FYI= For Your Inspiration

Holy cow!  It's been almost a month since my last post.  Sorry for the long absence.  I've had a few challenges lately.  
Namely:
1.  Jack hammering in my living room to find the source of what may or may not be a slab leak (long story)
2.  A sprain on my left ankle -2 days before the Long Beach show
3.  A sprain on my right ankle -3 weeks later
4.  A very banged up and scraped left knee- hurts like *&!@%
Numbers 2 through 4 were all caused by wearing high heels- the same pair, mind you.  But please don't vilify all high heels.  Just this pair of black patent stilettos which definitely will not be worn again.  Drats!  I bought the same pair in fire engine red.  I may have to burn some sage to cleanse it of bad juju.

I saw this poster on Pinterest which I definitely need to have!

So after I tripped and fell on my left knee, I dusted myself off, held my head high and trudged off in pain (no limping, no whining)  to get a tetanus shot.  Now, I'm covered for the next 10 years.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd at least share some of the gorgeous quilts from the Long Beach Quilt Show.  They are truly an inspiration.

First up is this quilt from Karen Eckmeier called Aegean Memories.  Karen wrote the book "Happy Villages" and I definitely want to try this technique someday.

Reasons I love this quilt:   the mosaic tile border, the dolphins and beautiful Santorini.  Santorini is definitely on my bucket list. In fact, I've been collecting postcards, calendars and pictures of Santorini hoping to make a landscape quilt in the future.

Being that I'm a huge fan of appliqued quilts, this immediately caught my attention.  It is called Harmony in Nature by Harumi Asada of Japan.  Isn't it gorgeous?

Wait till you see each circle in close up.  The animals are all so cute and tiny.  I was hoping Ms. Asada had a website or blog so I can find out more about her work but I couldn't find one.

My friend Janet told me I definitely had to check out the Twelve by Twelve exhibit.  These quilts were made by 12 artists who embarked on a quilt challenge together and interpreted a theme on a 12 x 12 inch sized quilt.  They have a book and a website. Here are some of my favorites.

Cacao y Canela from the Chocolate theme

Crime of Passion from the Passion theme

Splish Splash from the Water theme

St. Rose and Her Pinking Shears from the Pink Theme

Ocean Dreaming from the Water theme

Labikeet from the Lorikeet theme

Mt. Hood in Winter from the Blue theme

Enjoy Delicious Twelve Brand Oranges

There were plenty of gorgeous quilts but my short attention span did not allow me to photograph and scrutinize each and every one.

More quilting news next time...

2012 Long Beach Quilt Show

So did you make it to the 2012 Long Beach International Quilt show?  It was tiring but definitely a lot of fun. Here we are at the Sewing Party booth.

It was a little bit of a challenge for me last Thursday evening (Preview Night) as I had sort of sprained my left foot the evening before.  I was concerned about being on my feet and making it worse.  But, I did ice, compress and elevate my foot so it wasn't too bad.  A bag of vegetables had to be sacrificed in the process but oh well.

It was definitely nice seeing some of our vendor friends especially Carrie Bloomston of Such Designs.

We first met Carrie last year and immediately loved her and her patterns.  Sewing Party carries a few of her patterns and have made kits, as well.  Carrie's mom didn't come to the show this year and I missed her.  Her mom is just so  friendly, lovely and generous.  Hope to see her again next year!

Here's Carrie in front of her new patter- Giggle and Squeak.  It is so cute in person and I am thinking of making it for my godson.  You can make it for both a little boy or girl.  I love that it is whimsical without being too cutesy.

It was also great to meet Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts.  I have been a fan of Julie's patterns for a while and was really excited to pick up her first book, Skip the Borders.

Here she is signing a book for me.

Julie and her boyfriend Lawrence are also in Generation Q magazine and Lawrence had generously offered to autograph a copy for me.

They make such a cute pair.  I believe they are first time vendors at the show.

