Edyta Sitar's Trunk Show and Lecture

Last Friday Edyta Sitar was the guest speaker at our monthly quilt guild meeting. She also taught workshops on Thursday and Saturday. I think everyone was inspired by this energetic young lady!

Edyta brought 80 quilts to show us! And each and every one of them was fabulous. Everyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of batiks, but after looking at Edyta's traditional quilts of batiks mixed with print fabrics, I think I could learn to like them.

Edyta's lecture was titled Reasons For Quilts. She spoke about falling in love with fabric at an early age, her introduction to quilting by her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law, and the many reasons she loves to quilt. 

Edyta's quilts were as varied as the reasons that women quilt-whether it is for a new baby, to celebrate a wedding or other special occasion, or to showcase a favorite fabric. 

Some of her quilts were pieced, some were appliqued and others were a mixture of the two. 

Edyta has written many quilt books. I own two of them and love them. Both were gifts from a friend. The first one I received is titled Friendship Strips and Scraps. I love house quilts and the one of the front cover is gorgeous! The second book of Edyta's that I have is  Reasons for Quilts. It is a wonderful book, full of inspiration and beautiful quilts. A CD is included in the book with the patterns for nine of the quilts featured in the book. 

I took my books with me and Edyta was kind enough to autograph both of them. She was delightful to chat with and she posed for pictures with my friends. 

I left the meeting with a heart full of admiration for a very dedicated quilter. Her fabrics, quilt designs and books are an inspiration for all quilters. 

Happy quilting!

Georgia Celebrates Quilts~The East Cobb Quilter's Guild Quilt Show

Wow, that's a long title for a blog post. And it looks like I was trying to see how many times I could use the word "quilt" in one post title. But, when you are writing about quilts and you're excited about quilts--then you want to just shout "quilts" at the top of your lungs. 

Last weekend was the Georgia Celebrates Quilts show at the Cobb County Civic Center in  Marietta, GA and it was fantastic! As a guild member I got to go on Thursday night for the awards ceremony and a preview of the quilts in the show. We have had a very rainy spring with lots of thunderstorms and Thursday evening was no exception. As we left the auditorium to go into the building with the quilts, the sky had darkened and the tornado sirens were going off! Everyone was calm and continued to look at the quilts as the rain pelted down and the lights went out! Thank goodness for emergency lighting. We were able to continue viewing the show quilts. There were never any tornadoes, but the 90 mph "tornado like winds" (according to the local meteorologist) at my daughter's nearby house had us all a little anxious! 

Friday morning the sunshine broke through and the crowds came. The show was wonderful. I volunteered for a two hour shift as a vendor hostess. It was so much fun. I ran back and forth to the break room getting sandwiches, drinks and snacks for the vendors. They were all so sweet and appreciative. 

I took pictures of some of the quilts I enjoyed and I thought I would share them with you. I hope you enjoy your virtual quilt show. And remember, I am a terrible photographer-especially with my cell phone. 

First, the applique-always a favorite of mine.....

There were beautiful pieced quilts too....

I am always amazed by the miniatures.....

There are always a few quilts that add whimsy to the show and put a smile on your face...

And this quilt was Best Of Show....

There were over 250 quilts in the show-so there were many that I didn't take a picture of. I always try to get a nice variety of photos to catch the "flavor" of a show. I hope you enjoyed these. 

Happy Quilting.

Pat Wys and Lisa Bongean are guest speakers at ECQG

In January I decided to look for a new quilt guild. I have joined two different guilds since I moved to Georgia from the DC area and neither one has inspired me the way my last guild did. I decided I was going to have to be willing to drive a bit in order to find a guild that would offer what I am looking for. I did a little research and have found a home!

I have joined East Cobb Quilters' Guild in Marietta, Georgia. I have to drive 80 miles to attend a meeting, but it is sooo worth it!! The first meeting I attended was in the evening in January. The ladies were warm and welcoming and the program was educational and entertaining-it was a demonstration of several ways to make fabric post cards. Most of the business part of the meeting was about the upcoming quilt show. The raffle quilt was hanging up for everyone to see and it was spectacular! 

It's called Stars and Sprigs and the picture does not do it justice. It is a gorgeous quilt. I have bought raffle tickets for myself and my friends and I hope one of us wins!!

This is a close up so that you can see some of the details of the fabrics and the quilting.

I attended my second meeting in February-also an evening meeting. The excitement about the quilt show (It starts next Friday!) was at a higher pitch than the month before. I joined the guild that night and signed up to volunteer as a vendor hostess at the show. 

I missed the March meeting because I was ill and I was so disappointed. Joe Cunningham, aka Joe the Quilter, was the guest speaker. 

The April meeting was my first time to attend a day meeting and it was wonderful. There were so many friendly ladies there. The guest speaker was Pat Wys (she lives in the Atlanta area-we are so lucky to have her nearby!) I was really excited to hear Pat speak because last Fall Anne and I helped Pam (Pam and Anne are my two BFFs) make a quilt for Pam's daughter's wedding from Pat's book Spotlight on Neutrals.

The pictures aren't very good-they were taken at the dimly lit wedding reception. The quilting on it is beautiful!

Pat was a wonderful speaker and it was awesome to see all of her quilts made with only neutral fabrics. She brought other quilts to share, as well. Here are a few pics I snapped.

Pat also showed a two color quilt that I loved. Blue and white has always been a favorite of mine. 

I'm a fan of basket quilts too. I love the touch of applique in the sashing on this one.

This quilt got a lot of ooh's and aah's. What's not to love?

Pat and a friend of hers both made the same quilt, but in their own fabric choices. It was interesting to see the difference that color value makes in a quilt.

Another gorgeous two color quilt! 

The May guest speaker was Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings. Big fan here!! I have been attending the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Atlanta for years and Primitive Gatherings always has a booth and I always buy from them-books, patterns, fabrics, and  wool....ahhh, the wool! It's divine!! I haunted their booth at the International Quilt Festival in Houston several years ago too. I bought something (okay-lots of somethings) from them every day I was there. 

Lisa was a great speaker. She told us her quilting story-when she started quilting, the reason she opened her quilt shop when she did, and how she gets so much done! 

Then she shared her passion with us-wool! She told us where she buys her wool, how she dyes it and how to stitch it up. She showed us lots of wool table runners and candle mats, but I was in the back and couldn't get good pics. 

One of the reasons that I love Lisa is because she is such a generous person. She is always ready to share her passion for quilting and wool. She donated wool for door prizes at our quilt guild meeting, she gave away "goodies" to the ladies who attended her workshops and she was so happy to share her knowledge of dyeing and stitching wool with the guild. In the picture above Lisa is again sharing her love of quilting. That's my granddaughter, Sofia, sitting in Lisa's lap at a quilt show. When Sofia told Lisa that she likes to sew and that she had been piecing scraps together to make a quilt for her Curious George, Lisa gave Sofia a precut stack of 2 1/2" squares to use in her next project. Always encouraging and supporting her fellow quilters-that's Lisa! 

I can't wait until next month's meeting-Edyta Sitar will be the guest speaker and I am sure it will be great too. 

Happy Inspirations!