Not another Quilt Show?

Yes... there was another quilt show. This might be the best fabric art show I've ever been to. I found it advertised in a local "free" newsprint. The Asheville Quilt Guild is great group; the show was held at the NC arboretum; over 250 quilts (some clothing and what I'd refer to as ART), 5-6 vendors and a great time, indeed. There were a few that I found outstanding;

1) A Beetles quilt (I think it won an award); the uniqueness was in the quilting. Beetle songs lyrics machine quilted in the open blocks, then the creative use of beetles printed fabric.

2) A horse pieced quilt art by a gal from Kansas and her flowers as well.

3) Many quilts that incorporated bold and liberating fabrics; (These vivacious quilt makers and the art quilt artist we saw at the Folk Art Center on the Parkway) have given me a more open mind to the use of bold colors to express myself. And then a Guild Artist that had for sale the most heavenly christian art ( I actually bought a framed fabric postcard), scriptures printed on fabric and quilted in a free form style.

3) I've not forgotten my lust for purses, so I picked up a new purse pattern the "Tulip Purse" and as well some sweet French Fabric from the FrenchConnectionFabricStore located (somewhere in NC). I don't even like purses , I typically like a small swatch, like a pocket kind of a thing that hangs about the neck. Perhaps I should design a Maryanne type pocketbook? Kind of a small, hangey down contraption. Hum.. I'll sleep on that idea.

I just must have a new design wall when we get home. Hum.. de dum.. Ken might have to add on or renovate so I can have a bigger studio. My mind is racing with ideas, I can hardly sleep at night. What has North Carolina done to me? What ever it is, I think it a good thing, I feel full of refreshing ideas,bright, flamboyant and filled with the zest for life.

NC,QOV, Fabric, and Yes.. more fabric

Fabric,More Fabric and Quilts of Valor... "is this the cutest grandson ever?"

Once you have that fabric, art sniffer thing going on in your head, it just can't be stopped. (or was it quilt fate? whatever...) As Ken and I are winding along these rich North Carolina hills, we see a Huge sign ..."Sapphire Quilt Show. this week end", and since I have such a nose for fabric (and good hubby too) we follow the sent of threads. Alas,we find the Sapphire, NC quilt show. Great stuff, some art quilts, but the highlight was the QOV (quilts of valor.www.qov.org), probably 20 of them made by Sapphire, NC Quilt folks. All made with a tender heart and lots of love for our wounded soldiers. My grandson, Matt (that's the two of us in the picture) just returned from his second tour (is Iraq considered a tourist destination, what's with the tour thing?), anyway he's back in the USA and thanks to the good lord, he won't be needing a QOV. To keep with the Quilter Tradition, I picked up a few cloth items and some lovely quilt photo art. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, we stopped at Deb's Cat Quilt Shop in Franklin, NC early that morning and just happen to find some cat fabric, just what I needed.

Where have you been?

I guess I should say; "where have I been"? Time sure flies when you're having fun. I'll not go into detail on just how much fun I've been having, let's just start from here and get on with it.

Alright already, I haven't done anything that I'd call creative in over a year. I've been dabbling with fabric, making purses and finishing UFO's.

We're on vacation at the moment, in North Carolina. This is what I call fun! Stopped in a local farmers market; picked up peaches, green beans and an antique hand cranked sewing machine. What was I thinking?