Cut Ups Community Quilt

I belong to a small twelve-person sub-group of the Amador Valley Quilters called the Cut Ups. We gather monthly and, at each meeting, one member proposes a block pattern and fabric selections. Members each make one or more blocks. Once gathered, assembled, sandwiched, and quilted, the finished quilt is donated to charity. September was my month and I picked a block pair from the Open Options quilt pattern by Material Girlfriends. Each member made two pair of blocks. There were twelve colors choices from a fat quarter bundle, paired with white. Here is an example of four blocks, two complementary pairs, in one of the twelve colors.

After playing around with the forty-eight blocks on my design wall, this was the decided arrangement.

The backing was a deep royal blue and the quilting pattern was one of diagonal waves. Quilted with white thread, the wavy lines show up best on the back.

 

It was bound with a blue binding, accented with red piping. Labels were added on one back corner.

This quilt will be ready to be give away to a community charity after a quick washing. The washing with Synthrapol® and Color Catchers® are a must to preserve that white fabric from discoloration from the dark blue. This quilt has no name. The new owner can decide that. Here is the finished quilt. It measures 54" wide by 72" tall.

Visit to Back Porch Fabrics

For our 48th wedding anniversary, my husband and I spent two nights in Pacific Grove at the Seven Gables Inn with a scenic view out onto Monterey Bay. Within a few blocks, walking distance, is Back Porch Fabrics. Frank knows what keeps me happy.

We went there first thing the first morning after breakfast and drove the short distance. Frank rationalized driving rather than walking by, "What if you have a lot of fabrics to carry back?" Here are my purchases; I was well behaved. Upon entering, I immediately saw a fabric panel displayed on the counter, and I fell in love with it instantly.

Out of habit I visited the sales table first and picked up two fat quarter bundles, basically at half price. They were made up of a majority of solids and so I feel confident that I can put them to good use. I try to steer away from novelties to rein in my stash size.

The two fat quarters on the left of the first bundle and the one chili peppers fat quarter on the right of the second bundle may be tricky to use up but the rest are solids or low volumes that easily read as solids.

I also spotted a novelty fat quarter with a knitting theme. My sister is an avid knitter. Then one of the clerks pointed out to me they the shop had that print in yardage. I bought 1¼ yards, reasoning I could make a large square pillow. The sayings are so cute..."If I'm sitting 💓 I'm knitting", "Knitting is the New Yoga", "100 rows a day keeps the shrink away", etc. Look closely for more witticisms. Also note in the selvage that there are 18 different colors in this fabric. My coordinating possibilities are nearly endless!

Once I got home I used ½ yard of the knitting fabric combined with a pink stripe from my stash to make a tote bag for knitting. It worked up really fast. The inside lining is the pink stripe so it will be nice and light for looking inside. I still have ¾ yard of the knitting theme fabric so maybe I will make a pillowcase for sleeping - perhaps to use when not knitting?

The pattern I used I also bought at Back Porch Fabrics. Called Turn It Into a Tote, the one-page set of instructions was designed by the shop owner and takes only ½ yard of the theme fabric and 1 yard of another coordinate.

I also bought a pattern called Magic Block, also designed by the shop owner. It is quite easy to piece but the assortment of assembly options were quite clever. I always like to reward a designer's creativity by supporting them with a purchase. The quilt on the wall made from the pattern was one of the options I was very drawn to. It looks like the quilt top takes only one fabric combined with a contrasting background assortment. This pattern could work well for using up many of my novelties.

The shopping expedition was fun, but fabric is not the only mighty fine thing to look at!

Oklahoma Quilt Show

Footloose, a Celebration of Quilts 2023 was hosted by the Central Oklahoma Quilters Guild (COQG) on Friday, July 28th and Saturday, July 29th. Over 200+ quilts were displayed. My daughter Robin is a member of this guild and entered three quilts in the show. On the day before the show, I helped Robin and her fellow guild members hang the quilts after they had been judged. I was there only Thursday morning, but many of the die-hard volunteers, my daughter included, were there until 6:00 pm to get them all hung. In this post I will show some of the quilts and list my purchases at the show.

