Paducah

 

 

While the large AQS show is happening in Paducah, there is a smaller show going on at the Robert Cherry Civic Center.  Most locals just call it the Rotary Show.  It always features antique quilts, so you know it is my favorite.  This year's show was curated by Sue Reich in conjunction with the release of her new book Quiltings, Frolics, and Bees: 100 Years of Signature Quilts.  I have her Quilting News of Yesterday 1000 Pieces and Counting.  She also wrote one of my all time favorite state quilt books Quilts and Quiltmakers Covering Connecticut.  She was at the Rotary signing books and giving a talking tour of the show quilts.  I was flattered that she remembered me and my quilts from a Quilt Study Day that we both attended.  She asked me if I documented my miniature quilts and I replied that I did.  She said she thought all my quilts will wind up in a museum and : "A hundred years from now some quilt historian is going to say God bless that woman!" (She meant because of the documentation that I am keeping.)  I will do a post on that some day.

Well, I say God bless Sue Reich and her wonderful quilt documentation books that serve as inspiration to modern day quilters.

Till next time..............

Sheila

The Giz

Hi to all in Blogland,
What does the photo of Gizmo have to do with quilting? Something and nothing.  This is what he looks like at 7 p.m. after a day of playing outside and doing Gizzie things.  He is pooped.  When he is pooped, he is not bothering me.  When he is not bothering me, I can normally do things like sew or quilt.  I say "normally" because this past week was anything but normal.  Last Sunday I got to visit our hospital emergency room.  I had what is called a Corneal Erosion Event.  Translated that means my eye dried out during the night and either I opened it or due to REMS, the outer layer of the cells of my cornea got ripped off because they stuck to the inside of my eyelid.  It feels like you imagine it would.  Also, because it was a huge area and over my pupil it left me pretty much blind in that eye all week.  I would not wish this on my worst enemy.  It is much improved now and I hope to be able to see well in Paducah next week at the quilt shows.  Anyway, hopefully my camera will turn up - it is currently missing and there will be guilt photos to post later.
To all my friends, I hope to meet up with you in Paducah.
Till next time...........
Sheila

The Yo-yo Ladies

Last November before we moved back to southern Illinois, we spent two weeks there on vacation.   I know, usually people go away from their home, but not us!  Anyway, I got to spend part of a day with the Yo- Yo Ladies at the museum in Paducah.  This is Pat showing me her amazing version of a Dear Jane.  She re-drew it all to a size that suited her better  - I believe she made the blocks 6 inches square.  It is truly a work of art and she plans to hand quilt it.  It was wonderful to see it in person.

Here is Charlotte Roberts working on her project.  They meet on Wednesdays at  the museum and work on projects.  They are the best good will ambassadors the museum could have.  They said everyone wants to take their pictures.  I was no exception.

Here is Virginia Hancock at work.  All these ladies have wonderful sewing skills and are such a joy to visit.  I have enjoyed each and every encounter with them.

I can't believe it was last November when I took these pics and now the Paducah quilt show is just around the corner!  .

Till next time.............

Sheila

 

A Missing Miniature Quilt

This is a photo of a miniature yo-yo quilt made by my friend Pat Lewis.  You may remember that she is the leader of the famous Yo-Yo ladies in Paducah, KY.  I can hardly believe it, but someone managed to steal it out of a display case at the National Quilt Museum.  It is so tiny - only 6" square, that even on the bed it would easily fit in a purse. If you see this quilt anywhere, please contact the museum.  Also, this is listed as missing on The Lost Quilt Come Home website.  It is a sad day in quiltdom.
Other news,  here is a finished miniature that you saw in progress:

Without exception, I learn something new on every project.  The yellow print was probably not the best choice for the stars - too much print going on for such a small piece.  It makes the outline of the stars look a bit muddled.  Oh well, another lesson learned.  The fabrics are circa 1880's.
Till next time............
Sheila

Heart of Country Antique Show

For a Valentine's celebration, my husband and I drove to Nashville for antique shows.  Heart of Country is not the only game in town, as there are several really good shows going on at the same time.  The photos today, however are all from the Heart Show at Opryland.

