Bloomin' Rose Block Party

One thing almost all quilt groups are good at is having a party. Heaven forbid there not be cake, or puppies or husbands hanging around. Of course we played games. Sherrill and Evelyn are having a discussion concerning their winnings. We used just such an occasion to have our chance to show off all the quilts we'd made. Last December, instead of a gift exchange at our Christmas party, we had a signature block exchange for the members that wanted to participate. We exchanged 16 blocks with each other, and added a lot more or a few more to come up with these lovely quilts.

Shirley hosted us at her home and made a rag quilt version of the blocks, quilting as you go and leaving the frayed edges, thus the rag quilt look.

Sherrill made extra blocks and made butterflies and add a striking blue sashing which fit just right.

Evelyn is our Queen of the guild. She isthe longest attending member of the quilt guild. She showed her stuff with making, I think one of the largest quilts. What is most impressive is she does most, if not all her work, by hand!

Lovely Mary makes the most lovely quilts. If we were to award a prize, we all agreed, she would win.

Ginny got the prize for using up the stash in the best way. This border fabric is from a retreat trip we took several years back.

Our group is blessed with some particularly great quilters. Joan is one of those. She is, what I call a master quilter. In her other life, she taught home economics, has been published in magazines and sews anything and everything quilt or not related. She was also the first to complete her quilt for the Show and Tell.

CiCi is a newer member that has created this lovely quilt with the leaves as a secondary design-very nice movement in this quilt.

Carol is another new quilter that continues to amaze us. I can't wait to see her interpretation of a quilt she's working on.
Yours truly. I was the only one that pieced the border. I like the way the hourglass blocks mimicked the center blocks. The corner blocks were free motion quilted roses.Deloris made a lovely quilt, choosing just the right colors in the borders.

Dot did the most innovative piecing technique for the group project. She butted the blocks together and fused the striped sashing over the top. Then she zigzagged over the top of the fused sashing. Click to enlarge to see the borders better, sorry about the blurry picture.
Ruth lightened up the design with a delicate looking quilt that is very nice.

We had to add some extra signatures but, that was half the fun, finding your name in another person's quilt. Some of us added our name more than once...oh well...smile.

A good day was had by all and we went on our way looking forward to planning another year together, parties, Sit-N-Sew and travels.

Brainstorming planning day Tuesday, July 10 from 10:00 to 1:00. If you are looking for a new group to join, check us out at Northeast Christian church.
Happy Quilting!

Lavenders, Bread of Life, and King Quilt Products

Northeast Quilting Friends was on the move in style to the hinter lands of Kentucky. We drove and we drove through the beautiful rural country side around Danville and Liberty, Ky. Miles and miles of 4 rail wood fences and lovely stone fences escorted us along our way.

Fifteen of our members made the annual trek to, first off, Kings Quilt Products in Liberty, Ky. If you go with a large group, to any of these places, they really appreciate a phone call to give them a chance to have the extra staff to handle that many people.

Here we are filing in and browsing through $2.00 a yard fabric and finding lots of goodies. Now, I must give a bit of caution, several of the bolts did have a "seconds" sticker on them, but not all, so buyer beware. Built alongside the quilt shop is everything you need for the farm The farm supply side had, what I think, was the largest selection of bib overalls I've ever seen....imagine that...smile...

Following Kings, it was on to The Bread of Life,
a restaurant that helps support the local economy and gives some aid to people in need. Anyway-great buffet-good 'ole country food-and the best warm chocolate cake with peanut butter icing-I've ever eaten. '
The chewy praline fudge is also highly recommended.

Then it was on to Lavender's Quilt Shop.

The store is deep in the country with a few Amish that still need a hitching post where they can tie up their horses.

What fun we all had while the husband and wife team that lives near and owns the shop, cut our fabric for us and also kept us entertained with their humor.

My oh my what a wonderful day!

Quilter's Day Out was a HUGE SUCCESS!

When people come together for quilting, it's a wonderful thing, and this weekend for the national Quilter's Day Out celebration, it was no exception. Well over 500 people attended this event.


We began the day at 10:00 with registration at the door, for $2.00 and a canned good for the local food pantry, you received a Big gift bag filled with all kinds of quilter things and then some.

Next you were able to choose between viewing a quilt challenge called "Think Green Quilt Challenge" or going into the gymnasium and viewing the participating guilds and vendors




Midway through the day, there was a guest speaker, Valerie White, who was a great motivating speaker. Valerie, who is an accomplished quilt artist, is standing to the right of our event organizing leprechaun, Linda Slye, who is holding the tote bag full of fabric our group gave away.


Dot, one of our fabulous members, seated, is manning the voting area for the Think Green Quilt Challenge. We had 23 quilts entered in the competition. I'm sure there were over 500 attending the event, because I made 300 ballots for Viewer's Choice voting and we ran out of those pretty early and had to improvise ballots, using notebook paper. Anyway, we had first, second and third place winners, which received ribbons and cash prizes. All voters were eligible for winning a tote bag filled with fabric.

