Love Apples Quilt Show--March 26-27, 2011

Love Apple Quilters put on their biannual quilt show this past weekend, welcoming over a thousand visitors to view nearly 300 quilts on display made by its members!  The hard work of the Quilt Show committee, led by Mary Cahilly, produced a show far exceeding everyone's imagination.  Not only am I very proud to be a Love Apple, but am humbled to be the president of an organization filled with talented quilters.

We were thrilled to see an eager crowd fill the lobby and spill into the parking lot Saturday morning!  Some came to see the quilts, some to cheer on family members displaying quilts and some to visit one of the many vendors--regardless of the reason, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and passed along positive comments to anyone who would listen.

One of the many vendors

Some even found a comfortable seat for a quick rest--looking at 300 quilts can be exhausting!

Junior Quilts were exhibited by new quilters aged 8 to 15 to encourage the next generation of Love Apples....

Made by a quilter age 11

Made by a quilter age 10

Here are a few of the quilts I entered:

"Acorns and Oak Leaves" made from fabrics purchased in Ireland

A mystery quilt quilted by Leanna Spanner of Anilee Creations

"Sedona Sunset"

Worked very hard on "Sedona Sunset."  My DH purchased this kit for me while we were in Sedona at Quilter's Store Sedona & Gallery in 2008.  Took me two years to get up enough courage to cut into all those gorgeous batiks.  Jill Boyd and Patty Krause are exceptional designers and the directions were very clear (with all the pieces in each block and fabric variations, it could have been a disaster!).  Not only was there built-in fabric "insurance"  in case of a cutting error, but each fabric was marked to correspond with the pattern--with all the slight color variations, those cute little stickers were a huge stress reducer! 

Some detail of the quilting

Close up of the sunburst in the center of the quilt

Spent several days quilting and finished just in time for the show!  Am thrilled all the effort paid off in the form of a "Vendor's Choice" ribbon from the Village Quilter in Mount Holly, NJ!

To date, my "Sedona Sunset" quilt is the most complicated quilt I've ever attempted and now it's time to seek out a new challenge.  As I keep looking, think I'll quilt all those tops I've accumulated and reduce my UFO pile.  (Starting to run out of walls to hang quilts and am pretty sure my DH isn't going to build another addition to the house!)

Thank you for reading to the end of my brief summary of our quilt show!  Hope you can join us next time!  If you're interested in becoming a Love Apple and share in the fun of putting on a big quilt show, check out our website, Love Apple Quilters .

Love Apple Quilters 2011 Challenge

This quilt show's challenge was "A Tisket, A Tasket, Looks What's In My Basket."  There were only a few rules that we had to follow--144 inches in perimeter, a basket with something in it and had to be turned in on-time.

My challenge is named "A Tisket, A Tasket, Oops!  I Spilled My Basket!"  My dear husband and I sketched it out over lunch one day and he named it.  It was fun to play with colors and scale to make it look like the blocks were falling off the quilt.  Guess it turned out to be something of a quilted collage since the blocks are barely stitched down, some corners flapping in the breeze to a completed quilt of a basket made of low contrast fabrics.

Am pleased to report that the guild liked my entry, giving me a second place ribbon! 

Red And White Quilt--Wish You Well

To celebrate the opening of Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC, we're blogging about our red and white quilts and having a virtual quilt show on the Repro Quilt Lover.

This quilt is my own design and was entered in Love Apple Quilters 2007 quilt challenge. Am pleased to say  it won an Honorable Mention.  Louise McDonough design talents show in the machine embroidery designs.

March's BOM Is Posted!

March's BOM is now posted on Ewe's Quilting !  Sorry about being a bit late--Love Apple Quilters are gearing up for our quilt show at the end of this month, so my time is not my own.  (Would love for you to visit!  Check out Love Apple Quilters to get all the details!)

Here are a couple of blocks made from past months' patterns:

Pretty nice so far, don't you think?

Thanks for checking in and I hope to have some more completed projects posted soon--one's on the frame and ready to go!