Charlotte Quilters' Guild Annual Carolina Lily Quilt Show is TODAY and TOMORROW ONLY!

I just got back from our Charlotte Quilters' Guild's annual Carolina Lily Quilt Show.  WOW!  If my mom hadn't needed to get back home to her puppy, I'd STILL be there oohing and ahhing over all those gorgeous quilts, and spending money at vendor booths.  They have fabulous items for sale in the boutique as well.  The show will be open until 4 PM today and then again on Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM, and I highly recommend that you try to get over there if you're at all local.  The quilt show is at the Union County Agricultural Center in Monroe, and here's a link with directions.  

Carolina Lily Quilt Show 2020 Best of Show and 1st Place Applique: Tulips for Oma by Christa Smith

My friend Christa Smith -- the one who helped me diagnose my longarm quilting machine issues -- won 1st Place Appliqué and Best of Show for the original quilt design pictured above, Tulips for Oma.  She designed the pattern, did all the piecing and hand stitched needleturn applique, and custom quilted it on her APQS Millennium longarm machine.  I love everything about this quilt!  If you love it, too, you can purchase the pattern from Christa's Etsy shop here.  This is Christa's first-ever pattern release and, after seeing this beauty, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Detail, Tulips for Oma by Christa Smith

I love how how the two alternating appliqué blocks have quilting designs that use similar shapes and elements, yet are completely different.

Detail, Tulips for Oma by Christa Smith

Another one of my friends, Judy Morganthall, won 2nd Place in the Pictorial category for an original design based on a photo she took on vacation in South Africa.  She uses a glued collage technique with a sheer mesh overlay and thread painting that secures the layers and adds detail.

Carolina Lily Quilt Show 2020 2nd Place Pictorial, Sabi in the Sun by Judy Morganthall

The photos don't even do this justice; you have to see it up close:

Detail, Sabi in the Sun by Judy Morganthall

I am so amazed by how much talent, skill, and creativity we have in our guild. I don't have time to share all of my photos from today's show, but wanted to get this post up while there's still a chance for readers to get to the show before it closes.  There are SO MANY gorgeous quilts to see, plus Bernina, APQS, HandiQuilter, Innova, Poppy the Featherweight guy, and fabrics and notions and tools galore to shop for in the vendor mall.

Okay, I'm showing you ONE LAST QUILT before dragging myself away from the computer, because I just loved this one by Valeria Rainey:

Carolina Lily Quilt Show 2020 Judge's Award, Most Loving Portrait: Nurturing by Valeria Rainey

Valeria's Nurturing quilt (shown above) was adapted from Debra Cartwright's artwork.  

I myself have ZERO quilts entered in the show, because ZERO is the number of quilts I've finished (other than a few charity donations) since completing Lars's high school graduation quilt last spring.  I didn't have the heart to take his quilt off his dorm bed while his school is blanketed in snow and ice!  Maybe I'll have something finished by NEXT year.

Our Guild's New Blocks On the Move Portable Display for Community Education

My only contribution to this year's show is our new Blocks on the Move portable display, based on a program I learned about from the Country Crossroads Quilters Guild of Modesto, California.  The folks in California were kind enough to supply the plans for building these versatile display units that can be configured in different ways to fit different spaces, and the idea is to move them around the city and set them up in public libraries, hospitals, and other venues where we can reach people and share what our guild is all about.  My husband built our display units, and I solicited the 16" mini quilt donations from our talented guild members.  I love that I got so many different types of quilts for our display; it really shows the diversity of the quilting styles and techniques that we have in our guild.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Tuesday is a Great Day for Needle-Turn Applique!

Oh my gosh, you guys -- I had the BEST time at my needle-turn applique workshop on Saturday!  Not only was it a healthy slice of heaven just to relax and sew with no distractions for an entire day, but I also went to lunch with some wonderful, funny, and incredibly talented quilters who invited me to join their quilting bee.  Their monthly get-together was yesterday, which gave me another three hours to relax and continue working on my applique block with other women who share my love of quilting.  I am floating on a cloud of sunshine, sparkle dust, and happiness -- making new quilting friends is the perfect antidote to the Post-Holiday Blahs!

