New stuff

The Creative Festival was on this weekend and my quilting buddy Judy and I went to see what was new. We hadn't attended for a couple of years and with the little discount from the Needle Pulling Thread magazine, on purchasing online tickets, and the lift from my husband to and from the venue, we were able to do the whole convention centre without getting too tired. Judy lives an hour and a half away so we were back in plenty of time for her to drive in daylight.
Just in case anyone out there wants to know what's new, there was nothing really, especially if you've been quilting as long as we have. Judy noticed that the folded star is back. Been there, done that, won't do it again. Years ago, when the festival first started, cross stitch was all the rage. There was always fabric and quilting but there was also a time when there were many stalls featuring scrapbooking. This year it was yarn and beads. There were still many quilting-type vendors; fabric, patterns, gadgets, notions, and machines - both sewing and quilting. It was nice to see many young 'newbies' with their books, rulers and cutting mats. Neither Judy nor I understood the selling and purchasing of those smaller-than-charm squares - those 2.5 inch squares. Roughly $5.00 each per package. If they were cut with a machine that pinks the edges, the size starts from the tip of the little pinked edge to the other tip. Same goes for all pre-cuts. Not something Judy nor I would ever consider buying. We were, however, looking for layer cakes. Not many were available and once we noticed the price, we altered our plans. You see, every once in a while Judy and I make a quilt whereby we challenge each other (we both made a quilt using black and white charm squares) but this time we were both going to make the same thing.

 I borrowed this book from the library just to see what was in it. See the words "Fresh Quilts from Classic Blocks." Well, like I said, nothing is new in the quilt world. Pick an old pattern, bump up the size, use a lot of white and bright, bold prints, cut the quilt size to a lap quilt and voila, a modern quilt is born. Just how many lap quilts can one use?

Well, apparently, one more anyway. I liked this quilt and thought it would be nice to bring Judy into the world of modern quilts. She thinks it's unfinished because it has no border. It's an easy pattern and so we were on the look-out for layer cakes. Since we couldn't find anything suitable, Judy happened to mention that she has a suitcase full of batiks. She put them in there so that they were out of the way and would stay clean. She hadn't come up with a plan to use them but when I mentioned that I had a stash of batiks too, we had hit upon a solution to our dilemma. I suggested that the batiks should be bright - with white (as opposed to off-white or gray.) Judy doesn't work with white and so she will have to purchase some. I have some that would work for this project.

To enhance our stash, we each purchased 3 fat quarters of bright batiks. I cut them in half once we got back to my place and now we have something to start with. For the rest of the 19 squares (the quilt calls for 25 squares), we will use our own batiks.

The pencils in the photo are chalk pencils (one white and one gray) that I bought to use for marking my quilting lines. I am always on the lookout for new pencils - I don't want chemicals on my quilts and I don't wash them until they get dirty. I'm really not a fan of the crinkled 'used' look of a new quilt washed and dried.

My other fabric purchase was black with white fat quarters. They will be used in a future project for a big bed quilt for one of my grandsons. I couldn't pass them up because they were just $2.00 each.

I couldn't pass these up either. I haven't bought quilt stencils in ages so when I noticed another lady looking through the small pile, I did too. Once I was done, another quilter came up and was excited to see the stencils too. I guess they are harder to come by these days since not many people hand quilt. These are so versatile because you can use just part of the design and the blue stencils are a heavier weight than the clear ones I saw at a different stall.

Well, that's about it for now. I have 17 completed little socks with two more on needles. I did buy some yarn (no, I didn't need it but it was a good price) and I will be making a cowl or two for gifts. Once they are done and gifted, I will show you.