Winning Quilts from Recent Shows

It's time to check out the winning quilts at this year's International Quilt Festival, Houston. The subject was 'A World of Beauty'. Check them out HERE.

• Find the winners of the Pacific International Quilt Festival HERE.
• In Chicago, the Celebration of Color Judged Show is HERE.
• World Quilt Competition Winners from New England are HERE.
• Sauder Village 2017 Quilt Show Winners HERE. 
• The $10,000 winner of the Handi Quilter Best of Show Award, the International Quilt Festival-Houston. Harmony Within by Sue McCarty of Roy, Utah. 
• In January, I posted about the Tokyo Quilt Festival. See it HERE

Grab a cup of something and enjoy!!

Foxy Loxy

I found a cute Festive Fox Ornament on Beck and Lundy and decided to make one. This one doesn't have the hand embroidery on the face as in the original. Mine is called Foxy Loxy and will be mailed to my granddaughter in Chicago. When I traveled to Chicago, my suitcase always carried a fox hand puppet, called Foxy Loxy. It traveled back and forth with me for a couple of years. However, last year, Gale claimed him and he stayed there. I get to see him occasionally. Making memories is important!! Every time I see a cute little fox, I think of Gale.

Here's a few fox projects:

• Heart Made
• Erica Catarina
• Fox Embroidery on Pinterest 

I've linked up with the Needle & Thread Network.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to family in Chicago, Tennessee and Texas. I hope it's a fun day spent with family and friends.

Here's a previous post to check.

Red and White

I just got back home today from my Chicago trip. Here are a few more pieces from the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. The last quilt had an amazing amount of detailed applique and piecing as you can see from the photo.
Enjoy!

 

Shopping at Quilt Festival

I have mixed feelings toward the Quilt Market at the International Quilt Festival here in Chicago. For one thing, I had expectations that it would be bigger (guess the Houston Show years ago, spoiled me). This one is much smaller. I covered it twice in one day.

There were few books on display. None of the publishing companies were there. All the major sewing machines were represented as well as several thread manufacturers. I noticed that felt embroidery kits were a big item and Valdani threads are the ones of choice for use in these kits.

I did buy a few things! Have a look.

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Variegated Batiks 

Perfect to shred for grass in landscapes!

Hand dyed wool

Sampler kit of Wonderfil Threads

Hand Dyed Pearl Cottons

Oliver Twists Embellishment Threads / Yarns

Quilters Quest

Quilters Quest is a fairly new shop located in Woodridge, IL. Even though it is listed in this summer's shop hop, I didn't realize it was en route to our Chicago destination each day. It was quite by accident that I discovered this. It is adjacent to a very large tool shop - how convenient is that! The shop also has a husband lounge area with a large screen TV (for those men not interested in tools).

As I opened the door to this wonderful quilt store, I was greeted by the owner. I introduced myself, told her about my blog. She gave me permission to take as many photos as I wanted, including all the wonderful quilts hanging all around the walls and shelves.

There was a Moda sale so lots of quilters were taking advantage of this event. I took my time looking around at all the wonderful fabrics, notions, threads and patterns (the tool shop was next door so I had lots of time)!!

Have a look at the shop:

Happy 4th of July

It's still the 4th here in Chicago! Fire works have been going off since mid day. Every corner and alley has some fire crackers and other types of fireworks going off. After it got dark, we went out for walk around the neighbourhood to see some more. To me, this is very unusual as where I live in Canada, all fireworks within the city, are controlled.

Have a great weekend wherever you are!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mom's Day!
What a lovely surprise I received! This beautiful Mother's Day floral bouquet is from my daughter and family in Chicago. I was told that my little granddaughter wanted orange flowers. As you can see, she got her wish! Thank you. It made my day.

Art by Jill Thirza Cooper

My daughter, Jill, just launched her new website http://jill-cooper.com, promoting her artwork. She paints mainly in acrylics on canvas, and had a showing in Chicago just before Christmas. Her originals are for sale on her site, and she will have prints available soon as well.

I like her art work and hope you do too.

Sea Skyscape

Fabric Purchase

I didn't purchase many fabrics this time during my Chicago visit. The few I did get will probably be used for mug rugs or other small projects. Some very glitzy pieces did find their way back to Newfoundland! The photo doesn't do them justice. They will be used to make more fantasy fabric. I find that lime green really pops out in a piece as well as neon colours.

This blue piece reminded me of glass. I have no idea what I will do with it!
The hearts in the red fabric are metallic.
The Cats and owls appealed to me - fun pieces.

Wishing it was SPRING!!!

As I was looking out the window of my daughter's place here in Chicago, I wished it was spring! It's been really cold since I've been here. Certainly a lot colder than St. John's, NL, where the sea has a warming effect. I just read that St. John's has the mildest winters in Canada! Hmmm! I don't know about this winter though!!

Since my heart is looking toward SPRING (still  months away), here are some leafy designs to check out. Also, I pinned a few art quilts with leaves on my Art Quilts pinterest page.

