HMQS - Stunning Quilts and Fun Times!

Quilters are the nicest people. True fact.

I think that's part of the reason I love long arm quilting so much - I get to spend time with ladies who have spent many hours creating quilts for people in their lives. Those givers touch a cord in my heart, and through my ability to help finish their quilt tops by quilting lovely patterns all over, I get to play a small part in their gifts. How special is that?

I'm being kinda sappy, for sure, but again, true story!  A week ago I returned from spending three days at the Home Machine Quilting Show (HMQS) in Sandy, Utah.  I've been there twice before: once as a brand spanking new quilter who had just bought a long arm and didn't know quite what to do with it, and then a year later with a little experience under my wings but still feeling very much like the novice.

Oh - there's my friend. I think she's camera shy....

This year, I returned and had every bit as much fun as my previous trips. I went with a quilty friend, and we talked our heads off about quilting. Good thing our husbands stayed home because I don't think we stopped talking once during the five-hour drive down there. Or back! My time at HMQS was filled with classes, checking out the vendors, and of course, oohing and awing over the awesome work that went into the creation of each and every quilt on display. And there were some stunners!

Quilting Sampler for Class by Judi Madsen

I took classes from Judi Madsen, Angela Walters and Jenny Pedigo & Helen Robinson (Sew Kind of Wonderful). Could it get much better than that?  These are all women who fell in love with quilting, kept at it, and developed their own style to turn it into a business which gives them a good livelihood. And the best part? They like to share with us.

Angela Walters giving instructions for FMQ at the HMQS 2015

Sisters Helen Robinson and Jenny Pedigo make up Sew Kind of Wonderful, best known for their Quick Curve Rulers and curvy quilts. Class was fun!

I won the drawing for the quilting sample that Jenny Pedigo did during class. It's even signed :)

 
I also ran into people I knew from my local quilt guild, an old friend, and I even found myself in class with a blogging buddy whom I had never had the pleasure of meeting in person before. Val Reynolds of Val's Quilting Studio. What are the chances of that?

Oh - and I ran across a quilt that was entered by another blogging friend, Helen Ernst of Till We Quilt Again from New Jersey.  Her quilting is stunning, although it doesn't show up well in this photo. I snatched up an unsuspecting attendee to snap this photo of me in front of Helen's quilt.  Poor lady, she had no choice in the matter and I then proceeded to explain to her the story behind the quilt and how far it had traveled to get here, and that it had become lost in the mail, and fortunately found, and now graced this spot in the show!

If you zoom in you can see the quilted helicopter. Very impressive work by Helen Ernst of Till We Quilt Again

Anyway, I learned lots and had fun in the process.  I'll leave you today with a bit of quilty bling in these photos of some of the wonderful quilts on display. I took more than 150 photos, so count your lucky stars that I'm not posting them all!

I cannot figure out how to get these to appear upright - my apologies!

That's all for now.
Barb

One Small Step Forward for Me!

Thursday I put the finishing touches on my Round and Round quilt. And to say I was thrilled to be done with it is truly no exaggeration!

Round and Round Quilt quilted, bound and finished!

I initially won this Camille Roskelley pattern from a give-away hosted by Michelle who blogs as Mrs. Sew And Sew.  She sent such a nice little note with it, that I thought I'd just go ahead and work this up. I liked the design, and I thought it would be a great quilt for me to practice my free motion quilting on my longarm machine.  Well, that it was, but it took forever and a day longer than I anticipated.

Closer view of the round-abouts

I loaded this quilt and started the design motif for the center of the rounds based on a design borrowed from the Spring Blossom quilt in Judi Madsen's new book Quilting Wide Open Spaces.  I knew that I was going to take an all-day class from Judi at the AQS Quilt Week in Phoenix, and so I wanted to get acquainted with her book before hand, and be ready to put my new-found knowledge to work once I got home.

After I created a template for the center flower, and I learned how to mark the floral designs in the center of the stars.  After stitching in the ditch around all those dang triangles of each star, I did a simple curlique around the remainder of the quilt.

With so much negative space to fill up, I recreated the star pattern to float down through the negative space on each side of the quilt. That was fun!

Originally I had not been certain if I liked the deep gray tone of the background fabric, so I wanted something bright to liven up the backing.  Much to my delight, I found this wonderful fabric (I've forgotten who made it now.) and it was on sale - score!  Its gray tones coordinate well with the front.  Oh - the stars on the front were made from two charm packs of Moda's Breezy Batiks.

All in all, I'm pleased with my results.  I got a thumbs up from my local quilt guild gals, so that made me happy.  This was quite a fun pattern to piece together, too.

This project was on my list for finishes in the 2014 Finish Along!!  On to my next project now!

Remember to quilt with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday,  Linky Tuesday Quilt Story, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?  
2014 Finish Along