March FMQ

OK, I'm participating (however loosely) in a FMQ Challenge done by SewCalGal. http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/p/free-motion-quilt-challenge.html   I'm usually always pretty happy with my machine quilting, but figured I could always learn something new.   This is my posting for March (the first I have actually posted)........part of a quilt entitled "Really, I Went to Bermuda".   I don't know if it meets the goal of the month......it seemed to be a rather "loose" challenge.   Anyway, these are my squiggles and swirls!

Cute little luncheon place

I had lunch at a cute little place in Rochester today - a converted gas station which now houses Great Harvest Bread Co.   Wonderful breads, desserts, coffees and soups.   As usual, I'm always snapping pictures of my interesting surroundings (sometimes much to the amusement or dismay of my family & friends).   Anyway, I couldn't resist these.   Being a quilter, you know what I'm seeing here!!   Patchwork and sheers...I can just see it now!!!   I'm already constructing these in my mind and that may be as far as they get!

Messy Worktable photo collaboration

Lynn Krawczyk of the Fibra Artysta Blog is hosting the "messy worktable project". ...today March 26 
http://fibraartysta.blogspot.com/2012/03/messy-work-table-photo-collaboration_26.html

OK, so probably not the messiest of all that will be seen here, but all these things represented several different "in process" projects - one of which was due in 5 hours after taking this.   I'm pretty much a "Type A" person, so this was really driving me nuts that day.   Everything, literally, was just thrown when I finished using it - because of the deadline.

You can see more about this project if you click on her link, above.

Springtime in Batavia

It's springtime at my house.   We had 2 gorgeous weeks of "summer" and it forced everything out and open early.   Unfortunately, this week will probably end much of it as it is supposed to be quite cool (as in COLD) and rainy!   But for today........it's very pretty!

 The front of the house..........the sandcherry tree is in full bloom and it is BEA-U-TI-FUL!!!  You can see the forsythia peeking out at the back corner.

The forsythia.........all the forsythia around here seems to be such a bright yellow this year.   Is it really brighter, or are we just so glad to see color!!!!

No quilting to show this week.....I've been cleaning out my gardens and enjoying our "teaser" summer!

Spring has Sprung! Or is it Summer has Sprung?

We are enjoying the most "beautifulest" of weather here in western NY.   A gift - temps at or above 70 for 12 days now.   I know it can't last, but oh that it would!!!!   I try to savor every minute of it by being outside.   So, consequently, it doesn't look like I have a lot to show for my blog.....but I have been very busy - other than quilting!

 This is my clematis - growing near the front door.   It's an early one.....but it's REALLY early right now.   So lush and green!

 We have these pretty blue star shaped flowers all over.   My husband calls them "blueits", I think they are "Glory of the Snow"!

 Little mini daffodils near the mailbox.   I don't know if they are really mini, or if the heat forced them before they got tall.   They do seem to have put on a little bit of height since they bloomed last week.

 My 3 alium plants, with the Delphinium in front.

 This shows what I've been up to - cleaning out my gardens!

 More cleaning of gardens - the dead looking thing is my hibiscus - not to fear, it always looks dead until June and then it becomes a beautiful glorious plant full of deep red flowers by August.

My clematis by the mailbox - also off to a great start.

More quilts that inspire me!

This quilt was part of a display by B. J. Titus at the New Jersey Quiltfest.    I love the colors, bright things really appeal to me.   I would love to have her come to do a workshop/lecture for my quilt guild.

 This quilt was titled:   What if  Global Warming is for Real!   The quilt was inspired by a photo in a park NYC taken by the quiltmaker.   If Global Warming is real, there will be no more pretty scenes like this.

 The quilt was done by a group, in 6 sections.   Each person was given a section of a picture to replicate in a quilt.   They were given dimensions and a picture and then they had to make it all fit together.   My art group did something like this.

This is another group quilt - I'd love to do in my art quilt group.   Each person was given a color pallette to interpret a flower.  The quilts were then all attached to one strip, at the top, with buttons that looked like flowers.   I just love it!

New Jersey Quiltfest

Last weekend I had the fun opportunity of viewing the Tri-State Quiltfest in New Jersey.   Two of my friends from RAFA were winners there and one of my friends was also a winner in the Mid Atlantic Quiltfest show and her quilt was on display at this show.   My biggest thrill was in being the person who told them they were winners.   They had not heard and it was fun for me to discover this.

 This quilt is done by my friend Julie Brandon.   I'm not sure the exact wording on the quilt so I won't try to tell it all, but it is the story of her Grandmother.   This was a "Best Interpretation of Theme" winner in the MidAtlantic Show.

The story of her Grandmother continues on the back.   There was so much interest in the back that a docent was stationed there to show people.   Very special honor to have its own "docent".

This quilt is called "Engima", done by Julie Brandon (again) and Val Schultz.   Julie manipulated the photo of ice on the bay in the winter, and Val (an EXPERT Machine quilter) did the quilting.   They were the winners of  Judge's prize.   It was so much fun to see these quilts in a national show after having seen them shown at one of our local RAFA meetings.

There were so, so many quilts that I could post here.....all of them unique in their own way.   This is one gorgeous one I saw.

The gradation of the fabrics and the thread in the machine quilting makes this quilt glow.   Each little segment is heavily stippled and it made each section look almost like felt.

This quilt is done by Betty Busby, part of a SAQA exhibit called "Layers of Memory".   It was very striking!.   Each of the sections is separately constructed and then added to a purple quilt - almost like a quilt on a quilt.   The crevices and forgotten memories, is so powerful.