Spring is for Quilt Shows...

 

Traditional, whimsical, innovative, masterful- whatever your cup of quilting tea, you'll get your fill at a quilt show. A local quilt shop, Miss Dee's in Palatka, Florida, kicked off spring with her Quilts by the River. It's so inspiring to enjoy a quilt show and see the wonderful pool of talent on display! This lovely  Hidden Circles by Shelley Stauffer is so beautifully pieced and hand quilted that it stopped me in my tracks. It fairly sparkles. I tried looking up the pattern in my copy of Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, but didn't find a match. It's complex for sure.

And then there were the aliens. This one entertains. We Come in Piece is the entry of Janel Bendis, Lisa and Candi. The improvisational piecing is a study in itself, but then the quirky bodies and expressions on the characters were a separate story. What fun it must have been to make this one. As you can see, it earned a blue ribbon in its category.

Still more whimsical creatures, this time a turtle study. And once again, the improv piecing is the star. Such a dynamic quilt! It's Heard of Turtles by Phoenix Quiltcon Group.

Between the wonderful colors and the sawtooth design, this quilt almost vibrates! Sometimes I like to study quilts to see how they were made. This one appears to be one-half of a Delectable Mountains block combined four to a block around a center square. It's likely the quilter relied on partial seam construction, which you don't see often, but works well in this block. Aidan's Quilt is by Nancy Grout.

I love cats and found the panel and colors chosen for Cynthia Irvin's Cat Quilt to be so appealing. In addition, the machine quilting was top notch. Each of those circles has a different quilting motif, densely stitched. Another blue ribbon quilt.

Fellow members of the Country Road Quilters in Ocala had quilts on exhibit. Linda Renderer made this charming ribbon winner titles Scrappy Spiderweb. It's quilted by Barbara Dees. Linda is a whiz at beautiful machine applique and fabric selection. The purple background sets off the Sampler-style piecing and graceful border beautifully.

Another guild member who is also a master at piecing is Janice McCall. This wonderful Sampler quilt titled Moonbeams was quilted by guild member Debra Johnston and earned an Honorable Mention ribbon.

My quilt, Cosmic Moon Pies, also earned an Honorable Mention at the show, so that was rewarding. It was also quilted by Debra Johnston. More photos and story here.

My husband Jack and I went for a picnic at Ravine Gardens, the state park in Palatka. There we saw this ???... I'm not sure just what, but of course I was drawn to it and had to get a photo! I guess it's a custom three-wheeler. But what a beauty.

The gardens feature a lot of stone work completed by Conservation Corps workers in the early 1930s after the Great Depression.

Palatka is Azalea central in the spring. The park was blooming beautifully. Hope you enjoyed the show!

Who Let the Dog Out???

Wait a minute! My last post was December 2025?? I've been AWOL. How does the time slip by so quickly? One way it happens is to get distracted by a new pet. And sewing. This little dog quilt is one I put together based on a cartoon drawing I did in a tutorial by Carol Owen. I thought it needed to be translated into fabric. And there were plenty of scraps to play with, so here is this little dude.

 

Then there was this little dude. His name is Dusty and he came home with us from a rescue farm. Timid, quiet, and as sweet as can be. We'd been missing our dogs who passed away from old age. We had debated the wisdom of getting another dog at our "advanced age," so to speak. But we fell for Dusty and home he came.

He is just so loving. One morning when we lost power and it was quite cold in January, Dusty knew what to do. Get under a quilt. With me. He was one sweet boy. Until.... After Dusty was with us for a week and adjusting quite nicely, we went to church for a couple of hours. He apparently, unbeknownst to us and the the rescue organization, had extreme separation anxiety! He escaped his room (he was known as an escape artist) and went on a rampage. Oh my goodness!! I never experienced anything like it with a dog before. Dusty is a pack dog. He is unable to be only dog. So, with heavy hearts, we arranged to return him. We packed his meds, his food, and belongings and provided copious notes on the care and feeding of Dusty. We felt better when we saw how happy he was to be back among his comrades. Not being Caesar Millan, and having lives that require us to go places without a dog, we knew that Dusty's emotional needs were too great for us. And I'm not a fan of sedating a dog. The good news... Dusty was adopted by a family who already had a couple of dogs. I think he will much happier there. So happy ending to an unhappy story. 

And here is a look at just a fraction of the chaos Dusty caused to our vertical blinds. Imagine how stressed the little guy was! But sheesh... It took our son (bless him!) two days to help us right the ship "just like it never happened." But I am now convinced... no more dogs for me. It was a painful experience because I just loved Dusty from day one. Live and learn. But I'm happy that he's happy now!