Symphony of Stitches Symposium...A little history right down the road!

A fascinating symposium on quilting, split-oak woven baskets, Shenandoah Valley crockery and pottery, and community and church picnics was held at St. Paul's Heritage Center in Edinburg, VA on Saturday.  The quilting portion was headlined by Alexandra Deutch, Chief Curator of the Maryland Historical Society, who gave an informative lecture and slide show on Baltimore Album quilts.  After the first two sessions, we got to see some "show and tell" quilts that attendees brought with them.  The theme was signature, album, friendship, and family quilts.  I thought you might be interested in seeing some of the photos I took.

There were numerous crazy quilts that were heavily embroidered and signed.

It was fascinating to see some of the friendship quilts, too:

Two of the most beautiful quilts shared were applique.  This one is a Carolina Lily, if I'm not mistaken; interesting to speculate whether different greens and red were used, or if this is a result of fading.....

The quilt below just took my breath away; the applique and quilting were exquisite.  I should know this pattern, but can't get my head around the name....

It was such a pleasure to attend this interesting and informative event just 5 miles from my front door.  All the proceeds went to benefit the Edinburg Heritage Foundation and the Edinburg Mill Museum.  Several of the crazy quilts shown will be on display there.

It was an enjoyable day learning about the families, traditions, artisans, and heritage in our "adopted" Shenandoah County.  It just proves once again that there are a wealth of stories waiting to be discovered "right down the road" no matter where you live.

Have a great day.....it's snowy but roads are clear so I'm off to my Book Club....

Kathy 

Yard Sale Saturday!.....

I'm linking up with Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville's Quips & Snips for Yard Sale Saturday.  I've got a few goodies to get rid of  to share with you, so here goes.  All prices shown are for the item only; I will calculate shipping and let you know how much you will owe based on your location.  I don't have PayPal set up to receive payment at this time, so payment will be by check or money order.  If you see an item you like, email me.   I'll be gone this morning, so don't be discouraged if you don't hear from me until 2:00 p.m. or so. 

Item 1.  SOLD!!.   Baltimore Beauties.and Beyond, Volume One  by Elly Sienkewiecz.....this is a beautiful first edition, soft back.  It can be hard to find sometimes.  Selling for $44 for a collectible copy on Amazon.....$10.00

Item 2.  SOLD!!!!!!!!!CherryWood Poncho pattern and hand-dyed rayon challis fabric.  $33 new;

This is gorgeous fabric; I'm just not that into sewing clothes; I got seduced by the pattern in the booth at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.. $14.00

Item 3.  TWO LOTS SOLD....TWO LOTS AVAILABLE......Plaids, plaids, plaids.

I have about 20 pounds of these shirting plaids samples from the Hindustan Apparel Co. in Mumbai.  A friend in the clothing industry in New York gave them to me.  They are mostly cotton, range in size from 6 x 6 to almost fat quarters.  I'm going to sell them in 5-pound increments.  That's what fits into a box 6 x 12 x 12 inches (large priority flat rate box).  I'll ship them parcel post to save shipping costs.  $20 for a 5-pound lot.  I can sell four 5-pound lots, so there can be more than one bidder on this. 

Item 4.  SOLD!!!!!!!Mount Redoubt Applique Patterns.  I bought these in Houston several years ago.  They were $10.50 each.  They are lovely appliques.  $8 for both or $5 for 1; if you only want one, you have to tell me which one:  Alaska Garden or Midsummer's Dream.

Item 5.  Patchwork Jacket Pattern.  Sized from small to extra large.  $6.00

Item 6.  SOLD!!!!!!The Miniature Quilt Kit.  Fabrics and pattern booklet to make this little Trip Around the World Quilt (plus patterns for 10 other quilts).  $8.00

Item 7.  SOLD!!!!!!!Tea towel and fabric for Applique "Bee and Coneflowers"  $6.00

Item 8.  SOLD............"Through My Window"  Focus floral fabric and solid; you will need to furnish the black for the silhouette.  $5.00 for pattern and fabric shown.

Item 9.  "Tips for Quilters" book.......I guess this says it all.  $5.00

Have a Happy Saturday everybody........fun to have a yard sale without having to sit outside in the cold......

Kathy

A Little Bit of Quilting....and a Winner!

It's been a busy week, and I haven't gotten as much done as I wanted to.  I did finish binding the four cancer quilts that Guy quilted and took them to my Guild meeting yesterday.  I got a label on Brenda's comfort quilt and got it in the mail.  I also mailed the two QOVs we finished:

These two were from a QOV topper in Maine.  It's always so interesting to see the different patterns that people use for the QOV quilts.  We truly enjoy the opportunity to quilt for this wonderful program.



This is a close-up of the quilting on this friendship star variation.....it's from the Statler Sisters free patterns that we've utilized.  I love the different sizes of the writing; it's a bit of a complex pattern to quilt, but it really does make a statement.

And, we have a winner in the Leap Day Giveaway.  It was so much fun to play along on Wednesday....I made a lot of new friends, and got the opportunity myself to visit many blogs that I didn't know were out there.  It's a wonderful community of quilters we live in.  The winner of my Michael Miller Fairy Frost fat quarters was Judi, who blogs over at Life is Sew Good.  Congratulations, Judi!  Your fat quarters are on their way to the Post Office this morning.

