THE COLLAGE QUILT!

Blog 57

Welcome back to"Seams Like Home"

This is where it began, the collage quilt.  There were twelve "Art Sue" members including me that worked on the collage project.  Our organizer, Sue N, chose a photograph and had it enlarged. Only she knew what the entire photo looked like.  She divided the photograph up into 12 equal parts and assigned each one of us our 1/12th of the photo.  I had no idea what was above, below, or on either side of the 3"x 4" photo I had been given.

I looked at all the colors in the photo I had been given and began pulling fabrics from my stash.  I had Silk, Rayon, Organza, Tule, Cotton, Quilters Lame',and bits and pieces of ribbon, and even some knits.

Sue N.  gave each of us a piece of mylar that had the 1/12th collage photo printed on it in black and white. It was the size that our finished piece of the quilt should be.  I put it up on a window to backlight it and then traced my quilt pattern on to a piece of Vellum.



My part of the quilt started taking shape.  I could tell that part of it was a flower, probably a pansy.  But there were parts that I had no idea what they were.  All I could do was try to stay true to the colors and lines.

My next decision was to use Thread Play to give it a finished look.
I pulled out the threads I would use and began playing with them.

It was time to turn it in.  Sue N. showed us the "Big Picture" and started putting all 12 of them together.

The original photo before it was divided up.

And then...

TA DA!

Here it is, the Art Quilt at the Port Gamble show.

This was a very fun project!  The quilt turned out so well. I wish you could see it in person.  Twelve art techniques, twelve styles, twelve different groups of fabric.  All put together in one great quilt.

I'd like to try it again, not too soon, but someday.

Port Gamble - Fiber and Fabric Festival

Blog 56

Welcome back to "SEAMS LIKE HOME"

St. Paul's Church

I just went to the Port Gamble Fiber and Fabric Festival sponsored by the Artful Ewe and Quilted Straight (A favorite Quilt Store of mine!).

Quilted Straight

The Quilts were displayed draped over the pews in the church.

They were all beautiful but the Cathedral Windows Quilt was fabulous.  It must have taken a very long time to make.

Our Sunbonnet Sue Raffle Quilt was also on display in the church.

Loretta and Loretta were selling raffle tickets. Good Job Ladies!

Little black quilt and pearls

There were too many art quilts in the pavillion for me to take pictures of them all.  I just picked a few favorites, so enjoy.

Savoir Faire (Grace)

All the Colors in the Box

I come to the Sea to Breathe

  

And of course the one that I know about personally - The Collage Quilt that I had a hand in making.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE ON THIS QUILT! IT WILL BE MY NEXT BLOG,

THE COLLAGE!

We visited the vendors

This is Mary Ann Clayton, I get all my wool supplies from her.

My Husband was so patient with me through the quilts and vendors, but we were finally doing what he wanted to do, have lunch!  We ate at the "General Store" and it was great.

 All in All, a GREAT day.

Forks Quilt Show

Blog 55

Welcome back to "SEAMS LIKE HOME"!

Today I went to the Quilt show in Forks, WA.  You know Forks, the town that became famous because of the "Twilight" movies about Vampires, ooooooooooo. Scary!

There was nothing scary about Forks, it is a delightful small town with a population of barely over 3,000.  The same size town that I grew up in.  And the quilt show was really nice.

Forks has one of the most attractive posters for their show that I've ever seen.  I just love it.  The Quilter's in Forks know we love their poster, they've put it on Bags & T-Shirts too  and I love them.

The High School Gym in Forks was filled with beautiful quilts and there were quite a few vendors.

I'm glad I  made the time to drive to Forks for the Quilt Show, I'll go again!

Since we were already in Forks and we had never been to the Hoh Rain Forest, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunny day to visit a rain forest that measures it's rain in feet not inches.

  (12 to 14 FEET of rain a year!)

The weather couldn't have been nicer, the temperature about 65-67 degrees, the sun shining bright without a cloud in the sky.  I was comfortable in a short sleeve shirt.  Perfect weather for a long Saturday drive.

What I really wanted to see was the 'Big Spruce'.  At 270 feet tall, 12 1/2 foot in diameter and more than 550 years old, it is one of the largest spruce trees in the world. Seeing this tree was a must!

Well, we couldn't believe what we saw.   At the bottom of a mammoth snag of a tree trunk was a sign explaining that on December 9th, 2014, a wind storm snapped the tree in two.

