Quilt Show

This past Saturday I attended Waterloo County Quilters' Guild's Quilt Show.  If you go to the Guild's Facebook page, you can see photos of a few selections.  I have to say that I was dazzled and inspired by the show.

As expected, Day 2 of the show, well... the vendors's selections were getting a little picked over, so there wasn't a lot that I was compelled to bring home - with the exception of a small selection of some Kim Diehl FQs, but I did discover a couple of new shops that I hadn't visited before.  The FQs came from Creekbank Sewing Machine Shop in Mount Forest.  Well...I used to be in Mount Forest once a week and never heard of this shop before!  They will be my go-to resource for Kim Diehl fabrics - - which I will need to finish "Sprigs & Twigs" - - but more on that in a minute.  

The second "new-to-me" LQS is Kalidoscope of Quilts from Exeter.  This is a new store, and I understand, not at all related to another Exeter quilt shop (which I also really liked, but is now closed).  Okay - - I have to get past the fact that someone intentionally spelled "kaleidoscope" wrong in the name of their shop - - but I can get beyond that quirk.  I haven't been to Exeter in yeeeeears - but if I am in the neighbourhood, I will check it out.  

Okay....speaking of "Sprigs & Twigs" - I finished the squares of the centre of this quilt.  The original design calls for 16, but in order to get a larger finished size, I increased the number to twenty-five.

Tomorrow is the October meeting of the Waterloo County Quilters' Guild.  Time is going to be tight - I have a meeting that is work-related after office hours - but I'm packing up tonight  so I'm ready to participate in Show & Tell.

Quilt Show in Waterloo

Hubby started a new job recently.  Unfortunately, it involves some weekend hours, so I was on my own today.  Why not go to a quilt show?

Saturday Adventures in Wellington County

Hubby and I went on an adventure yesterday to explore Wellington County before the snow gets deep.

Our first stop was the Wellington County Archives and Museum.  It was once the House of Industry and Refuge (The Poor House), and later a Home for the Aged.  I was here recently for a meeting, and the building is on a beautiful piece of land, on a beautiful track of road, and guess what?

That's right...an exhibition of quilts!  And all of them Log Cabins.

There's Hubby -- intently examining the antique needlework.

This sampler was stitched by the grandmother of John McCrae, the author of "In Flanders Fields", who was a native of Guelph, ON.  It dates to 1820.

And speaking of "In Flanders Fields" there was another very impressive exhibition at the museum: "Far from Home: A Soldier's Life at the Front 1914-1918".  This major gallery installation features a life-size trench and takes an in-depth look at the young soldiers who served in World War I. A unique feature of this exhibit: descendants of Wellington County soldiers were used as models for the mannequins and painting in the gallery.
 

You walk into the trench, and see the scraps of wood and tin holding up the walls, and rats crawling around.  There's barbed wire over your head, and flashes as bombs explode overhead.  The sounds of battle are all around you. You can climb up for a peek through the periscope and see the German front.

It was incredible to me to see the photos of the descendents of the soldiers, and how much they looked like their great-grandfathers, and great-granduncles.  It's hard to tell in this photo, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Another poignant and interesting exhibit that we spent at least an hour examining was "If These Walls Could Speak: The House of Industry and Refuge, 1877-1947.  I didn't take any photos of that.

 

Here's a scene from a 1920's kitchen.  My mom has told me dozens of times about her grandmother's "Hoosier cupboard" - that was always just a little bit different from every one we saw in museums and antique shops.  I wonder if this "Eatonia" Kitchen Cabinet is like Gramma Sassie's.

Next we were off to Elora where we had a delicious lunch at The Cork.

Pretty fancy Cheese Burger, huh?
As we were leaving, we were given coupons for $10 for the Grand River Racetrack slots.  Why not?  We came out ahead $2.50! :)

Went to the Quilt Show

I went to the International Ploughing Match (I can't help it...I can't spell ploughing p-l-o-w-i-n-g...it's not right) Quilt Show today in Shedden.  I was excited to go, because I knew that the work of many of my fellow guild members would be hanging, and many of them winning ribbons as well!

I'll share a few photos - don't want to spoil the show for those who will be going tomorrow. Here are a couple of my favourites:

I don't know the maker of this gorgeous quilt.  The applique is stunning.

But I do know the maker of THIS one!  Heather H. ohhhhhhhhh....if only I could have stepped just a smidge further back, I could have captured the borders of this.  I think Heather's School Houses were my favourite quilt of the whole show.

And I know this one's maker too!  Pat O. used a Cross-Stitch pattern to create this quilt, each 'x' represented by a 1"x1" square of fabric.  Literally thousands of pieces, and months and months of work went into it, and the whole guild enjoyed watching the birth of this beauty.  Notice the ribbon on it?  Seems I saw at least THREE of Pat's creations with ribbons on them.  OOPS!  Did I let the cat out of the bag??

...and a good time was had by all.

As promised, the second block of my Baltimore Folk Fusion is done.

I had a great time at the quilt show in St. Mary's yesterday, particularly enjoyed the vendors!  I became aware of a new source "Pastime Pieces", an online vendor from Blenheim.  I checked out her website this morning, and while that was rather disappointing, I'll be looking for her at future quilt shows for sure! 

