Monday, October 28, 2013

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.

11 comments:

  1. I haven't been quilting for a very long time, but I have already seen what you mention in your post. I chalk it up to marketing. But I confess to enjoying the quilting world with all of the fabric, books and blogs to inspect. I love traditional quilts and blocks the most, especially finding out how the blocks got their names.

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  2. que buenas compras me gustan !!!!!
    en Madrid este fin de semana
    tambiƩn disfrutamos de una gran feria
    y claro compramos claro que compramos telas(como no) libros
    hilos valdani y plantillas de acolchado preciosas
    tambien un curso con http://www.evagustems.com/
    de sashiko muy interesante
    saludos

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  3. I didn't go to the show this year. It was tempting but I have enough fabric and it's such a trek to get down there. I usually take the subway. I like the black and white fat quarters that you bought. For $2.00 I would have bought them too:)

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  4. oh you are so amazing with your quilts!!!! love the stencil things!!! and can't wait to see what you do with them....

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  5. Lovely batiks, my favourite, and the stencils look like my type too. The last quilt show near me, I didn't go, too tempting to spend money on what I really do not need. Those colours you have will look so good made up, but equally lovely to look at every day, and drool over. Cheers, Jean.

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  6. Sounds like a fun time with a good friend. I look forward to seeing your batik quilt. Good going on the socks.

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  7. Perfect definition of a modern quilt! I prefer them bigger and sewn with recycled fabrics. Sounds like you had a nice day with your friend.

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  8. I went to the show too. I loved it because I got out for a change. But I did find that there was too much beading and jewellery and not enough quilting. It was very busy when I was there. A few fat quarters are always nice to bring home.

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  9. I totally agree with what you say- there's little new in quilting- it's all a re-do of what has gone before.. All the mags nowadays are disappointing - nothing new, just a re-hash of something from before...
    You'll love the General's Chalk pencils, they are great. Sharpen well without half the pencil being sharpened away, and they stay sharp for a long while.

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  10. Great to read a revue of the show - I haven't gone in a couple of years because I was beginning to think it was pretty much same ol', same ol'. I was also disappointed last time to see so many booths that had absolutely nothing to do with sewing or crafts of any kind.

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  11. Dolores... are you talking about real cakes or is layer cakes a quilting description about which I am totally ignorant....remembering of course, that I don't quilt at all.... so hopefully I don't sound completely stupid....

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