Vancouver Special

On Saturday and Sunday August 25/26, the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild will proudly present our second Modern Quilt Showcase. Once again, I'm coordinating the show alongside a few other dedicated guild members who've been working super hard to pull it all together. It takes an enormous effort to plan a multi-day public quilt show in a large, industrial setting. We love the Pipe Shop venue in North Vancouver because it is flooded with natural light; the wide open space featuring huge timber posts is the most perfect backdrop for our colourful, modern quilts.

Unlike most contemporary quilt shows taking place these days, we've once again decided to forego the usual "drape" approach to hanging. Our quilts will hang directly from cross bars and dowels suspended from overhead wire. Many of the quilts will have backs visible, which is also rather unusual for a quilt show. It'll be a stunning show of about 140 quilts. I really hope to see you there!

We issued a challenge to our members this time: create a modern mini quilt for the theme "West Coast Modern". The quilt must be made of solid coloured fabric and not exceed 80" total perimeter.  I'm enjoying challenges more and more these days as my confidence in designing original work increases year after year.  I've also learned that it's possible to make just about anything you like and figure out a way to make it fit the theme.

I considered lots of modern landscape interpretations because, well, Vancouver is a coastal city on the edge of B.C., with ocean on one side and mountains on the other. Then out of the blue, I decided to take the "modern" more literally and create a little quilted version of a well-known (somewhat controversial) house design built throughout Vancouver's east and south sides. These homes are known as Vancouver Specials: they feature two full above-ground floors built on grade, maximum square footage, shallow sloping roof, typically a kitchen on each floor, front balcony with sliding glass door, brick bottom with stucco top and an off-centre entranceway.  They often fill their city lot, leaving a small front and back yard.  The homes were built relatively quickly (some came in kits) and provided multi-generational housing that suited the influx of new Canadians to this city who were used to living this way in their home countries and cultures.  While not the most attractive homes, they served an important purpose: to welcome new families to Vancouver and provide affordable housing in a rapidly growing urban area.

As families have aged out of these neighbourhoods, many of these 70's built homes have been purchased by younger professionals and renovated into expansive, spare modern spaces for family living. There is even an annual home tour featuring such houses.

image source: weloveeastvan.com

I created my little version entirely with Oakshott shot cottons and quilted it with the new Aurifil longarm 40/3 cotton thread on a cone. I love the weight of this thread for quilting!  I'm thinking more and more about minimalist design and trying it out. This may be my first step...making this quilt a true challenge for me. It's definitely one aspect of modern quilt design that I find the most difficult to wrap my brain around.

I sewed a little sleeve and label on the back yesterday. My mini is all ready for the showcase. To make the mini challenge even more fun, we'll be asking visitors to vote on their favourite. The quilt with the most votes will receive the most beautiful miniature ribbon, handmade by a guild member.  All other quilts in the showcase are also up for Viewer's Choice ribbons, so please come by, enjoy some incredible modern quilts, buy a lucky raffle ticket on our charity quilt and vote for your favourites.

VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase

August 25, noon  - 8:00 p.m.

August 26, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $5, children <12 free="" p="">

The Pipe Shop, 115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver, BC

 (just one block east of the Lonsdale Quay Seabus Terminal)

Accessible with washrooms onsite

Free parking nearby in the ICBC parkade, pay parkade at the Pinnacle Hotel & Lonsdale Quay.

1 hr and 2 hr free street parking in the neighbourhood

VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase COMING SOON!

Notes from the NJS Judges - Part 2

In this post (a continuation from my previous post) I share the comments from three CQA-certified judges on my Improv Untitled quilt. This wallhanging recently hung in the Canadian National Juried Show in Toronto in the Abstract Art category. I could have easily entered it into the Modern category along with Round Peg, Square Hole, but I thought my chances with the jury might improve if I tried two different categories.

I am happy to share these comments/critiques with you as a point of interest. I find them thoughtful, constructive and useful!

