LA Quilt Show

Since the International Quilt Festival moved to Portland, Oregon this year, quilt show options are slim in this area.  At our July Modern Quilt Guild meeting, we were informed about the inaugural LA Quilt Show being held at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.  Since the location was no further than we would have driven to go to the Long Beach IQF show, my sister Kathy and I made a trip to the show on Sunday.  Though I am a native to SoCalif, I had never been to the Port of Los Angeles.  It is a HUGE port. The USS Iowa is berthed there and I'd like to make another trip down for a tour sometime.

Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles is a collection of individually owned "shops" under one roof, a huge old wooden warehouse with soaring ceilings.  It was a cool site, even if there was no air conditioning :)

We had gotten our tickets online and it included a really tasty lunch.  The show was very small, and there were only a few vendors; but--having no real expectations, we enjoyed ourselves.  Latifah Saafir,  founder of the LA Modern Quilt Guild, gave a talk and showed some of her quilts.  Before I realized who she was, I had already found displayed my favorite modern quilt of the show--Convergence--which was one of hers.

But my favorite amateur entry was No. 13:

The Crafted site doesn't have the show recap uploaded yet, but I'm hoping this won Viewer's Choice.  Some loot from the show and the Crafted shops did come home with me:

A few fat quarters, a pump converter for a mason jar, and some cookie mix.  My sister bought me the fat quarter stack of the polka dotted fabric.  I also bought some homemade squaw bread, which was delicious. Kathy, who loves to cook, got some bread and some flavored salts.  I had hoped to meet up with my blog friend Tanya, who is here from Japan.  I told her about the show but she and her family went on Saturday.  Here is her reaction. I have to agree that the show needs more participants and vendors, but it's a start.  Maybe next year my sister and I will send in entries.   I've made another web album to share pictures from the show.  Enjoy!

LA Quilt Show 2014

Tuesday's Orts/Long Beach International Quilt Festival

It is still Tuesday here on the west coast for an hour, so I'll just squeeze this in...it is a subject-specific running of the orts, a recap of our weekend trip to the International Quilt Festival, Long Beach edition.

• My friend Tanya drove, which was good for our four person party since she has a lead foot, lots of L.A. freeway driving prowess and is not a pokey wimp like me.
• With the two shorties--Tanya and her mom--in the front seats of the car, my mom and I could stretch out.  However, both of us having hearing problems and their being soft-spoken made the phrase "I can't hear you" come out of my mouth frequently.
• Traffic rant:  LOOK before changing lanes.  We were nearly rubbed out by someone who didn't!
• We met up with a friend of Tanya's unexpectedly in the lobby of the Convention Center.  She was also with her mom.  Do you sense a theme?  Later we lunched at California Pizza Kitchen with them, and as we did last year, scored the first table by getting hungry early before the hordes of quilters descended upon the restaurant.

See the hordes?

Another picture perfect day in So Calif.  I know you're jealous!
• I also ran into a friend at the show, Lani, whom I met in person in April.  She was considering a show special purchase on a Gammil longarm machine--as a special gift her DH could buy her for an important birthday.  Way to go, Lani!
• I got separated from my peeps after getting stuck in a long line at a vendor booth.  While I was wandering around alone I found a booth selling fabric for $7.  There was a bin full of smaller cuts of fabric for 75 cents each and I was pawing through it when someone appeared at my elbow wanting to get in the bin too.  I scooched over and then looked at the person, who suprisingly turned out to be my blog friend Tanya from Japan.  We could certainly not have planned that "cute meet" ourselves!  Too funny.

Tanya's SIL Marcy took our picture--the photo on Tanya's blog is better than mine.  We had a lovely chat and catch up and it was nice to meet Marcy.  Tanya was looking for tools and gadgets and I only bought fabric.  See you next year, Tanya!

• My mom found her favorite non-quilting vendor, a jewelry seller who has amazing antique as well as newer pieces of all sorts.  She purchased a gorgeous amethyst and silver pendant and matching drop earrings to wear at the wedding.  I told her both my girls would be eyeing that set for "later".
• We looked at most of the quilt exhibits and especially enjoyed the Baltimore Quilt display.  No photography was allowed there but I took exactly two  three photos of other quilts. 

I loved the exuberance of this one.

Oops, the flash glared out some of the description, sorry!

I recognized this as a Ricky Tims quilt before I read the label. 

I know Ricky Tims hand dyes his fabrics and they have that sueded texture that is really irresistible.  My friend Tanya had to be warned to restrain herself from touching it. Ricky does all his own quilting.

