Irena Bluhm Guest of Hayward Piecemakers Quilt Guild

Tonight the Hayward Piecemakers had the pleasure of hosting Irena Bluhm for a trunk show at the Hayward Wesleyan Church. What an amazing quilter! Talented, courageous, and fearless. And the biggest thing is she is self taught. She had an idea and ran with it. I admire her greatly. Tomorrow she teaches two classes on her coloring techniques. Lots of fun and lots of creativity. 

Big Birches In Hayward

The two quilted panels for the permanent exhibit for the Weiss Library in Hayward is totally finished. They will be hanging at the Piecemakers Quilt Show this weekend before being dedicated and hung at the library. The quilt show is held at the Wesleyan Church 10655 Nyman Ave, Hayward, WI 54843. Show hours are July 24th and 25th 10-4 both days.

The journey for this quilt was fun, and I enjoyed working on it with quilting friends that were excited about the project. Thank you Leslie, Jean and Deb.

Come see us at the show.

Stamp Carving

Today's meeting with the Wild Threads Machine Quilting Group was fun and laid back. We had a small group today with the busy summer many had to miss the meeting. Those that made it go to carve stamps using lino cutters and safety cut rubber. The first picture is of stamps I've carved in the past and a few small ones I cut today. I'm loving the little mouse and bunny. They would be perfect for label making for my art quilts.

Wild Threads Challenge 2015

Here is my teaser for the Wild Threads Macro Leaf Challenge 2015.

The leaf printed on paper is from a leaf my guy gave me last year in the fall. Quirky but appreciated gift.

The pile of fabrics are synthetics that I bought this past winter from a friend, and the larger hand dyed fabric is from one of my winter snow dye batches using orange and pale blue dyes.

That's all you get until after I start stitching and layering.

Little Birches

Little Birches is finished and ready for the Hayward Quilt Show auction the end of July. The binding is perfect, and the trees really have a 3-d effect. I've added some crystals in the sky. They represent fire flies to me, but could also be stars in the night sky.

One Step Closer

The mini birch wall hanging is almost finished. It's quilted, the hanging dowel is covered with the same fabric as the back and the label will be fused on. I plan to add a few diamond crystals to replicate fire flies. 

The larger version is on the machine for quilting. The quilting will be knocking the black background down and some stitch in the ditch for the birches with swirled knots in some of the patches.

The mini is for the Hayward Piecemakers small quilt auction, and the larger for a permanent exhibit in the local library. However, I have a goal of having it finished in time for the end of July quilt show, so it can be displayed.

MN Quilt Show Zen

Nothing warms the heart of a fiber addict more than a quilt show shopping spree. I paid my respects to the Minnesota Quilt Show this past weekend and came away feeling very satisfied. The vendor numbers seemed a bit light and the 3 arena's not as full as I remembered it from past shows there, but it did the job. 

I'm totally in love with the Wicked exhibit hosted by Cherrywood Fabrics. And, the Northern Lights Machine Quilters exhibit in the lobby was impressive. 

On average I could make it down an isle 5 or 10 feet and I had a friend to chat with. That is part of the shows I love. Being able to connect with like minded addicts, networking, being inspired by the riot of color and texture puts me in a perfect Zen.

Shows are always too far apart, but in the meantime, I'll console myself with the treasures that came home with me and put in a bit of sewing time.