Crocus Guild 2012 Quilt Show: April 20th & 21st

Quilt Show Advertising

Today I visited two stores with fabric right here in Manhattan. The first one, Purl Soho, I had just heard about online. It's a store which sells yarns plus some Liberty of London fabrics. It had the cutest window display for Easter. The fabric was really poor quality and most of it was $19 for a half yard! Don't go back and reread that; it really said what you thought it said: $19 for a half yard.

Thankfully the only real quilt store in Manhattan, The City Quilter, has much more reasonable prices and very friendly clerks. One of them held up our show poster so that we can say our quilt show has been advertised internationally. No, Shelley, they aren't planning to be one of our vendors, but at least they know about our show.

They have a small gallery in their shop and this month's featured quilter was Sue Benner. You can see three of her works below. Her biography stated that her work is influenced by her degree in bio-science. Wow!

Lastly, don't forget that I'm still taking your entry sheets for our show. Drop them at my place any time because a neighbor is emptying our mailbox daily so there is no danger of them being lost.

Now if you want to know more about what Bob and I are doing in NYC, you can check my other blog which is www.kingsinnycagain.blogspot.com

April 3rd Guild Meeting

Happy Easter, Everyone!Lydia made this cute bunny wall hanging.

Before we get to more quilting, let me tell you that Bob and I are spending Easter week in one of our favorite places on earth: New York City. You might wonder what we have left to see, but, trust me, we have barely scratched the surface in our previous trips there. We have five Broadway shows booked and hope to squeeze in a couple more. We have a trip to Ellis Island booked and I have a notebook filled with tiny writing that gives places we want to see, things we want to do, and fun cafes we want to try. If you want to follow along, I'm going to blog it at www.kingsinnycagain.blogspot.ca

Now on with the show ...

Marlene showed us this gadget she bought at the Minot Quilt Show. It looks like an old-fashioned men's razor, but its purpose is to quickly rip stitches ... not that any of us would need such a gadget, right?

A couple more strip-twist quilts were profiled, and we marveled at how versatile this pattern is. Each quilt is so different. Are any of the rest of you completing yours in time for the quilt show?

Don't forget that our quilt show is April 20th and 21st at the curling rink. Your pieces should be dropped off on April 19th by noon. If you can help with the set-up that day starting at 9a.m., it would be much appreciated. Encourage your spouse or partner to come too ... a great opportunity for "quality couples' time." ;o)

And don't forget that we have a guest quilter: Wayne Kollinger of Calgary. His trunk show is Friday, April 20th at 8:30. The cost is $10 and you can pre-buy your ticket for this from Gloria.

I've been typing the entry forms for the show and that has made me excited ... very excited, indeed ... for our show. There are going to be so many terrific entries.

Speaking of entries, if you haven't got yours to me, it is almost never too late. (Well, obviously April 22nd would be too late!) You can drop the write-ups for your entries in my mailbox any time before April 19th. The more entries we have, the stronger our show is.

And now back to the good stuff, more show-and-tell from last night:

Here are the two strip-twist quilts that were shown last night. The first is Colleen S's, the second is Lydia's.

Helen made this cosy quilt which is partly minkie.

Marlene created this marvelous quilt. When you see it at the show, check out Terry's superior quilting. I've got a photo of it here, but the photo doesn't do it justice. Marlene, your quilt is superb.

Adeline made this placemat and, you can't see it here, but the decorative stitch at the binding finished the piece perfectly. There are a few placemats entered in the show. Will we have enough to do a whole section?

Jan made this t-shirt quilt for her granddaughter. It's a blend of t-shirts and quotes which her granddaughter found to reflect the work she does in many places overseas.

Marlene created this growth chart from a Chi Chi pattern. Like a kid, I was drooling over it and picking my favorite ballerina animal. Mine is the zebra ... what's yours?

