Grass Valley CA 2012 Quilt Show

Grass Valley's quilt show has to be the best surroundings. It is held at the Nevada County fair grounds, which is covered in grass and pine trees. Just beautiful.

I went to this quilt show alone, which I must say is not as much fun as going with my favorite daughter. She was unavailable to go with me this past weekend. I still enjoyed it, though.

I took a lot of pictures, which are posted below. Though no one submitted a Halloween quilt, which are my favorite. There was a black and orange quilt at the end of the hall that I thought would be perfect for my Halloween quilt picture. Then I got closer. It was a homage to the San Francisco Giants, whose colors are black and orange. Problem is I am more of an Oakland As fan. So not picture taken of that quilt. Sorry.

At the Auburn show two weeks ago, there were two Iguana quilts, which I loved. Here was one that even topped those. This quilt took Best in Show. It was really fantastic.

Here is a close up of the above quilt. Note on the leaf above the lizard's head there is a caterpiller on the leaf. The quilter put more than one of those it and a couple of 3-D leaves. It really made the quilt come to life. Love it. If there is a pattern out there, I would love to have its name so I could buy one. I would love to make one just like this as a gift to my son.

This quilter made the international Sun Bonnet Sues. My daughter has the pattern book for this. Some day I will work on one, too.

The quilter also embroidered the names of each nation on all the blocks. Nice tough and well done.

This particular pattern book has a lot of different countries represented. If you were to do them all, you would have to put them on the back. Or you could do what this quilter did and just make another quilt.

Close up of the one above.

Beautiful applique. I have done a few applique blocks this past year. None of mine came close to the beauty of this.

I just loved the fabrics used in this quilt. Wonder if it was a block of the month held somewhere. Very nice.

I have a slide of two of my children walking hand in hand down a garden path with their backs to us. I have wanted for years to have a painter reproduce it for me. Maybe I should try doing a quilt instead.
I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

 The theme for this quilt show was about dragons. Check out some of the dragon quilts that were made. This is just a representation of them. I do not normally like dragons, but the ones featured here are fantastic.




This quilt was very small. I took the picture because all those strips were individual strips pieced together. I am always amazed at some of the intricate work on small quilts.

It was hard to get into take a picture of this. It is so interesting that everyone who walked by had to get up close to see how it was all done. The picture does not do it justice. Good job.

I took a close up so I could show what the picture was of, which was a bridge in Europe. I was also hoping the quilting would show up better than it did. It was hand quilted with tiny stitches and they were close together. I would love to know the amount of time it took this quilter to get the done complete. This would be a 10 year quilt for me, I think.

Loved the colors in this one.

Loved the amount of handwork done on the Hawaiian flowers. Plus the colors are really dynamic.

This picture is not very representative of the beauty of this quilt.

This quilt is stunning! Other than the lizard one, I would say this was my favorite quilt.

Christmas. Another favorite holiday for me. The colors always pull me. Plus put a penguin in a quilt, and you have my attention.

Great quilt for a guy. Gave me a good idea for my brother.

Love those quilt shows!

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Fabric on Sale

Beehive Quilts has put our fabric on sale. We normally price it way below the recommended price, but we have lowered it even more!

Now is your chance to get high quality quilting cotton at a great price. See just a few of the fabrics below.

Check it all out at http://www.beehivequilts.com/fabric

Go on line to see the remainder of what is offered.

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Auburn CA 2012 Quilt Guild Show

Love going to guild's quilt shows. Auburn's is always a joy to go to. The talent in this guild is tremendous. Plus so many of my friends from different places I have lived in this area go to this show that it is great fun. I love to take pictures of the quilts on display. I take only a few. I would take more but there are so many people there that sometimes it is hard to get a clear picture without taking someone else in it.

I must say though that I was disappointed that I did not win a raffle basket. They have some great ones to choose from. Oh well. My $10 went to a good cause anyway.

Here are pictures from this year's show:

I have made all these blocks and am in process of putting the sashing around each one (6 done so far). I am so excited I am so far on this quilt. I just love it. Since I have so many projects that HAVE to be finished, I may not get this one done for a while. But it is on my design way calling me to constantly. I will post a picture when I finish mine.

I especially loved this one because I thought it was a great way to portray travel pictures. Gil and I are planning traveling around the US and Canada starting next spring. I will keep this design in mind when we are out and about.

This is just one of several that were on the stage. They were all the same pattern, but they were all done with different fabrics. It must have been a guild challenge or maybe a group. They were all gorgeous. My daughter loved this one the best, so it is the one I took a picture of. You can seen the one behind it used more subdued colors. Just as beautiful.

I love this pattern. I have it for sale on the website. There is a lot of embroidery but little piecing. I need to start this if I want to have it done in time for the holidays this year. I am realistically looking at 2013 instead, I think. Too many projects.

I had to take this one. My son had an Iguana that was over 6 feet long named Nando. He would love to have this quilt. It is an original design by the quilter.



I collect lighthouses, so I tend to gravitate to anything seaside or lighthouse related. Love this one. It was a very peaceful setting.



Beautiful embroidered Halloween quilt. We carry this on our website. It will be a someday to do quilt.

This is an upclose of part of the quilt above.

This was done with colored thread on black material. I just loved this. Plus it is Halloween, which is always my favorite.

Hey, anything with a bee or a hive I will be drawn to. Don't you love it?

This is the first quilt I have seen using the large template. I had just bought one at a vendor booth and was excited to see one done up.

Bunnies are a great draw. Plus I have a lot of veggie and fruit fat quarters that I need to use someway. This would be a great design to use some in.

Another iguana. Great quilt if you love lizards, which I do.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these quilts. All are thought provoking and makes me want to get busy on some of my "want to do" list. Of course that is after I finish my UFOs and special projects that I have running.

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Blog site with cute Dog or Cat BOM free patterns

I found a great blog that is currently running a free BOM of simple dog applique. They are really cute. Depending upon the fabric chosen to make the dogs, this BOM will be really adorable and one that could easily be done and finished.

Here is one of her finished blocks:

Doesn't that make you want to take part in this BOM? No cost. FREE. Fun. Easy to do.

Find it at http://syverkstan-helena.blogspot.com/.

She also has a cat BOM. Here is her completed cat quilt:

She has a lot of other really cute designs. Here is one of my favorites I saw on her website:

Don't you just love it?

Check it out. You can download the instructions in English off her website. The link is on her blog.

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Embroidery Patterns by Crab-Apple Hill

Crab-Apple Hill has some of the best embroidery patterns. We have on our website some for Christmas and Halloween. If you want them done in time for those holidays, you better start soon. Buy them at Crab-Apple link here. Check them out:

Over the River

Calendula Patterdrips

Calendula Patterdrips upclose

Which Witch's Boot

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland upclose

Twas the Night Before Christmas

They are really fun and would be fun to do. Great gift idea for someone special, too.
 

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Mitered corners video

I have done mitered corners often. They always come out, BUT. . . .Sometimes it takes me more time to get it right than I think it is worth. So often I just opt not to do them. Here is a video that shows how to make them. It is a little slow going at first, but it was worth my while to stay with it and view the whole thing. I have not tried this technique yet, but I shall soon. In fact I have a quilt top done to the point that I was ready to put on the final border, which I was going to miter. I have had it to this point for several months and have been putting it off. I will let you know how they come out.

Here's the video link: http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/how-to-videos/

If you try this, let us know how it came out for you.

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