You could also choose to see 8 award winning quilts from Happy Heart Quilt Guild. These quilts were interpretations of Mother Goose.


All in all, it was a wonderful day of quilting and fun and our quilt guild, the most wonderful guild in the world, had a lot of fun and are looking forward to next year's national quilt holiday, Quilter's Day Out. Come join us or start your own...smile...

Quilter's Day Out Preparations...

Our group has been busy planning our activities for Quilter's Day Out.

The guest speaker, Valerie White, will be teaching us about inspirations for contemporary quilting.



Besides the guest speaker, each of the 11 guilds participating will be participating in the event in one way or another. Our guild will be hosting a Viewer's Choice Judging, Think Green Quilt Challenge. A quilt challenge is a sort of show, where you set the rules for the show. Since this is our first try at a quilt challenge, for QDO, we wanted to make it pretty easy for all to enter, so our rules are as follows: green has to be somewhere on the quilt, and the quilt size does not exceed 200 inches perimeter. Beyond that the standard quilt show rules apply-3 layers; 4 inch sleeve for hanging; etc. We will have ribbons and cash prizes for the quilt show winners. There will also be a drawing from among the names of the viewer's choice judges for a tote bag full of fabric.

This should be a fun day for all that attend. Here's the general information:

Quilter's Day Out 2007

District 6 of the Kentucky Quilt Society invites you to join quilters from 7 counties in celebration of National Quilt Day (mandated by Congress).

Date and Time: Saturday March 17, 2007
10:00 to 3:00pm

Where: Ballardsville Baptist Church Life Center
Junction of highways 22 and 53 in Oldham County
Exit 22 off I-71 and then 3.5 miles to Ballardsville


Admission: $2.00 and a non-perishable food item for church food pantry

Activities: Showcase of district quilt guilds
Lecture by local art quilter and fiber artist Valerie White
All other activities (vendor sales, guild demos, etc.) will be suspended so attention can be focused on our guest.
Quilt Exhibit: Nasville show winners from Happy Heart Quilters
Sit 'n' Sew
Vendors
Free coffee and cookies
Cafe
Quilt Challenge contest with cash prizes for Viewer's Choice Winners
Door Prizes t include 4 sewing machines and a sewing machine table

Door prize drawings at 10:45; 11:45; 12:45 and 1:45

SEE YOU THERE!

Quilter's Day Out Planning Committee

I'm all a twitter with excitement about Quilter's Day Out. It is a national holiday, of sorts, for quilters. Whoopee!! Quilter Jargon spoken here: fat quarters; bias binding; and 1/4 inch seams....smile...you understand, don't you? If you are in the secret sister quilt club, you do...smile

The idea behind QDO (Quilter's Day Out), is there is one day that all the quilters in our area come together for one giant Sit-N-Sew. The event has evolved, this year to include a speaker, Valerie White, who is an accomplished contemporary quilter. All quilting is art, whether contemporary or traditional. Both evoke feelings, which is, in the end, what true art is all about. Valerie will be showing some of her quilts and giving an in depth discussion for 45 minutes, about her art form.

QDO (Quilter's Day Out) is held on the 3rd Saturday in March, this year being St. Patrick's Day, Saturday, March 17th. The event will last from 10:00 to 3:00, with a cafe, hosted by the youth group of the church.

We are having this gathering of the guilds at Ballardsville Baptist Church. In this picture you can see the oversize gymnasium that will be filled with hundreds of quilters, both active in guilds and those that want to check this thing called quilt guild out. Then again, it might be they are there for a chance to win 1 of 4 sewing machines we will be having for a door prizes.

These events take lots of planning by the quilters and let's face it, some really, really helpful husbands, who we are fortunate to have.



For our part, Northeast Quilting Friends will be organizing a quilt challenge, "Think Green" is the theme. This is the first attempt to issue a quilt challenge at any of the QDO events. We wanted to make it easy for everyone to contribute a quilt, so, the only requirement is the quilt must have green somewhere on it and, do to space limitations, we are asking the perimeter be no larger than 200 inches, or smaller than 72 inches. A form must be filled out and submitted, for planning purposes, no later than March 1st. Viewer's Choice will award the cash prizes and ribbons. Please e-mail me if you want an entry form: Julieb380@insightbb.com.

Good Luck to all that enter!
See you at Quilter's Day Out!

Next week we will have Sit N Sew

Next week, February 12th, we were supposed to be going to the Carnegie museum in New Albany to see the Form Not Function quilt show. Instead, we will be staying in and having our usual Sit N Sew, 10:00 to 1:00. You can work on your tote bags, or whatever makes you happy!

Tote Bag Class

Mary helps us all get our project complete.





Sewing machine cases at attention...behind Joan, busy on one of those wonderful featherweight machines. Was there ever a better machine?


We had a wonderful class, even though our blizzard got us a little out of sorts. I think we mostly got enough completed with the help of Mary, one of our generous teachers we have in our group. If you are new to quilting, or an experienced quilter, you can always find a helpful person here to assist you if you ask for it.


A view from our window during our class....yikes!