QuiltCon 2017 Report

I can't believe it is already two weeks since I came home from QuiltCon - it really seems just a beautiful dream to me now! But I was there and I'm sure you want to hear all about it!

The photo above is the crowd surging into the show on the first day, and you can just see ahead the quilt that one Best in Show. 

This was the completely off the scale 'Bling' by Katherine Jones of Tasmania. Oh my goodness this was SO impressive! I can't get my head around how you would even start to make this! Just WOW!! And a huge congratulations to Katherine who I met not long after she got her prize - she seemed a little stunned by all the attention! 

Just to give you an idea of scale it was 98 inches square.

But let's rewind a day. The show started on the Thursday but Karen, Pam (one of my Edinburgh MQG buddies) and I got there on Tuesday night. After a little prep for Karen's classes on Wednesday morning we were free to be tourists for the day. Here's me and Karen on River Street, Downtown Savannah as we start to explore. Unfortunately it was a little grey and very soon it was a lot rainy!

I really wasn't expecting Savannah to be so drop dead gorgeous is it turned out to be. These few snap shots do not do it justice, round every corner lay more beautiful streets or gorgeous houses with wonderful architectural details.

Lining every street were 'Live Oak' trees, they don't look anything like oaks but are green all year round and are covered by 'Spanish Moss' a cobwebby type of lichen which gives a wonderful atmosphere to all the views.

On Karen's recommendation I had been reading 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' which is all about Savannah and centres on the murder trial of Jim Williams who lived in the (now called) Mercer Williams House. We went to take a look at the house and were delighted to find we could do a tour that was starting in 10 minutes! The tour was excellent and really brought the book to life for me. 

After a delicious lunch at the Bohemian Hotel with Pam and three lovely Danish quilters Helene, Suzanne and Maria, in which I tried Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time (a wonderful revelation!) we were off for more wandering.

I spotted this lovely woolly fellow in a delightful yarn shop (which was also full of quilters - of course all of Savannah was full of quilters for a few days!!)

One of the first things I did when the show opened on Thursday was to find our Edinburgh MQG Charity Challenge quilt and have my photo taken beside it. The charity quilts were absolutely stunning with so many different interpretations of the theme!

One of the best exhibits in the whole show was the Quilts For Pulse stand. After the terrible massacre that targeted the LGBT community at the Pulse night club in Orlando last year the local MQG started a quilt appeal. They asked our community to send heart blocks to make quilts for the victims and their families. They hoped to make 200 quilts...

... they made almost 1800 quilts!!! They were able to give quilts to EVERYONE who was involved in the tragedy, including all the first responders (police, fire, ambulance), hospital workers, legal aid, city council workers...

The stand was one of the most moving things I have seen and I am tearing up again while I type this. I spoke a couple of times with the Orlando MQG members who were at the stand and every time we all ended up crying. Huge congratulations to the Orlando guild, the work involved in doing this was IMMENSE!

They had a photo of every quilt on the stand all collaged into heart shapes. Our guild made blocks and then Lesley turned it into the most amazing quilt after attending Sarah Fielke's wonky letters workshop. Lesley made 'love is all you need' and surrounded it with the heart blocks. I was therefore able to find and photograph our quilt amongst the others as it is the only one that says this. Thank you so much for doing this on our behalf Lesley.

I attended three lectures which were all excellent (and more about one of them in my next post). One of them, by Shruti Dandekar, was about traditional Indian quilts including those made by the Siddi people in Southern India like the example above. The way they are made and the story about their history (they were Africans brought to India as slaves by the Portugese and then left there) was absolutely fascinating and very inspiring.

And then there were the amazing quilts!! Oh my goodness, so much beauty! My eyes were hurting after 10 minutes! Here are some of my favourites (but this is the tip of the iceberg for that category).

Above is View of the City from the Suburbs by Kim Soper. Below is Fireworks by Jeannie Jenkins.

Here is a detail from Hills and Valleys by Cassandra Beaver.

This is 21 Blocks by Katie Clark Blakesley.