• Leaf designs from Sketch Book
• Leaf Stitch,
• How to Crochet a Leaf
• Free Knitted Leaf Patterns
• Lace Leaf Stitches
• Little Leaves Scarf (cute)
• 100 Stitches - Leaf Stitch (excellent tutorial & worth looking around the site)
• Rose Leaf Stitch
• Embroidery Library - Leaf Stitch
• Raised Fishbone Stitch (fish pattern)

Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the Sheep is one of my little granddaughter's favorite shows. This is a British animation that appeals to children of all ages. It is hilarious!  Last summer while in Chicago, I searched for a pattern for Shaun to knit or crochet (something I could do in the motor home while we were driving home). I found one at Purple Linda Crafts. Looking back, I should have given up when I couldn't get the recommended yarns and had to use a substitute.

The pattern did not give the size for this character, so I figured it would be about 12 inches high or there about - until I got the body done!! The finished height of this creature is 27 inches tall. I worked on Shaun all fall during our weekly stitching group. Each part took longer than I wanted but I wasn't about to give in. Once I start something, I usually try to finish it. Shaun was finished last night. My friends have been watching my progress and since they won't see Shaun before he goes to Chicago next week, I'm presenting him here! Every time I look at him, I chuckle. Hope you get a chuckle too!

In my photos, I positioned him so his tail was behind him. When Shaun is standing, the tail between his legs, looks a little bit strange (grin)!
Enjoy!

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Winter Quilting

Yesterday we lost the electricity from 5:30 pm until 10:30 pm. Luckily the flashlights were handy. Since it's so cold outside, the NL Power company decided to cut the power to different parts of the city for a few hours. Apparently there was a usage on the generators and they plan to do this until the weather warms up a bit. So far today, this part of town has been left alone (keeping fingers crossed). It's times like this that our quilts really do come in handy (not just as a decorative addition to a room).

In case you feel the need to make another quilt, I found some with a Winter theme. You will see lots of blue and white! Some of the patterns are for sale and some are free. I've included both for viewing as you never know what might spark an idea. There are also a couple of smaller pieces too.

• Snowflakes from Quilt and Sew Shop
• Winter Critters from Quiltmaker  (designed by Sonja Callahan - her blog is worth a look)
• Winter Moon by Kit Lang
• Winter Quilt from Lemon Tree Tales
• Winter Solstice by Diane McGregor at Craftsy
• Winter (freezer paper snowflake stencil) from Wee Folk Art
• Penguins on Ice from Lavender Rabbit
• Winter Home Mug Rug from Craftsy  (This won't keep you warm but will give you a chuckle)
• Fractured Season Bargellos from Arbee Designs
• Winter Galaxy: Sparkling Star Scrap Bed Quilt from McCall's Quick Quilts

The only large bed quilt I ever made was back in1999 for a quilt show in 2000. It was a Magic Tiles pattern by Kathleen Bissett. I called it Quiltenium Dreams. All the fabrics were from various trips taken across the country. The quilt found its way to Chicago with my daughter and her husband. It has a good home.

Sisters

I have a fabulous sister! Back in July I blogged about some sewing projects. One project, in particular, caught my attention - the Easy-Peasy Travel Iron Caddy from The Painted Quilt blog.

The day before I left my daughter and family in Chicago to drive back home, a parcel arrived for me from my sister (she's in Tennessee). Here's what I received! My very own iron tote (she made one for herself at the same time). Thanks, Joan! Now I don't have to worry about damaging my iron when I teach / take a class.

Costumes at the Bristol Renaissance Faire

I mentioned awhile back that I had visited the Bristol Renaissance Faire. It was well worth the visit and I'm looking forward to another visit next summer. The costumes were very elaborate with lots of embroidery. Here are a few 'textile / stitchery related photos from my day at the fair'!



Fairy up a tree.
This little one was fascinated with her.

 

The Sewing Store

I'm trying to play catch up with some of the places I visited while in the Chicago area. It was difficult to do a daily blog with an hour commute each way to and fro Chicago to our home base at Leisure Lake Resort.

On one of the few days we decided to stay 'home', I discovered The Sewing Store in a small plaza in Joliet, IL. There is a sister store in Morris, IL.

This shop, in Joliet, specializes in sewing and embroidery machines (Brother, Bernina) plus all the necessary accessories to go with them! I took other photos of the shop but discovered they are in a format not compatible with blogger (too big) and I don't have the software with me to convert them to jpg. I discovered this after I was outside thus the sign was taken as a jpg.

What was interesting: another lady came into the store while we were there. She over heard that we were travelling from the eastern part of Canada and got curious. To make a long story short, her grandmother and uncle are from St. John's, Newfoundland and she had visited there as a child. You never know who you will meet!

Skyline

The other evening, on our way back to Leisure Lake Resort, I took these photos out the car window. This is on Interstate 90 / 94 going through downtown Chicago. The clouds seemed enormous. It was quite dramatic! However, the further we drove, the less intense they became. The land is so flat. Quite different from eastern Canada. We are leaving the USA today.
Enjoy!