The American Quilter's Society Lancaster show
- Three ladies from my Guild were among the
Semi-finalists! If you missed the winning quilts
Click Here to see them.

Nancy Kerns - won
Best Hand Workmanship Award for her quilt
"Mary Simon Rediscovered".

The Lancaster Host - Vintage Revisited Exhibit

The curator of this exhibit was Mary Kerr.
You can read more about the challenge Here

I really enjoyed this show because I got to
see the quilts of quilt artists whose work
I had admired for a long time!

Here's an overall view.

I wish that I could have taken a photo of every
single quilt.

Linda Cooper - "A Quilter's Caravan"



Paula Golden "Riches"


Jeannie Roulet Minchak - "Two Friends"


Judy Gula - "Painted Ladies"



Paula Golden - “Women’s Lives”

Paula incorporated the backs of bras into her quilt!

Hope you enjoyed looking at the photos!

I have been spending less time on
the computer and more time getting
some of my quilting projects done.

Trying to use up my stash making some
small quilts.
I used all scraps for this little quilt
and am happy for the way it turned
out.




and a couple of Charity Quilts.

One of the ladies from my guild had
passed away a couple of years ago.
Her daughter had donated some fabric
from her mom's stash.
I took a bag that contained some squares
and half square triangles. So far I made
3 quilts from that bag for Charity.


This is the lastest and I used up
the half square triangles on this one.
There wasn't very many of them and
so I was playing around with placement.
And then finally decided on this design.





I had mixed feelings working with Phyllis'
fabrics. I was sad because she is no longer
with us but I was happy to be utilizing her
fabrics for a good cause.
I placed the purple square in the center
of this quilt because that was Phyllis' favorite
color.

I have gotten two more quilts professionally
quilted so far! Now to put the bindings on them.
I have two more additional quilts that are finished
and need backs to be made.

Here's one that Kim just finished quilting for me.
The binding is done and it's ready to go to
it's recipient - my son-in-law's niece.



You may recognize this quilt from previous posts.
The pattern is Wonky Stars.

A close up of the quilting pattern that Kim
did "double hearts" - love it!

I'm very happy with the speedy progress that
I am achieving! Determination and staying focused
are my goals. So far so good!

Starlings at the feeder - I have to keep chasing them away!
They chase other birds away and eat everything.



House Finch




Titmouse

Saw a Robin Redbreast which means spring is almost here!

Wordless Wednesday

Progress

I promised myself not to start any
new quilts this year until the tops that I
have are all quilted. (with the exception
of Dawn's BOM)

When I finish a quilt top it goes
in my closet on a hanger.
The ones that are completed are
either hand quilted or quilt-as-
you-go.

So I was very excited when one
of our Guild Members bought
a Longarm Quilting machine!
And she is doing a fabulous job!

This is the first quilt that I had
professional quilted (for me).

Quilted by Kim Loar

I blogged about this top HERE

Quilted - binding on - Finished! Yeah!

I love the way that it turned out!

Here's the back where you can see
more of the quilting.

Large flower with meandering

Kim also did one more the Wonky Star
Cats but I didn't get a chance to do the
binding yet. Maybe I'll have time this
week. I have 2 more for Kim to do
once I make the backings for them.
Catching up! Feels so good!

I also have, in my closet, 6 to 8
table runners but those I'll do
myself using some free motion
quilting.

*************************
On my previous post I had some
photos of my sketch book challenge -
Highly Prized.
One of them was my daughter but
I wasn't happy with the way it
turned out and so I did it over
again.


I like this one a little bit better but I
had too much shading. I'm afraid to
use the eraser fearing it might make
matters worse.

I also did a self-portrait from one of
my photos.


Drawing faces is one of my favorite
things to do. I'm just using a pencil
for now.

I tried something that I never did
before. On the Sketch book Challenge
blog Melanie Testa did a video on
using gouache. I really wanted to
try this and so I went to Michael's
and bought some (the very inexpensive
one) And I used one of my woodpecker
photos as my inspiration.



I could point out several things that
I did wrong but I won't (-:
I'm very happy with this one as it's
the first painting that I've ever tried.

That's what the Sketch book Challenge
is - trying new techniques and challenging
myself to go out of my comfort zone.
And Practicing! Every Day!

Have a Blessed Week! Can you believe
it's almost the end of January already?!!

Wordless Wednesday

Embracing Winter

A time for renewal

With the onset of winter my mood
would automatically change;
I would start feeling very blue.

This winter I decided that I
would embrace the winter and
try to change my attitude.

I found some Ways to beat those
winter Doldrums that so far work
for me.

When I go to the supermarket

1 - I buy a bouquet of flowers -



These were on sale for $5.00 !!

Having fresh flowers around cheers
me up.

2 - Feed the birds

During the summer; I use my deck upstairs
to dye fabric. Now it has become a
place for me to feed the birds. I put
up some suet to attract Woodpeckers.
And I was pleasantly rewarded!

Isn't he handsome!

Red Bellied Woodpecker - Female

Flicker - Female

I have never had the opportunity
to see woodpeckers this close!
And I'm shooting through my
double-glassed sliding doors
with my Kodak camera.

3 - Enjoying the Beautiful Winter
Sunsets

Glorious!

4 - Changing my routine and taking on
new challenges - such as the sketchbook
challenge.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

And more Practice!

5 - Exercise and a brisk walk in the park
is invigorating - especially on a sunny day.
And I don't forget to take my camera!

I need a caption for this..... It's so cute!

6 - Relaxing and reading a good book before
going to sleep.

I discovered a new Historical Fiction Writer!
Bernard Cornwell - I'm currently on the 3rd
book of The Saxon Series - "The Lords of the North".

So far, I'm actually enjoying the winter -
despite the snow and cold!

"Life is a Gift!"

Wordless Wednesday

Letting Go