One Man's Trash

We had a busy but fun weekend.
My mother-in-law and I went to Portland to 
their largest yard sale.
Over 400 vendors in one building.
We went last year as well.
We seemed to find a lot more last year:
however, we did find a little something.

This is just part of the spoils.

 I love intaglios.  I have an amber glass intaglio necklace.  
This is clear so it actually shows the color behind it. 
I have a bit of a collection of beaded collars.
I'm not quite sure  why I just am so drawn to them.
The two strands of beads are just to use in whatever,
but I was sure I needed them.

 Always on the hunt for fabric.
A piece of homespun, wool, and cotton.
It's the quilter in me.

She reminded me of Holly Hobby.

An old pot holder that I'll wash and use.

 I have always wanted a half doll pincushion so
I finally found one - and a mother-of-pearl pin.

We returned home (to in-laws) and across the street,

a neighbor was having a yard sale.  I found this lamp that

is not old, but will be a great bedside lamp.  I

should have straightened the shade before taking the picture.

I did get just a couple other things, but they are

for others so I don't want them to see before they

receive them.

A fun weekend but as always,

it feels good to be home.

Hope you have a beautiful Monday.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches

More Portland Quilt Expo

I fiiiinnnallllly got the real photos off of Mr. LB's phone so will really just treat you to some eye candy.  As I said in the earlier post, the end of September I do believe, there were a lot of art pieces.  I am a bit of an old fashioned gal. I like quilts to be quilts.

This one was absolutely gorgeous but was all fused rather than stitched.  It was so beautiful; I was disappointed that it was 'glued' together.  It may have been zig-zagged around the edges.  I can't quite remember.  Still so beautiful - those are 'me' colors.

This was beautiful - not quite my colors, but the the quilting was incredible.

 

Another beauty - I love the border.

 

More great quilting.

One of the art quilts - I like peacocks - this one was pretty neat.  The tail feathers were 3D.

Farmer's Wife - it was done in blue and white which is a little different.  There was a group of about a dozen ladies that all did them, but I liked this one.  Just love the border.

More pretty quilting - the swirls were a nice contrast to the sharp points of the pattern.  Notice the diamond on the right side.  I didn't get a picture of the whole quilt though so you could see the masterpiece.

I like the repros anyway, but thought this was clever.

I think the lady who made this said that the blocks were supposed to be 8-9 inches, but she shrunk them down to a 4-5 inch block.  Just sweet.

This pix is a little fuzzy, but this was really a work of art!  I don't think I mentioned, there were A LOT of people there so trying to get pictures proved a bit challenging at times.

I saved this one for last.  It was the quilt that most intrigued me.  It was sewn and quilted then painted.  I'm not entirely certain how I feel about painting a quilt.  As I said earlier, I am a bit of a traditionalist, but this just seemed to move and flow.  From the fantastic quilting job, to the color pallet, to the overall design, it just worked.  Don't know that I will ever go there, but I do admire it.

Have any of you ever done this?  I would love to hear about the technique.

Until Next Time,

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches

NW Quilt Expo Part II - pictures

  Okay, we returned home, and I have pictures for you so I will try not to bore you with lots of words, but will feed you eye candy instead.

There was certainly some fabulous quilting to be seen.

I, myself, wouldn't spend my time on a rooster quilt, but the use of repros and those one inch squares was incredible. (Aren't repros just the happiest of fabrics - they just make me smile.)

This one was amazing - all about four inch squares reverse appliqued by hand of course.  Wowza!

So this quilt (above) was all raw edge applique - sorry it's a little fuzzy.  I really have mixed feelings about the whole raw edge thing - in general, I don't like it.  I think gluing a quilt together just isn't right.  I know I am old fashioned anyways, but I can't help but think - how will it hold up 100 years from now.  It is an absolutely stunning quilt.  I loooove the design, just not so much the method. Hmmm. 

And this one, is sooo a me quilt.  It is machine embroidered, but striking to see.  I don't know how many of you know, but you should not always fold your quilt in fourths.  This quilt is a great example of why not.  They become permanent folds after a while.  Quilts should be refolded every so often in order to avoid this - or better yet, rolled on a large tube.

This quilt fascinated me.  I thought I read that she quilted (whole cloth) then used fabric pastels to paint it.  Mr. LB thought it was painted then quilted.  Either way, what a work of art.

There were many smaller wall hanging art quilts.  I can appreciate the work that went into them, but they are not my thing.  There was one piece that was mostly metal with about a 3" square of quilted fabric in it.  It was an interesting piece of art, but it was not a quilt.  Not sure how I feel on that one.  I like the art factor as in the piece above, but it's still a quilt.  Even the peacock (above a couple of pix) is clearly a decorative piece, but again - still a quilt.  Am I totally off base on this?  The face of quilting is changing - "new" "modern" methods that save time are everywhere you look.  I find myself clinging to the old "put it in the hoop and quilt it" method.  I am nostalgic & romantic perhaps, but even if I only finish one real sized quilt a year, I know those stitches are going to be around for a long time.  I like the old slow method.  And of course, that is the method that brings me joy - each of us needs to follow our own heart in what we find enriching to our souls.  I get and encourage that - art it seems is a fading pastime.  Let us keep it alive as it is more than worthy of the time we spend on it.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches

Northwest Quilting Expo

We are heading out tonight to the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland, Oregon.  I went to the very first one (ahem) a couple years ago - okay, so this is their 12th year.  I can hardly wait - mental note "Remember camera, remember camera, remember camera."  I am considering participating next year rather than just attending, but I like to get a feel for what it's all about before entering a quilt in any show.  Am I weird or what?  This is the cover of the brochure, vendor list, class schedule and registration, etc.  On the cover are a couple of last years winners.  How cool! I can't believe I said that.  It's like I'm nineteen again.  Just a little giddy.  See you there!

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches to you.