Here's my workshop block so far:

My 12" Needle-Turn Applique Workshop Block In Progress

My Fabric Picks: Some Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink Snails, and Random Stash Discoveries

I did end up swapping the Kaffe print with the Tula Pink print once I got to class due to the size of the circles involved and the scale of the prints.  I opted for the No Fabric kit for this class because, although I love the soft, vintage charm of instructor Christa Smith's fabrics, I felt like it was too similar to my Frankenwhiggish Rose needle-turn project that has been dragging along for several years, and I wanted a change.

With Fabric Kit Had Fabrics Similar to This Class Sample

Also, I wanted to be able to USE the workshop block without having to create an entirely new project (UFO!) around it.  No more orphan blocks!  I had thought about mixing in some applique blocks with the 6" pieced sampler blocks I've been making off and on as breaks/rewards between other projects.  Remember my Farmer's Wife, Farmer's Wife 1930s, Vintage Block QAL blocks, and random other 6" blocks that were living on my design wall for awhile?

Assorted 6" Sampler Blocks.  My 12 inch Workshop Block Might Join These...

So the new (tentative) plan is that I could mix in some 12" blocks with the 6" ones and this could be one of those larger blocks.  And if that doesn't work out, I know that I can work this brightly-colored block into a baby quilt.  In any case, it felt good to work with totally different colors and fabrics from the Magnum Opus/Magnum Onus that my Frankenwhiggish Rose is turning out to be:

Meanwhile, I'm Still Working On the Eight Remaining Blocks Like This One...

I love the look of antique Whig Rose quilts, but I'm finding it tedious to work on the same block over and over.  Good for improving needle-turn applique skills, maybe, but difficult from a motivation standpoint!  At this point I have all of the stems and stacked center "rose" petals appliqued to all of the blocks as well as the double circle centers, and I'm working on needle-turning all of the leaves.  Next will be all of those stinker tulips with the revers applique centers and deep, tight inside and outside curves, and then all of the stuffed berries, and all of the broderie perse rosebuds that I'm cutting out of leftover drapery fabric (with a distinct possibility that I might have to cut rosebuds out of one of my actual drapery PANELS, if there aren't enough rosebuds in the fabric scraps!).  Once I've finished my workshop applique block, I'll switch back to the Frankenwhiggish Rose project for my portable hand sewing.

I'm really glad I gave myself a break from my major WIPS and gave myself permission to go off on a workshop tangent.  I definitely got enough out of the workshop to make it worthwhile.  I learned a different way of using the Clover bias maker gadget to make quick stems, and I learned some methods for streamlining the prep work for applique to get to the stitching part faster.  Who knew you could glue baste for needle-turn applique instead of pinning?!  I might not have the courage to do it that way for a really intricate Baltimore Album block, but there are a lot of less complex applique patterns that this would work for.  You all know I'm dying to start a new applique project, like Esther's Queen's Garden pattern:

70 x 70 Queen's Garden by Esther Aliu, Pattern Available here

Or -- gasp! -- dare I even say it? -- Sarah Fielke's Down the Rabbit Hole pattern:

96 x 96 Down the Rabbit Hole by Sarah Fielke, pattern available here

But there are LOTS of other quilts that need to get finished before I can start either of these.  There's a new baby who was born last month whose quilt isn't even started yet (need Jingle off the design wall before I can get into that one) and the high school graduation "Quillow Sunday" service at our church is exactly 5 months from tomorrow.  That gives me exactly 152 days to complete Lars's graduation quilt from start to finish, except that I'm not even ready to get started on it yet...  So I haven't started the Queen's Garden even though I have the pattern and have purchased my fabrics for it, and I've not ordered the pattern for Down the Rabbit Hole.  Instead, I got my rabbit fix by ordering these adorable 4" embroidery scissors last night from The French Needle:

Hare Scissors by Jean-Marie Roulot

I ordered the Antique finish shown in the middle.  They are handmade in France and even cuter than the Sajou hare scissors I was lusting after previously -- even the screw at the pivot point is decorative on the Roulot scissors -- yet they were significantly less expensive.  A penny saved is another penny to spend on fabric, right?  

We're not having any stress over here, in case you're wondering.  Just stitching away happily, thinking about bunny rabbit scissors.  

I'm linking up with:

• ·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com
• ·       Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/
• ·       WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com
• ·       Needle and Thread Thursday at http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/