Finishing up August

Man, August has just flown by. It's hard to believe summer is about over. Although that means fall is on its way. And fall is my very, very, very favourite time of the year. Anyway, I did manage to finish just a couple of things in August. Isn't funny how sometimes you can be incredibly productive and other times it is a stretch to get anything at all done.


I was cleaning out some things and came across a couple of cross stitch things my daughter had done years and years ago. Like when she was in middle school. I used to do tons of cross stitch and had tried to get her interested several times. Never quite succeeded at that but she did do a few things. She played the clarinet for a few years so the musical instruments seemed like a good project for her. Anyway, when I found them I decided to add some borders and turn them into mini quilts. I think they came out really cute and they will go in the box I have headed for South Carolina. I also finished this little bag. It's nothing spectacular but I thought it came out cute, too. I had a hard time taking a picture of it, though. Had to stuff it to get it to stand up straight.

You get a nice view of the mess in my sewing area, too.

Since I finally got to the end of the pictures from the Boise quilt show we can get started on the Kuna quilt show. They always have a theme -- this year it was black and white quilts -- so let's start with them.

I really like this kind of cock-eyed sampler. Look at that cute kitty up in the corner. Many of them had touches of other colours. I like the red in this one. And you know I am a sucker for stars.

More stars. Don't you like the positive/negative effect on this one? I really like the way the stars are bisected diagonally and I think the aqua border really sets it off. Might have to do something along these lines.

Here's a close up of a sampler type one. I love how it looks pixillated. Lots of dots.

Another star one. This one kind of has a hidden block look to me.

Yet another. Are you tired of black and white yet? I don't think I have ever seen this many black and white quilts in one place before. They are quite striking. Kind of hard to take pictures of, though. I feel like I am in a Woody Allen movie. And another. This one has the positive/negative thing going on, too. And a coloured border to set it off. I think this was a great theme.

And last but not least, have a look at this one. How cool to do a traditional applique quilt in such bright colours with, altogether now, black and white. This person was channeling Freddy Moran, don't you think?

I love the house in the middle. What a great quilt!

There are still plenty of pictures to share from Kuna so be sure to stop back by soon to see them.

Finishing

No, not quilts, the Boise quilt show. Let's put this puppy to bed.

This first pic actually goes with a couple other shots of this quilt at the end of the post. I wanted to show the super cool asymmetrical only one curvy corner and had blogger uploading issues so it will just have to be out of order. Grrr.

First up, an unusual Baltimore Album type quilt. I don't know if I have seen one in thes colours. And I love the border. Again the fascination with the unattainable applique. Sigh. From the complex to the simple -- let's look at a couple of baby quilts.

This one just looks so happy!

Now back to the really, really complicated. I know that lots of folks out there in blogland are working on Dear Jane quilts. This one was just gorgeous. I love the pink and brown colour combo. Wow, the work that goes into these quilts just blows me away. The blocks are so small!

This picture shows the colours a little better I think. Just amazing.

I like the use of primary colours on this one. Kind of makes me think of '30's but not quite. Grandma's kitchen maybe. Just needs the red and white enamel table and the red folding step stool. Well, that was in my great Grandma's kitchen anyway. In Wildwood by the Sea, New Jersey.

Here is another phenomenal one. Love the bright colours. These are often paper pieced aren't they? Another thing I don't do...

Let's do a little Christmas. I love Christmas quilts. And I love the plaid pinwheels.

Here is a farther away view of this one. Really striking.

One more Christmas quilt. Applique again, too.

I think this little bow is really, really cute. A change from flowers and vines.

This is another baby quilt. I didn't upload these in a very good order now, did I? Oh, well. I love the curvy corner.

And the nice colours. And the 4 patch in the middle is a little different than what you usually see in this type of pattern.

Oops, a repeat. This was supposed to be the full quilt shot. To show you that there is only one curvy corner. The other 3 are square. Bummer. After waiting for so long for blogger to upload these pictures, too. Please forgive. I will add it to top of the post because I just don't know how to move the pictures around and I am too tired tonight to play learning something new with blogger. Blogger always seems to win that game.

Geez! It took me two times to get the new one uploaded because I accidentally learned how to delete pictures. Why does it always seem that once something starts going wrong it keeps going wrong? I could delete this duplicate one too, but then I would have to rewrite this whole paragraph, if not the entire post and that just is not a goin' to happen tonight! So you will just have to accept a very imperfect post. Another sigh, heavier this time.

And last, but not least, the Gathering Place booth. When I first looked at this booth I was totally dismayed! Look at all the new modern stuff on display! Big prints, bright colours! Where oh where are the primitive country displays I love them for? Well, in the back corner that you can't see from this picture. But it is only one corner, and a tiny one at that. Even heavier sigh!

When I asked them what was going on they told me that they had lost their Thimbleberries club and while they still had a couple of folks on staff who love primitive they had updated. Holy cow! Kind of a bubble bursting event. I guess now I really need to get to the shop to see just how much of my style of things they have left. Sooner rather than later too, don't you think?

Thanks for putting up with me tonight.

There's so much to blog about

that I almost have bloggy paralysis! I still have lots of pics from the Boise quilt show -- so many they won't fit in this post, and then there's the Kuna quilt show, and then there is what I have been up to -- phew. Better get started.

I thought this quilt was cute. And certainly expressses how I feel some days. I should make just one block like this one and hang it outside my office door as a warning. what do you think? I justr love the little circle quilting. It makes me think of bubbles.

