Just For Fun

When I saw this beaded scissors fob in a vendor's booth at the AQS Quilt Show I knew it would look great on my new embroidery scissors with the flowered handles. Is it necessary to have jewelery for your scissors? Not at all, but sometimes a quilter needs a little something just for fun!

Feeling A Little Loopy

Do you ever feel like you want to quilt something, but you don't want to do anything too involved? That's how I was feeling last night, so I loaded three layers of flannel on the frame and quilted it all over with a loopy meander. Once I got it off the frame I squared it up and then stitched a straight stitch all the way around. All I have to do is rag the edges and then I'll have a cozy blanket to donate to Project Linus!

The Best Laid Plans

My goal to finish all of my UFO's before starting any new projects may be in jeopardy! I was able to resist buying fabric at the quilt show, but I wasn't able to pass by the books, patterns and templates! I've been admiring the Cut-Loose quilts that Millie from Millie's Quilting has been working on, so when I saw the book at the show I had to pick up a copy for myself. Tumbler block templates are hard to find, so when I saw this little 3" template I had to pick that up as well. Then I saw a beautiful sample quilt hanging in a vendor's booth made using the 4-Layer Cake pattern. There were kits available for the quilt, but I resisted and just bought the pattern instead. I thought I was doing good by not buying any fabric, but now that I have these new books and patterns in the house they have joined forces with my fabric stash to try and lure me away from my UFO's! You know what they say about the best laid plans...

Cut-Loose Quilts is available from Amazon.com
3" Tumbler Quilt Template is available from Come Quilt With Me
4-Layer Cake quilt pattern is available from Quilting Connection

Weave, Little Weaver Bird

One thing that I saw at the AQS Quilt Show that I absolutely fell in love with was the woven fabric baskets that were being demonstrated by one of the vendors. (I apologize for not having the vendor's shop name...in my excitement, I forgot to write it down!) These baskets are similar to the It's A Wrap clothesline bowls and baskets where fabric is wrapped around cotton cording, but instead of sewing the coils together on the sewing machine the fabric is woven back through the cording to hold it all together. The demonstrator at the show was using 1 inch cording and 2 inch fabric strips to make her basket, but unfortunately she had sold out of the cording. (I don't think the vendors were expecting the large crowds either!) I happened to have some clothesline leftover from the last clothesline bowl that I made, so I thought I would try the technique using that and a few selvages. I really liked the larger baskets, but I love the look of the selvages with the smaller cording!
If you would like to make your own woven fabric basket, the basic instructions can be found at FamilyFun.com.

AQS Quilt Show, Lancaster, PA

The AQS Quilt Show was everything it promised to be and more...a beautiful new venue, hundreds and hundreds of beautiful quilts, famous quilters, vendors representing every quilting related item that can be purchased and then some, but unfortunately all of these wonderful things brought bigger crowds. People were shoulder to shoulder in the aisles and standing four and five deep to view the quilts for most of the day, but by late afternoon the crowds started to thin which made for a better view of the quilts. Another unfortunate part of the AQS Quilt Show is their photography policy which states, "Photographs of quilts may be taken for your own personal use. Quilt photographs must not be used for any commercial purpose or displayed on the Internet (websites or blogs) without permission of the quiltmaker and American Quilter's Society." I have certain issues with this policy, but I will abide by their rules. Because gaining permission from the quiltmakers and AQS would be a time consuming (if not impossible) task, I won't be sharing quilt photos of the show on my blog. Despite my complaints of the crowds and photography policy, I had a wonderful time at the show, but I have to admit that I am a bigger fan of the smaller locally sponsored quilt shows.

Lancaster Here I Come!

Today is the day that I have been waiting for...I'm going to the AQS Quilt show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania! I'm expecting big things from AQS and I'm sure I won't be disappointed. The winners have already been posted on the AQS blog and the quilts look amazing in the photos, so no doubt they will be even more impressive in person! If you aren't going to be at the show you can view the winning quilts at www.americanquilter.com.

More About The AQS Quilt Show

I'm starting to think that just one day in Lancaster is not going to be long enough!

The Best Things In Life Are Free

Yesterday Barb from Bejeweled Quilts By Barb made a great point about my new selvage bag...it cost next to nothing to make! That thought hadn't occurred to me, but because I used selvages, scraps and a zipper that I already had on hand, it was basically free. For that reason, I thought I would sew a selvage change purse to hold all the money I saved!

Mama's Got A Brand New Bag!

Bright and early Friday morning I will be getting on a bus headed south to the AQS Quilt Show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania! Naturally, I couldn't go without a new bag to hold my camera and most importantly my cash and credit cards! With a few selvages, a zipper and a little imagination, I came up with this simple shoulder bag which is just the right size to carry the few things that I will need while at the show.