• Traveling home, I spotted a car license plate frame that had an unusual college association.  Instead of the common "Alumni" and college name, it read "Dropout--Cal State".  Funny!
• Purchases were a lot less this time--since I already went to the Cincinnati version of the Festival and spent a lot of my pennies there.

Two one-yard cuts of neutrals and an array of browns, teal blue, burgundy and cream will become Bricks & Stepping Stones for my last remaining quiltless brother, Ted.  The small rolls of fabric were in the bin I was pawing through when the other Tanya and I bumped into each other :) 

We had a great day and plan to attend again next year.  Maybe next time I will take a class, who knows?

Sewing with friends, and visitors

Memorial Day brought several people to our house, one planned, and two of them unexpected.  First, my friend Tanya arrived in the morning with her sewing machine, new Arrow portable sewing table, and several projects to play with.  She went home with a finished pillow cover, which we started last year:

Tanya and her husband have a travel trailer they take to the beach and this fun and bright 24" pillow will probably live in there. 

The light washed the color out, but this pink and brown flannel made up the majority of the backing, a simple overlapped slipcover.  I also showed her how to use the rotating cutting mat for squaring up blocks on another of her quilt projects and we worked on sashing and border ideas while she trimmed.  I love to sew with friends!  We had a great visit and I hope it is repeated soon.

My mom and dad just returned from a trip to Yellowstone Park with Cousin Florence (whom we stayed with in Cincinnati in April).  Mom came over bearing gifts and bringing their two new companions.

I helped Mom name the new companions.  Meet Jackson the Buffalo and Cody the Wolf.  Cousin Florence had generously ordered rooms at the Old Faithful Inn, with a fabulous view of the geyser from the rooms--the buffalo came from there. Their trip included a lot of dodging of weather due to plenty of storms, rain and snow showers.  They saw some amazing scenery and plenty of moose, buffalo, and elk.  In Cody, Wyoming, they went to a quilt shop that turns out to have been featured in the spring/summer 2011 Quilt Sampler magazine.  Called Friends and Co Quilt Shop, my dad picked up the issue and had the owner, Vicki Mollett, sign their page.  I loved the western style quilt she designed.   

Mom and Cousin Florence looked for fabric souvenirs. Cousin Florence remembered that I love Civil War prints and a jelly roll was the lovely result.  Barbara Brackman's blog, Civil War Quilts, has some fascinating history in addition to the wonderful blocks she is featuring and many in blogland are making.  We finished off Memorial Day with a barbecue with a different guest, son Nick's new girlfriend, Alison.  It was a lovely way to end the day.

Good excuse

I have a very good excuse as to why I did not post the promised photos yesterday...I left my camera at the bridal shower I attended yesterday!  But that gave me the opportunity when I picked it up to have a private visit with this happy, about-to-be-married woman, my dear friend Tanya...

...who was extremely excited about a Target gift card here.  She was equally excited about the bag I made for her:

This was made all from fabric I had on hand, from a pattern called Market Fresh in the December Quilts and More magazine.  The orange print was from the Katie Jump Rope line, as was the brown print band on the inside.  It's a good sized bag, 20 inches wide by 17 inches deep, with a squared off bottom to hold lots of stuff and outer pockets on both sides .  I put a cookbook in there.

It took 3 1/2 hours to put this together, including cutting the pieces (twice for the bag front/back when I cut the wrong width! Pesky math again).  The instructions for the straps used midweight sew-in interfacing but if I made this again I would definitely use fusible as it was rather tedious to have to pin and hold the interfacing down the middle of the strap before folding over the opposite 1/4" turned edge to the center and sewing. 

My quilt hanger assisted on a bit of a windy day for the completed top shot.  This is Rick Rack Road from the Fall/Winter 2007 Quilt Sampler magazine, which I started some months ago as told here.

A foot peeking out of the bottom and the neighbor's chimney and trees coming out of the top...a fine composer of  photography I am not, but you all know that already! 

This is the floweriest thing I have ever made but I'm really liking the purples, greens, and other soft colors for Spring/summer.  Batting has been purchased and soon this will turn into a quilt!  I was able to get some sewing done late on National Quilting Day, cutting and sewing the Greenpiece BOM pieced blocks that I have been behind on completing for the past two months.  Next month's batch will be here soon and I have yet to get the wool applique blocks started.  But I do have a plan and that's half the battle of beginning!