I finished a quilt! The first of 2026.
I had a very simple quilting design and my first day quilting was great. The next day my machine didn't want to stitch from bottom to top without skipping stitches. That launched me into lots of starting and stopping for a couple of days until I finally worked it out...which is all still a mystery to me.
This is a very simple pattern by Villa Rosa, "2M." It takes 13 fat quarters. It is pretty big, 80 x 80-inches. My husband wants this quilt to take on his summer job in remote western Alaska. The fabrics are a line from Free Spirit a few years ago by Tim Holtz.
I had a quilt retreat the first week of February. I decided to start a kit I had patiently waiting in my stash...everything was cut out and ready to stitch. I got all of the blocks made during the 3-day retreat. The setting pieces were added a day here or there throughout the rest of the month. I finished the outer borders this morning.
This quilt is, "Heartfelt," a design from the Fat Quarter Shop that is free with a request to give a donation to the Make a Wish foundation. The finished size is 76 1/2 x 84 1/2-inches.
I made a trip to Atlanta to visit a very good friend. I timed my trip so I could jaunt up to Raleigh for the Quilt Con Modern Quilt Show. I have mixed feelings about my experience with this quilt show. There were many wonderful and inspirational quilts. There were also many political quilts and they all went in one direction. Some had the F-word...I felt like I was being screamed at when I looked at those quilts. I suppose that was the intent of the artists but I just found them very offensive.
I was expecting quilts that celebrated our 250th anniversary. There was not one quilt that seemed to appreciated anything about our country. Nor did I see anything at the vendor booths that was geared to our country's anniversary.
I did talk with some lovely quilters and one of them said I should check out quilts in a separate ball room. It was a wonderful exhibit and I'm glad I didn't miss it. The quilts were a community outreach for quilt guilds or groups around the world with a few criteria. First was a medallion style and second they had to use one of two prescribed palettes. I'll just share a few that were from places I have been to so could easily relate to their designs.
New York Splendor by the Rochester Modern Quilt Guild.
Portland to Coast by the Portland Modern Quilt Guild
In With the Rain by the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild.
I absolutely loved this one...it is spot on for all of Seattle's iconic features.
Tech Garden by the Silicon Valley Modern Quilt Guild.
One of my favorites from the main show was, We Come in Piece. Three quilters each made a monster and then they cut them into three sections and mixed them up. The colors are so fun and it looks like a great project to do with friends.
I will share my handwork projects in another post.
The first week of March I have another 3-day quilt retreat. I plan to work on a patriotic quilt I designed around a panel. Very excited to start that quilt.
6 comments:
Your 2M quilt is so cool! Those fabrics seem to make it glow. Heartfelt is so sweet...this one makes me smile. I'm sorry your experience at QuiltCon wasn't the best. I had wanted to go, but couldn't fit it in with another trip I took this past week. It's unfortunate that politics has come into the quilting world, too. Our country is so divided right now and there seems to be no answers on how to fix it. I look forward to seeing your most recent handwork and your patriotic quilt.
I have never made it to QuiltCon. Modern quilting has never quite been my thing but it would be interesting to see. I guess I'm not really interesting in making political quilts but understand that for some that is how they express their frustration towards everything that is going on in the US right now. I don't care for all the language though as although it is mainly quilters that go to the shows I'm sure there are all ages and some would be offended and people of both sides of the political stuff. I'm not interested in patriotic quilts either - I don't care for the red/white/blue color scheme all that much I guess - maybe that is why I don't make veterans quilts - I asked one time if they have to be in that color scheme and was told yes they should be. I don't think though when I was reading about Quilt Con last year that it was even mentioned though about it being the 250th anniversary of the US. I'm not a fan of the current administration though and don't find the politics to be something I would be proud of.
Thank you for your honest review of Quiltcon. Nice to see a different POV
Thank you! Its a challenge to find a great quilt show. Before covid, the Houston Quilt Show was big and wonderful but it is so much smaller now. So many of the quilt show vendors have switched to online businesses so not much shopping on site...I certainly don't need to buy anything else the rest of my life! Thankfully there are so many wonderful quilts to see on the internet. I always enjoy seeing your work!
Though we have never met...we sure have known each other for years! I am so inspired by your process in making quilts. I am pretty sure we would have a great time visiting in person with one another even if we don't have the same political views...quilting would give us a great commonality! I didn't feel that way in the space of Quilt Con...a shame for sure.
Thank you! I really struggled with posting about my view of Quilt Con this year...I don't like to put politics in my quilting space because we all get enough of it everywhere else...but I made a huge effort to go this year and it was an expensive trip. The fact that quilts with the F-word in particular were selected to be in this show was not what I anticipated.
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