Judge 1

The variety and scale of the shapes add visual interest. The shapes shift between being positive shapes to being negative shapes. This is visually unsettling (oh dear). Was this the mood you were intending to portray? Grid quilting pattern is effective.

Judge 2

This well-constructed quilt works with the viewer's mind (thank you, exactly!) as the eye moves around searching for familiar and identifiable images. The bold border plays a secondary role - perhaps it could be slightly integrated into the central area. Take care when piecing dark against light and watch out for shadowing (curses, I tried my best).

Judge 3

Negative space might be emphasized with more or different quilting (hmmm, this is a good suggestion worth considering for the next one). The design draws me in to follow pathways like a game (mission accomplished!). The light-coloured motif floats off the black and is anchored by the black grid quilting lines.

I'd really like to thank the judges (in no particular order, because the comments are not directly attributed to any judge), Margie Davidson, Hilary Rice and Judy Villett. I am actually rather delighted with all of your thoughtful words and will take them into consideration for future work. For the first time (in 6 juried show experiences) I actually feel like I got some great value out of my entry fee with this feedback.  

Would you like to learn 7 improv piecing techniques and make your own quilt similar to this one in a fast-paced, fun and supportive environment? I teach this unique Speed Date with Improv workshop (as a 1- or 2-day class) and would be happy to visit your guild or shop. Email address at the top left sidebar for enquiries. I have some availability in late fall and am now booking into 2018.  Sadly, due to working visa restrictions, I cannot teach in the US, but all other international and Canadian travel is welcome.

Notes From the NJS Judges - Part 1

My two quilts that hung at the Canadian National Juried Show in Toronto last weekend made it home today. For the first time in 3 shows, I found that the judge's critiques are very constructive, thoughtful and well-explained. I'm actually going to keep the pages with their thoughts this time. Usually I read judge's comments and then they head straight into paper recycling either due to a misunderstanding of the intention my quilt, or comments on elements of the work that aren't that relevant to me (but are very important for traditional judges).

I thought I'd share the comments with you here as a point of interest. This is what the three CQA-certified judges wrote about Round Peg, Square Hole, which was juried into the Modern category:

Judge 1
Unique optical illusion created in overall design (mission accomplished, thank you!). Value gradation in every other block is effective. Straight-line quilting is even but stitch length seems long. The white thread colour that contrasts with the solid coloured fabrics and then blends with the background white fabric is effective.

Judge 2
Fascinating visual play is achieved in this compelling design. Excellent understanding of balance using colour is shown (yay me!! Maybe I know more about colour than I give myself credit for). Some well-blended gradation of fabrics is noted. While the quilting stitch throughout is even, it would improve the construction and visual effect if the stitch length was shorter.

Judge 3
Accurate piecing (woohoo!) suports the creative circular design concept. The gradation in colour in some of the pieced units adds design interest. The quilting stitch is even and straight but extremely long - quilt stitch length could be shorter.

There is much for me to celebrate here. This quilt is my very own design and I chose the colours carefully (thanks to RJR Fabrics for supplying all of the fabric for the front of this quilt during their What Shade RU blog hop). The design compliments really make me proud!

I've always liked a long quilting stitch length and typically when walking foot quilting I increase the stitch to 4.0. I'm hearing loud and clear that quilting judges (at least at CQA) prefer a shorter stitch length...even on a wallhanging. I will keep this in mind when making a quilt that I'd consider entering in a show.

Would you like to try creating your own version of this fun log-cabin variation? The .pdf downloadable pattern is available in my Craftsy shop (link up there at the top of my right sidebar).

Tomorrow I'll let you know what they had to say about the last Speed Date with Improv sample I made and entered in the Abstract Design category.

VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase - the inside story

Amazing.
Remarkable.
Stunning.
Well-hung (teehee, best quilt show compliment ever).
Totally modern.
Incredible.
Beautiful.

