Thursday, June 10, 2010

Annual Quilters' Unlimited Show & Class


Every year in June, Quilters Unlimited Guild of Northern Virginia has a wonderful show with over 600 quilts and other media.  The show is always well attended and there are over 80 vendors of all types.  I am not a member of the guild, but my friends are, so we make it an annual event and we have lots of fun getting together, shopping the vendor booths, eating and yes, looking at some of the most gorgeous quilts ever.  Of course, I had everything except the kitchen sink and my camera in my bag, but the one thing that I love about this show is that they produce a cd with pictures of the quilts.  You preorder it at the show and it comes to you in the mail in about 2 weeks.  I do have one picture to share of my show favorite that my friend took for me so that I wouldn't have to wait 2 weeks to share it with everyone.

I also took a class at the show.  This was a first for me, but the instructor was Norah McMeeking, artist and author of the Bella Bella Quilts.  These quilts are some of the most intricately paper-pieced and beautiful quilts that I have ever seen.  I thought it was going to be over my head, but the class was wonderful.  Norah was very thorough, she had written instructions (with visuals), she was funny, attentive and most importantly she was patient!  I only completed one block of the Roman Rings pattern, because it is paper-pieced with lots of little pieces, and those of you who have read my blog before know that I am sort of paper-pieced challenged.  But I do plan to finish it.  I am still working on the ocean waves quilt and I have started paper-piecing a NY Beauty quilt with hand-dyed fabrics and once they are done, I will pick up the Roman Rings quilt again.  I have a feeling that it is going to take much more time than usual for me to complete this one.  If you haven't experienced the Bella Bella quilts, the web site is http://www.bellabellaquilts.com/.  They are amazing.

I shopped at my favorite vendors and purchased some really beautiful African hand-dyed fabrics in stunning colors.  I am making a NY Beauty quilt with this fabric and as soon as I have more blocks completed (paper-pieced :0), I will post some pictures.  Here is a picture of my favorite quilt at the show.  There were others, but I didn't take pictures.  It is a Drunkard's Path done in African fabrics.  The picture does not do it justice, but it is a beautiful quilt with lots of texture.  Enjoy!


1 comment:

Cheryl Willis said...

this quilt is amazing, no wonder it is a favorite. Don't you just love how the classic patterns get new life when we see them in other fabrics. - cw