AQG Quilt Show

My friend Gale [talented longarmer from CO] and I went to the show today and had a wonderful few hours viewing quilts and checking out the vendors. I think the highlight was meeting the amazing Renae Haddadin at her well stocked booth with a full array of her wonderful tools so Gale was able to purchase just the LA rulers she has needed for her work.

Renae [on the left] is a very friendly and down to earth lady and happy to share information and tips on longarming, we were delighted to have met this quilter whose beautiful work we have long admired.
There were too many adorable and enticing patterns in the vendor booths and Gale bought a few! Our favorite booth was that of Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli with her clever, fun Day of the Dead fabrics and patterns.

This is just one of the many irresistible designs, Gale has tasked me with making her an apron from it!

The giraffe wall hanging pattern below was another too cute to pass up - Gale and I hope to get together in April to make one each.

The background is one piece of fabric while the giraffe is all raw edge applique and the entire piece is quilted in straight lines in both directions, it should be fun.

Next came the actual quilt show! First the fabric challenge quilts, below are four that really caught our attention.

I love this elegant elephant

Aren't they smashing colors?

Then some modern quilts, it was interesting how many were on display and also how we were attracted to them, both the design and the clever quilting. Modern quilting has really taken off the past few years.

I am enlarging some of these to show quilting detail

Cute bunny and imaginative quilting

 This was interesting, very 3 dimensional so different it really stood out

 This one made me wonder if that's what an LSD trip is like, psychedelic mushrooms?! The judges liked it!
The next two quilts are displayed by a friend so I was delighted to see her work and the ideas she is currently exploring.

 Up close you do not see the design you have to step away to get the picture.

 Very clever with all the faces and ties and the wording quilted into the design.

Interesting embellishments, "Good taste is the worst vice ever invented" it says!

 A colorful city scape

 This one is for all my "sister" quilters, hear us roar quilt!

 Too cute for words, it's called  "Forbidden Fruit" from the "Wicked Appetite Series"!

 This one appealed to me simple design and gorgeous modern quilting.

 Another modern quilt with interesting angles and a dash of color, more terrific quilting.

 And more lovely quilting

 Simple design of the trees and understated quilting

Clever piecing no quilting required.

Tomorrow I will show the remainder of the quilts I photographed, mostly more traditional and some super grand prize winners.

The Wedding

I have candid pics, and I will show a few of them here. It was a hectic three days beginning with the rehearsal dinner when I did not take any photos! As mother of the groom I did not have the opportunity during the ceremony either but managed a few afterwards. Personally I am a sucker for wedding photos, I always love to see other people's special day too.

Awaiting the bride

The Boy with the Bridal couple

 And with his Daddy

We're married!

 With Matron of Honor and Best Man

A kiss in the car

 The photo below taken of us as we came into the church ahead of the wedding party.

 The beautiful vintage Mercedes big brother trailered to Yuma for the wedding.

 The Boy with his favorite cousin, he will do anything for her! I think this is the cutest photo.

 Cutting the cake

There was a board set up for all three events with photos of the grandparents' and parents' weddings and an engagement pic of the bride and groom, such a nice idea.

Taken at the brunch Sunday at the bride's parent's home.

Yessenia has an amazing family to cover the scope of the work it took to organize all the events of that three day celebration for two hundred people, and they accomplished it without a hitch and with such warmth, welcome and love. Our family and friends were all beneficiaries of the Figueroa extended family's outreach to us and we are so very grateful to them. We look forward to more reasons for family events that join us all together again.

A few more photos from the Sunday brunch, menudo and pork pizole!

Both sets of parents and the two Nanas!

 

Father of the bride sings with the band

An Apron For The Bride

To be sure my new daughter-in-law knows that I understand she is now the number one woman in her husband's life, when I present her with an apron and a note that says: 

"Here are the apron strings"…...

 it is clear I have stepped down from my pedestal!

Designer Pillow #2

All wedding sewing is now complete, just as well we are down to the wire with the wedding on Saturday.

Linking with Needlework Tuesday

A Flowery Pillow

More wedding sewing, I decided to make throw pillows with left over fabrics to coordinate with the quilt, here's the first one using a cute and simple idea from Angela Walter's website.
I purchased a 14" pillow form and made a white cover for it using fabric left from the quilt. There's a helpful tutorial by Julie Herman at sewmamasew with detailed directions for pillow making and pillow covers.
The flower for this pillow uses circles of fabric, folded once……...

 then twice.

 I used a 5.5" template to cut the circles and also to mark a circle in the center of the front of the pillow cover as a guide. 

There are 5 different colors in this "flower"- Row#1 needed 12 petals -  arrange them around the circle overlapping each one, then pin in place and stitch down. Be sure to place the petals with the fold on the same side or it will not look nice.

