Westside Quilters' Guild 2011 Show

As promised, here is more from our recent guild quilt show.

I didn't get many photos of the submitted quilts.  I'm hoping that there are photos on the guild site so I can get them onto this blog or that I can refer you to look at.  I'll see if I can do that tomorrow (fingers crossed).

In addition to my Double Wedding Ring, I submitted the large Asian wall hanging above.  It was hard to stand back far enough to get a good photo, but you get the idea.

 This is a picture of me standing in our booth.  I had a lot of kits and patterns with me.... and some fun fat quarter assortments.

Unfortunately, we had "technical difficulties" with our sign.  We have a nice "Alderwood Quilts" sign for vending.  Ahhh... things never go exactly as planned, do they!?


Here are a few highlights of what I had at the show:

This beautiful quilt was made by my friend and fellow guild member, Bella Dvir.  Bella is a gifted quilter and she generously allowed me to display her Strips n' Curves quilt.  Sandy Pennington quilted this beauty for her.  I used it as an example of what you can do using the Strips n' Curves books and templates by Louisa Smith.

 I was thrilled that Susan Cranshaw sent me a trunk show of some of her quilts.  These are some of her best selling patterns

 This is one of the most frequently commented upon display I had.  Susan added a 3-dimensional touch to this wall hanging.  Her use of color and expert quilting is simply jaw-dropping!

 Isn't this fun!?!?  Susan combined 2 patterns- the Roadrunner and the Horned Toad, to create this wall hanging.

This is Susan's newest design.  Hummingbirds are a favorite of mine.  There just might be one of these on my sewing table one of these days.  I just got a supply of these patterns and will be adding the Hummingbirds to my website soon.

This is a photo of a few samples I made for the show.  The table runner is designed by Karla Alexander.  I have the pattern as well as the kit on my website.  This was so much fun to make!  The background and border are very simple piecing.  The pumpkins, leaves and crows are fusible appliques.  (If you look closely- the crows have no beaks or feet- I ran out of time!).  

The handbag is called the Veranda Tote.  I also have it available as a pattern or as a kit.  And there are some handy dandy acrylic inserts made to stiffen the base of fabric bags called bag-y-bottoms.  All of this can be found in the handbags category on my website.

This is a wall hanging designed by Sheryl Mycroft of Random Threadz.  It was a snap to make and is really eye-catching.  The center tree piece is done by fusing the 2 trees on with fusible applique paper.  Then you stitch lots of borders around the tree.  The little diamond shapes are also fused on- with the exception of the shapes on the triangular flap, which are sewn in.  I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but the triangle is stitched into that last border seam so it creates a flap.  When I first saw the pattern, I thought it would be a nightmare to do the binding because of the shape... but not to worry- it's easy!.  The final touch is to sew on the lovely black glass beads.  The pattern, the beads, and the kit (which includes fabric, beads and pattern) are all on my website.  You can even purchase the backing or extra fabric by the yard.  Sheryl has a few other tree patterns and I am working on a different sample which will also be on the website soon.  It will be in greens, browns and purples with some very interesting embellishments.  I need to get busy with that sample.... but I think I'll put beaks and feet on the crows on the pumpkin table runner first!

It was a great show!  The next one will be in 2 years.  It takes the organizers a year to recover and another year to plan the next show!  Kidding aside- I want to do a shout-out to Clara Mashek and her crew of dedicated and VERY hard working guild members who made this show possible.  If I start naming them, I know I'll forget someone.  So many people pitched in to help and about a dozen women worked very, very hard in recent months to make it all happen- all with Clara's leadership.  I'll see if I can get photos of all of the winning quilts to show you in another post.

OK... now where did I put the beaks for the crows......

Veranda Tote

This is my new Veranda Tote bag.  I LOVE this bag!  A few weeks ago I told you that I took a few classes at a buyers market held by a quilting supply distributor.  I showed you the "Diamonds are a Quilter's Best Friend" table runner that I made.  I also took a class with Penny Surges to make this adorable tote bag.  Penny (on the right) was kind enough to pose for a photo with me holding my finished bag.

I love meeting and taking classes from pattern designers.  Penny is not only a sweet lady, but she is a very good teacher.  She makes her students feel good about their work and she helps to make them successful.  Penny is also the designer of the popular Bow Tucks Tote and the smaller version- the Mini Bow Tucks.

The front has 2 pockets with a cute little tailored ruffle.

And a closer-up----

This shot shows the back pocket and the stitching detail on the handle.

And the inside pockets.  LOVE all these pockets!  I put a plastic insert into the bottom (that's why it's shiny).

Here are a few of Penny's sample bags.  There are 2 pockets in the front.

The sides can be single pieces of fabric, or they can be pieced, as is the one in the middle (above photo).
Hmm.... looks like we were blocking the fire exit.  Good thing there wasn't a fire.

The photo above also has pieced sides.  Aren't those handles cute?  The handles are very sturdy.  They are lined and stitched all the way down the length in 4 places.

In both of these samples (above and below) you can see the 2 front pockets and cute coordinating button closure.  The back of the bag has one large pocket and the inside lining has large pockets all around.

The whole bag is stabilized with fusible fleece.  I love working with this stuff- it's easy to apply and gives the bag nice structure.  It's soft but not floppy.

I have the Veranda Tote pattern on my website, as well as fusible fleece by the yard.  And best of all... it's a fat quarter friendly project.  A nice coordinating pack of fat quarters is a good start for this bag.