November Small Quilt- Another One Done

With the Thanksgiving holiday over,

it's time to get back to a "normal" routine.

Well, at least for a couple days.

My Florida daughter and son-in-law are coming

to celebrate Christmas, birthdays,

and just being together.
They come and freeze, these two born and raised Colorado kids,
but it's wonderful to have them here.

So it's time to share my November small quilt,
which is part of the monthly challenge
coordinated by Wendy, the Constant Quilter.

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice
22" x 36"

This little quilt had it's beginning back in January, 2017.
It's when I started Primitive Gathering's Triangle Gatherings.

I made lots of  sets of triangle units,

even put together a few blocks, but

then staled out.
That ever happened to you?!
Of course it has!

Well, those little piles have stayed
together for almost 2 years.
Time to use 'em
move 'em, or loose 'em.

One of my favorite combos
is indigo blue with cheddar orange.
I had this fabulous cheddar strip and
it was telling me to use those blocks
in this simple pattern from
Jo Morton's book, Jo's Little Favorites III.

Most of the sewing was already done.
So it went together easily.

But look what I discovered when I set the
quilt up for its photo shoot.

Oh, well.
Such is life.

Don't sweat the small stuff.
You could be Humpty Dumpty.

I kept that fabulous color scheme going
on the back and

stretched a favorite remnant to make it work.

Thanks again, Wendy for
all this fun!
One more month and then another year?

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Houston International Quilt Festival

How do you describe the "grandmother"

of all quilt shows?

Fabulous, Amazing, Incredible, Extraordinary....

I'm not sure you really can.

Each of the 50,000+ attendees would say something else 

to describe their experience.

I went to be inspired.

Daisy and Basket by Helm Hulsman

I went to learn some new things.

Karen Miller 

Redbird Quilt Co and Aurifil Thread

I went to do some shopping.

Each day as the doors opened

it was an organized frenzy of quilters

all seeking out their favorite venders to

discover what enticing products they had brought.

First stop for me

Dutch Heritage and 

saying hi to Petra Prins and Judith Ebbelaar.

Judith and Me

I had my map labeled 1,2,3,...

There's never been so many 

beautiful temptations.

Mary Koval"s Antique Quilts

There is something for every style of quilter,

every skill level, and every credit card limit.

Equally important is seeing and meeting friends.

I finally had the privilege to meet 

Janet Olmstead from Calgary, Alberta Canada.

You might know her as Mrs Sew n' sew

Her applique work is exquisite and she

is so delightful to hangout with.

We had a great time shopping and

viewing the quilts.

It was exciting to see her Bird of Paradise quilt 

in person!

It was also exciting to say hi

to Rachael Daisy from Australia.

Her quilts are an explosion of color, pattern

and innovated techniques.  That's her 

Whiz Bang, prize winning quilt in the background.

The show couldn't happen or run 

so smoothly without the incredible crew of 

volunteers that work behind the scenes.

I caught up with Lori DeJarnatt

from Humble Quilts

as she was getting things set up for the next

open studio demos.

My dear Virginia and Netherlands travelers

were all there 

with an outstanding exhibit 

Esther's Quilt, 1858 

Many quilters followed along and 

created their own masterpieces.

 Doreen Johnson's Quilt

made with French General fabrics.

You might know Doreen at

Aunt Reen's Place.

Patti Snyder's quilt

with extraordinary quilting

Karen Beigh's quilt

who you know as the Log Cabin Quilter

with her wonderful chocolate background

Wendy Reed's quilt

The Constant Quilter,

Don't you love the cheddar background!

Harolyn Klawan's,

"Playtime in the Valley", with her 

lovely small embroidered interpretation.

Susie Martin Corrao's 

lovely quilt with sashing.

Laurie Sanders took a different approach.

Laurie visualized the flowers that Esther might have

seen from her kitchen window.

There were so many quilts to enjoy and study,

about 1600.  Each one a work of art.

Just a couple more.

How about:

Barb Vedder's quilt

from Fun with Barb.

It was fabulous to see in person.  

The pink background is awesome with

the blue saw tooth border.  

She has a creative whimsical style.

There were so many hand quilted quilts this year

with the exhibit of Antique Quilts of the British Isles

Hexagon Quilt, 1810

and the French collection

Quilts de Legende

Marie-Henriette 

by Martine Crabe'-Lanux.

I know I didn't see everything in my two days,

but I gave it a good try.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Bubbling With Excitement

Last week was bubbly good.

I've had time to sew

and I've got some travel plans.

I was able to machine applique 

the final border of my Sutton Grange.

Again, I used the 100wt poly Invisafil by Wonderfil.

The thread is so thin that it disappears right into

the weave of the fabric.

I used a tiny Overlock stitch, which is

stitch, stitch, stitch, zig-zag.  

The straight stitches

go right along the side of the applique and

the zig-zag holds it to the background.

I use the mirror image feature on my Bernina,
which makes it easier for me to stitch
along the right side of the applique piece.

The whole top is now together.

It's a beautiful design by Di Ford.

The next step is to figure out the machine quilting.

I'm going to work on it myself...eventually.

But in order to do that I need inspiration.

And what better place to get that, 

than to head to Houston

and 

Besides doing lots of shopping, there will plenty of 

quilts to admire and study.  I'll be excited to

enjoy the beautiful quilts of many of my

blogging friends, Wendy, Janet, Karen, Barb,

and my Virginia Quilting Friends and 

I'm sure a few more.

Let me know if I've missed you.

And some of those friends will be there in person.

That will be extra treat!

It will be a whirlwind trip,
but a much needed one.
Running Man is coming to carry
the packages.
Isn't he a sweetheart!

Wish you were all coming too.

Until Next Time-

Kyle