And yes, indeed, I found lots of B&W prints. Here are two of my favourites:

Going to a Quilt Show!

I'm heading out this morning to St. Mary's to see the Huron Perth Quilters' Guild & Stonetowne Quilters' Guild show with a couple of quilty friends.  Just saw the list of vendors...whoooo hoooooooo!!!!!


I'll be looking for more black and white prints - - Gail and I have come up with a plan to expand my Black & White quilt to bed size.


I'be been working away at my Virginia Bound blocks.  I have 48 'sub'blocks completed, and another ten half-finished.  It's completely joyful sewing.  Mindless, zombie quilting.

I spent hours and hours outside yesterday, digging around in my dirt. There's a patch of garden between the church next door and the driveway we share with two other neighbours, which I had sort of "adopted" two years ago.  I got that piece all cleaned up, and then went next door to meet the new priest. Nice, nice lady. (Maybe I should mention it's an Anglican church?) I think they are from B.C. Her husband is a retired social worker (MSW), and her daughter is going to be going to the same university where I am to work on her prerequisites to get into the BSW program. We had a nice chat about the church, St. Thomas,  social work, and King's, etc.


She told me the church had sold the rectory (which is on the other side of street) so when I got a chance yesterday afternoon, I went over and introduced myself to one half of the new neighbours. I invited them to stop over for a cocktail on the deck sometime, and I hope he and his partner will accept my invitation.  They have been doing a fantastic amount of work outside, and the property is looking gorgeous.


Late in the afternoon, I sat in the sunshine on the back deck and read my book.

It was an Oprah Book Club choice from 1998 and it's really good!  I have had marginal success with Oprah choices - sometimes really good (A Map of the World, A Million Little Pieces, Fall on Your Knees) and really not so good (The Reader, Daughter of Forturne, The Measure of a Man).  It's written by Chris Bohjalian.

"On an icy winter night in an isolated house in rural Vermont, a seasoned midwife named Sibyl Danforth takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency cesarean section on a mother she believes has died of a stroke. But what if Sibyl's patient wasn't dead—and Sybil inadvertently killed her? As Sibyl faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience, Midwives engages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do."

Last night, I worked on another Baltimore/Folk Fusion (this is the name I've invented for these applique blocks) and had only five more little leaves to stitch down, and then popped the eye of my needle through the end of my finger.  I guess my quilting calous must have gotten thin in my hiatus from sewing!  It was too sore to put a thimble on last night and struggle through those last few stitches, but I bet I'll have a photo to share of my second block to share tomorrow!

A "Scrumptious" Day

(My appologies to anyone with dial-up, because tonight's entry is photo-laden!)

Hubby and I went for a Sunday drive today and ended up in Grand Bend at the Lambton Heritage Museum to take in their special exhibit: Between the Stitches: Lambton Quilts & Quilters, and the 20th Anniversary North Lambton Quilters Guild Show.

I've been to this museum several times, and it's "very well done", and always has been, in my memory. The main part of the museum houses collections of items from the early history of Lambton County settlement. Outside, several old homes and public buildings have been relocated to this property, restored and protected.

Here are a few photos of the quilts in the museum's collection:

I got a close up of this block, because I liked the horseshoes in the background print. Here's the whole quilt:

Hubby was very interested in the quilts, and if we got separated, he'd come and get me and take me over to a display if he had a question about how Crazy Quilts are contructed, or what exactly "Bishop's Fan" quilting was, or how signature quilts were used in fundraising. That's the great thing about Hubby - - he loves to learn about things, and is interested in EVERYTHING!

I admired this pillow - the blades of the fan were constructed from prize ribbons awarded in school contests - presumably academic and athletic prizes.

I've seen many "signature quilts" before, and there was many examples in this exhibit, but this one is very unusual. First, the names are cross-stitched on the quilt, not stem stitched, and there are four colours, not merely white with embroidery, or bi-coloured. According to the information printed on the card next to the quilt, it could be fairly accurately dated to circa 1877, because a couple of the people named in the quilt died in a diptheria outbreak in 1878. Take a close look at the full picture of this quilt - it's breathtaking.

This quilt is constructed of flannel printed with national flags collected from cigar boxes in the early 20th c.

This quilt reminds me of MY antique log cabin quilt, except mine is in a barn raising configuration

This is one of the loveliest crazy quilts I've ever seen. Not precisely "crazy" since it is regularly patterned, but the embroidery is gorgeous, the figured fabrics are in pristine condition, and the wide lace trim is beautiful.

Now...onto the SHOW!

On the advice of quilty friend Wendy, I've been reading "The Selected Journals of L. M. Montgomery". Some of the things we saw reminded me of the first volume's journal entries: the school house, the Presbyterian church.

I even found a "Pansy Book" among the bookshelves in the Presbyterian Church.

On our way home, I asked if we could stop at the scenic lookout at the Parkhill dam and reservoir. I've driven by it dozens of times over the years, but never stopped before. I imagine it's quite lovely in every season.