Quilt Show Weekend

Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds 

I was fortunate once again to be (a very small) part of the enormous undertaking of the 36th annual PVQA quilt show at the beautiful Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. Volunteering during set up on Friday had the added bonus of breakfast and lunch and then I returned for the Preview Party that night which included dinner - best fed day in a long time.

2014 PVQA Quilt Show

back of Pup Art auction quilt

Helping with the Live Quilt Auction on Sunday was fun and nerve racking - especially when Pup Art came up on the block, #60 out of 66.   It was a hit with an entertaining bout of bids flying back and forth.  I was able to snap a better shot of the back before it went on display.

Three of my quilts were displayed.  I borrowed back Ring Around the Briar Rosies from my granddaughter and the Carpenters Block quilt from my hubby (and our dogs).  Thank goodness those two washed up and de-furred just fine.  xPlus came straight from the show at our LQS.  Now that it's home we'll have it on our bed.

Our MQG also donated a raffle basket - you can see a peak of the Echino clutch I made.  I stitched our new logo onto the fabric ribbon - isn't it adorable?  

Some years I drive away with a trunk full of fabric scraps from the Bargain Garden (it's sold for cheap by the pound).  This year I managed one small half full bag and am happy for that considering my sewing room has become a cluttered mess.

This gem of a pattern had the original "four color iron-on transfers" inside.   I can't imagine who thought of putting Wesson Oil, Hunt's Catchup and Canada Dry Soda logos on a jumpsuit - a better question might be, why?  

I was baffled. So I bought it.  

Linking up to Really Random Thursday 

Skill Builder BOM 2014 Fabric Pull

With many, many things that I could be doing today I found myself a tad bit distracted by Pile O' Fabric's Stash Share. I was drawn to the colors in Alyssa's picture: Straw, Gold, Wheat, Celery, Asparagus, Prussian.

One of my goals as I've said is to work from stash so that I can save $ for QuiltCon 2015 and any excuse to bond with my fabric in theory, should ease the urge to buy.


Skill Builder BOM 2014 Fabric Pull, a photo by capitolaquilter on Flickr.

One thing led to another and my sewing room was suddenly in a complete upheaval. I did manage to decide on and pull a collection of fabrics to use in the Skill Builder BOM 2014 project by expanding on the initial inspiration and by uploading the Pup Art quilt picture to Palette Builder2 at Play Crafts.

I also recognized that the palette was subconsciously based on this stack of goodies given to me by a friend who thought "they looked like me" - thanks Tina!

Odds are that I'll change my mind along the way - you can see I already swapped out more of an indigo for the teal green - but at least there's been progress made to catch up.

Pup Art Quilt and a Feature

A Fabric Hounds Auction Quilt 

PUP ART

Pup Art Quilt, a photo by capitolaquilter on Flickr.

I'm honored to be featured by Melissa & Shanna as the February ALYoF Participant Highlight.

My friend and I had a sewing date on Friday. The colorful Venetian Court backdrop was calling out and taking a trip to the beach on Valentines Day to get a proper picture of "Pup Art" was a perfect little distraction.  An extra set of hands to hold the quilt makes a world of difference.

I was in Palm Springs at the weekend workshop with Heather Ross when I got a text from my small group, the Fabric Hounds asking if I'd quilt this collatorative project.  My gut reaction was to be terrified.  But it just so happened that I'd read a post that very day titled INTIMIDATION which gave me to nudge to respond "yes" (Thanks Elizabeth!).

The wind picked up a bit while trying to capture the back.  The ghost shape of a dog's face where there is no quilting (best seen lower right) is kind of amusing to me. 

The dogs were skillfully raw edge appliquéd by another member and my goal was to not run over them.  It happened within 2 minutes and then not again.  I was offered to try out a members long arm but really needed the comfort of my Baby Lock Symphony. 

With all of the colorful fabrics, it was hard to decide on what thread to use and we ultimately decided that Aurifil #2610 in 50wt was the perfect neutral. 

For the first time I placed the Clover Wonder clips for binding all the way around rather than repositioning a few as I go and it worked out great. 

On our way back to the car, I posed under the wharf sign.

Finished size 60"x70"

For Auction at the PVQA 36th Annual Quilt Show 

linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts 

Palm Springs Weekend with Heather Ross and Friends

Sneaking away with my good friend Sue to Palm Springs was such a treat. 

Here we are being silly! Anne was suppose to be the E but she took our picture instead :)

The weather was a disappointment but the rest was fabulous.  

It was cold - not snowed in, schools closed kind of cold, but high in the sixties -really?

Hanging out crafting with Heather Ross was the best! 

She is just so entertaining I could listen to her tell stories all day long. 

Annabel Wrigley  and Gretchen Hersch  were both adorably sweet and incredibly talented. 

Lovely Swag Bag goodies

The workspace was beyond amazing. There were 20 ladies from all over and so very friendly.

My chandelier survived the plane trip home but needs to have the pompoms reattached to cover up the exposed wires - until then I'm hanging it for safe keeping in my sewing room.

I'm use to the constant roar of the machine at a Quilt Retreat so this felt so different.  Brand new Horizons were provided to us and yet I missed my Symphony (spoiled I know). 

Sue and I made these adorable little baby pants from a free Made by Rae pattern.

Heather's demo - she makes everything look easy!

Such tasty food and I loved all of the lettering on the signs. 

Even the key card to our room was inspiring. 

It was warm enough at one point to sit by the pool in the sun and Zentangle.

I hadn't bee on a bike in years but couldn't resist giving a cruisers a spin around town.

I'm thinking of making my Inkodye tea towel into a sewing machine cover so that I can have it nearby.  Thanks for the good times Heather and friends. Hope to see you all again someday.

Lotus Tile Pillow

First Goal of 2014 - checked off the list

Birthday Pillow Complete

Lotus Tile block pillow, a photo by capitolaquilter on Flickr.

Finished and gifted. Feels pretty good considering my lack of completion lately. The button for the closure ended up more of a decoration than functional since the simple envelope method worked just fine.  I measured it for a 16x16 form but ended up shoving a 18x18 inside instead.

2.5" Fabric Button

It feels especially gratifying to have the pillow done because it's the first of 4 goals in Q1 FAL and my February ALYoF (goal set here) item as well. Linking up to the February Finishes Party

Paper Crafting

For the card I Zentangled this fun tag.

Inspired by the tiles I made from this book with my friend during our trip to Palm Springs - which is a whole entire post!

Challenging myself to try new techniques (or old dusty skills) like needle turn hand appliqué, embroidery and pen drawing is quite rewarding and inline with my New Years Resolution.  How about you?

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Up Friday where you can see that I'm not the only one around here making pillows!