I always like log cabin variations. It's funny. When I first started quilting I really disdained log cabin quilts. Now I just love them. I have made several and they are always fun and always look great. Not to mention how much they contribute to stash busting.

This one is another of those mystery pictures. I don't know why I took it. Maybe because it is unusual to see a sampler in these bright colours? It sure is a happy quilt.

Applique, as you know, always attracts my admiration. The size of these pieces makes this doable to me. I really like the border with the little circles. Kind of like pennies.

Another log cabin. I actually took this one for a kind of snarky reason. In years past I held various positions on this quilt show committee including chair one year and being responsible for collecting and hanging the quilts one year. That's even harder then being chair, believe me! Anyway in the years after me they started putting up one row of 12 foot pipe and drape. Including this year. So it seems to me that this great big quilt should have gone on the tall pipe and drape so it wouldn't have to be folded. There were lots of little ones on the tall section. Oh well, enough snark. One thing I learned doing those jobs is that everyone is a critic and you ALWAYS make some people unhappy no matter what you do. With all that experience I should know better than even to THINK these snarky thoughts!

Another happy quilt. I like the black and white to white and black background.

Now I fell in love with this one so you get to see several views. I love the applique and the colours were unusual and the combination just looked terrific. And I love the upside down flowers on the top -- like drying herbs on a rack.

Sunflowers. I love sunflowers. And the darker colour of these is spectacular. These birds need to be ravens -- once upon a midnight dreary, etc., right? The Raven by Poe. These colours just kind set that mood for me.

Here is a look at the whole thing, well, almost. Does anyone recognize this pattern? Apparently I failed to take a picture of the sign on the quilt which probably would have told me. Wouldn't you know? Not like I would be likely to make it, but I am sorely tempted. Although all those skinny vines kind of make me shudder!

On a happy note, don't you just love this one? I like that it is offbeat Christmas colours.

Here is another really artsy one. I know the maker. She is very creative. I think it was named something about hot flashes. The name fits it for sure.

One of the things that makes this show unusual is that "ambiance" quilts are always hung around the perimeter of the room near the ceiling. They didn't have as many as usual this year. They usually have to be hung close together to fit them all in. They can be quilts hung in past years unlike the ones for the rest of the show. Sometimes it can be hard to get people to offer these up because it takes a scissor lift to get them up and down. That means they are last to come down, even after the pipe and drape. So when you come to pick up your quilts you have to wait and wait.

If you have never worked hanging a show it is really interesting. I always would marvel at how we would start with a HUGE empty room and within 8 hours or so have created a quilting wonderland. And then it all comes down in just an hour or so. Absolutely amazing.

I like the primary crayon colours in this one. Another happy one. I love the interlocking hearts. I remember it had a great story with it, too.

Well, that's as many pictures as I want to wait for Blogger to upload. Hope you like tagging along with me to these shows.

Time travel

needs to be possible so we can go back to the end of June to visit the Boise quilt show. Well, maybe for other reasons, too, but that's the reason I need it right now.


This is a gorgeious applique quilt. I love hearts. I always admire quilts like this but would never, ever make one. My applique is of the fuse and blanket stitch variety and somehow that just doesn't go with these fine vines and all the detail. Sigh. This is a cute Christmas one. It was made with the square in a square ruler. Are you impressed I can remember that? Only because I have seen it advertised and thought about it as I like square in a square blocks and have t rouble cutting off points. I only have a few specialty rulers and I find I do not use them very often because I always have to go read the directions every time. Plus I just never think of it until it is too late.

I have no idea why I took this picture. Oh, maybe it is the whole thing of the close up below. Since they were one after the other that does make sense.

I like the close up. Buggy Barn fabric when they did that pink set. I didn't like it at the time because it seemed so out of character for Buggy Barn, but I regret not getting any after seeing this quilt. It looked great.

Simple stars. Stars are always a hit with me. And I like the alternating block. Except for maybe the pink one in the middle. It seemed out of place somehow. That's happened to me, too, things look great until the quilt is all finished and bound. And then it is too late. Just a planned mistake, right? Of course I am assuming an awful lot here. That pink one might make the quilt for you and the quiltmaker.This is certainly an impressive quilt and has a cool optical illusion kind of effect but I don't think I like it very much. I must have taken the picture because it was so well done. Now this one is a close up of the one below it. As usual I managed to get the pictures uploaded incorrectly. A friend made this and it is not at all like what she usually does. On the card she inidicated she was trying something out of her normal range and looking to use some Kaffe fabrics and try out curved piecing.

And che certainly accomplished her goal. Hmm. look at that, the closeup is not only first but it is also upside down. The curves are pointing down on the entire quilt. I know that because those lights are in the ceiling. What a detective I am!!

I think I took this one because the friend I went with loves and collects teapots. Of course she was right there with her own camera! It's cute though. Bunnies and tea. On our bike ride this morning we saw one hawk and two bunnies so the two bunnies are timely. Good thing the bunnies weren't near the hawk I think. It's been unseasonably cold the last few days (Wednesday was 100 and Thursday was 60). I have been enjoying the cool weather but I don't think the hawk was. He was sunning himself on a corral post. He stayed there while we rode by him and then back again. Eyed us the entire time but I guess we were just to big to eat! Wish I had had my camera.

Okay, back to quilts. Here is a closeup of part of this quilt. I love the heart with the yoyos. What a nice idea and well executed, too.

Well, enough for today. Blogger is taking forever to load pictures and Patchlink keeps wanting me to reboot. This computer had to go to work to be updated due to a virus scare and it keeps insisting it get rebooted. And you know how insistent these dang machines can be!