These are just some of the wonderful compliments we received at our recent quilt show. Not only was it the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's first show, it was also the first quilt show in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver area) totally devoted to modern quilts. We all feel very proud.  I've been involved as a volunteer for several traditional shows, but this was my first attempt at leading a show committee into unknown territory! The fact that this show came together in 5 months is nothing short of remarkable and a testament to our determined show committee and trusting guild members. Many lessons were learned and we are already excited about implementing ideas and suggestions to make our next show even better! Plus, we have 2 years to prepare for the next one. Phew!

Ellen, by Matthew Wheeler

Much of the KAPOW element of the visual impact of our show had to do with the incredible venue we secured: the historic Pipe Shop Building at the former North Vancouver Shipyards. That's partly why the show happened so quickly, the venue was only available one weekend in 2016 and at the time of booking, the fate of the building was unknown so the management could not allow bookings beyond 2016. The show committee felt it was too perfect to miss out, so we went for it!!  The industrial beams, heritage wooden posts and concrete floor were the perfect backdrop for our modern quilts to shine (in natural light!).

Top L-R: Mix Tape by Lysa Mair, MonoGlamatic Clams by Dianne Semark, Round and Round We Go by Terry Aske

Bottom L-R: Noon Window by Gigi Hamer, Spider's Web by Shannon MacLachlan

You can see that we chose a minimalist hanging layout using post and pipe (but no drape) in the centre of the space and tensioned wires with silver binder clips between the wooden posts.  We kept costs down by buying wire and hardware in bulk and having my husband and brother make the wire sections based on measurements we took in advance of the show. The majority of quilt backs were visible, much to the delight of visitors to the show. Having the quilts free in space with air and light all around them was gorgeous. Janet Archibald and Terry Aske did an incredible job planning the layout over many, many hours. They used colour photographs of all of the quilts to determine which ones would look best adjacent to each other considering size, colour and subject matter. This is a massive job that included mapping out the aisles and wires in the space for best traffic flow, labelling all of the quilts and creating a detailed map so that volunteers could hang the show.

L-R beginning with Holly Broadland's Rainbow Girl circle on white, Berene Campbell's Rainbow Mashup and  Delhi Dreams by Megan Hanna. 

On the far right is a bit of Andrea Bamberg's Rainbow Coin

Our entire show was something unique in the local quilt show scene, but I think something extra special was our Modern Mini Showcase Wall. The venue happened to have a free-standing white wall at one end that was the perfect surface to display a collection of mini quilts our members made for inclusion in a traditional show in the fall of 2015. Our idea was to create a gallery display for educational purposes - we'd asked members to make minis (less than 80" perimeter) using only solid fabrics, that demonstrated one or more of the MQG design aesthetics of modern quilting (for example: improvisational piecing, alternate grid construction, use of negative space). This vision was realised by the talented Dianne Semark, a guild member who is also a professional graphic designer. It was a revelation for many of our visitors!

Here I am hamming it up with someone you've read about from time to time here, my fabulous SIL, by my Quarter Round quilt.

In front of this wall, we set up two long tables covered in solid fabric scraps, card stock and glue sticks. We invited visitors to create their own modern mini "quilts" using those on the wall for inspiration. Volunteers helped out and this activity was an overwhelming success with children and adults alike. One unanticipated outcome was that several people left their creations behind - we taped them up to the beams and they became integral to the display over the weekend. Result!

Doesn't it look amazing? 

Here she is again, having fun with a friend at the activity table!

I'll just share a few more shots with you. If you're interested in seeing photos of all of the 138 quilts on display, check out the amazing photos by Sonja Callaghan in this flickr group

I'm rather partial to this little threesome. From L-R:  Selfie by Felicity Ronaghan, my Round Peg, Square Hole  and Fire and Water by Susan Chaffe (one of my favourite quilts made in the very first Temperature Check workshop I taught).

Here's a shot of one of the three fabulous Viewer's Choice ribbons made by guild member Berene Campbell, pinned on a winning quilt made by Paul Krampitz called 1001 Knights

That's my Light Of May quilt just in front of the 3 people and to the left of it is Janet Archibald's Shadow Box 

Not including all of the children under 12 who entered the show for free, we had 754 visitors. If we include all of the guild member volunteers and kids, there were definitely over 800 people who came over two days. We're thrilled, considering it is our first show and it took place on an August weekend. Our venue is not in the city, but it is located adjacent to a very convenient Seabus that travels between downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver every 15 minutes. Many of our visitors actually made the effort to take public transit and travelled on the boat for the very first time. So cool.

