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Monday, May 9, 2016

Going the wrong direction, going to Graduation, and going to HMQS.

I am supposed to be reducing my pile of little tops. That was my goal as this year began, and I had been doing quite well. But the past couple of weeks has seen me add 4 more flimsies to the pile. You've seen the first three in recent posts. This is number four.
This quilt was assembled with gifts from friends. Most of the HSTs (which finish at 1") were from a bag of leftover small quilt parts that a friend gave me, and the border fabric was a gift from a blog friend, after I had admired it on her blog.
I love how it worked out. I think this fabric is the perfect border for the little HSTs. My thanks to Kim (no blog) for the HSTs, and Pat (Amity Quilter blog) for the border fabric. Now to decide how to quilt it!

It was a busy weekend. Friday DH and I were in attendance when our oldest son (child #3) received his Master's Degree.
It was just after I began this blog five years ago that he received his Bachelor's Degree. Since then his hair is longer, mine is greyer, and DH's hasn't changed. He never ages.

DH and I spent Saturday in the Salt Lake City area, about 90 minutes south of home. He dropped me off at the South Town Expo Center and I attended the Home Machine Quilting Show, while he did some test driving of cars.
The place was humming with activity. I didn't take any classes this year, but it was very fun to meet up with wonderful quilters, see beautiful quilts in the show, and shop some great vendors!

The Doans, of Missouri Star Quilt Company. Such genuine, down-to-earth people. A real treat to visit with them.

Visited Sandra Starley (Textile Time Travels blog), quilt appraiser, who always has a booth of yummy vintage goodies to peruse. I enjoyed studying the red fabrics in that signature quilt on the back wall.
Someday I would love to see Sandra's entire collection of quilts, but I don't know if that is even possible. Every time I see her there are "new" vintage quilts in her possession.





  
Irena Bluhm had a few of her beautifully painted quilts on display in her booth. She was very sweet to pose for me.













Jenny Pedigo, of Quick Curve Ruler fame, standing by her most popular quilt design. She is a very gracious lady, and an amazing quilter. Even though I am not a modern quilter, I have learned many quilting tips and been inspired by her beautiful designs on her blogs (Sew Kind Of Wonderful and Jenny's Doodling Needle).





This was the first time Primitive Gatherings has been to this show. I was excited. My friend, Jami, happened to have dropped by to shop when Jake agreed to a photo for my blog. This was my first stop in the morning and my last stop before I went out to catch my ride home. They received the bulk of my HMQS budget.
Jake and Amy were very helpful and patient with me. Thanks for coming to Utah!





I saw this sweet machine being used to demonstrate a product in a booth, and I wished I could bring it home with me. There seemed to be a purple glow coming from the booth that I couldn't resist.



After spending the bulk of my time in the vendor mall with my list of items to find, I took a quick trip through the quilt show. 

This was the top award winning quilt.

Read the description and then click on some of the small photos below to get a feel for it. The background appeared to be printed or painted. The buildings seemed to be printed on fabric and attached to the quilt. The people and animals were pretty incredible.




This quilt caught my eye. Love the colors and design. It was very well made.


Here we have  the entire selection of minis entered in the show.

These are the same quilts from the other end of the row. You can see the blue ribbon hanging from the top prize winner in this category.
I was a bit surprised by the selection, but I must admit that the quilting lines were so straight, and evenly spaced, and the use of color play in the threads was a nice visual addition.

It was a long day and I was happy to spend a few minutes relaxing at home that evening with my newest long-term project. This is a quilt I posted about years ago. I designed it for my youngest son as a memory quilt from his time as an LDS missionary in Brazil. Everything has meaning to his experiences there. He has been home almost 7 years, so it is about time I got this going.
I finally had a longarm friend baste it for me last month so I could get started on the hand quilting. Expect this to be with me for a year or two. I am not the fastest hand quilter on the block and my back doesn't allow me to spend too much time on it at once. 

Had a busy, full Mother's Day with family gathered for dinner, and Skyping with those too far away. I'm exhausted, but fulfilled after a jam-packed weekend, and ready to tackle another week. 
BTW, my 5 year blog anniversary is coming up very soon. Stay tuned. : )
Until next time, 
Janet O.



41 comments:

  1. Thanks for photos from the quilt show!! Stunning works of art!! Jenny Doan's shops are just north of my daughter and I'd like to get up there this summer.

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  2. Wow, I'm commenter #2! That's a record!!! Lovely, lovely quilts at the quilt show!! Thanks for sharing!! Your new little one is darling. Great, great border fabric!! Congrats to your son and to you, too!!

    Hugs and blessings my friend!!

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  3. Love, love, love that little quilt of hst's!!! I have a shoebox nearly full from the cutaways from my Time Warp Stars and other projects....hope to get to it this fall....actually in August as my Potholder for the show will be done (I hope!). Congratulations are in order for your son (and parents as well!). Thanks for the photo visit to the quilt show. The top-winning quilt was here in Maine at last summer's show....by Nancy Prince of FL (I think).....her technique of thread painting is so realistic!

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  4. And I love the pine tree block too!

