Des Moines quilt show 2015

 There was lots of inspiration and fun at this year's AQS show in Des Moines. I went with a group of friends last weekend....we had such a great time.I was fascinated by this face done between stripes.

 This quilt belongs to Lynne at Patchery Menagerie....loved seeing it up close and personal.

 Yea, I was awestruck by this one.

 The following 4 pictures show the detailing in this Best of Show winner. It was gorgeous!

 That scene in the green border is all thread painting! wow!

 I took this one for my friend Cindy, who couldn't join us but would've loved this rooster.

 We giggled over this one, the calm waters above and the monster lurking below.

 We saw the huge "Wicked" challenge display. You could vote for your favorite. That was hard!

 All in all it was a great time, great inspiration and we all left with a few bags of goodies, ready to move on to a new project!

Getting ready for the AQS show....

I was excited to find out that Starflower Cascade, would be exhibited as part of the AQS Modern Challenge at AQS QuiltWeek in Des Moines this year. I had a week to get it ready to send, which meant making a hanging sleeve to their specifications so it can be hung at the show. 

First you cut a rectangle that is 8 1/2" x the width of your quilt. 

Next you find the middle of it lengthwise and press. Then lay it out flat and press both long ends towards that center pressed mark so they meet in the middle (these pressed marks are very important!).

Hem the narrow ends of the rectangle.

Putting right sides together, you sew it together lengthwise using a 1/4" seam. Press the seam but be careful not to lose your press marks from the second step as that is what you will use as a guide to sew it on to the back. 

Turn it right side out and center the seam on the bottom. Press those original seams from the second step. They are no longer centered the same way because the bottom/seam side is now 1/2" smaller than the top edge, so it looks like a tunnel. The sleeve needs to be this way because of the hardware they use to hang it.

Using those pressed edges, center the sleeve on your quilt, 1/2" -3/4" from the top edge and sew it on.

One step closer!

I made a label using a border of the backing fabric sewn on to a printed fabric label. I like making labels this way as it's easier to sew through the fabric than it is to sew through the label.

I felt like a mama hen sending her chicks out into the world getting this quilt ready to send. It's just plain silly, I know. I'm glad it's on it's way so I can quit thinking about whether I should've done something differently! 

Bye bye...see you in Des Moines!

AQS QuiltWeek Des Moines 2013, here I come!

Last spring I saw an ad for the American Quilter's Society Modern Quilt Challenge. To enter the challenge, your quilt had to be made within the last 3 years and your own design. At the time I was working on a new design, Starflower Cascade,  using neutrals with a pop of color, so I decided that I would enter it in the contest.

Throughout making it, I wavered back and forth....Is it modern enough? The waters of modern design seem to be rather murky, ranging from minimalistic design with interesting use of neutral colors to new takes on traditional blocks. Is it sewn well enough? I think we all sew to the best of our ability, but I don't know if I sew well enough to be viewed by thousands, judges included,  close up and personal. (that scares me a little!) I quilted it too, so more things to scrutinize. I'm still not sure about the answers to these questions, but I guess I'll find out because I did enter it and it will be shown at the  AQS Quilt Week in Des Moines as part of the AQS Modern Quilt Challenge in October. There are prizes to be won, and they will choose a selection of the quilts to travel to all of the AQS shows for the next year. Best of all, this show is only 2 hours away, and my friends and I travel to see it every year, so I will be able to see my quilt as well as the other 112 quilts in this challenge!

I took this picture before quilting and you can see the true colors better in it, I think. I wish I would've taken it outside for a picture before I sent it, as it's hard to do justice to the colors inside.

I made a label with the information they needed. I also had to make and attach a special hanging sleeve to it, more about that tomorrow. It needed to be in Paducah by Sept. 13, so I packed it up and sent it Friday.

I guess I can quit worrying now and start getting excited! 

New stuff....good stuff...

Not only did we see some of the most beautiful quilts ever at the AQS show, we got to shop at lots of booths full of fabrics, thread and other quilty goodies. I told myself that I didn't really need any fabric...no new project that needs a "fabric hit", so I would look at other things. 

 I have been wanting ABC 3-D for a long time, so now it is mine, to plan a gorgeous 3d quilt. Not sure which one I will make first, there are 2 that I love.

 I can't wait to try out my 2 new quilting pantographs.

 This one is just so playful....I hope I don't get lost where it crosses over. Have you ever been quilting along, sort of in your own little world and realize that when you reached a crossover, you started going backwards over what you just quilted? Yea, me too...

You probably guessed it already, I couldn't go through all those booths without getting a little fabric...could you?  I thought I showed a lot of restraint, though!

More awesome quilts and a quilted yurt!

 I love the technique that was used to make this quilt. Very similiar to the Spinning Hexagon I made, only she started with squares.

 There was a Sunbonnet Sue exhibit! She was so cute in many nationalities!

This Quilted Yurt from  Scottish artist Linzi Upton was very interesting.

 There were quilts inside and out. She had to commission a new frame be built for the show because it would be too costly to ship the original frame.

 I think she did some lectures and a class or two while in Des Moines. You can read about the yurt on her website. She has a blog there as well.

 Very interesting idea and quilts. She had some help making some of the quilt panels.

 Check out her website and blog...interesting reads!

Hi ho, hi ho it's off to work I go. Monday always seems to find me.

Quilt show!

 We got to the quilt show a few minutes before it opened at 9:00....Lots of excitement!

 There were so many gorgeous quilts, I couldn't take pictures of them all and see the whole show. But these were some that stood out. This one was a variation on the orange peel pattern. Very bold and different.

 Another orange peel, a bit harder to tell. The blocks get larger as they come out of the center!

 Loved the title of this one, as well as the dogs....Nine Dogs Night!

 Check out the quilting....

I am in awe of people who can do this type of quilting. Pictures never do it justice...it was gorgeous!

The applique work on this quilt was amazing too. When you go to a show like this, everyone is getting up close to see exactly how they did it.  Such talent!!! 

We had such a great time...lots of good vendors too....a little of my money flew out of my pocket! I will take some pix and show you tomorrow.