Round Peg, Square Hole by my pal Krista Hennebury (read on to see what Krista's Mum gave me when I met her at the show!).

This one below I think may be my absolute favourite this year - Big Island Blossom by Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill.

I love this little guy below by Stephanie Ruyle, in the small quilt category.

If you want to see A LOT more quilts from the show then check out my pal Tatyana's blogpost, Tatyana was taking way more photos then me!

On Thursday night we went on a ghost tour! Not Karen as she is a big scaredy-cat 😉

It was so much fun and actually quite scary at the end when we were all in the depths of an old chandlery and there were some quite clever special effects (certainly Pam got a bit more of a cuddle then she was anticipating!). Plus we also got a tour of another lovely old house, the Andrew Low House (not haunted at all though!).

I also took a couple of classes, but those are for the next post.

Meanwhile, in this chronological photo journey, it appears we are up to the last evening of my stay, and Karen and I managed to meet up for drinks with lovely Karin (Leigh Laurel Studio) at our hotel.

We had a bit of a laugh at our Thread House partner Lynne's expense after it occurred to us how much Karin looked like a 'Lynne stand in' here! Of  course in reality Lynne Goldsworthy is completely irreplaceable 😁

So it was goodbye to beautiful Savannah! Even the airport is beautiful! Pam and I sat in those rocking chairs for a bit before going through security (while chatting to Missouri Quilt Star's Jenny Doan, don't you know!)

One of the best bits about QuiltCon is connecting with old pals, and Dolores is one of my oldest blogging friends (from back in the Flickr days!). I got to spend a lot of time in Savannah with Dolores and her adorable hubby Don which was wonderful. And of course the very generous Dolores brought me presents! Fabric, thread and a Patchwork Threads T-shirt and badges!! That badge there says 'I quilt so I don't kill people' 😂😂 and there was a lovely Bearpaw one that didn't make the photo. 

But the loveliest thing Dolores gave me was this little mini quilt. I had been so inspired by this when I first saw it about 18 months ago that I totally stole used it as inspiration for the sewing shelves wall hanging I made for Popular Patchwork magazine. Thanks for giving me such a special gift Dee!

You will also notice those rather gorgeous handmade socks in the photo below. These were a gift (along with the mug in the pic above) from lovely Sybil who is Krista Hennebury's mum (Superknitter on IG) and who I met up with at the vendor hall. I had no idea I was going to get such a wonderful present - thank you Sybil!

 And speaking of the vendor hall... I may just have spent a few (ahem) dollars on this awesome stash of fabric below!!

Oh and did I mention all the FREE STUFF! Yes I got one of the goody bags (for the first 1000 people that registered to attend)!! Plus the fabric companies that were there were SO GENEROUS and gave away so much fabric!! Especially Cotton and Steel, AGF, Ink and Arrow, Andover, Northcott and Paintbox studio - thank you all so much!

I have shared a lot of this booty with my Craft Club members already, but have kept a little for myself.

There wasn't really an organised pin (badge) swap this year but I knew some people would still have them to swap (as it is so much fun!), so I got Thread House badges printed up (I did myBearpaw two years ago).

These are all the badges I collected in Savannah. And below is the bag I made when I went to Austin with all the ones I got there plus some from our Stitch Gathering badge swap last year. I think I'll have to make a new bag now!

They are such a great reminder of all the people I met. And QuiltCon is really all about the people. 

I had the time of my life but it wasn't because of the quilts, or the free fabric, or the classes. It was because I was with 'my people', my special tribe of quilters who are all warm, friendly, chatty, enthusiastic, inclusive, generous and funny! It feels like I never stopped talking and laughing for the whole 5 days I was there!

Of course the MQG does an amazing job organising this event, and it really does run like clockwork. I got a little peek behind the scenes this year (as Karen's 'assistant') and am even more impressed! Everyone involved works so hard, so thank you MQG!

And so what about Nashville in 2019??!!! I am definitely going to be there - I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Who's with me???!!

Modern Applique Garland

How lovely do these photos look taken in the Autumn sunshine! Meanwhile in the present depths of our Scottish Winter I have forgotten what the sun looks like! It has been grey, wet and miserable for so long now and with no hope of a reprieve in the near future *sigh*.

