Quilt Show, Fall Splendor of Quilts

I am in a new (to me) quilt guild. This guild has a show every two years; it is always called "Fall Splendor of Quilts." This was the year. It was a great show - so many talented quilters in this group! Here are some examples of the loveliness:

Milky Way by Catherine Stiele

Empire Place by Wendy Anderson

Blooming Nine Patch by Karen Tischer

Amish With a Twist II by Jill Scholtz

Colorwash by Mary Alsop -- our speaker this year was Victoria Findlay Wolfe. She chose this one as her favorite of show.

Luminary by Jane Benik

Words to Live By by Carol Egan (that's me!)

Heart Burst by Lisa Swirtz

Juicy Cactus by Tammy Kaplan

Spring Flowers by Beth Holland

Modern Harlequin by Randi Grover

Canoe Trip by Suzanne Thiesfeld

Optical Illusions by Diane Alsleben

Kira by Beth Holland

I forgot to record who made this one.

by Kathy Dibble

Leaves by Vicki Peterson

New Beginnings by Chris Peterson

Frightful/Delightful by Carol Egan (the weather.. it depicts the high temperature in my city every day in 2016)

Paradox Point by Mary Alsop - I voted for this one for Viewers' Choice, although there were so many that I could easily have voted for.. it was the outstanding quilting that persuaded me to go with this one.

I forgot to record the maker of this quilt.

Rainbow Flight by Connie Dummer

Welcome Home! by Carol Egan

This is the beautiful raffle quilt made by the guild. This is moments before the drawing of the winner's name. The name is about to be drawn out of that big bag full of blue ticket stubs. It was won by someone whose name I did not recognize and who lives in a small town north of the Twin Cities... she is not one of my friends who bought tickets. Sorry, friends. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of Victoria Findlay Wolfe's quilts shown during her lecture, and maybe a couple pics from the class I will be taking from her as well.

Bye-Bye, Quilt Tops!

I have had fun boxing up quilt tops to send to QBB, Quilts Beyond Borders. They have arrangements with long-arm quilters who volunteer to quilt, so those of us who are better toppers than quilters have a nice way to get our quilts done and donated. I love it!

Today I boxed up these eight tops:

This is a shop sample that I purchased. The blue fabric is cute helicopters.

I made this one, and I must admit, it is one of my faves in this bunch.

These two are Omaha tops, made from leftovers from a retreat in Omaha and from newer editions of the block made to extend the leftovers.

This one is made by me, made from the same Omaha block pattern that is in the above two quilts. The close up shows you the truck fabric I used (and ran out of).

made by me; not one of my faves but I guess it works

I purchased this, I think at a guild fund raiser. I didn't realize at the time that it is all hand-pieced! Something I would never do.

I made this from someone's leftovers which I purchased at the same guild fundraiser mentioned above.

I sent the following completed quilts to QBB:

and the following completed quilts went to Wrap a Smile (WAS):

Yes, I do sometimes complete quilts on my own. Plus, my local friend, Nanette, has helped with some quilting so I just have to bind them and send them off. It takes a village, you know!

Book Review: Pachinko

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

This story begins in Korea in 1910. Japan invades Korea. The main characters' lives become even more difficult than their peasant lives had been. Some of them decide to go to Japan to join a brother there.. with the hopes of some day soon returning to Korea. They stay through economic struggles, WWII, war in Korea and the division of the Korean peninsula.

This historical fiction was written over a 20 year time span. The author had this story as a spark in her mind. At one point she had it completely written, until she moved to Japan and interviewed many people who had lived the story. She then started anew and wrote it again. This book was a National Book Award finalist.

The story follows this family through several generations. Japan is suspicious of Koreans and does not welcome them warmly to Japan. I was surprised to see how long this attitude continued right up to modern times. Even the story of Korean-Japanese immigrants is not told and is not well known to this day. Hence this book is an important part of the story-telling that is necessary.

The family goes through experiences one can expect: births, deaths, relationship difficulties, marriages, inter-cultural tensions. I wanted a way to explain what was meaningful to me, but the words of the author herself say it best:

"...many ordinary people resist the indignities of life and history with grace and conviction by taking care of their families, friends, neighbors, and communities while striving for their individual goals. We cannot help but be interested in the stories of people that history pushes aside so thoughtlessly."

An excellent book to which I give 4 or perhaps 4.5 stars. Apparently it is a long book, 500 pages, but some people read it in one sitting. I read it on my Kindle in just a couple of days, and was not aware of how long it is.

My Messy Stash

I have seen some quilters' stash photos and am puzzled at how they keep it so neat. (Diva? Can you explain?) Maybe they only take pictures after a huge cleaning episode.

Well, here is my stash on a normal day. This is most of it; I also have some big pieces and WIPs in bins and some piled disrespectfully on my cutting board.

In fact, I will bare it all here and show you the current state of my cutting mat, too.

This is the look of creativity!

Book Review: Reckoning

Reckoning by Magda Szubanski

I stumbled upon this book in an odd way, by watching something on Netflix in which this author had a bit part, and somehow I ended up reading about her and her life and work and thereby discovered this book.

She is a well-known comedian and actor in Australia. She describes her growing up years, struggling to understand her family and her life. Her father is from Poland and lived quite a violent life through the ghetto wars in Warsaw during WWII. That legacy leaves Magda with questions that she works through over many years.

Honestly, I found the first part of this book a little boring, but it vastly improved in the last third or so and became quite moving.

Quilts to Syrian Refugees

More of my quilts that went to refugees in need:

I made this top in memory of my mom after she died in 2016. Kathleen R. quilted it for me, and it has recently been delivered to a refugee from Syria. Mom would like that. (Log cabin was my mom's favorite block pattern.)

Moira sent me fabric, and I made as many blocks as I could; returned them to her, and she made this quilt which was then quilted by Kathleen R. It takes a village!