The rest of the tree was lying on the forest floor beginning the process of decomposition into a host for new forest trees.  This tree had thrived in the Hoh Rain Forest for over 550 years and we missed seeing it tall and intact by a little over 4 months. Sad. I was sad to have missed it.  

That's the cycle of life and we have to be glad about it. New baby trees, yea!

Another photo to show you to give you perspective of this massive tree - or tree snag. Look closely and you'll see another tourist to the left of the tree.  Compare his size to the tree size.

I'm not going to leave you on a sad note. I told you about the FEET of rain this place gets, right?

See the take on the Hard Rock Cafe?  In this place it's called Hard Rain Cafe.

 It made me Laugh Out Loud!

It was a good day!

Sunbonnet Sue's Spring Quilting Retreat

Blog 54

Welcome back to "SEAMS LIKE HOME"!

I'm a lucky gal, I got to attend the Sunbonnet Sue's Spring Quilting Retreat.  Fourteen of us went to the St. Andrew's Retreat Lodge on the Hood Canal in Union, WA.  We drove to the retreat on a Monday morning, and drove home on the following Friday afternoon.  It was wonderful to spend the better part of a week quilting, laughing and eating!

The Main Lodge was built in 1928 and was lovely.  Most of the bedrooms were located on the upper floor.  My bedroom window was the second window from the right.  It was a small room but I had it to myself, a luxury at retreats. The beds all had quilts on them making the rooms very homey.  I brought my own retreat quilt to enjoy as well.

The Living room was large and the perfect place to sit in front of the fireplace and do some handwork.  Many of us gathered there in the mornings to chat before breakfast. 

The Windows revealed a wide porch overlooking the Hood Canal.  Beautiful!

AND the food, yes the food was all inclusive. Three meals a day cooked by a Chef who shopped at neighboring farms and ranches to get nothing but the best and freshest ingredients.  Yes, we were HAPPY campers!  

The only problem was the view from the sewing room was so AWESOME it made concentrating on our sewing sometimes difficult.  We had beautiful surroundings, great food, and lively conversations.  We swapped stories and laughed a LOT!  No, No, I can't tell you what was said.  All agreed, what happens at Retreat, Stays at Retreat!

 I did finish a quilt top, the pattern and fabric is called "Girly Girl".  Cute Huh!?!  It turned out much bigger than I expected.  I took it all pre-cut to the retreat and it still took me two days to piece it together.   It was 84" x 84", not quite the crib quilt size I thought I had.  What was I thinking???  I like it anyway and I have a perfect someone to give it to.

All in all the Retreat was a complete success,  I hope I get to do it again.

 Maybe the Fall Retreat?

Dreamy Hexagons 4th Border (Partial)

Blog 53

Welcome back to "SEAMS LIKE HOME!"

The photo above shows partially done, border number four of "Dreamy Hexagons".  It took me  longer than I thought to complete the Twenty "16 patch" blocks (I skipped out to a quilting retreat before I finished them - more on that in the next blog).

The blocks are made from a Kaffe Fassett fabric named Oriental Trees and the 7 different shot cottons we used in the Hexagons.  With the twenty blocks done now, I will cut the setting triangles, sew them to the blocks and sew border number four onto the quilt.

A close up so you can see the fabrics better.

There is one more border to do after this one, so keep checking in, we're getting closer to the finish line.  My "Perfect Hubby" will see to it that we finish soon.

   LOL can you just imagine?!?!?

Getting Ready for the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Show

Blog 52

Welcome back to "SEAMS LIKE HOME"

It's Spring, so it's time to get going on the Sunbonnet Sue's Quilt Show in July.

Somehow I got volunteered to work on the advertisement for the Quilt Show. I have NO idea how to do the advertizing so I am very grateful for the mentoring from my new friend Gail.  She has done the advertising before.  She promised to hold my hand as we go through this journey together.  Come along with us and maybe someday when you get volunteered, you'll say OK, I've read about this.

First thing I did was to help the Chair of the Quilt Show, Marilyn, photograph this year's Raffle Quilt so we could use the photos in advertising.  This year's theme is "Hearts, Friends, and Flowers" and the quilt reflects the theme really well.

Isn't it a Beauty!

Down at the park.

A close up.

Gail and I had a meeting at my house and went through all the items we have yet to do.  Whew!

The next thing we're doing is meeting today at the printers to get set up for Posters & Postcards.  I'll let you know how we do.