Maine Quilts 2010 -Champagne Preview

I went to the Champagne Preview with 2 quilting buddies last Thursday night. Here are some highlights of the show. The next three quilts are all the same pattern, believe it or not. The first is by Sue R. Isn't it a beauty? The pattern is September Sun by Jinny Beyer and the three ladies decided to make the quilt in different colorways.

Here's Sherry's. She told me she picked all the fabrics from her stash. Nice stash!

Here's Barb's version. Interesting how the different fabrics emphasize different parts of the quilt. I didn't get a photo of Koleen's quilt, must have been distracted by this....

"Affairs of the Heart" made by Marge J. She said "this quilt took about 2 years and several migraines to complete." I can believe it. The workmanship is top notch. Pattern by Aie Rossman, AQS. I saw it in a magazine ad as a block of the month quilt, just in case you want to make one. I'll just stand back and admire this one.

"Retirement Celebration" stole my heart. I absolutely love this quilt. As a former librarian, I can remember most of the books represented in these images. Owned by Audrey Briggs of Falmouth she said the quilt was made by her teacher friends upon her retirement. What wonderful friends!


I see the Cat in the Hat, Bedtime for Frances, Frog and Toad in this closeup. Its just marvelous. Audrey's sister is Jacqueline Briggs Martin, an award winning Maine author of children's books.


And here are my 2 friends who went to the preview with me-Donna and Margo. Margo has her own photos of the show on her blog; be sure to take a look there, too.

I've got more to share in the next post.

Maine Quilts 2010 Stash Report

I had so much fun at the quilt show! I went to the Champagne Preview Thursday night with 2 friends. We saw some of the quilts and most of the vendors. We spread our money around. I love this chickadee wall hanging. My gmail account is chickadee24 and I use that as my name for several other accounts-The Quilt Show and Ravelry. This pattern is for fusible applique. I think the chickadee is first cut out in a black oval with the white and gray fused on top.


Another chickadee is featured in the green panel. One block has a feather and eggs. Nice little sayings on each picture. The fish and mermaid panel is the green and yellow colorway; it is also available in blues, but I really liked this one better. There is also an octopus which is orange and lovely. I bought a piece of green fabric to go with that.

The little lady in brown on the far right is from an old lithograph printed on fabric. It was hard to choose from the vendor's selection, let me tell you. There was also a green one of a little girl and a bear. I'm regretting not buying that one, too. Just out of the photo is a border print, cut in a long strip and packaged in cellophane. This vendor had many blocks of fabrics cut and wrapped like that. He had stacks of fabrics cut in 3 inch blocks and smaller, all wrapped in cellophane. No frayed edges, very neat. They looked like Post-It notes.

A couple of bundles of fat quarters. I'm thinking of making them into napkins. Also a cat hanger. Wait, does that sound funny?

I took an all day class with Sue Nickels today. We had a 2 hour lunch so I got to see more of the show today. More about that later, I'm pooped!

Maine Quilts 2010

I've entered 3 pieces at Maine Quilts this year. This first one is called "Trees Are".

I'm sure you remember seeing this. I feel like I've been working on this forever. Can't wait to see it hanging at the show as it is way too big for my design wall. Queen size. Not perfect, but I hope it looks good enough for the company it is in. It is called "Sleeps with Butterflies".

And lastly, my Art Quilts Maine entry for our hardware challenge. This one is called "Who Let the Dogs Out?".

I hope to see you at the show! I'll be at the Champagne Preview Thursday night. I am taking a class all day Saturday with Sue Nickels!!!!!! The class is called Machine Quilting the Applique Quilt. I still have to make some applique samples to take to class and I am going camping for three days. I'll get it done!

July 30 - August 1
Augusta Civic Center

Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

p.s. My marvelous son installed Electric Quilt 7 on my Mac yesterday afternoon. It has been hard packing and getting ready for our camping trip. Resistance is futile. I'm going to play right now! BTW, my son installed Windows on my Mac, too. Heresy. :-)

Spoonflower

Are you familiar with Spoonflower? It is a website where you can upload your designs and have them made into fabrics. I get their newsletter which allows me to vote for my favorites in their theme contests. This week's winner is this fabric in the "cheater" cloth contest. It is SO pretty! Can't you imagine having 5 yards to back a quilt or even make a quilt! At $90 I guess not for me.

You can see the cheater cloth winners here.