So I am firmly indoors and having a massive clear out of my sewing room and bedroom (I have filled 12 bin bags already and I haven't finished yet! Don't worry everything is being distributed and recycled responsibly).

But I have broken off the surprisingly hard work to catch up on some blog posts.

Here is a little mini quilt I made for a swap between our Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild and Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild. This was the first group swap we had partaken in. We were paired up with partners who would also make for us, so not secret partners, and therefore couldn't share anything until after they'd received their mini.



I was paired up with lovely Kim who is Simpson and Scarlett on IG. Kim asked for mustard yellow, red and orange and also that she liked mid-century modern. Well I have to admit that though I have heard this term a lot I had never really been able to recognise it easily in an aesthetic way. So I turned to google images and found a textile pattern that I thought would work really well as a patchwork block.

I made four blocks and sewed them together and was delighted with the effect. So much so that I decided to submit the design to the MQG for the QuiltCon magazine (published by Modern Patchwork). And amazingly they selected it!! But with a very tight deadline, which meant I needed those original four blocks for the quilt, and I then needed to keep schtum about it so couldn't have sent it to Kim anyway. So...

This meant I needed a new mini for Kim pronto as that deadline was looming too! I looked back through some recent pieces and found this large applique block I had made in the summer when I was in a 'use everything up' mood. Those leaves are all made from the scraps that the Sizzix Drunkard's Path die leaves behind, and I had saved them from my Squaring the Circle Quilt knowing they would make perfect applique leaves.

But I needed to adapt it to Kim's taste, so I unpicked the pink leaves and changed them to orange, then added the red and mustard circles in the centre. I then added as much hand quilting as I had time for, to try and make up for the slightly second-hand feel of the mini.

Thankfully Kim seems to genuinely love it! And look at the beautiful mini quilt she made for me!

Gorgeous fabrics in two of my fav colours, hand stitching, Bearpaws, and a little 'code' around the border! Those HSTs actually spell Jo Avery in patchwork language (is in higher and lower case letters), isn't that cute!! Thank you so much Kim!

Everyone in our guild loved the quilts they received, I am sure we will be swapping more with other MQG groups in the future. You can see all the other quilts in a couple of posts on our blog.

I do love the way the mini looks against our sun drenched barn door. One last look and then back to dark January and my chaotic sewing room!

EMQG Charity Quilt version 2

As most of you will know I was very busy this weekend hosting the third annual Stitch Gathering! While I am gathering my thoughts (and recovering!) and before posting a full report, I wanted to tell you about our EMQG quilt raffle that we launched at Sunday's event.

You may remember the quilt our Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild made for the QuiltCon charity challenge last year. Here it is before we sent it to Austin to be exhibited.

It was a team effort made over a number of 'sew-ins' and quilted by our master long-armer (and treasurer!) Tatyana Duffie. You can read more about it and the whole MQG challenge in this post.

After QuiltCon all the quilts were donated to local charities. This one went to local charity The Yard. You can read all about this in a post on our EMQG blog here. The MQG will be exhibiting another charity quilt challenge at QuiltCon 2016, we are not taking part this year (having a year off!) but you can read all about this year's challenge here.

Jenny Fox-Proverbs, the editor of Love Patchwork and Quilting, saw our quilt at QuiltCon and fell in love with it. She asked me if I could create another version as a pattern for the magazine, with this quilt also for charity (the magazine also gave a generous donation to get things started!).

So here is the EMQG charity quilt version 2. You can do a little 'spot the difference' puzzle if you like! 

 

This is the second quilt I have in this month's issue (26) of LP&Q (as you can imagine I was very busy in May!!). It was a super fun quilt to make, totally my perfect style and technique!

I hope I have managed to rationalise the design without losing that improv style. As before it was quilted by Tatyana in the same stunning design. Tatyana is now taking commissions and you can contact her here.

So again a real team effort - designed by EMQG, pieced by Jo and quilted by Tatyana!

And we are now raffling the quilt for charity!!