Lydia made this bargello baby quilt from a pattern at Peachtree. Now you may not be able to spot an error, but Lydia explained there is one. The error? She's found out her next grandchild is going to be a girl! Luckily Peachtree has the kit in pinks too.

Barb H. created this butterfly and dragonfly quilt which you can investigate more closely at the show. For some reason, my photos from last night aren't showing true colors. This is a cheery, beautiful lap quilt.

Here is Bonnie's entry for the charm pack challenge. She learned to make prairie points while working on this vibrant quilt.

Bonnie's postcard was the grand finale of our show-and-tell. She had a blast at Jaynie's class and suggested that Jaynie might run another class in the fall which will be a continuation of this.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, all the guild positions for the next two years were filled last night. Thanks to all the ladies who stepped forward to fill executive positions and committee head positions. I'll tell you all of them in May, but here are three you will want to know right now. Donna Wolfe will be president, Marg Stewart will be secretary, and Elaine Douglas will be treasurer. Thanks, ladies. We all will help you make it a great two years.

Guild Meeting on March 6th, 2012

First of all, check out my two models, Gloria and Shelley, proudly showing our quilt show poster and the tickets to our raffle quilt. If you want to sell tickets before our next meeting (and I know you do!), contact Gloria.

Here are Dorothy and Lynne showing the members the completed raffle quilt. We can all be proud of it and sell diligently so that this fundraiser is a success.

Terry Whitman longarm quilted it for us and, of course, did a gorgeous job. Anyone want to set up a pool with everyone guessing how many quilts in our show will have been quilted by Terry!

During show-and-tell Carrie showed this great tablerunner she made during the beginners' class. Carrie, be sure to enter it in the show as one of the charm pack challenge items.

Show-and-tell may not have been plentiful, but it was inspiring. The next 3 quilts, respectively by Marg, Jaynie, and Debbie are all the same pattern: the strip-twist which Jill and Colleen S. taught. I bet there will be even more made from this pattern at the quilt show so I think we'll need a special section just for them. Don't you love how the same pattern can look so different.

Adeline made these potholders which led to her and I having a conversation about what makes the best batting in potholders. I say it's two layers of denim.

Here Leona is admiring a quilt which Helen's grandson made. Quilting definitely runs in her family!

Helen brought some demos of the 10-minute-block which is rampant on the internet right now. If you are interested, you can find very good youtube videos on how to construct these blocks.

Vera, Joanne, and I brought our bags to show.

At coffee time, I spotted Jaynie and Colleen S. eyeing the cover of the latest Canadian Quilter. Neither of them would be daunted to try the cover pattern.

Marlene and Joanne chatted as they looked over the show-and-tell once more. You can see other guild members in the background madly signing up to help at the quilt show. If you haven't signed up yet, don't worry; there will be lots of jobs to do.

Many handed in their entries for the quilt show. If you haven't or if you did but now realize you want to enter more, you can email the entries to me (Brenda) or bring them to the next meeting. My life will be simpler if you email them to me.

Sadly, for us, Karen Young is leaving us to start a new chapter of her life back in Ontario. Karen has done so much for this guild including being treasurer for some years. We'll miss you, Karen, and we hope that you will email us photos of your future quilting endeavors.

Speaking of Karen's time as treasurer, we are so grateful to her and others who have held executive positions through the years of our guild's existence. Is it your turn to be president, treasurer, or secretary? All three of these positions need to be filled for next year and YOU are the perfect person to fill one of them. There is plenty of past experience to draw from if you need help as you take on one of these positions. Don't be nervous! You can do it! If you are interested .... please, please, please be interested .... contact Bonnie to let her know your intentions.

Gloria told us the good news that the Torquay quilters now have a blog. It's address is www.theblockpartyguild.blogspot.com As well, Christa Marcotte of Torquay has started a personal blog at this address: www.secondstoryquilting.blogspot.com. Check that one out too.

In case you missed it, I posted a blog entry just before this one about a quilt show in Tombstone, AZ and a quilt retreat in Mesa, AZ.