Full of Soup

This summer was packed with local trips to really cool little places. I made it to Mystic, CT; Bar Harbor, ME; Lake George, NY; Poquott, NY; New Paltz, NY; Boston, MA; Manchester, NH; Portsmouth, NH; and to a wedding in a cutesy little town on the Hudson River.

But for quilting, New Hampshire was the place to be. I went to a great little quilt shop in Portsmouth and bought a slew of over-priced fat quarters. They were beautiful, but I paid!

I really love them and I knew I’d need a bunch more fabrics to make a full quilt, but I didn’t want it to be super matchy and use fabrics all by the same designer, so I picked up a bunch more fabrics at the Pennsylvania Quilt Extravaganza. They match beautifully, but not so much that it will look like a Pottery Barn Quilt.

Then I decided to run a little test that Kaffe Fassett talked about in the workshop I went to. His philosophy is that the most interesting quilts should be a mixture of light and dark fabrics and contrasts that excite the eye. It is actually really hard to tell if a fabric is “light” or “dark” based on color alone, and Kaffe carries around a red magnifying glass that helps him see the tones. He said another way to see the tones is to take a black and white shot of the fabrics:

Uh oh. These fabrics are all different colors and prints, but in the harsh black and white photo, they are so, so blah. I think it’s going to take a lot more contrasting fabrics to make this into a beautiful quilt.

I also made it to Keepsake Quilting!! The mecca!

I didn’t realize we were so close to this shop, but there was a sign in the road that said Keepsake was coming up on the right and I opened the door in mid-traffic and ducked and rolled out of the car. The people were so friendly and helpful and the selection was mind blowing.

I had no idea where to begin, but I had been eyeing this kit in their catalog for a few months. The color in this photo is terrible, but I bought the pattern on the left and all the colors so I am ready to go. It is probably too ambitious for this halloween, but maybe!

I think “extravaganza” is actually fitting for what I witnessed at this show.

This was an enormous quilt. I felt like I was looking through a window and had to turn my head to see it all.

Love these colors.

This quilt, from Japan, was made up of 61,000 pieces. For reference, my Trip Around The World quilt was about 1,500.

These quilts, also from Japan, were incredibly intricate their effect was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

I love the way this one is framed. I love how it looks realistic, but not so much that you forget it’s a quilt.

This was a total show stopper for me. I love this painting and had just visited it at the MoMa the day before, so I really appreciate the startling accuracy.

Okay, this BLEW my mind. The next three quilts are made from the same pattern:

I forget where this one is from. I need to take notes.

I love this one. Can’t describe why.

This quilt is from South Africa.

This quilt was so stunning in person. It reminded me of the “crazy quilts” from the 20s.

Detailed fabric flowers were a recurring theme in this show.

Loved this! I can’t even figure out how this was done. And this is just one square!

On the right there is a 3-D spider crawling out of the quilt!

There was a section of the show that was for quilts that address racism. This artist feels that the current US flag is too clear cut for the layered history and the many different cultures represented in America.

This was her version.

This quilt was another stunner in person. It reminded me of Elizabeth’s “Touch this Quilt” piece. There white spaces are newspaper articles about racism in the US.

This one’s for my sister- these animals are felted!

This quilt really stretches the definition of quilt. I love seeing the unexpected at these shows.

This quilt, titled “Bathing in the Ganges,” won Best in Show. I really like it when more modern quilts make a nod to the traditional. The detailed log cabin blocks that border this piece really brings it all together for me.

And bling!!

I realize I didn’t take a picture of this whole quilt, but the embroidery on this one was off the hook.

What?

Again, really amazing details here.

There is no photo that can do this quilt justice. If you are still scrolling through all these pics, click on this twice to get the biggest image you can.  Please note that “white” is not a background fabric, but actually an embroidered pattern. Also, every flower, bee and butterfly is embroidered.

I hope this can give you more of an idea.

It took us 5 hours to get through this show and all the vendors and I took many, many more pics, but I think there’s only so many times I can use the word “love” in a single post. It was such a freaking blast. I also bought a bunch of fabric for my next project! I’m so inspired!