It was also great meeting Jeff and Debbie of Metropolitan Quilt.  I first discovered Metropolitan Quilt patterns in Portland lat year.  I picked up the Eiffel Tower pattern (big surprise) at the Pine Needle last year and Lumineux this year.   

Debbie shared with me that she used to manage Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe prior to venturing out and starting her own company.  

And finally, I am lusting after these silk dupioni fat quarters from The Quilter Studio.  They were selling these gorgeous coordinated fat quarters in a tin box and it was so difficult to make a decision.

(Photos from the Internet)

Holy cow!  Talk about analysis paralysis.  I couldn't decide which one was my favorite.  I figured I am just going to put them on my Wish List and decide later.  

Here are a couple of photos from the internet of what you can do with them.  The patterns were designed by Blue Underground Studios specifically for the silk dupioni boxed sets.  Aren't they just luscious?

I will post photos of the beautiful quilts from the show/exhibit soon.  

La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum

So here are some of the quilts on display at La Conner Quilt museum.  They recently held a quilt festival and on display were some of the winners.

Here is Caryl Bryer Fallert's "On the Wings of a Dream".  It won Best of Show.

Here's a close up of the magnificent quilting.

This is one of my favorites.  It is called "Baltimore Goes to Japan" by Georgia Pierce.  It won 1st Place in the Traditional Applique category.

Here are a couple of the blocks up close.

Here is the 2nd place winner of the Non-Traditional Pieced category.  It is "Spring Blossoms" by Terry Aske.

This is the Honorable Mention winner of the Non-Traditional Pieced category "Spring Encounter" by Ruth Powers. 

And here's the 2nd place winner of the Non-Traditional Mixed category called "Name Dropper" by Pat Kumicich.

And finally, here's one called Reconstruction 1 by Lorraine Torrence.

There was an exhibit of Ann Fahl's quilts.  I own a couple of her books and her quilts are gorgeous.  I wish I could have taken some pictures, especially close ups of her machine quilting but photography of her quilts were not allowed.  Check out Ann's website to see her work and some close up images of her quilting.

After La Conner, we drove on to Canada.  The clouds were really dark and I wanted to cross the border before the rain started pouring. 

Portland, The City of Roses

Day One:
Dad and I took the MAX to the hotel from the airport.  The station stops right outside our hotel and it is very convenient. After checking in, we took the MAX down to Chinatown for lunch.  There's a huge monument sign welcoming you to Chinatown but unfortunately, there were only a handful of restaurants.  That was disappointing.  Next stop: Lan Su Garden.  Now, this is definitely one of the top ten sights of Portland.  It is clean, beautiful and picturesque.  Even dad who has travelled extensively throughout China was impressed.

Here I am doing Chinese calligraphy.  Hard to believe I had weekly brushcalligraphy assignments in Grade School and High School.

Of course, dad did so much better.

This is the Tea Room. 

Here are the picture windows of the tea room.

The tea room is right behind the gazebo.

After the garden, we went downtown and walked around Pioneer Square.  Of course, we had to stop at Powell's Books.  But I was too tired to do any serious browsing.  It was just so overwhelming!

After I dropped dad off at the hotel, I went to the Machine Quilting Expo preview night.  The vendors and quilts were already set up so I had a chance to browse and take lots of photos.  The Machine Quilting Expo is not as big as Road to California or Pacific International Quilt Show but all of the classes were focused on machine quilting- whether you have a domestic, mid-arm or long-arm machine.  There were a number of nationally recognized teachers and the vendors were mostly selling sewing machines, quilting machines, threads, pantographs and other quilting related accessories.  In fact there were only two or three booths with fabric.

Here are some of my favorite quilts at the exhibit.

Check out the beautiful quilting done on this antique quilt top.

I love this quilt!  It is made by 12 ladies and each of them took on an animal and I believe it is called "If Mrs. MacDonald Had a Farm".

And here I am (looking exhausted) with Sharon Schamber.

Off to dinner and bed.  More fabulous quilting adventures tomorrow.