Thursday, August 6, 2015

Quilt Week! Quilt, Next?

What a crazy fun time I had at AQS Quilt Week last week! Sure, it's a lot of work, setting up a booth, making sure demos and product is set up and ready. I had a lot of good help--Barb and Debi helped in the booth. And even Dave (my hubby) got to play a part. Dave is very much a behind-the-scenes kinda guy. He helps a lot when it comes to preparing my trunk shows and packing the car for a trip. But he usually stays out of the picture.

Not so this time! Here he is at the All-Star Review at the Everson Museum on Wednesday night! Before my talk at this teacher's event, I snapped a quick pic with everyone waving! (Are YOU in the picture?) There's Dave (follow the white arrow) in the back. I don't think he appreciated the caliber of quilty training he got at the event. Some of the best in the industry made presentations that evening!

AQS Quilt Week, All Star Review



As I was doing my demos in the booth, some activity caught my eye in my peripheral vision. Robbie was quite enthralled with my button carpet. (I've never met Robbie before!) His dad would state a color name, and Robbie moved to the appropriate button . . . and he even got it right. . . sometimes! So CUTE!!

AQS Booth


Love, love, love Pam's scrappy bag. She received some of the Small Scrap Grid and Mini Scrap Grid interfacing at the Genesee Valley Quilt show earlier this summer and got right to work putting this creation together in time to show it off at the show in Syracuse. She used a little bit of all the interfacing products in her bag. Fabulous!

AQS booth


Have you ever met at Joyful Quilter? I certainly have. Bunches and bunches of them stopped by the booth on Friday. Here's Susan, their fearless leader and Joyful Quilter shop owner, stopping for a quick photo-op in the booth! Their website is currently under construction. The shop is located in Scotia, NY. Thanks, for stopping by and for inviting me to join you after the festivities of the day for dinner.

AQS booth


On Saturday, after the booth was packed up, boxes stowed in the basement work room, Dave and I went out to the Brasserie CNY for some Happy-tisers and dinner. By the way, the French onion soup is killer. Dave had the Bruschetta. *The glass of wine wasn't too bad either!*

appetizers


My friend, Shelly says that when you wrap up big projects, it's important to take some time, step back and appreciate what you've done before jumping right in to the next thing.

I'm not very good at relaxing. Can you tell? But with all the fun quilty stuff lurking in my sewing studio, I can't help but consider all the possibilities!!

Like:

A while back, I experimented with a curved piecing tool and a very blended set of pre-cuts. The result is this lap-sized quilt. Only recently it was a quilt top. Quilted and bound, it's now ready for its next home. My neighbor works in the palliative care unit at one of the local hospitals. A tough job for sure. He is always so appreciative of quilts that I give him for his patients and their families. This one is headed his way this week!

quilt


Continuing to work on the sample for the Country Roads Shop Hop coming up this fall. The ten shops in the hop will be distributing my pattern. I'm making the sample for the (eventual) pattern cover.

shop hop quilt in progress


Having received my first set of swapped blocks from the Ribbon Star Swap, I'm itching to start making something. . . .you can still join in the fun. The swap is on-going. Blocks are due each month. More info here.

Ribbon Star Quilt Blocks


I don't know what possessed me to purchase this pattern from A Very Special Collection. (I do know what possessed me, the quilts on display were beautiful!) Their booth was across the aisle from me at the aforementioned AQS show. These fabrics have been sitting in my stash since my Alaska cruise last summer. Paper piecing isn't my thing, but once in a while every technique should be taken out for a spin. By the way, these blocks are about 4" square. The quilts on display in the booth were stunning. But tiny, itty-bitty pieces. Oy!

paper pieced quilt


Oooh! And what's this on the sewing table. . . . Can't tell! It's a secret!

quilt in progress


And I think I have finally found the perfect project for this citrus-y collection of batiks from Hoffman California Fabrics! Can't wait to dig in.

quilting fabrics


Can't forget about this UFO shelf in the sewing studio. The pink quilt (above) came from here, but the shelf *might* have gained a new occupant or two over the course of the summer. Does this kinda thing happen to you, too? One step forward. . .



Joan Ford
So many quilts, so little time! *Wink!*

Happy Stitching!
Joan

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