There's so much more I could share, but I think I'll stop here. My life has been pretty saturated with quilt show stuff for the past few months (including the 33 hours I spent at the venue over the show weekend along with Terry, Janet and Felicity). It is time for me to move on and get back to sewing.

ETA: I've been asked about the quilts that appeared in the show and how we 'chose' them. Well, none of us on the committee were interested in jurying the work of our fellow members, nor was our show judged. We discussed the space and estimated how many quilts we could hang compared to the number of members we have (about 120). We decided to guarantee every member that their 1st choice quilt would have a place in our show and encouraged them to enter a quilt that they felt would best exemplify the modern aesthetic and help us introduce modern quilting to the community at large. In the end, we had enough space to hang all entrant's 1st and 2nd choice quilts! There wasn't enough room for all 3rd choice ones, so we stopped there. Quilts on the modern mini wall were "free" and not included in the choices for general display. The bottom line: we trusted our membership and our collective desire to put on a truly modern quilt show. Nailed it!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of our show and some of the behind the scenes planning details!

VMQG Showcase This Weekend!

Please join us as we showcase the fabulous work of our members! Families welcome! This incredible renovated shipyard warehouse will be a gorgeous industrial backdrop for our work - this'll be a brand new quilt show like you've never seen in the Lower Mainland.

We'll have over 100 modern quilts on display from wall hanging to large bed-sized quilts. Some will be for sale (visa & mastercard accepted). In addition, learn about the modern design aesthetic at our Modern Mini Quilt Showcase wall and try your hand at designing  your own mini quilt composition. Volunteer guild members will be there to guide you.

We also have a gorgeous raffle quilt! Tickets are only $2/ea and 100% of proceeds will support Vancouver's Mom to Mom Poverty Iniative

ADMISSION ONLY $5, children < 12 free

On Saturday evening there is a free community concert adjacent to our venue along with many exciting food trucks to 10:00 p.m. It's going to be a party!

This event is wheelchair accessible with level building entries, standard doors and a ramp off the Lonsdale Ave. sidewalk. An accessible washroom with ramp access is located outside the venue, on the east side.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

Quilt Canada - A Ribbon!

I've just returned home from the National Juried Show put on by the Canadian Quilters' Association. The show was held in Toronto very near to the airport at a convention centre. On the opening night, I was thrilled to discover that Orange Grove won 2nd place in the Modern Bed or Wall Quilt category!! I happily shared the prize with Krista Withers, who no doubt secured the win with her outstanding modern quilting on this quilt.

Photo: Brent Kane, Martingale 2014, all rights reserved

Photo: Brent Kane, Martingale 2014, all rights reserved

A huge thank you to Brother, who sponsored this generous award! Several representatives from the company were at the show, so I was able to thank them in person. I'm thrilled to have a beautiful CQA Rosette to hang proudly in my sewing room. It was my desire to support CQA in their expansion to include modern quilts in the national show and was so pleased that the jury also chose to hang Chess on the Steps and Ice Road.

I volunteered for 8 hours over two days as a white glove host and had several interesting conversations with show-goers about modern quilting. The vast majority of visitors are very supportive and enthusiastic about quilting moving forward in an inclusive direction, but there still others who look on with a puzzled expression and willingly admit "I just don't get it". I did meet lovely people and had a great time hanging out with Daryl and her gorgeous fabrics in the Fabric Spark booth. I happily signed copies of Make It, Take It there on Friday afternoon - it was fun to reignite my enthusiasm for all of the great projects in the book and even more fun that Orange Grove (a pattern in the book) is now a prize-winning quilt! 

