Omaha Quilt Guild Show

One of the fun quilting events in our area is the Omaha Quilt Guild Show which is going on this weekend. Some friends and I went to the opening last night and spent some quality time oohing and ahhing over some very pretty quilts. This one, called Happy As a Clam, uses a log cabin block that has thinner strips on two of the sides. Each clamshell is made up of the "corners" of four different log cabin blocks, two with the wider strips on top and two with the narrower strips on the bottom. I have seen these types of blocks before, but never done in this arrangement. Very pretty. You can click on the picture to see more detail. This quilter evidently envisioned them as trees, so she quilted a trunk and branches on each clamshell. It was very pretty.

  I saw it in this vendor's booth too, so it must be an available pattern, though I couldn't find it online. It must be in a book.

I loved the brightness and freshness of this quilt.

These are some teeny tiny nine patches....1 1/2" blocks set on point. We were in awe. I don't think something this small is in my future, though I have to admit I'm tempted to make a few....

Don't worry, she isn't touching. I just asked her to hold up her hand to see the size better.

These fun flags were made for a quilts of valor event. The weren't bound, but finished with a satin stitched edge.

I loved the quilting on this one. I wish I were this talented! It's an art all by itself.

 Pretty feathers closeup.

This was a fun flowery quilt that is much prettier in person. My picture doesn't do it justice.

This quilter took her son's handprint every year. Then, when he was grown up, she traced those handprints and made appliques of the hand. She used some interesting fabrics from clothes he had worn for the hands

Of course, I love circles.

This quilt used small blocks on point and was very pretty. I don't make miniatures because most of what I design and make is for classes I teach and people don't seem to be as interested in making them. But they are so much fun to look at.

We saw our favorite quilt shop owners too, Becky and Kim from Cut Up and Quilt. They were wearing their fun, new Quilt! shirts. Truthfully, they were pretty tired from setting up their booth, but you couldn't tell it from these smiles!

This is their first quilt show...doesn't their booth look awesome!

I saw a Circle and Spin quilt at the show that a student had made in one of my classes from my pattern, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I got distracted by the pretties around me. I took lots more pictures, so will share some more tomorrow.

I am heading to Earling to see my parents today. I haven't been up there for a few weeks, so it will be fun to road trip and visit. 

Kid's Camp, Pajama Pants!

 I taught a great group of girls a beginning sewing class yesterday....making pj pants. I had quite a variety of ages, but all were very enthusiastic!

 They had all chosen their favorite fabrics and learned a few basics about sewing with a pattern. I used Simplicity 2290, which is a great pattern to begin with since it's just one pattern piece. You cut one for each side, so you  only have 2 pieces to sew together. PJ pants have a looser fit so that's a bonus for young sewers, too.

 Aunt Nikki brought her niece to class and they both made pants.

 We did a fashion parade to show the shop employees their beautiful pants!

 They were suitable impressed. I lined them up for a group picture. Love those proud smiles!

Three of the girls are taking another Kid's Camp class next week....they will be making the Cobblestone Floor Pillow.

I taught the Wednesday night Sampler Pick group in the evening, so I had a high volume quilty day!

 Today I want to work on the new quilt and figure out where I go from here...having lunch with a friend and then heading to the Omaha Quilt Guild show this afternoon with friends. I love going to this show for the inspiration. Plus there will be some vendors there too....oh yea! My friends from Cut Up and Quilt were busy making up kits for the show when I was there the other day. If you stop by to see them, tell them "hi" for me! Hopefully I will have some pictures tomorrow. If you live in the area, it's a must see. It will be going on through Saturday.

I can't stop making them!

I sewed with friends yesterday and worked some more on the new quilt, then I made a few more Snap Happy Bags for fun.    

 While shop hopping we got a pattern to make these little bags. This started out as an 8 1/2" square. It would make a great coin purse.

 Dianne worked on her Snake Dance Mystery quilt and got the center all sewn together.  She is planning on making one for her brother too.

I am teaching the first Kid's Camp, Pajama Pants class today. Should be fun!

More Snap Bags and a Snake Dance finish....

 I spent Sunday cleaning and making  a few more snap bags. These are so much fun to make and will make cute gifts. I have three more cut out and ready to sew.

 I like this one the best and I might have to keep it myself.

 Earlier in the month, I taught the Snake Dance Mystery classes at two local shops. Kerstin of Cookies Treasures joined in from Germany. She finished her quilt top and posted about it here. I think it turned out beautifully!

I did some sewing yesterday on a new project. I hope to finish sewing the top together today. I'm heading out to sew with the Tuesday sewers. They've added some friends since last summer, so it is a busy happy group. Should be fun.

More quiltfest pix

 Here are some more pictures of the Bluffs Quiltfest. This is one of our presenters doing her trunk show.

 Here is our other presenter doing her trunk show. The crowd seemed to really enjoy these trunk shows and the presenters views  on their quilts and quilting in general. I met a lot of nice quilters as we shared some insights and laughs throughout the day!

 It was fun for us to see all of the interest in our show and hopefully we will continue to improve the shows each year.

Bluffs Quiltfest

 Bluffs Quiltfest was a lot of fun yesterday. Laural (seated) from the Bluffs Art Council got us together again this year for our second annual event. Here she is ready to greet our quilting enthusiasts.  That is one of my older quilts on her table. I made that quilt in the 90s and hand quilted it over a period of three years.

Marsha is on the show committee and demonstated the easy and fun method of making the 15 Minute Tablerunner during the show.
 

 Mary demonstrated English Paperpiecing Hexagons...Judy was very interested in her chicken pincushions. Mary also had an antique signature quilt on display at her table, so she talked about it as well.

 Judy (another show committee member) demonstrated how to make the Hot Dog Pillowcase. Our demonstrations went on all day long as people walked around, except while our two presenters gave their trunk shows.

 I demonstrated one method of stringpiecing, but brought lots of models to help tell my story. You can see a picture of me during my demo on Giselle's blog....she came to the show from Omaha.

 We don't have a quilt guild in Council Bluffs, so are a small group and don't have the set up to show the quilts like some of the larger guilds do. But people seemed to enjoy the show, and we gave everyone a glove so that they could touch the quilts if they wanted to.

 I had a great time at the show and met lots and lots of nice quilters yesterday! I will post more pictures tomorrow! Happy Sunday.