Catching Up

I am finally catching up from a bout of laziness and just overall Blah's.  It's terrible when you get those.  You just don't want to do anything.  I did pull myself out of that pit and managed to finish up a cross stitch project.  It's not been blocked yet nor framed but it is done...I think.

The original pattern called for a lot of little stuff all around the word Wonderful.  It was too cluttered for me so I got rid of most of it.  What did surprise me was that there wasn't a border around it.  It will look ok though when it gets matted and framed.  There will be a border around the words then.

That finish inspired me to do another 100 stitches on my Dragon.  It's coming along slowly but at least I did my 100 stitches.  That's my goal.  Each time that I sit down to work on it, I have to do 100 stitches which is one square.

I know it doesn't look like much now but it is coming along.

I have been working on my Adinkra block #3 but I won't show that to you just yet.  I'll show that when it is finished.  I need to think on what I will be using my fabric for that I got at the Quilt Festival.

Patriotic fabric is always good to have.  The fabric on the right was in a discontinued bin so I just picked up a fat quarter for around $2 which is good since it was at a show/festival.  I REALLY love the fabric on the left.  It has different modes of transportation on it and I haven't seen anything like it around home so it was nice to see.  I'll figure out something sooner or later.

This weekend I also managed to get a some fabric.  This time it was from the Goodwill Store.  Normally my Goodwill doesn't carry much craft stuff but this I spotted hanging up in with the sheets.  It's hemmed so I am guessing it must have been made for a child's bed.

I think I will go to FatCat Patterns 

http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/freepatterns.html 

and download their free Dinorawr patterns to make a wall hanging.  I've made the some of the dino blocks before and they turn out cute.  This fabric just called to me and for under $4 I couldn't say no.

Break time is over so it's back to work for me.  I hope everybody has a great day.

A popular Subject - Animals

Animals are a popular subject at the shows and the International Quilt show didnt disappoint.

Fiber Artist Marianne R. Williamson

Marianne R. Williamson is a fiber artist who had an exhibit at the show.  You can learn more about her at her website:

www.movinthreads.com

Here are some of hte quilts that she had in the show.  All the quilting is Free Motion Quilting and raw edge applique.  That means that she stitches right out to the end of the applique and doesn't turn it under or anything.  She does the applique and basics with invisible thread to hold things in place and then goes to her thread colors.

Off to work now so I hope you all have a great day.

Magna Carta Quilt Association Quilts

Have you heard of the Magna Carta Quilt Association?  If not you can go to their website.  If you go there, you will find out that  

http://www.magnacartaquilt.co.uk/

"The Magna Carta Quilters are a group of quilters living near or having an association with Runnymede in England. The sole purpose of the Magna Carta Quilters is to create a series of eight quilts to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215 A.D."  The Magna Carta Quilts are 8 quilts which measure 60" x 80".  It will be 4 Medieval Quilts (YAY) and 4 Legacy Quilts and when put together they will measure 30' long by 5' wide and 7' tall.  Even if I wasn't a nut for medieval and history stuff, these quilts would take my breath away.  

Be still my heart because the first quilts that I saw walking into the Festival was the Magna C arta Quilts.  I was looking forward to seeing them and was overjoyed that I didn't have to "hunt' for them.  It totally set my mood for the rest of the day.  Even better, this year the International Quilt Festival had a tour for them so that people could find out more from the experts.  

Speaking of Experts, One of them is Paula Doyle.  I had the pleasure of meeting her.

"The four Medieval Quilts will tell the story of the Magna Carta in a graphic novel style based on 13th century illuminated manuscripts. The panels are being done with a combination of appliqué and embroidery in rich coloured fabrics and threads. The story starts with the death of Richard the Lionheart, which lead to the ascension of his brother John to the throne of England, runs through the events leading up to the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede on June 15th, 1215, then beyond to the ascension of King Henry III, John's son, in 1217. The Magna Carta was the first document ever imposed upon a King of England , King John, by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their rights. The charter is widely known throughout the English speaking world. influencing the early settlers in New England and inspiring later constitutional documents, including the United States Constitution. The borders of the Medieval Quilts are based on 13th century encaustic floor tiles from Winchester Cathedral. There is one tile design for each letter of the alphabet, so the borders will spell out the message of the "Golden" Clause in the Magna Carta, which is the one that talks about Human Rights."

"The four Legacy Quilts in the series will show four oak trees appliquéd onto a background of hexagons. The hexagons represent traditional English patchwork as well as paying homage to the fact that the meadow of Runnymede was cultivated for bee keeping since Neolithic times, around 3000 BC. At the base of each oak tree will be the shields of the 25 feudal barons who drew up the terms of the Magna Carta, and the leaves of the oak tree will depict images and quotes from some of the key figures in the field of Human Rights, such as Abraham Lincoln, Carrie Nation, and Mother Teresa"

The back side of the quilts is the Thames Mosaic, which shows a pixilated outline of the stretch of the River Thames between Windsor and Staines,

This was part of the back. 

More details are found on their website which is also where I found my information in quotation marks.

More pictures will be posted throughout the week so stayed tuned.

I'm home....

and very tired but it is a good type of tired.  :)

I took over 180 photos so it will take me a couple of days to work through them and edit and delete what didn't turn out, etc.

For my friends at Cyber Quilters and Cyber Quilters 4Cs, I thought I'd post some of these pictures which have Half Square Triangles in them...our April bucket list.  This way if I don't get time to do any, I can at least say I thought about it.

Soooo, from the 2016 International Quilt Festival...

These are around 1" finished HST

Enjoy!  There are lots more pictures to come...after I get some sleep.

Cowndown - Day 1.....It's Here!!!!!!!!!!

I'm about to leave to catch the bus to the Chicago International Quilt Festival.

Look for picturs some time this weekend.

Have as great of a day as I will be having!

Countdown - Day 2

It's almost here!  How am I to work when my mind has already checkd out?  LOL.

This will be a quick post because I do have work that needs to get done.

Enjoy your pictures.  I will make sure to take plenty of pictures so hopefully you won't get too bored looking at all of them.  :)  In the meantime you can look at these from 2013.

Wednesday - Countdown Day 3

Let's see if I can remember to add the pictures before hitting publish shall we?

I would love to be able to do a quilt like that.  One day perhaps and if not, well it isn't meant to be.  As long as I enjoy doing what I am doing that is more important.  :)

Countdown - Day 4

Don't you hate it when you hit publish instead of clicking on the add picture button?  Here is what I had intended to add.  :)

Countdown - Day 5

Nothing much to report on so the next few posts will just be pictures from the 2013 International quilt Festival.

Talk about colorful quilts!