Death by Quilt ~~ setup finished

Maybe it's impossible, but it seems that the 31 quilts we hung today took most of us out. Oddly, I didn't hang even one quilt. I started out giving orders--I'm so good at that--and getting people busy pricing  items to be for sale in our booth. 

Not MY booth...the guild's booth. There are lots and lots and lots of things. Some made by guild members, others donated by people who just wanted to help, and some that are vintage (patterns, magazines, books) all needing pricing.   

Then the quilt hanging system arrived, so there were lots of things to unload and get set up. Quilts had to be numbered and hung. Quilts needed sleeves. (Several of those were mine.) And someone had to clean up the ends of the poles so the place would look a bit more pulled together. I did that because by then the ladder-climbers were exhausted and I really felt sorry for them. I won't say I overcame my fear of ladders, but I got through the chore unscathed.

Demonstrations needed setting up. Tables covered. Chairs hauled and set up. (We still need chairs, but I told people to get on it. Adults who don't listen annoy me.) 

Porta potties were delivered and had to be placed. I had decided that earlier in the week, got permission to use a parking lot, and met the guy today to give him directions. I tell you, I rock at telling people what to do. 

There weren't enough quilts from other guild members, so a few of us who make several quilts a year were asked to bring extras. I agreed to take seven, if we didn't need them all, I could bring them back home. We used four. The other three and a few more that I'll take over there tomorrow will be the ones I'll present in my part of the trunk show. I've decide to focus on my being a modern quilter since I am more innovative than the other quilters in this guild. 

The four quilts shown here are the ones in the show and were judged along with the others tonight. Some of the other quilts are stunning. I hope to get a change to take pictures at some point during the day tomorrow. That is, after setting up the booth, after the trunk show, and while someone else is around to man my booth. My poor darling husband has agreed to help me through most of the day. So I'll get to tell him what to do, I am pretty good at it. :) 

Win? Me? Really? YES!

A few days ago I got an interesting email from Leanne at She Can Quilt informing me that I, me!, was a winner of (now get this) the big prize on the September Scraptastic Tuesday linkup. Yea, big prize--$40 gift certificate from Mad About Patchwork.
(No affiliation, they're all just good, generous people.)

Then came the next email telling me the gift certificate was ready! Now do you think I had waited to start shopping. Not me! I know a good thing when I read it. 

So I already knew that there was a sale happening--40% off. And the softest fabric in the prettiest colors was waiting with bated breath to come to Fleur de Lis Quilts! 

Shh, don't say it out loud, but I added some yardage above the $40, and you know in your heart that every quilter reading this blog would have done the same.  Now there was one little caveat: the postage was pricey. I did at least ask if there was another option. But by the time I knew the answer three minutes later, my little heart couldn't let go of that gorgeous fabric. 

So I paid the bill. Who's really going to tell me I can't? Well, too bad for them. I did. And there it is. Now all this took place at some point last week. On Tuesday there was a package in the mailbox. Just that fast and easy.   

I ripped into the package and petted and loved, and we had a photo session. Then I petted some more and loved. And showed Cotton (no one else was home) and he was as excited for me as anyone else in this overly emotional family.

So there you are: sometimes you think you're not so lucky (or maybe you spent all of your luck, cause that can happen) and then with almost no effort at all, a package appears in the mail because you won something. And when you get to choose the something, there's the extra winnings of getting to go shopping. 

Thanks again, Leanne! The fabric is perfect! I loved every minute--shopping, ordering, (code for asking goofy questions) and petting! Girl, I had fun petting my little yards of fabric. (It's been a while since my last fabric fix.) We should do this again soon, but let's wait till Katy answers goofy questions from other customers.  

Thanks Mad About Patchwork! Some of the best customer-service people work at your place. And though I tried her patience, Katy could not have been nicer. If she beat on her computer a few times, it's because she was dealing with me. You can forgive her now. 

One more thing: everybody go over there to Mad About Patchwork and just look at the pictures. No, seriously. Go. Tell me the picture below doesn't meet your aesthetic tastes. That's what I'm saying. And if you buy something at 40% off, you will have made a great deal. If you pay postage, that's on you!

Pin It Weekly #215

Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilts left a sweet note on last week's Pin It Weekly, so of course I had to race over and see what she's been pinning. Oh my sweet lady! She has been super busy organizing and pinning quilts! 

We may have to give her the title of Quilt Pinning Queen. She has, oh, 40 or so boards, almost every one about quilting of some manner. Now, some boards have only a few pins, but that just means her curating is selective, so you can trust that her boards will have what she promises. The ones here are all from her mini-quilt board. 

These below are also from Nancy's Pinterest. I imagine you can figure out the title of that board!

Doesn't this last one make you want a peppermint? 

Thanks to Nancy at Grace and Peace for sharing her Pinterest interest with us. You can visit her blog here. If you have a great Pinterest site or know of one, share the joy with the rest of us in the comments.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Peacocks

Have you checked on oddities in the form of quilts? I mean, peacocks are not that common, but they sure do inspire. Perhaps it's the color, the wonder of their mating dance, or just the beauty and grace of the bird. Whatever it is, it works! Here are a few of the more colorful Pinterest peacocks.