Did you know that Bonnie Hunter is having another Yard Sale Saturday over at Quiltville's Quilts & Snips tomorrow?  If I get my act together, I may get some stuff together to link up with her sale.  Check back tomorrow and see!  Now I'm off to clean house....company coming and I've yet to decide what's for dinner.  There's a Symphony in Stitches Symposium in our little town of Edinburg, VA right up the road on Saturday, so Nancy and I are going to go get ourselves a little history and culture.....a talk on Friendship and Signature quilts by the curator from the Maryland Historical Society, discussions on Shenandoah Valley woven split-oak baskets and pottery.  It should be fun!

Have a great Friday.......Kathy

Leap Day Blog Hop Giveaway!

Elizabeth over at Such a Sew and Sew is hosting a Leap Day Blog Hop Giveaway.  I'm giving away these 8 great Michael Miller Fairy Frost Fat Quarters:

Leave me a comment on why you'd like these fat quarters for a chance to win.  Since Leap Day is such a "magical" day....it only comes once every four years, sort of like "Brigadoon"......I thought some Fairy Frost seemed appropriate.


If you want to be entered twice, become a follower of my blog. Check back with Elizabeth's blog to see what other bloggers are giving away.  The blog is open from now (February 29th, 8:30 EST) until March 1st at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard time.  If you do not have a Google account, use the name/url {url optional} commenting option and make sure you leave your e-mail in your comment in the following format: address (at) domain name (dot) com.; the winner will be drawn randomly and I'll announce the winner by March 2nd........

Have a great Leap Day.....it's a rainy day here in Virginia and I'm headed to my quilt studio to make the best use of an extra day of sewing..

Kathy

Try it on Tuesdays!

We got a new stand-alone scanner from our kids for Christmas, but you know how time gets away from you.......today I decided I was going to practice with it and transfer some 35mm photos of quilts I made before I had a digital camera.

I had a pile of photos I wanted to scan; I've scanned these before using my HP inkjet but the images just didn't come out correctly. 

 
It took me 15 minutes to scan 31 images; and I could rotate them, enlarge them, or delete them if I wasn't happy with the image I saw on the screen.  Brought the scanner downstairs to my laptop, plugged it in the USB port, and uploaded the photos to my picture album:

Total elapsed time:  35 minutes.  What's really impressive is the scanner's portability; I can take the scanner to the pictures, instead of trying to balance stuff on the printer, or next to the computer, where there never seems to be enough space....or maybe we're just messy.

Anyway, I thought this was a fun way to "try something new" on Tuesday.  Want to see what other people are trying.  Head over to Jo's Country Junction and link up. 

Have a great day...I'm going to go play with my photos and put them into my Quilt Album software......

Kathy

Design Wall Monday

I started another color study last week.  I've been wanting to work in gray mixed with solids, so decided to mix pink, purple, lavender, a few coordinating prints, and just "go with the flow."  I made 18-inch, 8-1/2 inch strips out of these:

I had this bundle of Cherrywood Grays in my stash.....don't know what I originally bought these for, but I must have had something in mind.....I think I've had them about 6 years:

 I cut everything into 8 1/2-inch squares, and then into triangles; assembled squares by alternating the triangle strips by descending row, and the grays from left to right and diagonally from light to dark.  I ended up with this:

Now I'm auditioning sashes and borders; I had one darker gray that I think I'll use for sashing, and remembered I had an interesting Fossil Fern that I thought was blue buried somewhere in my "hand-dyed" box.....guess what, it's gray, and I had two different shades.  So this is today's project:

I find I sometimes have to give myself permission to "play", but when I do, I end up having a good time.  My only rule is that I can't agonize over anything too much, and I have to finish within a week; otherwise it becomes a chore and not a "play date." We'll see where this ends up.  You might want to see what's on other design walls today at Patchwork Times.  You can link up and show us what you're working on.  Have a great Monday!

Kathy

Sometimes, It Just Doesn't Seem Fair.....

John and my Granddaughter, Brianna, eating crabs

Ed and Brenda, enjoying our Crab Feast

My son has been very ill for many years. John, his best friend since high school, has been totally "there" for him.  He and his wife, Susie, have sheltered him after surgeries for the last several years.  Last summer, we had a wonderful visit with John, Susie, their beautiful children, and his parents, Brenda and Ed, to celebrate Father's Day in Rehobeth Beach.  We had an incredible Crab Feast.  It was so lovely to be treated to good food, family, and friends.  We were surrounded by our children and grandchildren, in Brenda's and Ed's new home.....we celebrated our sons' friendships and their loving care for each other.

Brenda will have surgery for cancer on Tuesday at Sloane-Kettering in New York.  I made a comfort quilt for her to bring her warmth and to remind her of our wonderful time at their seaside home.....as a cancer survivor,  I will never forget some of  the trauma associated with this diagnosis...with chemotherapy, radiology, and recovery.  This quilt is winging its way to Delaware to help her with my hopes for the best outcome for her.  Please keep Brenda and her family in your thoughts and prayers.  Just asking for your good wishes.....sometimes, it just doesn't seem fair.....I guess we all do know, that sometimes bad things happen to good people.......

Kathy 

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