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.
The three quilts my daughter entered were Story of the Sky, Simple Gifts, and Christmas Traditions.
Story of the Sky - Modern Category
VENDORS AND PURCHASES
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.
Lastly, I thought these zipper pulls were very cute and unique and they called to me.
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.
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.
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.