For a full list of prize winners and photos of their quilts, check here. Have a look for Leanne and Terry and Cinzia's quilts!  It was also fantastic to see the work of other friends hung in the juried show, including Marianne, M-R and Janet. I also thought that the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild put on an excellent invitational display of members quilts and small challenge quilts.

"Will I Remember Colour?" - a Quilt Show Challenge

It is time once again for my traditional guild's bi-annual show this weekend! I'm always very excited about our show for many reasons: we have a very active guild of talented quilters who go all-out to make beautiful quilts for the show, we encourage & celebrate all kinds of quilting styles, the venue is amazing with lots of space & natural light, there's a fabulous member's boutique (that I coordinate), a tea room and a big merchant mall!

This year I am pleased to say that I managed to complete a challenge quilt.  The theme was "Quilt Me a Story" and the idea was to create a small quilt no more than 60" in perimeter inspired by a favourite story or book.  Of all the books I've read recently, I was most affected by reading the Still Alice by Lisa Genova.  I resisted this book, thinking it would be horribly depressing, but I'm very glad that I read it, because while it is indeed incredibly sad, the story left me with a peace that is hard for me to explain.

While considering the quilt challenge, I thought about my creative life, my loves and how memory loss might affect me (my paternal Grandmother lived to a very old age, but suffered severe dementia in her last 10 years). What would happen to my work if I could not remember the names of colours? Would working with colour be the same, just without the words? Would colour still bring me joy? How would I put colours together?

Will I Remember Colour?

 11 1/2" square

This quilt was made using the Small Studies techniques I learned from Gwen Marston last spring. I used Oakshott scraps that I had on hand and tried to work fairly quickly without giving much thought to colour theory or what I normally like together.

In addition to finishing up this challenge, I've been busy making items to sell in the boutique. I really enjoy doing this for every show. It is a great way to support the guild, enhance our show and also bring in a bit of cash for summer fun! (sorry, only iphone photos, no time for proper photography this week!).

Industrial woolfelt off-cuts were turned into card wallets

I love making these rope bowls!

Tiny scraps of Liberty tana lawn on their way to becoming earrings!

And finally, here's my show ribbon. We started a fun tradition a few shows ago, inspired by the Parksville Quilter's Guild, to award home made ribbons to fellow guild members in fun categories. Each member of the show-organizing committee gets to choose their own category and award the ribbon to the quilt of their choice. Member's love it and it gives an opportunity for everyone to have a chance at a ribbon!  For this show, I chose "1/2 Square Triangles" (last show, I did Best Use of Solids and the show before that I did Travel Inspired Quilt). 

If you are local, I hope you'll visit us this Friday or Saturday at Capilano University. Come find me in the boutique!

VMQG Modern Mini Showcase

The Vancouver Quilter's Guild is having their annual show this weekend and they've invited the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild to share work as a special exhibit!

VMQG members were challenged to make mini quilts no larger than 80" total perimeter. The quilts had to be made of solid colour fabrics and illustrate one or more of the design features of modern quilts, including (but not limited to);

• use of negative space
• minimalism
• improvisational piecing
• modern take on tradition
• alternate grid construction
• bold geometric design

I decided to recreate my Log Cabin Study I (see last post) for the showcase. I increased the size to 20" square and I think that the proportions work out a bit better with the even block sizes of 10 1/2" instead of the 7 1/2" blocks in the original quilt.  This time I went with red-orange and tangerine colours from Denyse Schmidt's modern solids collection, along with white and a teal binding.

"Quarter Round"

(thanks to my clever friend Berene for suggesting this name!)

It is quilted in the same manner as the first version, just parallel straight lines with coordinating Aurifil 30 wt thread that I carry out of the coloured strips into the white background and vice-versa.

If you are local, why not check out the show this Friday and Saturday? Here's the info on location and times. I can't speak for the traditional quilts on display, but I know there will be 26 gorgeous modern ones to see! If you're interested in what a modern quilt looks like, then come and check out our Modern Mini Showcase.

Local Book Signing!

