After a quick stop to "forage" for supplies at the local farm shop this morning we arrived at a quilt exhibition a little early for the organisers so Al was put to work hanging the last quilt. The quilts were in an ancient church, always a good setting I think. All the fundraising was for the restoration of the church. This was the display behind the altar.
I'm going to share my two favourite quilts with you. The first is this wonderful blue and white quilt, "Willow Star" by Paula Doyle and it was longarm quilted by Izi Hall.
Here's a close up of that lovely piecing and quilting:
The second quilt that I would have liked to take home was this one by Jackie Norris called, "Oh Yes I Can!" after she saw it as a kit at the Houston Quilt Show and her friend told her she'd never be able to make it. I'm so glad she proved her friend wrong!
It's hand pieced and then machine assembled and machine quilted, here's a close up:
After a not very quick visit to the LQS to buy wadding and fabric for a Gail Lawther workshop (watch this space) we visited the Straw Museum. Al's ancestor was a strawplaiter so we had a bit of interest in the hat making side of straw work and of course knew about corn dollies but we were blown away by the Swiss straw lace.
Yes, everything that looks like goldwork embroidery is made with straw, here's a closer look:
I'm now thinking about how I'm going to layer and quilt the two quilt tops I got finished at my group yesterday, the picnic cloth and the Round the Nara Garden, and my darling Al is cooking dinner, aren't I a lucky girl? Enjoy your weekend.
Hope the quilt show raised enough funds to do some good for that lovely little church. And thanks for showing and explaining about the straw works, not something I have seen before down in this part of the world.
ReplyDeleteI loved the setting for those quilts, beautiful! And so were those quilts...that 'Oh yes I can'..WOW!
ReplyDeleteAnd I would never have guessed that all that gold was straw! No wonder in Rumplestiltskin the girl was spinning straw :-)
Thanks again, Lis, for the lovely tour. I loved the church with all that beautiful natural light coming in those big windows. I love the quilts. And the straw as amazing! (Interesting that your husband knows what his ancestors did. Does he have an interest in doing that kind of work? I always wonder if our ancestors share their talents with us via DNA.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! That straw work is beautiful!! The blue quilt grabbed my eye before you showed it too! I love the flying geese and the Irish chain together with that beautiful star!
ReplyDeleteI've finally made it to your new blog, having a week off work is very good for blog hopping! What a beautiful setting for a quilt show and the straw is amazing. Can't wait to see what you do in your Gail Lowther workshop!
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