This first quilt doesn't show up here very well.  The quilting on this piece was to die for.  Do you see that streak through the middle?  Someone had repaired this quilt by simply sewing on a strip of blue chambray across the middle.  Probably the worst repair known to mankind. 

 

Of course anything involving miniatures is interesting to me.  The vendor in this booth was displaying them by pinning them to a Styrofoam block covered with black felt.  Clever idea for temporary display.

This tall child's bed was really interesting.

 

 

This crib quilt is a true work of art.  Oddly enough, we had seen this very piece in Ohio at a show and the same vendor was in Nashville. 

The next quilt is very patriotic and has flags in the corners.

And finally, a quilt that came home with us. We couldn't resist the small pieces in it.

The quilting doesn't show up very well, but it is very nice.

We had a great time and some other things  came home with us, but photos will need to be taken before they are posted here.  My husband took all the above photos with his phone. Not bad pics for a phone. 

I finally have a new computer and am completely baffled by this new version of Windows.  It is totally unclear to me how I managed to post these.  I don't have my little print program loaded, so no frames on the photos.  I may have to give that up for awhile.  Anyway, I went with an All in One Gateway computer instead of a laptop.  The larger monitor should be much nicer for designing quilts. 

Till next time.............

Sheila

 

WIPS Feb. 2013

 

Can you believe it is Feb.?  The time flies.  Above is what I have going - in addition to the Brackman project. 

 

1.  You have seen this one before.  It is something to work on when other projects are on hold for one reason or another.  Sadly, it is in a stall, as the fabrics set aside for it have been lost in the move.  Big sigh.  It is really tiring to have to look for everything all the time.  Our lives have been upside down for a long time and I dream of having everything sorted out and put in a permanent home.  Have to admit that I am organizationally challenged.  You know how you have those annoying friends who can put something away once and have it organized perfectly in one try.  Not me.  It has to be moved and moved and moved again.  Ohhh  to be smart enough to get it right the first time!
2.  A miniature that is currently being hand quilted.  The fabrics are circa 1880, with the possible exception of the fabric used for the inner border.  This one was started in a hurry, as I wanted to make sure I had a project going for the 2 weeks last Nov. when we were on vacation.  There wasn't enough of the double pink fabric used in the blocks to do an inner border.  There is a huge variation in the color of double pinks and this one is sort of a raspberry hue - a pink with a purple cast to it.  A very quick run through my stash didn't produce anything that seemed promising for a border.  What to do?  While on vacation, we visited some antique stores in southern MO.  Not a treasure trove for antique textiles.  Our day wasn't turning up anything special until I dug around in a basket of 1950's or so aprons in a basket in a bargain basement of an antique store.  At the bottom - and I am not kidding - was a piece of pink striped fabric in mint condition.  It was 3 yards long and was $1.00.  Eureka, here was border, backing and binding with lots of extra to spare. It may be a bit newer than 1880, but probably not much newer and it works hue-wise.   Sometimes you just get lucky. It is the least expensive piece of antique fabric I have ever bought, regardless of size.
3.  Here are some little brown and pink stars that may or may not become a true project.

Well, that is it for now.  Thanks for the nice comments on the previous post.  Jill, you are my faithful commenter.  Karen - I'm always happy you stop by.  I want to catch up on your blog, as it is always fun to see what you are up to.  Judy D. - thanks for the compliments and the smaller size of the blocks does produce a "busier look" and that may be what you liked. How is your sewing room coming along?   Kimber, you are always nice and it is appreciated.  Till next time.
Sheila

Hey, remember this one?

 

This is the Civil War Block of the Week that Barbara Brackman did some time ago.  Well, I finally got it put together and am now hand quilting it.  It is completely hand pieced.  If you remember, it is a half-scale version.  The blocks are 4" and the inner border is 3/4" square scrappy pieces.  The outer border is the same fabric as the sashing.  The backing is a striped leaf print, which is folded over the front edge and basted down to protect the edge of the border fabric.  I am not using a hoop to quilt it, so it gets sort of thrown around and I didn't want the edges fraying.  The outer border is sized according to the amount of fabric I had and happily the whole thing came out a crib size.  So, one width of  44" wide fabric worked for the backing. I have no idea what I will use for binding.  My sewing room is not set up yet, so I threw it over a love seat and took the pic, which as usual is not the best, but there it is.