First prize is the quilt, second prize is a £50 myBearpaw gift voucher (can be spent in the shop, online or on classes), and third prize is a year's subscription to Love Patchwork and Quilting - thank you so much to them for their help and support!

All proceeds are going to the Edinburgh Clothing Store
"The Edinburgh Clothing Store is a charity run by volunteers, offering clothing, shoes, bedding, etc for people in genuine need. It's a free service and no money changes hands." for people in genuine need.

Raffle tickets are £1 each and you can buy them from our Edinburgh shop or online here. We will email you your numbers so no postage costs. Draw will be Tuesday 9th February 2016.

I really hope you can support us in raising money for such a worthwhile cause, our target is £1000! And you never know you may win this amazing quilt!

It's all about Me, Me, Me!

The Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild are hosting another one of our 'An Evening With...' events. Following on from An Evening with Luke Haynes and An Evening with Karen Lewis this next event is An Evening with... ME!

And I promise I am not making them do this and it wasn't even my idea!! I know it might look a bit dodgy, me being the President and all that... but they really did ask me to do it, honestly!

So if you are around in Edinburgh on June 19th and would like to hear all about my quilt journey from starting my first textile business aged 21, through the Green Quilt Movement, to the current myBearpaw Enterprises then please come along! I'll also be sharing quilts old and new and selling signed copies of 50 Fat Quarter Makes which should be out just in time.

Tickets and more info available online here.

yo-yo sample pillow

There hasn't been much time for sewing during what I am calling 'Mental March'.
I have hardly drawn breath since I came back from QuiltCon, what with 2 'Fairs' on consecutive weekends, lovely Karen Lewis staying with me last weekend, 2 magazine commission deadlines (so I have been sewing but nothing I can show you!), and now I really should be packing as I am off on the train to London tomorrow in time for teaching at The Village Haberdashery on Saturday (sold out!) - phew!
At least I can have a nap on the train!

At the first of the craft fairs, the Sewing, Quilting and Stitching show at Glasgow's SECC at the start on the month, I gave demos on our stand to make a yo-yo and then applique it to a circle of felt and add a little hand quilting.
At the end of 4 days I had quite a pile of these that I had made along with my attendees.

I had bought a lovely piece of Irish wool Tweed at the show and the little yo-yo discs looked charming against this.
So, during a short 'rest period' I enjoyed a little hand sewing whilst blanket-stitching them to the wool.

Earlier today I had just enough time to make them into this cushion. That's a zip under that neat little flap on the back. I used a method Fiona had shown in a copy of Love Patchwork and Quilting from over a year ago.
I then used left-overs from a recent project to make a scrappy binding.

I am totally in love with the result and even more because it is made out of left-overs!!

The only other non-secret sewing I have done is make 3 (yes 3!) Japanese Origami Bags!
The very talented Tatyana (most exotic member of our Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild and awesome long-arm quilter) showed us how to make these at our March meeting.

They are now spreading like a terrible virus, inflicting everyone who sees them! They take about half an hour and here is a tutorial.
The one above is the first I made, at the meeting. It was so fun sewing these together in a group! I used some Indelible that I brought back from QuiltCon. I have since given this away, and also the next one that I made.

I have also got a new phone and, through a process way too boring to describe, I've lost all my photos (or rather hidden them safely away...), so I can only show you these from our EMQG blog. These are all the bags made at our meeting.

Today I made one more, featuring gorgeous re-printed Anna Maria Horner 'Folksong' (I had this year's ago on voile - so happy to see it again!) and one of the amazing new Denyse Schmidt line 'Franklin' peeping through (we have a bundle of this available at our online store).

This one is for my BFF Lisi, who I will be staying with this weekend. 

Lisi and I have been best friends since we were 18 and though we don't actually talk to each other very often every time we meet it is just like we only stepped out of the room briefly and now we are just taking up that same conversation again. 

On Friday we are having a sewing day at her house and I hope to show her how to make one of these for herself.

I've filled the bag with FQs and some haberdashery to help things a long!

Next week things calm down a bit - thank goodness!!