is just tired, you are stressing over something and need an "escape," whatever. Well I needed an escape for the month of February to take my mind off my worries. My brother, who has been healthy all his life, has had some serious health concerns in the last 8 months. The most recent was surgery to remove a foot of colon, and the days seemed endless while we worried and waited for 4 weeks for the pathology results. I am now very happy to say he is fine and no further treatment is necessary (Whew!) So this project was the perfect thing to work on as I worried and prayed... I guess in the back of my mind I was thinking if I got the blocks done, and we found out he needed chemo, I could quickly put it together for a warm and cozy flannel-backed lap quilt for him to take to treatments. Luckily it's not needed for that purpose so I will likely put it away for now, and finish it later. I have 18 blocks done so will need at least 2 more, and no doubt I'll go further than 20. We'll see. I'll keep an eye out for sashing fabric in the meantime.

So how are string blocks done? It's simply a matter of applying the strips to a "foundation." I use old phonebook pages as the paper is thin and so easy to remove. I cut a square from each page, about 1/4" larger than I need, apply the strips then trim the block to size, in this case I trimmed to 8.5" blocks, so I'll have finished blocks of 8". Because I work across the block diagonally, the strips need to be varying lengths. As you are working, it doesn't take long for your nice neat piles of strips to end up in a scrambled mess like this...

I found I was wasting a lot of time searching through the pile to find the correct length strip to add next. (I try to have as little waste as possible so I'm not just creating more shorter "bits" to use up.) So a trip to the local dollar store fixed that! I bought some trays (3 for $1.25 so not a huge expense) and labelled them from 3" to 13". Then I sorted my strips and strings by length into the appropriate trays. This made things so much faster to easily choose the strips and complete a block. (This would work well for log cabin strips too, or any block requiring strips of various lengths.) When done, the trays nest together and stack so they take up little space. A cheap and easy "organizing" solution!
Have you tried string piecing? It really IS fun (and doesn't take a lot of concentration!)

Piece!
Linda

What do you mean, quilting doesn't count as exercise? Next you'll be telling me fabric shopping isn't an aerobic activity!