Welcome to the Quilt Show- Part One

If you live in the Rockingham County, Va area, you really need to visit this quilt show today in Harrisonburg..

Quilts in the Valley XIII is put on by the Shenandoah Valley Quilters' Guild- open today from 12-5.

I have only been to shows in N. Va and Williamsburg, in huge venues. By comparison, this is small, but no less mighty! Alot of hard work went into setting up this biennial show of 155 gorgeous quilts!  The talent in the valley is amazing!!!!

I was greeted by one of the co-chairs, Guild President Sally Jones,(seen below) got the lowdown on the show and the guild, and of course, picked up an application to join their group!

The first room, as you enter Turner Ashby  High School, is filled with vendors, the silent auction, and the raffle quilt !

                                                    How amazingly wonder-full is this???? 

 You can buy a chance to win Sunrise Over the Blue Ridge  (I got so into everything else, and taking pictures, I FORGOT to buy a chance!) Proceeds from the raffle are shared with Skyline Literacy. Who wouldn't want to take a chance to own this beauty and help the literacy program too ?????

So, here's a tour - but, please, if you are in the area today- go see these quilts in person!!! Photos do not do them justice!!! The guild also sells a $5 DVD of all the quilts in this weekend's show, which will give you a better look than my blog will!

See the quilts, visit the vendors (and try not to buy anything- it's impossible!!!), watch the demos, bid on the silent auction items, and see the pillow puddle (I have NO idea what a pillow puddle is!)

Funny Looking Star- vintage orphan star bought at auction and put on new backround

Under the Sea

Gold Beaded Heron

closeup of beadwork

Lanterns- machine pieced/hand quilted

Kaleidoscope

Flying Cubes (with bead work)

Whirly 30's and Pineapples

One of my favorites- because of the color and the embroidery - and it's theme is baskets!

My Beautiful Baskets

                                                 This one is for Gene- it's wonky!!!!

Daddy's Wonky Log Cabin- made for her dad to hang in the log cabin he built

Pennies and Heart- wool penny rug - a first time entry for this quilter

Christmas Applique

Mountain Pond - paper pieced with hand appliqued cattails

I love 30's fabric and this style- I hope to learn how to do it one day! Here are 2 examples:

Grandmom's Flower Garden- 1st time entry, 1st time English paper piecing

Old Dresden Plate-the top was a vintage antique shop find, with new borders added and machine quilted by the quilter

                              

                                   There were so many more, which I will save for another post. If I counted correctly, there were 155 entries in 12 categories. All visitors get a program, and a checklist to vote for their favorite in each  category. That was VERY hard, believe me!!!

I loved the  little quilted "warning" notices  hanging everywhere - so cute and funny- reminding everyone not to touch the quilts- that was the job of the ladies with the white gloves!!! I will put those in the next post- they deserve a post of their own!!

I hope you enjoyed the show - if you can't get there today, in person - drop back here tomorrow, for another tour!!!

Look What I Found!!!

Yesterday, I finally got to it - I started cleaning the garage!!! The husband was doing "his" half and I dove into mine. We have a 3 car garage which will never have a car in it!!! Actually, none of our garages have EVER had cars in them!!! It is a standing joke with some of our friends!!!
This time, our garage is stacked with boxes from our move - almost 3 years ago!!!! I have boxes from my shop, my mom (who lives with us) my son (who does not live with us), my daughter, and household stuff still packed from that move.

I am proud to say, I made quite a dent on MY side of the garage!! The husband got lost in reminiscing, and then had to load the truck for the trip to the dump!!! I have a yard sale pile, which will later become a donate pile, and a dump pile!!

While going thru the boxes, I came across my quilts,( which can't be hung until we paint), and found some treasures, long forgotten, in other boxes!!

These wool penny rugs were made in 2001!!! They smell like Great-Aunt Taimi's moth balled cedar chest - but that protected them from getting holes!! I am airing them out as we speak!!

The floral basket was a round robin- our own Pat Sloan made the blue forget-me-not in the middle! Other participants were Joanne Sangrey,quilt designer Ann Weber,Sandi M,Linda, Maxine, and Dot Elliot. I'm glad I saved the card that accompanied the wool piece, but I wish some of the ladies had put their last names down!! Joanne, Pat and Ann were local, but the others were out of state, I believe. This group also did a spoolie exchange, and if I can find that box (!)- I will post pix of those!!!

My poor little basket of flowers needs a little careful steaming to get the wrinkles out, the edge needs finishing, and maybe some additional embellishments or embroidery.

The other wool piece is one I made to fit an antique coffee table that I no longer have!!! I will have to find another use for it - any suggestions??? I am not sure if this was part of an exchange or I did this myself- word of advise - save all paperwork with exchanges or round robins!!!!

If anyone out there in cyberspace is up for a 'woolie' exchange of some kind - I'm ready!! At a later date, I will post some other pix of ones I participated in - I have a wonderful needlecase that I use every day, and some multipurpose wool "envelopes" that are great for holding sewing supplies. I am just "itching" to get back in wool!!!!!

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Thought for today: Less clutter=clear head!!