I'm super excited to participate in my first public book signing (I've visited several local guilds, but this is my first time in a shop!).  This Sunday, August 16th, I'll be in the sweet village of Ladner, B.C. parked at The Quilted Bear quilt shop. I've brought along a trunk show of book projects so you can see first hand, the beautiful designs of all of the talented contributors to Make It, Take It.  Everyone who purchases a book will also receive one of my "Retreats Rule!" buttons.

There's something for everyone on Sunday. It is the annual Classic Car Show and Quilt Walk. On from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the main drag is closed and transformed into a parking lot of gleaming vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles.

This stunning quilt was made by my friend Matthew Wheeler, Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild member and former owner of the Quilted Bear.

All photos by Chung Chow, 2014, the Delta Optimist newspaper

 The shop windows, railings and yoga studio space are all decorated with quilts from local quilters.  Every summer I say I'll make it out to Ladner for this show but I've never been in town. I'm excited to finally participate; as well as the book signing, I've got two quilts hanging in the show (Selvage Colourblock and Light Of May). I haven't been to an outdoor quilt show since Sisters about 6 years ago.

Hope to see you there!

Road Trip - Quilter Style

Last Friday my Mom and I packed up the rental and hit the I-5 for a 36 hour quilting road trip! We started with a stop in Blaine, WA at the postal service I use for U.S. purchases. For a change there was only one fabric package awaiting pick up and two other items for the men in my family (B's birthday gift of a hydraulic seat post for his mountain bike and a neon sign transformer for T - more on that later!).

From there we continued to the gorgeous town of La Conner, WA where their incredible quilt museum was hosting a Quilt Festival. Quilts and wearables on display at 3 locations in town! Sadly, photography was not allowed, but Mom and I along with members of my Gathered Threads stitch group enjoyed the quilts very much. It was a treat to see so many gorgeous hand-appliqued quilts. I'll never make a Baltimore Album, but I do love, respect and appreciate beautiful hand work. After a delicious lunch at the Calico Cupboard (featuring tons of gluten-free baking!), the two of us set off for Seattle.

Pioneer Square, late afternoon

After checking into our hotel at Pioneer Square, we hopped back in the car to catch the ferry over to Vashon Island. Check out this gorgeous setting sun from the ferry!

This entire trip was prompted by the opening night of Krista Withers Longarm Quilting show ev.o.lu.tion at Island Quilter. Krista is affectionately known in these parts as K2: I am K1 due to my advanced age and Krista Fleckenstein is K3 due to the fact that she's still a kid.  This all started when K2 came to stay and attend one of my retreats and my husband couldn't handle having two Krista's in the house simultaneously answering all questions directed to "Krista". As in "Krista, would you like another glass of wine". "YES please!" in harmony.

K3 and I had conspired on a congratulatory bouquet. K2 had worked tirelessly for the past two months preparing work for the show and we are so proud of her!

If you're on Instagram you may have watched this Frankenquilt grow from a pile of hexagons into this masterpiece over the past 6 weeks. Incredible! It really drew in the passersby attending the first Friday gallery night on Vashon's main drag.

Krista's paintings from her life before quilting - I think she's going to do some more painting soon. Lucky us!

Here she is explaining how a longarm machine works to a very interested couple. It's great to see people truly fascinated by the art and process of quilting!

 

The front and equally awesome back of Krista's free-pieced bee quilt

This is K3's corner! Both of these beautiful quilts were pieced by K3 and quilted by K2.

Here's Lynne's pretty block all quilted by Krista in another bee quilt.

And finally another shot of Krista (her husband Mike on the left) and some friends enjoying the show! Can I just add how awesome Mike is? He even complimented my camera bag with a "Did you make that bag? Nice Echino!" Melt.

It was now 9:00 p.m. and we'd still not eaten dinner, so Mom and I joined Sandie and Keli at The Hardware Store for a delicious meal served up lickity split so that we could catch the 9:50 p.m. ferry back to west Seattle.

The fun continued the next morning...but that's another post. If you find yourself in Seattle sometime during October, please make the gorgeous trip to Vashon to see Krista's exhibit and shop with Anya at Island Quilter. You won't be sorry! Almost all of her quilting cottons are only $10/yd and her selection is incredible, including all Westminster prints, shots and a ton of modern designer fabric and home-dec weight.

