April showers bring spring shows...here is a virtual bouquet of quilts !
Row 1, L-R: Fibre Arts at
Ballarat 2011 (shown is a piece by
Alison Withers; Apr14-20, Ballarat, Australia);
Machine Quilting Expo (Ap 11-16, Rhode Island, US); Art Quilts and Poetry about Japanese Americans,
La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum (Mar 30-Jun 26, Washington);
Row 2: Quilt Art at 25, at the
Quilt Museum and Gallery (shown is Lightstrike by
Janet Twinn; until May 2, York, Yorkshire, UK). Layered Textures: New works by Carol Ann Waugh,
Ice Cube Gallery (Apr 29 - May 21, Colorado); Orange Peel, New Quilts from an Old Favorite contest winners (shown is Orange Blossom Special by Robin Gausebeck; at
The National Quilt Museum of the U.S. until Jun 5, Kentucky).
More exhibits, U.S.: 43rd annual textiles exhibition,
Olive Hyde Art Gallery (Apr 1-May 14, California); Celebrate! 20th Anniversary Exhibit, at the
National Quilt Museum (Apr 7 to July 2011, Kentucky); Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers,
International Quilt Study Center (Apr 8 – Oct 2, Nebraska);
International Quilt Festival/ Cincinnati (Apr 8-10, Ohio) ; One Foot Square, Quilted and Bound, at the
New England Quilt Museum (Apr14 to Jul 10, Massachusetts); 27th Annual
AQS Quilt Show & Contest (Apr 27-30, Paducah, Kentucky);
Denver National Quilt Festival VI (Apr 28-May 1, Colorado); The Beauty of Kaleidoscope Quilts,
Virginia Quilt Museum (until May 14).
Australia :
Australasian Quilt Convention (Apr 14-17, Melbourne).
Europe: 5th
Prague Patchwork Meeting (Apr 1-3, Czech Republic); Six years of quilting,
South Midlands Branch, Irish Patchwork Society (Apr 9-17, Ireland);
Quilt Expo en Beaujolais (Apr 14 -17 , Graves sur Anse, France); European Art Quilt VI,
Stadtmuseum und Stadtarchiv (Apr 16-Jun 30, Einbeck, Germany); Quiltmania,
Pour l’Amour du Fil (Apr 27-30, Nantes, France).
Quilt shows, opportunity quilts, and auctionsRow 1, L-R:
Kingwood Area Quilt Guild (Apr 15-16, Texas);
Milltown Quilters (Apr 28-30, Maryland);
African American Quilt Guild of Oakland (Apr 9, California).
Row 2:
Krazy Horse Quilters (Apr 30-May 1, Oregon);
County Line Quilters (Apr 2-3, Massachusetts);
Foothill Quilters Guild (Apr 9-10, California).
Row 3: Kansas
Mennonite Relief Sale (Apr 8-9, Kansas);
Clark County Quilters (Apr 7-9, Washington); Guild of
Quilters of Contra Costa County (Apr 2-3, California).
Row 4:
West Houston Quilters Guild (Apr 8-9, Texas); 2011 Raffle,
Santa Rosa Quilt Guild (Apr 21, California);
Dixie Quilt Guild (Apr 22-23, Utah).
More shows and festivals (US & Canada): 19th annual
Sewing & Crafts Show (Apr 1-2, British Columbia, Canada); West Coast
Mennonite Relief Sale and Auction (Apr 1-2, California);
Colonial Quilt Lovers Guild, (Apr 1-2, North Carolina);
Twin City Quilters Guild (Apr 2-3, New York); Quilt Extravaganza 2011,
Smithtown Stitchers Quilt Guild (Apr 2-3, New York);
Quilt Guild of Metro Detroit (Apr 8-9, Michigan); Northern
Shenandoah Valley Quilt Show (Apr 8-10, Virginia); The
Best of the Valley Quilt Show (Apr 8-10, California);
Piney Woods Quilt Festival (Apr 15-16, Texas);
Bay Area Quilt Guild (Apr 15-16, TX);
Chadron Festival of Quilts (Apr 15-17, New England);
Umpqua Valley Quilters Guild (Apr 15-17, Oregon);
Rutherford Quilt Guild (April 15-17, North Carolina);
Piecemakers Quilt Club (Apr 15-17, Washington);
Seabreeze Quilt Guild (Apr 16, New Hampshire);
Northern Lights Quilt Guild (April 16 – 17, New Hampshire);
Mason Dixon Quilt Show (Apr 21-22, Maryland);
Mid-Valley Quilt Guild (April 21-23, Oregon);
Sauder Village (Apr 26 – May 1, Ohio); Kalona
Quilt Show and Sale (Apr 28 – 30, Iowa);
Penn Oaks Quilters (Apr 29 – 30, Pennsylvania);
Merrimack Valley Quilters’ Guild (Apr 29-30, NH);
Associated Quilt Guilds of the Central Coast (Apr 30 - May 1, California); Heart & Hearth Quilt Show,
Amador Valley Quilters (Apr 30-May 1, California);
Flat-Iron Quilting Guild (Apr 30-May 1, Montana);
Northern Star Quilters (Apr 30-May 1);
Brampton Quilters Guild Show (Apr 30-May 1, Ontario, Canada).
Happy Friday! First off, for anyone stopping by the blog for the first time, this post and this quilt are not an April Fool's joke. ;-) Technicolour quilts made with wild and crazy fabrics are pretty much standard here. And speaking of that, I've decided to name this quilt the 'Not a Wink Quilt' -- because anyone attempting to sleep under it won't get even a wink of sleep since it's so loud. 
It's big. Really big. About 100 inches square I believe, and it's for our queen-size bed. It is made of 36 Scrappy Random Railfence Blocks (tutorial here) along with sashing and a scrappy border. It made a serious dent in my scrap pile! Woohoo!!! The only thing I bought for this was the sashing. (2 yards, in case you wish to do the same thing I've done here. The sashing is cut at 2.5 inches). I honestly had a couple of moments of uncertainty about the pink polka dot sashing ... but I'm glad I didn't change my mind. 
The quilt really is a memory scrapbook of all the quilts I've made over the past year. 
There are lots of little I-Spy type things for the kids to find. 
This picture shows the border. It is a simple piano key border of more 2.5 inch scrap strips cut at 8.5 inches long. I'm going to send it out to be quilted. Even though I'm feeling more confident with my machine quilting lately, I am not brave enough to tackle this ... my frustration threshold is only so high. - It's great to have my sewing machine again. Backing for this quilt is the next project. - Thanks for stopping by! 
