Great Wisconsin Quilt Show!

 The new fall season has 2 wonderful kick offs for me.

First, my husband and I have for the last 10 years taken a long weekend to Sister Bay in Door County.  It is always Marina Fest as well. We love, love, love, the wonderful Marina and walking up and down the different docks, watching the boats, the sunsets and this year mostly the choppy waves.  But it is so nice to get away just the two of us away from home. The weather was cool this year, so unlike the normal summer vibes.

  

                                                        The Packer Gnome and me

But the 2nd event is themost wonderful quit show here in Madison, Wisconsin only an hour away.   This is the first in 3 years following Covid.  This year, there was a new name and Nancy Zieman's company no longer runs it.  But it is quilts, and fabric and speakers and..........so much. 

I should have known it would be crowded when it took me 45 minutes from the ramp on the highway to get to the Alliant Energy Center . I could have walked there in 10 minutes or less.  Hmmm. staffing issues caused lots of the delays. 

But it did not dampen my spirits.  So much to see, so much to explore.  

Of course, I bought things.  ( I had already purchased the panel and pattern from Primitive Gatherings the previous week.)  And I am so excited to get a wooden walnut clapper at a terrific price. But I did not go overboard and refrained from purchasing too much as I need to finish the projects I already have. 

But the show quilts blew me away.  Truly.  Design, color, technique, miniscule quilting. Each quilt more gorgeous than the next.  There were 10 categories. 

There were entrants from across the United States from Florida to California, from all over the Midwest, of course, but so many states farther away: Nevada, Missouri.  This is in Wisconsin ; can you believe it?   And famous quilters:  Holis Chatelain, Karen Kay Buckley, Barbara Clem and Gail Stepanek to name a few. So here are some inspirational quilts. 

So there were Covid quilts:, of course, which I had to include. There were so fitting for the show.

But here were the show stoppers from the wonderful talents these national quilt winners:

Gail Stepanek and Jan Hutchinson

Unknown.

Best of Show

Barbara Clem:   beautiful applique and embroidery

Holis Chatelain:  so real and all in blues. 

This was a small quilt and the threadwork is what made it colorful.

Karen Kay Buckley

It was just so wonderful to see such great works with incredible workmanship.

And that was only the tip of the iceberg for all the quilts in 10 categories. 

So many ideas, so little time.

 I am slowly reorganizing the sewing area and all the storage there and about.  It is a task I ABHOR. But the ends justify the means. And I know I will be better for it. 

But in the meantime, I keep sewing little by little on the many projects in progress:

1) Bee Happy:   Purchased on a trip around Wisconsin with my husband.  I needed to get this done as I do so love the colors and theme for late summer.  The centers are from a panel by 

2) 100 days 100 blocks:   I have made another 6 blocks.  They are quick and easy.  The hard part is selecting colors for the block. 

3) Handwork:  2 things going in the evenings:

Wool exchange for a friend

Cross stitch of fall leaves with variegated thread

First day of school here in Wisconsin on the first of September.  Oh, the sound of laughing children on the playground. It still feels kind of weird not teaching. But I do so enjoy my coffee and reading in the morning. 

Missing in action

 My apologies.   I haven't blogged in quite some time.   The summer wore me down. The constant unknown of the kitchen and when workers were coming, what were they doing, and how big was the mess became frustrating.  I even set up a sewing area in bedroom to just be able to do something. 

And the 2 vacation trips that did not go as planned hung heavy on my heart.  Although I loved seeing the grandboys, our trip to Houston was cut short.  My daughter in law began her process for having kidney dialysis at home. Timing was unfortunate. ( She had the port inserted; waited for it to heal which is harder with diabetics, and then began training for the dialysis. And now she does it at home every night.)

The 2nd trip to Canada to visit Mom was anticlimactic. The nursing home was on lock down due to a flu/stomach bug affecting several patients. So I could not see Mom. Even going to a window would have been confusing to her.  She does not understand masks either. Alzheimers, so frustrating to so many. 

That's not to say that there have been many fun and enjoyable parts to the trips and the rest of the summer. Fireworks and fairs, food and hot air balloon.  And oh, I started working out in the pool at the YMCA and also swimming laps.  And the cherry on top is that the kitchen only has 2 small details to finish up. 

So, what sewing/quilting have I been doing? 

1) 24 Moda Blockheads completed and the setting organized and put into rows. 

2) Winnie the Pooh baby quilt top completed.

3)  Summer Bee wall quilt blocks completed

4) Mini Quilt from Temecula Quilts made ( picture only shows the top, but it is quilted and bound)

5)  100 days 100 blocks  from Angie the gnomeangel in Australia and also with Just Get it Done Quilts in Canada. I have 22 blocks done and am only a week behind.  The blocks are very easy and go quickly.  Fabric pulled from stash: I had several coordinated fabrics together without a project in mind. I just added more scraps to liven it up. 

And ta da!  I was pleased to see my quilt displayed at eye level for my 3rd place ribbon at the Wisconsin State Fair. 

UFOs

 Who doesn't have UFOs?  And seriously, how many do we all have?  No reveals in this blog post.                   

