And sew it begins...

Hi and welcome to my new blog! I had been hemming and hawing about blogging for quite sometime, but decided it was time to dive in. As my profile indicates, I'm an avid quilter. I read countless quilting, sewing and cooking blogs and can't wait to join the community of crafty bloggers.

I think an appropriate place to start is the wonderment that is the International Quilt Festival! My dear friend, DiscoJen, and I go every year. This year we went after work on Thursday night. I think this may be the best show yet. The photo above is a detail shot of an quilt with the most amazing machine quilting on it. I forgot to take a picture of the sign describing it, so I'll have to be sure I do when I go back on Sunday. There was an entire section of hand pieced, appliqued and quilted quilts that were astounding. I simply don't know how these women do it, much less how they manage to create more than one in a life time!

I should give a disclaimer here, I hate handwork, so I may be more impressed due to this fact. I do feel that binding looks the best when it's hand tacked so I have my quilt guru, Karen, finish the binding for me. The woman is amazing. Her tiny little stitches are perfect, and she can finish a twin size quilt while watching a movie. It is rather ironic that I dislike hand work so much, as my mother is an award winning needle pointer.

Back to the topic at hand. The "Fresh as a Daisy" quilt by Melinda Bula was incredible. I was looking at the quilt in awe when DiscoJen called out from the other side, "Vicki, that's the back! You have to see this!" Sure enough, it was indeed the back! How amazing is that! I mean, the backs are always interesting, but rarely are they a whole other quilt unto themselves!

The Back:

The Front:

Isn't it stunning? There was such a variety of styles and techniques, there was really something for every quilter. Every quilt show I decide I really want to go on a quilting tour of Japan. I have noticed that the Japanese quilters are really inspired. Their use of fabrics, original patterns and style is just amazing.

I also got to see the "Late Date" quilt by Pam RuBert. I love her sense of humor. Her blog always amuses me. http://pamdora.com/blog/ The quilt was great. There's so much detail that you see in person that you don't in photos. I would love to see an exhibition of the rest of her quilts. The sushi restaurant and the Tower of Babel quilts look really amusing.

I could go on, but I will spare you all. If you get a chance to go to the show, you should not pass it up. I hear they've added a show this year in Long Beach, CA, as well as the original in Housten.

Happy Quilting!

Vicki