Here it is – the last of the quilting for this project. I am pleased with how it came out and now all that is left is to finish sewing the binding. What was really neat is that the fabric for the binding is some teal fabric I had on a bolt in the sewing room and it perfectly matches the teal fabric in the sashings. You would never know that they were made many years apart!
Something I wanted to mention is why I chose the thread I did. I wanted to use the white to help unify the whole design. The white in the blocks really stood out to me when I looked at the quilt originally and I wanted to tone it down and blend the whole quilt together. So I thought that using the white thread, and a fairly thick one at that, would do this nicely. I love how it looks against the border fabrics, and I think it compliments the inner blocks, too. Here is a detail shot so you can see what I mean:
Here are some more shots of the quilt I am working on and the blocks I did up yesterday. I would have posted this last night, but got caught up in spending time with my family.
The block on the left has oak leaves and acorns in the pattern…
The one on the left has more leaves…
A dragonfly design I made to go with the outer border…
The outer border dragonflies…
One of my favorite things about doing custom orders for people is that I often get to work on techniques that I don’t always get to play with in the course of a normal day (for me anyways!). I was sent this lovely quilt that an entire family worked on as a gift for a new baby. But they found that over the course of making the quilt that time has an unfortunate way of getting away from us. So what was a baby quilt has now become a wall hanging for a not so little young lady!
I am in love with the folk art quality to this quilt and its story. It is a treasure in that each block has a story and was made by a different person. Some have applique, some are pieced and all are unique. I decided that I had to do all of the blocks free motion and free hand since that would better suit the feel of the quilt. Here are some shots of the quilt and what I have done with it so far:
This is the center design that I quilted a fern leaf over.
And here is a detail of the quilting:
And some of the blocks:
The best news I have for this week is that my cold from the Manchester craft fair finally cleared up and I am starting to regain some energy. It is really hard to feel like sewing when you have zero energy and a case of the “blahs”. The foliage season is past peak and it always makes me blue to see the trees bare, the temperatures plummeting, and the daylight getting ridiculously short. Seriously, if Florida didn’t have poisonous snakes, humidity, crocodiles/alligators, bugs the size of my head and hurricanes, I would move there in a heartbeat! 
So to try and get the creative juices flowing, I worked on finishing up some outstanding projects in my UFO pile.
- The outer border is now on the raffle quilt for the quilt show here in Barre this spring. I should have had it done a couple of weeks ago, but got delayed due to extreme craft fair craziness!
- I was able to finished appliqueing the ladybugs on my second Black and White Ladybug quilt. The first one is in the Frog Hollow Gallery (I think in Burlington, but it may be in the Middlebury Gallery instead). I started working on it at the Stowe Craft Fair last week-end and generated a lot of interest. There was an empty booth next to me and the producer asked me to “do something” with the space. So I decided to sew. I really love to do this at shows but only if I have someone with me to help sell.
- And finally, I finished sewing the corner triangles onto the Christian cross blockd for the Vermont Farm Quilt. Yay! Now all I need to do is square them up and I can start piecing the tops. Finally!
Well, I am back safe and sound from the craft fair in Manchester, VT, but I can’t say the same for my pocketbook. WOW! What a craft fair! I know my goal is to make more than I spend but it sure is hard when you are surrounded by beautiful mountains, beautiful fall foliage, and beautiful crafts to buy.
Here is a shot of the field and the two HUGE tents and one smaller tent that housed about 200 crafters and food vendors. Luckily they were heated but on Friday with the gusting wind and sleet, it didn’t help much at all. I will be lucky if I don’t come down with something in the next week or so!
As always, I would like to point out some of the amazing folks that I think it would be worth your time to see the work of:
Please browse the other fantastic artists at the Hildene Craft fair.
Here are a few more shots of the location. Just beautiful!
Unfortunately, the sad reality of our economy really hit us crafters hard at the show. And while some of us did really well, most crafters had very few sales. We are all hopeful for the upcoming holiday season, and that the presidential election will give us all a new sense of optimism. As for myself, I did about the same as I always do at shows and feel that I need to focus more of my efforts on-line where I am having the most success. Next year, I will limit myself to a select few shows that I do really good at or meet the most people since I have to look at the shows as being more of an advertising opportunity than anything else.
Here are the first of the shots of the raffle quilt I am putting together for a new quilt show that is going to be happening next spring in Barre, VT. You can check out the details of the show at http://www.cvquiltshow.com/
All of the fabrics for the quilts were donated by Northland Quilts and I have done all of the piecing with the quilting services donated by A Quilter’s Garden in Montpelier, VT. The pattern is this fun 9 patch variation from “40 Fabulous Quick Cut Quilts” by Evelyn Sloppy.
Here it is – the last of the quilting for this project. I am pleased with how it came out and now all that is left is to finish sewing the binding. What was really neat is that the fabric for the binding is some teal fabric I had on a bolt in the sewing room and it perfectly matches the teal fabric in the sashings. You would never know that they were made many years apart! 
