Beautiful Stitches In The Pacific Northwest

My husband, Duhgall and I went on a quick road trip up to visit his brother and sister up in the PNW.  Our first destination was to visit his sister and her husband.  They live in Eastern Washington State.  We arrived just in time to get in on the last hour of the quilt show that my sister in law, Valerie, was involved with.  I literally got out of my car at her house and jumped into her car to go into town for the show. 

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There were so many beautiful quilts in the quilt show!   The quilts shown above are a “mystery quilt” and the quilters have no idea of how it will look in the beginning of the sewing process.  They are given a list of how much fabric to buy and how to piece them together as they go.  As you can see, each one looks different from the other.

I have a fondness for the 1930’s reproduction fabrics and the quilt in the center (above) was made with such prints.  Below is a closer view of the fabrics.  They are so sweet and I love the colors. 

Valerie chose beautiful colors of teal, green, blue and purple for her “mystery quilt”.  It is BEAUTIFUL, like her!  Valerie is one of those blessed beings who is uber talented and can do anything creative.  She has only been quilting for two years – yes, two years and her work is exceptional!  She had four quilts in the show, one of which she designed as a challenge quilt.  I will share that further down in this post.

There were traditional quilts, art quilts, and applique quilts.

Above, there is a quilt on the right side that was designed by using the vintage embroidery (below).  The quilter found this sampler half finished at a thrift store and finished it up for her quilt.

Below is a quilt Valerie made using Batik fabrics.  The colors are so soothing.  She did all of the quilting on her sewing machine.  And freehand, too.  Did I mention she has only been quilting for TWO years!  She spent an afternoon with me in her sewing room to teach me some machine quilting techniques.  I had so much fun on her fancy Bernina’s.

This red and white quilt was one of my favorites.

Below is the challenge quilt that Valerie made.  It is called the Life Of Pie. 

It all begins with Pumpkin Seeds….

From the growth of the Pumpkin, making of the pie and slicing off a hunk to enjoy…with a spoonful of whipped cream on top.

No details left out..even a bug eaten leaf was incorporated into the quilt.  Her artful machine quilting is exquisite!  She said the quilting alone took ten hours to do. 

Below is a quilt that was made by Valerie’s friend, Judy.  It was stunning!  I adore the primitive design and the saying at the bottom of the quilt.  I tried to roll this was up and hide it in my purse…..but my purse was too small… It would be PeRfEcT in my house!

Another favorite was the quilt below, also made by Judy.  The geraniums are wool and hand sewn onto the quilt.  I adore the colors in this one and the mix of textures.  Quilts sure have come a long way from the days when my great grandmother sat and hand quilted with her lady friends.

Below is a paper piecing quilt Valerie made.  It is a baby quilt size.  One of the squares is of her dog, Dinkum.  Dinky is a Queensland Healer and just a sweet, sweet girl.  This little quilt is full of detail.

Lastly, another favorite of mine – this red and white Christmas quilt with adorable snowmen.  There are so many details in this quilt from hand sewn buttons, trims, applique techniques and embroidery.

I will be sharing more about our PNW adventure.  

And thank you for all of the input provided about advertising on my blog.  I do appreciate your thoughts on the subject. 

Till next time.....