May 25 14

Back from Quilt Market and Back to the World of the Living!

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Last weekend was Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh.  This is where new products in the quilting world are introduced to quilt shop owners from all over the world and where designers/vendors have booths to reveal their latest creations.  I have to say, there are some really stunning examples of beautiful machine quilting all over Quilt Market, and the quilting just gets better year after year.  I’m not talking about the quilts on display (although those were exquisite), but I’m talking about all the 10 million quilts that are draped, etc in all the booths.  I feel like machine quilting has evolved to the point that one can really take a very ordinary quilt and make it look extraordinary, all because of the quilting.  Maybe it’s my own personal interest in machine quilting, but I find myself taking 2nd and third looks at  quilts whose tops are not all that interesting, but the quilting is remarkable.  If you don’t think the quilting matters, it’s time to reconsider that stance!  A couple of noteworthy booths we saw:
 
Leah Day of the Free Motion Quilting Project had a booth:
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…and what is behind her but the infamous quilt she created using all of her wonderful free motion quilting designs!  In the foreground, you can see the 2nd edition of her book “365 Free Motion Quilting Designs” and it has a spiral binding so that it will lay flat, right next to your sewing machine!  This is an incredible resource when you’re looking to come up with some interesting fresh designs for your quilt.  She also had this giant sized curvy 3-dimensional self-supporting frame that sported magnified shots of some of her blocks (sorry, my description doesn’t do this structure justice):
 
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…and it really made her booth stand out.  (I think that’s important at Quilt Market.  So many booths look alike that you need something unique to set yours apart and Leah really did that.)  She also had her husband, Josh, working the booth and he was so nice!  If you haven’t been following Leah’s blog, this is a musty-read for anyone interested in machine quilting!
 
Another cool display was this quilted floor length skirt:
 
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(Sorry about the blurry photo; I’m not too good with my phone camera.)  Who would have thought it would drape so nicely with that layer of batting?  Here’s a closeup of the quilting:
 
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It was quilted by non other than Angela Walters, another quilting super star whose blog is also worth following for free motion quilting designs.
 
One booth really struck me more than all the others, but my photos don’t do it justice.  It was the Fairfield booth, makers of Fairfield batting.  They had created this large “tower” out of panels where they’d gathered or stitched or woven or done something repetitive with  a rectangular piece of batting.  It created the most interesting textures and it made me just want to touch it:
 
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 We got home late Saturday night and when we woke up Sunday, we were felled by a viral gastroenteritis.  We literally puked our guts out for a few days and  were flat on our backs when we weren’t racing to the bathroom.   Neither Ern nor I have been sick like that since we were kids and I hope this one experience is the last we have as adults!  To say it was memorable is an understatement!  I am proud to say we are now back to normal!  Now to get back to my sewing machine…

2 Comments

  1. Peggy Says:

    Love your quilt at the top!

  2. Laura Davies Says:

    That skirt is so cool! What a neat idea!