More from Iowa

We couldn't leave Kalona, the Quilt Capital of Iowa, without visiting their local museum. Especially since someone at the quilt show told me that they currently had 30's quilts on display!!! I discovered that they also have a room dedicated to Amish quilts, not only from Iowa, but also from other Amish communities around the country (Indiana, Ohio, etc.)
I actually enjoyed seeing the quilts at the museum more than I did the quilt show. They were displayed so nicely and one could really appreciate them from afar, as well as up-close. My pictures aren't the best because the lighting was low and I couldn't use flash. But they help me remember what I saw, nontheless.
One little 30's quilt was amazing...it had prairie points all around the edge that were no bigger than 1/2"! I don't seem to have the patience to do that little, detailed work anymore! (Although making those tiny prairie points would be a great way to use up LITTLE scraps!)
I have another new pattern ready...check out the latest on my website:
http://carolsscrapquilts.webs.com

Kalona quilt show

I'm finally taking last month's pictures off my digital camera. I didn't realize I'd taken so many! And when you don't keep up with it, the downloading takes a long time!

Our trip to Kalona, Iowa was exciting, not only for the barn quilts, but also because that was the weekend for the annual quilt show sponsored by a local antique shop. The advertising stated that there would be over 300 quilts on display, all HAND quilted! How could I NOT go to that one? What I didn't realize until I got in the show, was that all the quilts were for sale, too.

The little gymnasium where the show was held was PACKED with quilts! The show was laid out like a maze--you worked your way through the quilt displays, sometimes being literally nose to nose with a quilt! There were new quilts, there were old quilts. There were big quilts and there were little quilts. And it was refreshing to see all the hand quilting. And people were definitely "shopping" for a quilt!

The star of the show was hung right when you walked in the door. It was an amazing quilt, both because of the hand quilting, but also because of all the stuffed work. (What looks like stuffed quilting in the white areas is actually stuffed applique!!!!) My pictures don't do it justice, of course. This quilt was already sold, and if I remember correctly, it went for $1200. To be honest with you, if I spent that much time and energy creating something this gorgeous, I would not be able to part with it! I hope the new owner truly appreciates all that went into the making of this quilt! I know I do!!!!

Carol
http://carolsscrapquilts.webs.com

Finally!

Today I took my niece's quilt to the quilter. FINALLY! Remember all those Thangles units that my friends helped me with? They all got made into 9-patches which then got made into Country Roads blocks--20 of them! I added sashing between the blocks and two borders. One morning last week was set aside for finishing that top. I had it all done before noon that day!
I'm always a little afraid to machine piece a quilt top where the basic blocks have lots of pieces. The blocks don't always turn out to be the same size. But this time all the blocks were pretty close in size. Amazing! And I like the way it turned out. Hope my niece does, too!
I've completed a couple of other quilt tops in the past two weeks. I've also purchased setting fabric for 3 more sets of blocks. Guess I'm in a "get them set" mode!
Don't forget to check out my website: http://carolsscrapquilts.webs.com. New patterns show up there from time to time! :) I'm working on one right now! (along with lots of other projects! New ideas keep popping into my head! Guess that's a good thing, right?)

Barn Quilts

Before we left Iowa two weeks ago, we took a side trip. I knew that we were close to the Amish area and I'd done a bit of research on the computer ahead of time. The county just south of the Cedar Rapids area had barn quilts, so I planned our route. It was fun to seek them out--I just had to make sure that my husband was driving slow enough that when I shouted "There's one!", he didn't have to back up too far for me to get a picture!
Barn quilts seem to be all the rage right now! I just saw a new book by Eleanor Burns all about barn quilts/quilt blocks. My daughter sent me a news article about a barn quilt project being started in her Illinois county--I think they were involving school kids in the making of them. And the other day I heard that there are several counties in Michigan that have barn quilts! Sounds like another road trip is in the future!

Fortune

This past weekend at Quilt Camp was wonderful, as usual. A chance to do non-stop sewing without having to worry about fixing meals, doing dishes, cleaning, etc. I really accomplished a lot!
The day before I left for Camp, I was noticing the cobwebs that have accumulated around the house. I told my husband that it looked like I needed to do some serious Spring cleaning!
But, a fortune cookie favor I received at Camp might change my plans...the slip of paper in MY felt fortune cookie read: "Quilting Forever, Housework Never"! Sounds good to me!!!! :)
The weeds in the yard are calling, but I'd really like to put the finishing touches on the projects I worked on this weekend...Hmmm...how do I decide?

What's Important?

Last week I was in Iowa with a group from church. We went to Cedar Rapids to help homeowners still recovering from the flood of June, 2008. We spent 5 very rewarding days working on houses that are almost ready to be called "home" again. We did a variety of things: installed a deck railing, door knobs, and siding on a garage. Some installed windows and drywall. We taped and mudded drywall and did some painting. Everywhere we went we heard "Thank you so much for coming!"
Can you imagine 7 feet of muddy water in the first floor of your house? I can't! And the homeowners only had 3 hours notice to evacuate. What do you try to take with you, knowing that anything left behind will be totally ruined? It really makes one stop to think about what is important in life...Would those bags and boxes of fabric scraps matter? Would I take any of my quilts? Probably, but only if I had time to grab them after pulling together all our important papers and pictures. I truly hope I never have to make that decision! And I admire the courage and determination of the homeowners who decided to come back to their flooded neighborhood!

Quilt Adventures

I had more quilt adventures this past week. On Sunday, I attended a lecture given by Beth Donaldson (from MSU) on quilts of the 1930's, specifically quilts that were being made in the Detroit area. She showed pictures of a collection of quilts that the MSU museum acquired from a local quilting family, told the details of the quilts, and spoke about sources for the patterns for the quilts. Several of the quilts are on display at the Lorenzo Cultural Center (central campus of Macomb Community College) until May 8. They are beautiful--so meticulously made! And the reason for that is that the maker was a professional tailor! My favorite is the floral quilt shown in the picture here. The pattern was a series in the Detroit News and was titled Memory bouquet or Flower Garden. I have a collection of old patterns from the newspapers...need to see if I have this one!
I had a "duh" moment after the lecture...for some reason when I think 1930's quilts, I think scrap quilts, assuming that during the Depression years money was scarce so the ladies used what they had to make their quilts. Not everyone, tho. Some people remained affluent (there were doctors and lawyers in this particular family) and could purchase fabric and kits to make their quilts. "DUH"
On Monday I traveled to Battle Creek to do the program for Cal-Co Quilt Guild. I spoke about how my new book, Start With Scraps, came to be. I was warmly received and many members now have the book as part of their quilting library.
Please take the time to look at the book at www.clotilde.com, and don't forget to visit my website: http://carolsscrapquilts.webs.com. Happy Quilting Adventures to you! :)