Quilt Show Pictures...

MQX is a machine quilting expo that has 2 shows...one on the west coast and one on the east coast. For the past 2 years it has been held on the east coast in Providence, Rhode Island. Woo hoo for me!! Tina, from Seaside Stitches, and I have been to the show each year. We've taken classes, shopped, view the beautiful quilts and have been suckered in by too many demos!! If you are in any kind of business, do demos...they get me every time.

Here are some of the pictures I took of the wonderful quilts at the show. I can only dream of quilting like this...and even in my dreams I'm not this good!

This is a quilt of a quilt show. Amazing!! The quilt has different ladies looking at the quilts hanging up. The detail is incredible.

Here's Tina snapping a picture of it too.

This is one of the mini quilts in the quilt with the ladies looking on. They have bags, purses, sandals, flip flops, tags on the quilts and even a blue ribbon winner...too cute.

See the mini quilt?

Here's my wrinkly old hand for size! Just holding it up there...I didn't touch.

A mini crazy quilt.

There is even a realistic name tag with a little straight pin stitched in...such detail. You can see this name tag better in the picture with Tina in it.

This quilter even has all the fabric that she purchased at the show in 3 bags.

Back to normal size quilts...great 1930's quilt.

Great pattern and colors.

Here's a close up.

I'm speechless with the quilting.

This is another mini using antique linens.

This quilt was one of my favorites.

Great pineapple quilt.

  

The pictures don't do the colors justice in this one.

This was a super mini. Even the ribbon she won is bigger.

So incredible.

I really need to start using more brights.

but I absolutely love these colors too.

and this is such a cute way to do an I Spy quilt.

Here we are on our way out after a wonderful day. Tina has a great smile and I am saying "hold the button down" to the man taking the picture. lol !!

We also met up with Diane again this year. We all met last year volunteering to hang up all the quilts for the show. Thanks Tina and Diane. I think we have a new tradition started.

Happy quilting,

~Karen~

Thoughts on Thursdays...

Spring is here and summer is on it's way...time to start shaving our legs above the shin!!

Have a great day,
~Karen~

A Swap Question and a Poll...

I haven't had a fabric swap in a while. I was thinking about having one in the near future, so I need some ideas and opinions.

First, if you've never been involved in a fabric swap, here's how I've done it in the past

• a theme is picked such as color, fabric pattern, maybe just 5" squares or 2 1/2" squares, just hexagons etc
• a certain number of participants is chosen...too many gets crazy though
• if, for example, there are 80 swappers and the theme is 5 inch red squares (any design on the fabric)...everyone sends me 80 - 5 inch red squares along with an envelope addressed back to you that already has the correct postage on it. Which I will tell you how much the postage will be.
• I sort all the fabrics or blocks into 80 different piles (every one gets one square from each of the 80 participants) and then I mail them back to you in the envelope you have provided.
• I open it up to any one from all over the world, but international participants MUST have a paypal account to reimburse me for postage. There must be US postage on your return envelope when I mail it back to you, which I must provide. You will wire the money through paypal and then I will pay for the postage back to you with the money you have sent me. Just to clarify...Paypal is for International swappers ONLY, because international swappers can not put US postage on the return envelopes themselves from their country!! I'll have to do that here from a US post office to get the package back to you

Swaps are such a wonderful way of receiving fabrics or squares from all over the world. They are great for charm quilts or scrap quilts or just a great way to have a beautiful selection of fabrics.

Here are some swap ideas

• 5 inch charm squares any fabric
• polka dots
• floral
• I Spy
• red fabric
• black and white fabric
• a certain fabric maker or designer...just Moda or just Kona etc

My question to you...

What kind of swap would you be interested in? I'm thinking 5 inch squares of something. 5 inch blocks are easy to cut and work with.

This is NOT THE SIGN UP POST...just gathering info!! I will definitely let you know when I open it up.

So what do you think?
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Valve Handle Drawer Pull

Happy Tuesday everyone! I started Tool Time over 2 years ago and I thought for sure I would run out of things to use from a hardware store.

Well, I was wandering around the store while hubby was buying new air filters for the a/c units and guess what I found? Isn't it cute and it's red to match my sewing room.

It's a valve handle.

and it was only 99 cents...can't pass that up!

Do you see a valve handle?...because I see a cute red flower.

Perfect thing to replace the boring wooden knob on my desk drawer.

A wooden knob is usually screwed in with a pointy wood screw. Those are technical hardware terms!

To use a valve as a handle, I used a flat tipped metal screw with a nut. (maybe some of you think I am a nut!) The screw doesn't come with the valve handle though.

Just place the handle on the front of the drawer and put the screw in from the front to the inside.

and tighten the nut on the end.

If you need more space between the handle and your drawer front, you can add a few washers or spacers if needed.

Quick and easy transformation.

Looks like a flower to me.

Something girly found in the man section...who knew.

Now you know we have to keep all these Tool Times a secret, because if they find out we are spending so much time in the hardware stores, they'll jack the prices up.

Have a great Tuesday and I'll see you in the hardware store!

~Karen~

ps...don't forget to join in on the linking party I posted yesterday! So many great projects.

Sew Darn Crafty Party...Week 11

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. The Sew Darn Crafty Linking Party I have each week on Sundays is a little late due to the Easter weekend. So let's see what you have been up to.

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your whole blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• grab a Sew Darn Crafty button for your blog (on my right side bar) or just link to the party in your post.
• the more we share, the more people will join and then there's more inspiration to look at!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in

Last week's party had the most ever, 100 links...let's try to beat that!!

So let the linking begin...

~Karen~