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  5. How fun to make a quilt totally from donated fabrics. You love those minis! I thought of you being at the HMQS this past week-end. I' hope to still get down there this month sometime. I'll be watching.

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  6. The sea of HST's is a delightful little quilt, kudos to you for such straight and accurate piecing. I enjoyed the quilt show tour, too. With you, I think that I would've placed the blue ribbon elsewhere in the mini's. My pick was the top most row on the far left of the first picture of the mini's.

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  7. Thanks for sharing all the photos of beautiful quilts. I have seen the Winter's Day at 2 shows and could hardly get up close to it because of all the people. So many details to examine. Glad you had a great time shopping.

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  8. Wonderful post! You have such wonderful shows in the USA. Funny that you can't help yourself starting new quilts, I guess when you are gifted some tri's you must think "why not!" Congratulations to your son. Your hair looks amazing any tips to share??

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  9. Congratulations to your son and thank you for taking us along to the show!

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  10. GASP!!! I forgot all about HMQS! I can't believe it! But, now that I think of it I couldn't have gone anyway. We go to the cannery on Thurs and Fri and Saturday was spent with family so Sunday would be a quiet day. Thanks for sharing your pictures. I guess I saved myself a little money but that's the only good thing about it. I love the border on your little hst quilt. It's just perfect.

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  11. Fabulous post!! I love your newest quilt and "On This Winter Day" is . . . . Well, there are just no adequate words to express the beauty!! I would have loved to have seen it in person!! Next year I'm going to HMQS!! Instead, this year I was at a dumb quilt show in Rexburg!! So happy you had a nice Mother's Day!!

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  12. I love your 1/2 sq's and the border fabric is lovely. Great photo of you with your two guys, congrats on that masters degree. Lots of hard work there! Nice show pictures, some lovely quilts, I do like the one you liked, the blue is so nice with the red and cheddar

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  13. Congratulations to your son, and to you too! Wonderful new quilt! You just do wonders with with those leftover little bits. I really enjoyed the photos from the quilt show. I am glad you got to go. I was scratching my head on the winner of the mini group until you explained about the quilting. Lovely quilt to be hand quilting. I am a very slow quilter too.

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  14. Your quilt is stunning !! I love the fabric of the outer border...
    Congratulations for your son ! What a wonderful day you certainly spent with him... And the exhibition is full of wonderful quilts ! Thank you for sharing !
    Good luck for the quilting ... :)

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  15. wow that was quite a weekend! congrats to your son on his achievement.
    What a great looking quilt show. Great photos!!
    Those minis are great - did you enter? You should!
    yay for hand quilting.

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  16. Nancy Prince & myself used to belong to the same quilt guild. She is the maker of the thread painted winter scene quilt you show. Nice, nice lady.

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  17. Ok, so where's the loot????? I want to see what just happened to jump in your bag at the show! The thread painted quilt is really amazing. What a talent! Do you ever hand quilt just with a hoop in your lap? That is how I always quilt - using a hoop on a stand just looks uncomfortable to me.

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  18. Such a weekend you had with your son's graduation and the quilt show - know you loved Primitive Gatherings booth. With their home shop here in Wisconsin and all the vending they do, it is always sensory overload when visiting them. I tried so hard to love my Hinterburg revolving quilt stand but could never get comfortable. I do handquilting with a small hoop and everything piled in my lap...great during the winter, not so much in the summer!
    Love your HST mini - a perfect blending of colors with the border fabric.

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  19. Whirlwind weekend for you! I love your new half square triangle quilt. It is so dang cute. The quilt show looked like a very nice one. Glad you had such a good time. Beautiful quilts!
    Mary

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  20. What a wonderful weekend. Congratulations to your son for his awesome achievement. Your latest quilt is super cute and the border fabric is perfect. It's so fun to go to s show and get revved up with ideas and energy. It sounds like you didn't enter the mini category so next year you should.

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  21. Thanks for the show and tell, wish I could have joined you it looked like loads of fun! Congratulations to your son, all that hard work paid off, best of luck for his next big thing...more work?!

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  22. I spent three days at the HMQS - two in classes and then back to shop the vendors and see the quilts. Took a class from Irena Bluhm on funky feathers - only two of us in the class if you can imagine! All the things you shared caught my eye too. The minis were pretty amazing. I bought the Mini Quick Curve Ruler from Sew Kind of Wonderful and some papers for making the 1/2" HST from Primitive Gatherings - wanna make the HST quilt similar to the one you just did - it's in Lisa's little book. Got to watch Jenny Doan's trunk show on Friday - she's so cute! I seem to have lost my camera so only had my phone to take photos ARGH! Congrats to your son - and to YOU cuz moms always deserve some of the credit! I made my son a Xs & Os quilt to take on his mission and one for his wedding - that'll about do it! The purple featherweight was a real attention grabber, huh? Glad you had such a great weekend!

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  24. Janet, WHEW!! What a newsy post!! I love your little hst mini (that you weren't starting) and the border fabric is fabulous!! And the picture of you and your dh with your son at his graduation is fabulous!! Congrats to everyone. I'm not surprised that you LOVED the Primitive Gatherings booth. It's always so tempting! And the big winner of the machine quilting prize is a quilt I've seen and also loved. Thanks for sending such wonderful pictures. Sounds like you had a fantastic Mother's Day, which you definitely deserve!!

