Bye Bye January!

Let's not even talk about the fact that January just blew right on by!  You know how it is, you get so completely focused on something and it seems like everything else in your life just falls by the wayside.  I lost two months, all of November and December, without one stitch at my sewing machine, so there was no way I was coming up for air until I had something to show for it this month!

Originally I had great plans to make this quilt and have it completed for Christmas 2015.  Needless to say, that did not happen and the most I had accomplished before the holidays was pulling fabrics for this quilt. 

I dipped into my stash of gorgeous florals (that I never seem to want to cut).  I wanted something that could play a background role without adding a lot of competing color.  This floral is an older Moda print, Seaside Rose, and I love how it worked with the pinks and greens.  Due to its popularity, it has been re-released and I've seen it available on several sites again (shabbyfabrics.com currently has it in stock). 

This is my own design, inspired by an antique quilt.  I added the chevron inner border (note all those Y-seams!) which repeats the small diamond shape in the stars and a large outer floral border for some feather quilting I am planning.  The smaller dark pink stars in the floral squares are appliqued.  At this time, there is no pattern available.  I am still playing around with titles for this quilt.  It reminds me of peppermint candy for some reason, so I keep coming back to the title "Peppermint & Roses."

I am really happy with how this turned out and hopefully, I will have it quilted by Christmas 2016!

Earlier in January I attended the Florida World Quilt Show in Orlando.  This is the same show that has always been in West Palm Beach until being moved this year.  I was very excited to see the show promoters moved it to Orlando, since that is almost in my backyard.  I entered my quilt, "Grandmother's Cabin" and was honored to have received an award for Best Sewing Machine Workmanship.  It was so nice to be recognized for all those long hours of free-motion quilting hundreds and hundreds of straight little grid lines!    

Following are more photos from that show for inspiration, in no particular order or preference: 

 

Moonswept by Nikki Hill St. Augustine, FL  Third Place

Winter in the Garden by Olive Gobin, longarm quilting by Ruta Hardenbrook Fruitland Park, FL 
Best Longarm Machine Workmanship

Winter in the Garden (detail)

Gradation by Kathleen Burford New Zealand

Off the Floor #1 by Gael O'Donnell New Zealand

Off the Floor #1 (detail)

Nursing Home Quilt #2 by Marge Hurst New Zealand

Nursing Home Quilt #2 (detail)

They are Bees not Flies by Jenny Hall New Zealand

Persian Dream by Ansa Breytenbach New Zealand



Persian Dream (detail)

Affairs of the Heart by Lorraine Baker New Zealand

Affairs of the Heart (detail)

 Roses for Katrina by Gail H. Smith Barrington, IL  Honorable Mention

Roses for Katrina (detail)

Humming Bee by Judith Wilson United Kingdom  Honorable Mention



Humming Bee (detail) by Judith Wilson

The Never-Ending Fame of Gustav Klimt:  The "Kiss" Revisited by Lesley Jurgens South Africa

Happy as a Clam by Rachaeldaisy Australia

Happy as a Clam (detail)

Nordstern by Claudia Scheja Germany

Lone Star Among Friends by Margarita Schuh Germany

Lone Star Among Friends (detail)

Sunkissed by Theresa Olson Jupiter, FL

Flourish on the Vine by Donna Douglass Apollo Beach, FL  Best of Show

Flourish on the Vine (detail of hand quilting)

Hopefully that makes up for my absence!  Sorry if this post has bogged down your computers and iPads!  I wanted to cram everything in while I had the time to blog.  I will be attending another large AQS quilt show at the end of February which is being held right here in my backyard in Daytona Beach, FL!  This is a first for us and quite a big deal.  I am looking forward to going and will have my Grandmother's Cabin entered in that show as well.  Stay tuned, I hope to have lots of photos to share.  Until next time. . . .Happy Quilting!

World Quilt Show at West Palm Beach, FL

I will wish everyone a Happy January since I guess it's too late to say Happy New Year! 

I have recently taken a few weeks hiatus from most forms of media as much as possible to force myself to focus on being more productive with my spare time.  It's difficult enough to make time to create when we work at regular jobs, not to mention the time that ordinary tasks of day to day life consume.  I think that it is too tempting to get distracted by so many outside influences nowadays. I find myself "innocently" wasting a few minutes here and there checking out social media, a favorite tv show, surfing the web, etc. and suddenly realize these few minutes amount to several hours a week.  I wind up spending the little spare time I do have checking out what "others" are doing or creating, instead of spending my time creating for myself.  So my resolution this year was to really try to focus on doing less "time wasting" and more time being productive, being creative and pursuing my interests and personal goals.  It's not easy.  It's like trying to give up sugar or a favorite food!  You want to taste it all!

 A couple of weekends ago I attended the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach, FL, about three hours south of us.  My quilt above, Color My World, was entered into the competition, which was open to Florida quilters only.  I thought I would show a few of the quilts from the show.  These are in no particular order, just a few quilts I thought were interesting.  And I apologize for poor photo quality, these were taken with my iPhone and the lighting in the convention center was pretty horrible.  But there should be enough here to give you a bit of inspiration.

 "Out of the Loop" by Eyvonne Smith of Jensen Beach, FL.  Won Judge's Choice.

 "Bluebirds" by Laura Ruiz of Malabar, FL.  Won Best Pictorial Quilt.

 "A Taste of Sunshine" by Deb Crine of Marco Island, FL.  Won Best Machine Workmanship.

 "Medallion" by Loretta C. Sylvester of Palm Coast, FL.

The quilts below were part of an exhibit of antique quilt tops that had been quilted recently by various longarm quilters.  Most are from the 1930s, which is one of my favorite periods for antique quilts.  These were some of my favorites for various reasons.  I neglected to get the names of the quilters for these quilts, sorry!

And this quilt below was part of the World Quilt exhibit.  I found it to be very unusual and intriguing.

 "Shattered Face Quilt" by Kathryn Harmer Fox of East London, South Africa was made using a pile of leftover scraps and miscellaneous fibers.  They are embedded on a canvas background with scribble stitch, free-motion embroidery and quilting.  It was really interesting to look at up close.

Hopefully you all are staying warm in whatever part of the country, or world, you live in.  We are having our own share of near freezing temperatures here in central Florida with the low tonight at 33 degrees.  And we are hearing that it's supposed to stay this cold for the next couple of days.  If you ever want to hear people complain about cold weather, this is the place!  Yes, we are spoiled!  I don't mind it for a day here and there but after a couple of days in a row, I am ready for the mild 70s again.  But I'm sure many of you are probably wishing for temperatures in the low 30s, considering so much of the country is below freezing right now.  I guess this is a perfect time to curl up under those warm quilts!  Stay warm everyone!