9 petals in Row#2, stitch down.

8 petals in Row#3, stitch as before

8 petals also in Row#4, I used two different yellow fabrics-stitch them down.

6 petals in Row #5, stitch down the final petals and you are almost done. I tried a button in the center, not really liking it, so I took it off but the pillow does look good with the quilt. The number of rows is not fixed, depending on the size of the circles and the flower, the number of rows may differ, this is what worked for me I liked how full it was.

Then I tried this little yellow flower and I do really like that, the little button is just one I pulled from my big jar of buttons.

I had searched for small yellow "silk" flowers with no success so I decided to make my own with this flower head from Joann's, I just popped them off their little stalks!

Stack up a few until it looks nice and full, pin them together and stitch all through the center with matching thread. Staggering the petals in each row makes it look more realistic.

Perfect! Solves the problem very nicely, as they say "necessity is the mother of invention".

Wedding Quilt is All Finished!

So happy to have it all bound, I used the light floral and it turned out nicely, not too dark or light or too bright, it blends but still provides a frame for the borders.

Final measurements are 114"x118", enough for a pillow tuck. Very hard to photograph because of the size, even hoisted up as high as the pulley will go still it drapes on the floor.

The center is freehand Edge to Edge feathers…………….

the borders freehand feathering, pebbling and a piano key quilting on the very edge.

The backing is a medium grey, now I wonder if it would have been better to use a grey in the bobbin.

This is a utility quilt, it will be on their bed 365 days a year so I chose not to quilt very small and make it stiff, I prefer a bit of drapiness in a quilt that will be used.

Label is embroidered into the backing for security and convenience-I don't enjoy sewing the labels on by hand and they are not as secure. Short of destroying the quilt there's no way to remove it, this is my preferred method of adding a label.

Close up of the binding  

This was my favorite fabric so I plan to incorporate it into two throw pillows and I ordered another yard of it to be sure to have enough left over for me!

Before and After!

The wedding quilt is off the longarm ready for binding tomorrow. Whew, a big job, took me just over a week to quilt, that's why I have been absent from the blogging scene.

 The quilt before quilting……..

and after.

 It is still huge, I will trim it to 114" wide and however long it turns out!

 I think it's long enough for a pillow tuck.

I am hoping to make two throw pillows also. If the binding goes on tomorrow [after the gym] I will have time to make the pillows I found two very cute ideas on Pinterest that will allow me to use some of the left over fabrics.

I am pleased with the result in spite of the fact that my machine threw off some oily fluffy bits and I have a couple of little black spots with which to contend. I may end up treating again with oxyclean and Sard soap and laundering. I will see about that after I bind it and then decide how much of an issue it will be for me.

I will take better pics after it's bound and I can hang it for proper display, but you get the idea.

Whew again!

Wedding Quilt Center is Done

Good progress on this quilt, all being well I should be finished well ahead of the wedding date later this month. The center is already 78"x103", with the three WOW borders it will be around 115"x120". 

BTW, I asked the Bride-to-be not to look at my blog between now and her wedding, I don't want her to see the quilt until it is finished.

I had to order a second backing from my favorite online fabrics store, Thousands of Bolts and Only One Nut! I thought it was 118" wide, turns out to be 108" - it's quite hard to find the extra wide backings over 108" especially if you need a specific color.
I ended making extra blocks because I decided to extend the design over the pillow area instead of a band of the WOW. So six more blocks made it 6x8 then a few more blocks for the panel in the backing because 108" isn't wide enough for a 114" wide quilt.

I really like the feather motif on the backing especially since the quilting will be mostly freehand feathers, the color is a little more steely than shows here. The backing will still not be wide enough so I plan to insert a 14" strip alternating pieced blocks and squares of the grey backing- I have the extra blocks ready to go. Thousands Of Bolts ships really fast Priority USPS and my orders normally arrive promptly in two days so I will be looking for the second backing by Wednesday. I have recommended this site to many and have purchased from them for years with nothing but the very best first quality brand name brand merchandize, exceptional service and a huge range of everything you could ask for fabric wise.

 Good thing I am ahead with the quilt because our Navy DGS brought by a set of his blues that need a bit of help in the form of stitching on his rank [a 5 minute job which includes thread change] and hemming the pants. He was charged $40 last time he needed an item of rank sewn on, is that outrageous I wonder, is that the best we can do for our military? I am putting on my flame proof panties now because I know that every business needs to make a profit but could they not make an exception for the military? At least offer a discount, and I don't even want to think what they'd charge for hemming the pants!
Disclaimer- we are a military family for generations and I have sewed on patches and hemmed uniforms from BTU's  to Mess Blues and Whites for DH and our Army son and now I have another generation to proudly support in his service for our great Nation.
No complaints here!