Best of Show!!

Ghost Orchids by Terry Kramzar

My friend, Terry Kramzar won best of show at the Quilt Festival of New Jersey VII Tri-State Competition!!! Terry is an amazing person and artist. She takes pictures of her subjects and then turns them into quilts. Her colors and workmanship is outstanding and must be seen in  person. Look for her in the major shows, I know she going to be a name you see everywhere! Congratulations Terry!!!

Kelly

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

These are the only "green shoots" I am seeing around here!

Kelly

Getaway Fun

The Penn Oaks Getaway was a success as it always is.....

There was lots of sewing going on.......

Lots of food.....everyone brings something to share. You could stay in that room the whole 4 days and not even leave if you wanted.....but then there is the shopping you would miss.....

Marti and Rikki each brought an Accuquilt for us to try out. What a fun tool!

and then there are the quilts that get sewn....we are a pretty prolific group for those couple of days.......Sara's braided quilt

Jean's hexagon quilt.....these were all fussy cut and only about 1 inch in size. It is amazing in person!

Maureen is a past president and these are the friendship blocks we gave her at the end of her term.

Suzanne is appliqueing a pattern from Blackbird Designs...I love her fabric choices.

This is Bob's quilt.....he loves to do bargello quilts and is very good at them....he is our only male member. Bob and his wife, Kathy were in charge of the getaway and did a great job....thanks!

 Pat was really in the groove, she finished a soldier quilt and 2 others!

Poor Fay Ann, she struggled the first day with this quilt block but made up for it in the end with a beautiful quilt.

Myrna is a wonderful quilter who also gets a lot done on this weekend away.

Elaine also with a finish....this is a really cool design.

Shirley has the start on a beautiful quilt, I love the red.

Marion has a nice scrappy colorful quilt. Marion I don't see any cow fabric in there!

Angel with a pretty blue quilt.....

Robin with her spring bunny wallhanging....

Kathy has some gorgeous machine applique blocks from the William Morris book.

Ellen has a good start to her quilt for her husband.
One of the things we have are door prizes and this is what I won.............

one of Bob's beautiful bargello quilts that is a table runner. I was so surprised and very honored to win this.
I am hoping to get the things I worked on done and then I will show you.

Kelly

Winners!

This is Bob, he is my husband and today we have been married for 35 years! He is such a great guy and still makes me laugh, the secret to a happy marriage. We met when we were 17 and got married at 19, I am quite sure no one thought it would last. Well 4 children and 4 grandchildren later we are still here. Happy anniversary to my favorite husband!
He picked the winners of the the Quilt Fiesta book giveaway. The winners are:

Alexis of Quilts of Mimi Park

and

Suze of GA's House

Congratulations ladies!

More about the getaway tomorrow, it was lots of fun and I have some pics to share.

Happy birthday Flynn!!!!

Kelly

Getaway Tomorrow

I am leaving for a 3 day getaway tomorrow with my guild, Penn Oaks Quilters. This has been going on now I think for the past 15 years or so. It is great fun.....we rent rooms at the Bird In Hand Inn and they give us the conference room, tables, extension cords and we make a giant mess of threads and fabric bits scattered around the room! Of course there is shopping and eating involved too. I am taking my camera but not my computer so no posting until Sunday when I announce the winner of the book giveaway!

My baby sister Flynn's birthday is on Sunday and I made her this dish towel to go along with these....

potholders. I think she is going to really like them, along with a subscription to a magazine. Happy Birthday Flynny Bears!



Picnic in the Park by Janet Bauman

 There was a quilt exhibit at the Jenkins Arboretum in Devon PA. It is a beautiful place and somewhere to explore when the weather is a little nicer.
I just had to show you this wonderful "quilt". It is called Picnic in the Park by Janet Bauman. It is made with recycled salad bowl/plates, recycled silverware, paint and grommets. This was not part of the quilt exhibit but did fit in.

Here is a close up of the plates and the hanging silverware.

Button plate....
It is for sale, you can contact the arboretum.




After The Ice Storm by Terry Kramzar

My friend, Terry Kramzar was also one of the invited artists asked to exhibit her work (which is amazing). This is called "After The Ice Storm". It was hung in front of a window and the trees really looked like shadows, a very cool effect. The exhibit is on until Sunday.

Kelly

!Quilt Fiesta! Giveaway

The giveaway is now closed!

Today is the start of Cheryl's Book Blog Tour of her book !Quilt Fiesta! It is a wonderful way to check out some blogs you may not have seen before and you get 10 chances to win one of her books.

Below are the list of blogs who are participating in the giveaway:

2/22   Pinkadot Quilts

2/23   www.quiltsoupblog.com

2/24   http://grandmacocosdesigns.blogspot.com/

2/25   http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

2/26   http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com/

2/27   http://cyarnell.blogspot.com/

2/28   www.amyscreativeside.com

3/1     http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/

3/2     http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/

3/3     http://cheryllynchquilts.blogspot.com/

I have 2 books to give away so here is what you do........leave me a comment and I will draw the name on Sunday evening. If you are no reply, please leave me your email address! If you don't leave me your email address you can't be in the drawing!

Here is a little bit of background information on Cheryl.


What is your favorite part of quilting?
I have many favorite parts of quilting.  It's hard to choose just one.  Coming up with designs heads the list. I love doing the research whether it's through travel or visiting museums or perusing books.  Then choosing the fabrics and beginning a new project is so exciting.


Where do you think quilting is headed, do you see any trends emerging?
I think quilting is growing in many directions right now.  But I see 2 trends.  One is geared towards new and young quilters.  The patterns are not very complicated and they make use of retro novelty prints.  The other direction I see is towards more hand stitching.

What are your favorite colors?
I love blue and white.  I also love copper, which maybe  related to my red hair.  Mixing copper and black and other neutrals is a wonderful color palette.

Do you have a favorite quilting tip?
My favorite tip that I share with my students is to not be paralyzed by perfectionism.  You will be able to see improvement in every quilt you make.  The more you make the more you will improve.

How do you decide how much fabric to buy when you see something you love?

I never end up buying enough fabric. I'm still trying to figure this one out.

What is your least favorite part of quilting?
Truly, I love it all.

Any chance we will see another book from you?
 I am working on another book.  It is very different than Quilt Fiesta, but that's all I can say right now.

Congratulations Cheryl on a great book!

Ole!

Kelly

!Success! !Quilt Fiesta!

My friend, Cheryl Lynch of Cheryl Lynch Quilts Blog had an open house yesterday to promote her new book !Quilt Fiesta!
It was a huge success and got rave reviews. For some reason I can't upload any of my pictures, I will try later....


Tomorrow I will be the first in a blog tour to be giving away 2 copies of her book. You will have many chances to win.


That's 10 chances to win a book and look at some great blogs. Stop by tomorrow for more details and..... maybe some pictures!

Kelly