A Glimpse of the Blue Ridge Quilt Festival

Jon, Gail, and I visited the Blue Ridge Quilt Festival last month (June 20 – 22) and I really enjoyed the show. The featured quilter, Nell Townley had some really beautiful hand-quilted works on display, and I found myself in awe of her mighty patience. Most of her quilts took as much as 900 hours to finish. The medallion pictured here is only a small representation:

Here’s Nell (right) talking with Gail while Jon and I stand around snapping photos:

A little artsy and again with vivid colors (also one of Nell’s):

Some of the quilts were titled, but many were not. Had I been prepared for such sensory overload, I’d have been sure to carry a notebook around as well as the camera. Another example of quilts that caught my fancy. Here, it was the charm, but also I like the color choices.

Some flowers:

We wandered around the show for over 2 hours and I learned that repetition in quilt patterns, without being grossly redundant, appealed to me the most. I could easily picture any number of these lovely pieces of art adorning my bed. Except, maybe then I’d have to make the bed every morning. Oy, now there’s repeat pattern enough to make one cringe!

I was also a happy little duck when I discovered a basket full of Angelina at one of the vendor booths. I’ve been seeking some to experiment with ever since I purchased Sherril Kahn’s Creative Embellishments: For Paper, Jewelry, Fabric and More.

It was nice whenever a volunteer wearing her little white mitties happened by, because often, not only were they happy to stop for a chat, but also show us the backside of some of the quilts. Since quilts are often displayed upright and back-to-back, I think a little depth to their detail is lost. While the reverse side is perhaps not the focus of a quilt, I’m often just as taken with the choice of fabric, or the use of a contrasting thread.

Were it not for my new mother-in-law, though, my appreciation for quilting might still be lingering down around “mildly interested”. However, since she’s been involved in quilting now for over 2 years, I’ve paid some attention to the effort that goes into quilting (and sewing in general). I even went so far last summer as to take a class with her, where we made portfolio covers for legal pads. Here are my results for that adventure:

And the inside:

Gail did much of the measuring and cutting for me (we shared most of her equipment), and between her and the class instructor, I was able to do most of my own sewing. It being only the second sewing project I’ve completed, I was happy with the results, happy to discover that sewing and quilting are both very much within my grasp, and developed then a deeper appreciation for quilters in general. And, since I can’t even machine-stitch a straight line yet, I’m pretty sure adventuring into hand-quilting is not an option. Yet.

May there be sunshine in your day.