QUILTS

The three quilts my daughter entered were Story of the Sky, Simple Gifts, and Christmas Traditions.

Story of the Sky - Modern Category

I decided to make a quilt for my 10-yr-old daughter and let her pick the pattern and fabric. She fell in love with a Medallion quilt at the Edmond Quilt Festival, so we picked this medallion pattern out online. Then I took her to the quilt store and let her run wild; she had a blast and I'm pretty sure so did everyone else in earshot. She approved every fabric in the quilt, and after I made the blocks, she laid them out and picked  the border fabrics. I normally fuss over each step in the quilt-making process, but outsourcing all my design decisions to a 4th grader was surprisingly liberating.

Simple Gifts - Modern Category

This pattern is an original from In Between Stitches, my hometown quilt shop in CA. I wanted something simple to get me back in the quilting groove after almost a decade of sewing kids' clothing instead, and this fit the need. The black, white, and grey fabric came from  a jelly roll by Me & My sisters circa 2013 and the Savage Quilter supplied the "bow" fabric in 2022. This was also the first quilt top I quilted on my new Babylock Crescendo, which I bought to celebrate my re-entry into quilting.

Christmas Traditions - Theme Category

I fell in love with this fabric and pattern in 2011, near the start of my quilting journey. At the time I had never paper pieced or done appliqué. Over the years I learned but I also became Mom to two kiddos who needed me. So every year as Christmas approached I would take this quilt out of its craft bin, work on it for a bit, then put it back in its craft bin and tell myself I was going to finish it in time for NEXT Christmas... it got to be a running joke that working on the quilt  (but not finishing it!) was one of my Christmas Traditions. I started piecing this in 2011, finished quilting it in 2021, and put the final stitching on the binding just in time for Christmas 2022. Now cuddling under this quilt can be my new tradition! 

Robin did not win a ribbon for any of her quilts. With ten categories for candidates though, there were a lot of ribbons awarded. Quilts were divided into Pieced, Appliqué, and Mixed Technique quilts, both large and small, and master and artisan. The categories were Theme, Hand Quilted, Modern, Miniature, Art, Pictorial, Digitally Produced, Kits/Panel/Pre-cuts, Wholecloth, and Group Quilts. Here is a quick visual look at some quilts in the show (other than my daughter's). I tried to capture those that were awarded ribbons along with the associated story description. First up is the Best in Show followed by the ribbons award for pieced quilts  - some large, some medium, with artisan and master judged separately.

Pieced Quilts 

 

Mixed Technique Quilts

These quilts were a mixture of pieced, appliqué and embroidery and one even had crocheted components artfully stitched on.

Modern Quilts that won ribbons

The following was an exhibit illustrating different quilting interpretations for the same pattern and fabric. My quilting skills have a long way to go to look like these samples.

VENDORS AND PURCHASES

My 8-yr old grandson and my husband also came to the show. My daughter wanted to observe her son looking at the quilts to learn what he liked. The Story of the Sky quilt she made was for his sister, and so she wanted to see what he wanted for his bed. He picked greens for his colors. It is still unclear what his pattern preferences are. It was hard to tell when he raced up and down the aisles at the breakneck speed of an eight-yr-old. He did pause for a bit, mesmerized by watching a longarm quilting machine. 

I bought these two books for a friend who is really into Kaffe Fasset. They were in the guild's bargain items booth and I paid only $1 for each of them.

There were vendors and I bought a few items. At the Project Linus booth I bought three fat quarters in a bargain bundle for $2. I also bought 2½ yards of a fall print that I think I may use as a border.

At the Prairie Quilt I got a bundle of five fat quarters. I am collecting oranges for a fall project. The back one with the purple dots I will repurpose elsewhere, but it is funky-cute.

I got a horse panel that I may use for a granddaughter who is very much into horses. I may have  to reconsider that though, since I do not think it is the right green for her tastes. Horses, however, may trump color.

Lastly, I thought these zipper pulls were very cute and unique and they called to me.

What my daughter had displayed made me proud. Meeting some of her guild members and hanging some quilts with them was great. I am glad I made the trip from California at a time that I could take in this show and wallow a bit in some quilting pleasure.