I'm guessing you didn't know there are so many beautiful peacock-inspired quilts. I certainly didn't. In fact, I didn't know that peacocks come in so many rich, jewel-toned colors. 

I haven't the faintest clue what brought me to this idea in the first place. Whatever it was, I'm thrilled that I decided to see if there are, indeed, enough to create a post. 

Kathleen Quilts--oh my! These feathers!

There are enough bird quilts for a post. Don't you find it just a little surprising that there are so many quilts inspired by peacocks? I've decided that I can't choose a favorite. I like them all too much! Although I will say, I'll be back to look at the quilting on Kathleen Quilts' photo. Those feathers are stunning!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival (#2 Tranquility)

I posted this tee-shirt memory quilt in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side. At the time I was thinking that I needed to post a recent quilt. Geez, you'd think I could think. Nope.

So anyway, choosing a second quilt was a little difficult. I like every one I make. Some more than others, of course. Tranquility is one of those more-than-others quilt. 

Lots of things about the quilt surprised me: the lime green worked, the background that looks different from my expectations, and my crazy, changing quilting motifs. Some of the motifs I came up with on the fly, right out of my own little head! 

All of it works so well, it's startling. I've promised myself I'll make another of these. (Maybe I should display it so I don't forget.) You can read more about Tranquility here.

    

	Quilt Stats
	Name:	Tranquility
	Size:	55 X 60
	Fabrics:	Scrap fabrics from stash
	Background:	Kona taupe + various scraps
	Binding:	Kona bison
	Pattern:	Improv blocks
	Quilting:	Custom free motion

Pop over to Amy's quilt festival. It's amazing how many beautiful quilts there are. The inspiration!

Derrick's Memories ~~ finished!

Yes, finally! This tee-shirt memory quilt is a big one. The biggest I've made, I'm sure. Mom is an acquaintance who saved her only son's athletic shirts for all of his games, and apparently there were many, many games. This young man played soccer, football, basketball, karate and baseball. There were well over 40 shirts but we cut that down to about 35 because who needs a California king tee-shirt quilt? 

I used his last football jersey and his karate uniform as 3D designs. The karate shirt opens to show the logo on the back. I had to turn it around, but that was easy enough. 

The football jersey was a real struggle. Firstly, it's made of that athletic stretchy mesh that seems to stick to the needle. Secondly, he was pretty rough on it, and apparently the way to fix a tear is to sew from neck to hem, catching the rip along the way. 

There are three such fixes. Thirdly, the top of the shirt is stretched out of shape or maybe it's just shaped to go over those big pads. Either way, it does not lie flat. Instead it bunches up and piles up and does not cooperate in any way. 

What do I do when this happens? Don't fight it: make it one of the three-dimensional pieces. Well, okay, fight with it a little bit, but that was necessary to get the shirt to look right. I was aiming for a dropped-on-the-floor look. (It is a boy's shirt after all, and we all know that boys drop everything stinky on the floor.) Not too messy or bunched up because everything important needs to show. Hey girl, I figured it out! And it looks pretty good.

Know what one of the problems of working on such a big quilt is? The weight! This quilt is heavy. Of course, there are in some places four layers of fabric and batting. And let's remember that it's a huge quilt, 78 x 96. Mom said that her son is well over six feet tall, so she wanted it long.

Mostly, though, this quilt was lots of fun: I played while quilting it. A couple of shirts have "mustangs" on them, so I quilted horse-shoes. I quilted around all of the big letters and numbers individually so they would stand out. On one shirt I quilted in sports words. On another there are numbers, but not just any numbers. He had so many different numbers, I could quilt in his numbers, even 00 from his soccer jerseys. Plus circles, squares, loops and anything else I could think of.

Quilt Stats Name: Derrick's Memories Size: 78" X 96" Fabrics: Tee-shirts provided by mom Background: n/a Binding: stash fabrics Pattern: puzzle setting Quilting: custom

Then after all that sewing and quilting and binding, I took it out for a little photo session. The sun was just going down, but wow, it was hot. How do people work in this weather? After about three pics, I was done. Inside Adam and Richard held up the quilt for a few seconds (no, really, seconds) while I snapped four more. Two of those are so blurred that I deleted them, and one of the two remaining doesn't show the bottom. Not many left.  lol

 I still somehow found enough that I took during the process (to send to the client) that I could create a collage of the work in progress. A memory quilt finish that I am certain the family will love. 

It's time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side, so I'll enter this post (just under the wire, I'm afraid), and also kick it about to all of my favorite haunts. Please go by Amy's to see all the beautiful quilts. My entry is #201! It will take a while to visit all of them. Last year I left the page open so when I had just a few minutes, I could pop over to see a few quilts. 

And at these fine Link Ups near you!

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Katie Mae Quilts (TGIFF)