So when Joan brought up a blog hop for this purpose, I jumped right on that train.  Having a deadline is just what I need.  

And which one to do?   HMMMM.  I decided that being July, I need to finish that 4th of July project sitting in a box. 

Opened up the box.  Yeah!    The pattern is there and all the fabrics.    Boo!   I had hardly started it. There was only some of that cutting done. Seriously, this needs more work than I thought. 

The pattern was a free one from Fort Worth Fabric Shop in Texas. The date was 2018. 

And I loved the design, but changed the dimensions shrinking the blocks to 8 inch size. 

Don't you just love the fireworks background. 

 Step 1: Setting blocks

Step 2 Star blocks

Layout:  

Borders and quilting:

Some of the quilting from the back.  

It needs some fillers in the star blocks and accents in the flying geese.  

Unfortunately, I am quilting in my bedroom not my sewing room due to kitchen remodeling. 

I will have to finish it when I can get back to my sewing table. 

But I love how it turned out and feel good about how the piecing and quilting went. 

Hope you like it as well. 

Don't forget to see the other blogs on the hop.

Little things finished.

 I am enjoying the many blocks of Moda Blockheads.  There are so many designers and versions and colorways and inspiration.  It is a challenge to use my box of leftover pieces of peaches and greens with the hot chocolate background. 

I have 20  blocks made and only 5 more needed for the setting version by Fig Tree quilts designer Joanna Figueroa.  Hooray!

I finished my mini quilt of triangle leftovers:  Final size  8 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches.  That means each half square triangle is  one inch. 

Easy straight line quilting in 4 directions. 

My other goal has been to exercise more.  I rejoined the YMCA and have been alternating between lap swimming and water aerobics.  I think I have made it 10 times in the last 3 weeks. 

The kitchen remodel is progressing.  New cabinets in after the messy dry walling and paint. 

3 weeks to go. 

Quilting and Art on the Square

 Last weekend we took a trip to Madison, Wisconsin to see the Art on the Square Show.  We have gone for decades and enjoyed every one. Yeah!   Some of the highlights of the many booths that surround our capitol building on all 4 sides. 

The art mediums were so varied: painting of all kinds and sizes, ceramics, jewelry: of course, wood, fabric and paper.  Here are a few of the many exhibits/booths.

So inspirational and such a great time!

Then I have been sewing and sewing in my new "studio" in my bedroom.  It is a nice retreat away from the house.

Here are the cut offs for a project I will reveal in a couple weeks and I have another pile of more of these.  

So what to do?  As I went down the distraction road of blogs which I have not done in a while, I found a mini quilt free pattern from Temecula Quilt blog>https://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/

Perfect!  She has such wonderful free patterns. And here are all the little blocks.  ( Triangles of 1 1/2 inch size. 

And put together.  Lots of fun and only 8 by 10 inches.  Now to quilt it. 

Next I quilted my simple easy baby quilt.  My attempt at using up some fabric.  Who am I kidding? A couple of charm packs don't dent it. 

As it is a donation quilt, I didn't want to add too much quilting and I had recently purchased a book on straight line quilting.   Simple! I used the guide that came with my walking foot for the first time.

DONE!

And for hand projects, I finished up the wool pillows from Pieceful Gatherings in Fox Grove, Illinois. 

I did the wool applique LAST year, but just needed a little embroidery and beads and finishing. 

DONE!

I guess I am getting some things done. 

Kitchen remodel and sewing

 So I am officially out of the kitchen per se.  We are into our 2nd week of the actual kitchen remodel after months of waiting for cabinets to be ordered. The demolition is done, new electrical and plumbing are framed in. And I don't know where anything from my kitchen is except the refrigerator and oven which stand in the bare space.  Boxes are everywhere. Luckily, I have a sink in my laundry room on the main floor. And we have the microwave and a few small appliances there. Oh, and then there is the hubby who does the minimal dishes we use. 

At this point there is no sink or dishwasher and there are holes in the walls from added electrical outlets and recessed lighting. ( The kitchen has 2 steps down into it. )

Onto good things:  I have set up a small sewing area in my bedroom. And I have been making Moda Blockheads 4  and have caught up. I am going to start the setting proposed from Joanna Figuara.

I have plenty of brown/tan for sashings and a lime green print for setting triangles and cornerstones.

I am up to 18 blocks completed out of what will be 25.   I even have an extra 4 inch block of one which I will use for the label.   I am caught up with the series online ( Moda Blockheads 4 both on facebook and online a couple of places.  I love the variation of blocks made by other quilters which inspires me to alter my own coloration and piecing.  I really love practicing a variety of patterns and techniques in blocks which has helped me to improve my piecing skills. 

Indiana puzzle with center feature fabric:

Roundabout : alternate block for 4?

They look kind of blah together.  I hope it is more just a lighting issue, although I know there are mostly medium to light prints.  ( I am trying to finish a box of fabrics after making 2 quilts already. )

While watching tv in the evenings I am working on some cross stitch. A winter pattern of mittens on navy aida . I am doing this one without a hoop. Sure but slow wins the race.