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  25. Congrats to your oldest Son! A Master's Degree is quite an accomplishment! Thank you for sharing pics of the quilt show... looks like all the right people were there too! I know I'd sure enjoy meeting Jenny Doan... she has such a genuine smile and a seemingly endless supply of energy! :-)

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  26. It looks like the show was full of beautiful inspiration (and lots of shopping opportunities!). I love that purple machine--so fun!

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  27. Wow, quite a show. You got in some good shopping, too -- some of my favorite online vendors!! The winner of the mini quilts kind of took me by surprise too! A huge WOW on the thread painted quilt -- the winter scene??! My goodness the time that must have gone into that!!! Thanks for sharing!! :)

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  28. janet, lovely blog spot....I agree that quilt IS incredible! way out of my expertise for sure...and I also agree about the blue ribbon mini...nice to see more of the family....I had the pleasure of transporting Irene bluhm to maine quilts from the airport one year...lovely person and beautiful work

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  29. Wow! This is a jam-packed post, Janet. I don't know where to begin with comments. Your quilt with tiny half-square triangles is amazing. The colors of blocks and border fabric are perfect. You have generous friends to give you both the HSTs and the fabric.

    Congratulations to your son. I think he looks like you.

    How fun to visit the quilt show and even better that you shared so many photos with us. Some of the quilts are amazing -- the one with thread-painting. It's hard to imagine doing that. It would have been fun to visit the Primitive Gatherings booth. I think my money would have been spent there, too.

    Your quilt for your son looks beautiful. What a fine remembrance of his mission for him.

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  30. While reducing the pile of unfinished quilts is a worthy goal, the real fun is in making new tops, isn't it? I love all those little quilts you shared ... when I go to Paducah, the minis are always my first stop. Unfortunately they're under glass. I understand why, but it certainly detracts from the viewing pleasure. :-( And Primitive Gatherings is always my first stop in the vendor mall. Unfortunately in Paducah (the only show I've been to where they've vendored) they're offsite ... but that doesn't stop me from making the trek. Ha!

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  31. Wonderful full blog post, as usual! You could have filled that whole show wall with your minis :) I'm always a fan of quilt shows and seeing what wonders others make, even if I am surprised at the winners! Glad you had a lovely time.

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  32. Congratulations to your son! And you and your hubby for raising a smart son! The quilt show looked wonderful. The snow scene quilt is amazing and unbelievable!!

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  33. I can see why the top award winning quilt received that prestigious position. My goodness all that time spent on the creation of this project. You should have had representation at this show with your minis. Your skill with both piecing and quilting would have fit right in with the winners in this division. Yes, Janet admit it... I leave much of my spending money with Primitive Gathering too! Congratulation to your son for such an achievement. Now what will he do? Enjoy your week...Sandi

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  34. Wow! So much goodness here! I love that blue floral too! The quilts at the show are pretty amazing.
    Welcome to the super duper slow hand quilting large quilts club!LOL

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  35. Wow, what an awesome blog. Busy, busy, busy.
    I like the border you attached to your mini #4. Really makes those HST's stand at attention. Special moments with your son and a lot of memories to behold. Since I haven't met you, I envisioned you about the same as your photo, only I had thought of your hair as a short bob. Guess what comes next in color?, white lol. We have been chating so much it is wild how you picture someone and then be surprised. lol Your DH is lucky that he never changes.
    I have Jenny on my bucket list to meet and visit her studio. Wouldn't a retreat at her studio be great? I know that it will never happen, but it would be great, her personality is one of a kind.
    If you ever decide to make a quilt like the one (red/white) you like, pick out friends and people that can write tiny, lol Enjoyed your blog

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  36. Well, what would you do next year if you don't make any new flimsies this year? I find that I love the ones that just sort of demand to be made out of the blue and a few scraps that I have lying around. Your HST quilt is beautiful! And yes, that is the perfect border :*). Congrats to the new graduate - a master's degree is an impressive accomplishment. So is the fact that your DH never ages LOL! Great picture of the three of you. So glad you had a nice Mother's Day my friend!!!

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  37. Such a lovely post with family celebrations, quilty adventures, a great quilt show, and ended with my favourite... a quilt being hand stitched in a frame... yum!

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  38. i just ran thru a bunch of your posts pinning away! You always inspire me. You are such an overachiever! Sooomeday I want to make that Tree of Life quilt. You are amazing!

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  39. So much goodness going on here, I love everything about your post, truly you've been a busy girl. You're an amazing quilter!! I love going to quilt shows, seriously there are so many skillful ladies out there! I'm glad I stopped by.
    Saimi

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  40. Thanks for sharing the pictures from the show! My sister and I always shop the vendors first because "the quilts aren't going anywhere, but the vendors can run out". LOL

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  41. Somehow I missed this post - How lucky that you could attend a machine quilting show! No such luck in these parts. What goodies did you buy?

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