How cute is this antique block? I don't even really like yo yos but I love this block.
Yesterday I went to the AQS quilt show in Lancaster. To make it easier you can go to the Renegade shops that are off site and take a shuttle into the big city. At the Renegade vendors I found this lovely lady who had all sorts of vintage quilt, fabrics and blocks.
I love the french knots inside the yo yos, so sweet!
Here is a shot of the whole quilt. It was not for sale and was the vendor's favorite quilt! I am going to recreate this one, but may change it up a bit. It's on the to do list....
I did buy 99 vintage string pieced diamonds.
They are all pieced differently. The fabrics are from the 1930's and 40's. The whole time I was thinking my friends Jane and Sujata would love these.
Check out the cute little girl. I love that the blocks have black in them too, it makes them more interesting to me and not so cutesy.
Now what to do with them.....
Lots of possibilities...
This is one of the very few things I bought at the show. It is a Pressing Stick by Clover. The part I like is that wedge shape on the left hand side. You can use it to push out edges that you are trying to iron down that keep rolling up. Like the edges of those bibs...
Overall I was disappointed with the show. It looks very tired and there were hardly any quilts there either. Usually you are fighting to get inside a vendor booth. Not so, hardly anyone was there. Four quilts stores in our area closed recently, what's going on? Still the economy? Where were all the quilts?
Just my opinion (please take into account I don't feel well today!). I would love to hear what others who attended think.
Kelly
Hi Kelly, I am also not fond of yoyos, but I have to admit that basket quilt is lovely. It will be fun figuring out what to do with those string-pieced diamonds. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
ReplyDeleteoooooh, I'm jealous of those string pieced diamonds.
ReplyDeleteI love yoyos and I love that block!!! Your string diamonds are wonderful too, I'm looking forward to seeing what you make with those.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun string diamonds! you'll have a great time with those. The baskets are cute too and very vintagy.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about the show :(
I wish more people would enter so that it stays vibrant. Also - they have great price money for winners unlike a lot of other shows, like Vermont. Maybe we should campaign to enter our quilts. I'll have to go on line to see what has won.
I think quilting is still skrinking. I think we long time quilters just have too much stuff already. At the Quiltfest last week I bought 1 yard of fabric and 2 packs of needles. I also bought that light, but that was unusual.
I'm with you, Kelly. I thought the show was "tired" too. I thought it was just me until I read your post. I went through the whole show and all the vendors in about 2 hours. I was wondering if I missed something! I think Barb is right, we long-time quilters have everything we need and can lock ourselves away in our sewing rooms for weeks, only needing food and water! Ha ha! One can wish!
ReplyDeleteSome lovely finds. The diamonds will be really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the AQS at Lancaster last year, so it is disappointing to hear that it was not up to scratch this year.
Pleased you found some alternatives.
You brought home some wonderful stuff to play with so at least it wasn't a total bust.:)
ReplyDeleteThis is KELLY post. I think you did well at the show despite not feeling well. Would you consider some posies in your current blue basket quilt? I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the string diamonds.
ReplyDeleteYour purchases look like that part was fun. As far as the show, can we blame Mother Nature? I went to a show last March that it was hard to look at all of the vendors just sitting there without customers. I hope you're feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI really like those vintage diamonds. As far as the show I think there are just too many of them. Seems like every other weekend I am reading about another one. There is just so much money to go around.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear the show was disappointing. Did you see all the displayed quilts? I have a quilt "touring" to all the AQS shows this year. It was in the modern quilts display. Neat tool you found, anyway. Now you make me really curious about the AQS show in Paducah in April. I'll be attending!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that the show was not what you hoped. I think I agree with Nancy, there are so many show now that maybe that is impacting entries and attendance.
ReplyDeleteI do love that cute basket and yo- yo quilt. I look forward to seeing what you do with your pretty string blocks.
Love your vintage scrappy diamonds. Great prints. I agree with you on the black fabric. Sorry show was a let down.
ReplyDeleteI went to AQS in Lancaster today....I miss Quilters Heritage Celebration where the quilts were displayed in the center of each room and the vendors located around the perimeter. The flow of traffic seemed much easier. We didn't make it to The Continental Inn vendors. There are several there that I like, but I don't NEED anything. :))) Of course we stopped at Weavers Dry Goods on the way home. At least they are still open AND expanding.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had a disappointing show Kelly. I do like your string blocks though.....and hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling better today, Kelly. I love those string diamonds in those lovely vintage fabrics. I can't wait to see what you do with them. Sorry to read that the AQS show was disappointing. I agree with another comment made, that there are so many shows these days perhaps it takes away from the larger shows that we used to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI went to Lancaster on Saturday. I thought AQS had more quilts than they did the first couple of years of the show. I didn't buy much because I've got more stuff than any 3 quilters could use in a lifetime. Living in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, I see a lot of the same vendors at all the local and regional shows so I get bored with the vendor mall. You know it's bad when you can say where a vendor's booth is located at which show, like "oh, so and so, they're over against that wall at the Mancuso show in Oaks". I was very pleased to see the Appliquilt people there. I had read about those tools on someone's blog but couldn't find a US source for them. I did buy 2 patterns at the Continental although I have to wait for them to be mailed because they were both sold out at the show.
ReplyDeleteThe lighting in the AQS second floor room is atrocious. It was so dark I couldn't wait to get out of there. Not at all conducive to viewing the quilts or shopping the vendors.
Barbara in MD
www.stashoverflow.wordpress.com
That is quite interesting about the quilt show! However, for long time quilters like some of us, we just want time to be able to sew up what we have already bought and are not really looking for more to buy. Will watch and see what you do with the diamonds!
ReplyDeleteI love those diamonds! All different too? I am curious to see what you make out of them. Knowing you, it will be something pretty darn cute!
ReplyDeleteThe basket quilt is just amazing! I love how much time and efforts were gone into old quilts. When I see them, I am tempted to make one of those slow cooking quilts.
The quilt shows haven't been as much fun and interesting for past year or two. I wonder since there is so much to see on line and every where else, it does not seem that important anymore? Hope they make a turn around.
I would have to say that the string blocks and the new tool alone made it worth the effort of going! I might be a little jealous of those blocks! SO glad they found a good home though.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you felt that way. In the past year, I attended 3 AQS shows, Paducah, Des Moines, and Phoenix. I enjoyed all of them, in there own right. I would say that Des Moines has 'added value', because the Des Moines guild has their show in conjunction with AQS. Lots and lots of quilt to see. Paducah is great because the whole town is quilt-centric. I think Phoenix will get better, since it was just the first year there.
ReplyDeleteMy great grandma used the diamonds to make chronicle quilts. Durring the great depression when batting was expensive she used newspaper cutouts to sew her scraps to and used it as batting. After she passed away I was blessed to be given all of her old sewing things and there were many diamonds included. There were boxes and boxes of precut shapes.
ReplyDelete