A Happy Coincidence

Yesterday I had to take the baby up to see his doctor again. He got cleared of the pneumonia, and we went ahead with the shots he should have had a month ago, when he was too sick. Of course there are always several stops to make in town for things that are hard to come by in our little town, so I did some shopping. As it turned out, I needed buttons to replace some on my son's SPARKS vest, and some pumpkin-colored embroidery floss, so I stopped at the quilt store ;) While I was there I happened to overhear some customers saying there was a quilt show going on in town. Well, of course I had to go! Thankfully I rarely go anywhere without my camera :)

I'm so glad I did. So many amazing, beautiful, inspiring quilts. The show was called "Quilting in the Tetons" so several of the quilts had a western/Rocky Mountain feel to them. LOVE this elk quilt. It was done by a professional. The booklet given out with quilt info in it says this is called "Bull Elk Serenade," made by Sue Rasmussen, who has taught at Quilting in the Tetons before. This is the 25th and final year for the show. They are hoping to find someone younger to continue it though. Wish I had the time...

This is another of Sue's quilts, this one called, "Grizzly Bear."

Check out the detailed quilting!

Here's a fun quilt made by Didi Salvatierra. It's called "Barnyard Babes, " and the description says, "Fun chicken blocks designed by Mary Lou Weidman; original designs for top and bottom borders by Didi. Machine quilted in chicken wire design. Chicken coops have names of their residents (less likely to eat them if they have names!). Embellished with "straw," buttons, and beads." How fun!

I have to admit this sampler quilt is not my favorite (I do really like the middle left section that looks like borders on borders - I could do a whole quilt like that), but look at the bottom row. See the woman's face?

Now isn't that a fun, clever way to sign a quilt? HA. I wouldn't use a caricature either, as I think those are really hideous, but this us such a fun idea! And the words around it remind me of some signatures I have in an old autograph album my great uncle owned. Sayings like this were a common thing back in the early 1900's, which this quilt "feels" like - depression era fabrics and patterns that would have been popular then.

A group out of Casper, Wyoming brought several quilts using the "blended techniques" taught by Marsha McClosky at Quilting in the Tetons 2008. This was one of those, done by Shelley Landon, entitled "French Garden Party."

Here's a closer look at the center.

I was really drawn in by these flowers.

This was my overall favorite of the quilt show, and the one I voted on for fan favorite. (Actually I loved the elk just as much, but didn't want to vote for one professionally made.) This one is called "Bali Wedding Star" made by Barbara Walsh from a pattern designed by Judy Niemeyer. It contains more than 100 different fabrics. Wow. I love the look of this one, and have on my to-do list a double wedding ring quilt, but that seems boring now, compared to this one. I'm definitely going to have to get this pattern and eventually make this quilt!

I don't usually care for art quilts but this one really impressed me. It was fairly small - 20x30. It's called, "Evening Light: Arches National Park" and is made by Susan Madden.

The color is created with little scraps of fabric stacked one on top of another. The quilting is spectacular as well. Beautiful!

I thought this was another beautiful quilt. I love the blues and browns - those are my go-to colors. I also loved the pattern of this quilt. It has an interesting story too. The quilt is made up of three different state stars - Wyoming, Wisconsin and Ohio. It is a wedding quilt made for a couple named Travis and Christina. Travis is from Ohio, Christina from Wisconsin, and Wyoming is where they make their home together. The quilt was made by Travis's mother and her two sisters (Nora Brant, Mary Lou Dungan, and Ellie Monroe). Turquoise is the bride's favorite color (and mine ;) ). Anyway, the back side is the interesting part...

According to the description, Travis proposed to Christina on a scrabble board :) Gotta love that. So his mom included their names and wedding info on the back in a scrabble pattern. Don't you just love that? And if you look close, you will see the date of the wedding is this upcoming Saturday! Definitely a memorable quilt. I loved this because I already have in the works (plans and fabric purchased) the idea to do a crossword quilt wall hanging with our family names on it. Too fun!

Now this one just amazes me. This is all done by hand in reverse applique by Pat Hitchcock. She has entitled it, "A Little Closer to Insanity." I think it is stunning! Reminds me of a Dear Jane. The description says, "This quilt has 196 - 4 1/2x4 1/2 inch blocks. All the blocks and borders are done by hand in reverse applique. The patterns are in a book: Dutch Treat by Judy Garden. It is a great carry along project, BUT also very time consuming. It took about a year to complete."

Isn't it just amazing? Such tiny little pieces - but I'm guessing reverse applique would actually be easier to do in this size than actual piecing. Still, ridiculously intense work!

This is called a "One Patch Wonder." There must have been a class on this one because there were three of these quilts at the show (all different color schemes) and two at the quilt store. Somehow I missed getting the number in this photo, so I don't know who made it :(

I love the graphic look to this quilt. Kind of like a kaleidoscope. The colors the quilter chose are perfect for the effect. It was made by Judy Larson.

This one reminds me of a Farmer's Wife quilt, which I am currently working on. It's even set on point with the same kind of sashing I'm planning on using. I checked the book when I was standing there to see if it was one, and it isn't, but somehow I missed getting the number, so I don't know what it is :(

This one also reminded me of the Farmer's Wife. It's actually a very cool concept. It's called "Old Maid's Puzzle." Each block in the quilt has a mate, except for the Old Maid's Puzzle block - so clever! Anyway, I'll have to see if I can find all the matches when I have time ;) (You know me and all my spare time - ha).

Anyway, I greatly enjoyed getting to go to the show. I had the baby in one hand and the camera around my neck, and in the other hand. I didn't get to take as much time as I would have liked. It would have been nice to get to read about each quilt as I walked through, but most of them I just read once I got home. I love that they gave us a booklet with all the info in it. And, I signed up for a drawing too, so hopefully I'll win that :) My luck seems to be changing (even though I don't believe in luck) I've won two other give-aways since I posted about my first win. One was a $25 gift certificate for Old Navy, and the other was a Sullivan's Edge ruler - the rotary cutting ruler that sharpens your blade as you cut!