There are more photos from Krista's show in my flickr stream. Just click on any of the pictures here to take you there! 

Quilt Show 2012 Redux

Last weekend I participated in my traditional guild's bi-annual show. I refer to the Lions Gate Quilter's Guild as my 'traditional' guild only to differentiate from the VMQG, of which I am also a member.  In fact, several of us are members of both guilds and there are people making traditional, modern, contemporary and art quilts in both guilds. There were over 200 quilts on display at a local recreation centre (conveniently located 2 blocks from my house!) and we had what seemed like a gazillion appreciative visitors.  Some pictures of my show favs coming right up! Our show is not juried - every guild member is invited to show up to three quilts, space permitting. Quilts do not have to be original designs and we encourage everyone from beginner to expert to participate.

"Rooftops 'round the Bend" by Dianne Ritter

"The Measure of a Life" by Dr. Susan Germain - winner of a viewer's choice ribbon

"Be Still" by Jo Ann Lee - winner of a viewer's choice ribbon

I've been on the organizing committee for several shows. I've overseen production of our raffle quilts, done publicity and this time I helped to organize the Members Boutique with my friend Marsha.  The boutique is a place where guild members can sell their handmade items and provide a small commission to the guild.  We have a fantastic "exit through the gift shop" set up such that every visitor has to pass through the boutique when they leave the gymnasium. As Katy would say "result"! It works like a charm. Twenty guild members sold almost $6000 of merchandise in two days. Not bad!

 

Boutique before and after

Mounting a show is a massive amount of work requiring hundreds of volunteer hours, not to mention thousands of dollars. The rec centre is leased for 3.5 days (we need an evening and entire day for set up) and we have to rent all of the poles and curtains that support the quilts - this equipment is unbelievably expensive.  Our guild is a non-profit so we're not in the business of making money, but it sure is nice to break even on the show. Luckily our community is very supportive and happy to pay the $6 entry fee, plus we have amazing shops from all over the province that pay for booths in our merchant mall.

detail of "Configurations II" by Susan Lum, co-owner of Passionate Dyes

"Rubik's Cube Kicked My Asterisk" by Colleen Bell. Is that a great quilt name, or what?!

We've always awarded ribbons, but every show we go through the motions of trying to figure out just how to do this. In the past, we've had Large, Medium and Small quilt voting categories, but this can be confusing for visitors. This year we tried something different. We just asked visitors to vote for their 3 favorite quilts in no particular order. I think we went 8 deep for these 'Viewers Choice' ribbons. As expected though, no small quilts won this time. The public is very impressed by size! It's a shame because there are some incredible details and just as much work in many wall hangings as there are in a queen sized quilt.

Guests enjoying the quilts

Our talented members demonstrating art quilting techniques to show visitors on the Education stage.

Although not my original idea, I suggested to the committee a new, secret award idea. I saw this done at the Parksville Quilter's Guild show many years ago and always wanted to try it. Each member of the show committee chooses a fun theme or category, creates a handmade ribbon for it and awards it to any quilt in the show that they feel best represents that category. Mine was for "Inspired Traveller"; others included best use of the colour orange, the most butterflies, best circle quilt, most prolific quilter (for the person who showed the most square inches of work in the show!).  These fun committee ribbons provide an opportunity for more member's work to be recognized and I think everyone enjoyed them.

   

These are the two ribbons I made (fabric covered buttons sewn onto two yo-yo's, embroidered and stamped words onto interfaced fabric 'ribbons' which were then glued to the back of the yo-yo's)

I've been rather exhausted by all of the action in my life over the past 6 weeks. I'm looking forward to things calming down as school finishes up in the next couple of weeks and we can look forward to some lazy mornings, hand stitching in the garden and casual bbq dinners on the deck.  If only the sun would shine....

Circle quilt by Marg Marlow

NOTE: All quilt photos shared with the quiltmakers' consent.