Quilt Show, Part 1

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have a wonderful day out, with two lovely friends, at a 'local' quilt show. Does an hour's drive away count as local? That's about as local as it'll ever get for us anyway! There were so many amazing quilts on show, and far too much gorgeous, tempting fabric for sale. And, predictably, I've come back with far too many photos. I'll show you some today and some tomorrow so it's not complete quilt photo overload.

The first ones here are a selection from a quilt competition - the challenge was to create two A4 sized quilts around the title 'Little Landscape'

These two had amazing stitching for the 'quilting', obviously using a wide range of a machine's embroidery stitches, and in lovely variegated threads.

A washing line scene over 2 different seasons.

Quite simple but very effective.

A very clever couple of quilts with the camera shot.

This was the description for those last two, I really liked these.

A solid piece with just the quilting. I'd like to make a mini quilt in this way but haven't come up with the right idea for it yet.

Another couple of whole cloth mini quilts, this time very simple - one with natural outlines and the other with outlines of man made structures.

I think, from memory, that this was one of the 'pair' of quilts which won.

 And there was another mini quilt competition which I really enjoyed looking at, this time the challenge was 'A touch of red', and it produced very different interpretations. Here are a few:

Here was the 'touch of red' in that last one, in case you couldn't quite make it out.

As well as the quilts and the stalls I went along to a demonstration on 'stitching in space', which is a machine embroidery technique I'd never seen before. I  bought a few bits and pieces afterwards from one of the stalls to help me have more of a play with this some time.

And after seeing several amazing examples of work which were quilted in variegated thread, I was tempted to buy some...

And I came away with a few fat quarters too!

I was looking out for bargain black and white prints - I have a few already but not enough for a quilt yet. And the others are for a possible quilt for Maria for her birthday in the Summer. I can't quite decide what to make her, but a whimsical, gnomes/fairies/toadstools theme is a distinct possibility so these might come in handy. As might my last purchases - some very cute, wooden buttons...

Maria spotted me photographing them and was immediately drawn to them - sorry, blurry pictures.

 

And to finish off 'Part 1' of the quilt show, we spotted a sweet quilt just on the way out, which was very appropriate...

 Back tomorrow with Part 2!

Sally.