Till next time........
Sheila

A Trip to Mary's Quilt Shop

Timing is everything.  Our last weekend in the Cleveland area coincided with Mary Koval's Quilt Shop's Open House.  We made the 3 1/2 hour drive to see her.  I have known Mary for a long time, as she would set up a booth at the Paducah Quilt Show.  She does a show in France now instead, so I don't get to see her.  She is one busy lady and so hard to catch, I figured my best shot was at her open house.  She has always been very encouraging to me and so helpful with antique fabrics.  In short, she had a great influence on my Portfolio Series.  She was so gracious to my husband and me and gave us a tour of her shop, her retreat space and her home.  I even got to play in her antique fabrics for several hours and will post some pics of the wonderful things I acquired that day.  It was a wonderful day and I could have spent a week with her. 

Mary has room to accommodate 11 quilters in her retreat space.  It is absolutely gorgeous, as is her shop and her home is stunning.  Bonnie Hunter posted some great photos of the retreat space on her blog here.

If you are ever anywhere close to Bedford, PA, make time to visit Mary's shop.  Her reproduction fabrics are absolutely the best.  If you are lucky, you will get to meet Mary.

Till next time......

Sheila

 

 

 

Ch....ch...Changes!

First of all, can you believe two adults - my husband was in on this - would put a Santa hat and scarf on a cat?  Well, we did.  They were too small.  We need to start buying him stuff in the dog section, as he is about twice the size of a normal cat.  We thought he looked a lot like The Grinch.  So, anyway, a belated happy holiday season to you all!
Know what we did over the holidays??? We moved back to our little home in southern Illinois.  We are sooooo happy to be back in our home.  To be honest, I never adjusted to living in 600 sq. ft.  Just not enough room for two people who both have hobbies.  There is a Scandinavian word, lagom, that means "just enough" or  "just right."  Well, our little house and studio are just right, but 600 sq. ft. wasn't!  The company my husband works for, had us on hold since last May for this relocation and by this past November, we were pretty darn tired of waiting.  But, we are here now.
Did you ever watch the movie Funny Farm?  One of our favorites.  Remember how they couldn't get the right phone installed way out in the country.  Well, that is just the way it is when you live "at the end of the grid" as my husband says.  We finally have the Internet and phones.  Hooray!  Well, we have the Internet in our studio/home office, but not in the house yet.  Sigh. 
Lots to blog about for sure, but my computer is barely working and we haven't had a chance to computer shop yet.  As soon as we got here - right before Christmas - we got 20" of snow.  It has just now gone away.  That slowed us down. 
Well, I hope to be blogging away soon.  A special "hi" to  Kimber at Heirlooms by Ashton House   who took the time to email me and say hello.  She is not only a talented editor, designer and blogger, but sweet as well.  Check out her blog for some really nice photography.
Till next time, when we will get back to some quilting.........
Sheila

A Vacation

I haven't been blogging lately and decided to officially take a vacation.  (Suitcase image from The Graphics Fairy, by the way.)

My computer needs replacing, my car is in the shop and my cat is very unhappy in the city.  Sometimes life just gets you down a bit.  So, I am taking a break.  We actually are going on vacation for awhile.

We have been back to Adamstown, PA on more antique shopping for a few days.  I got to visit the famous Old Country Store, and bought some books in their little museum.  My camera was left at home, so no photos to post.  We found lots of fabric treasures, though, and that was fun.

On the home front, The Wildwood Quilters Guild asked me to give a trunk show of my miniatures and that was a fun evening.  Once again, no camera, so no pics.  We are just not camera people for some reason and when you have a blog, you really need to overcome that lack.

On the quilting scene here, absolutely nothing is happening.  For the first time in about 30 years of quilting, I have no projects going.  Can you believe it?  No piecing and no quilting.  Guess I just need a break from everything.

Well, have fun and be good.  Keep your needles threaded and I'll see you sometime in Nov.

Until then.........

Sheila