Buried Treasure

December 12, 2014 Independence Hall Quilters

I went into our local Thrift Store in search of a used paperback to read. I found “The Witching Hour”, by Anne Rice. The book was so tattered that the little round price sticker read “Free.” I also found two reference books, each marked $.49. Definitely affordable.
I wandered around the little store, looking for crafting items and found a shelf with remnants of fabric tossed into a plastic bin. Of course I had to look through it! Blankets and quilts were on a different shelf. I saw a glimpse of pink flowers and a scalloped edge, buried under all the other items.

Just as I suspected – a large handmade masterpiece. Sure, it needed repair work and the fabrics were worn. But at IHQ there are a lot of ladies who know how to “date” a quilt, and those that are experienced at resurrecting abused ones.

The price tag shocked me: $29.44. Thirty. Measly. Bucks.

For THIS!?!:

The lady (or ladies) who made this gorgeous creation, put a LOT of woman-hours into it. Even a beginner (like myself) can see that.

CenterOfQuiltFromAbove — Long view, of inner border of roses

No photo can do it justice. A professional may come very close, but – and I mean a HUGE but, they just can’t capture the wonderful feel of it against your skin.

I decided that it was a moral imperative for me to take it home and show my fellow quilters at our next meeting. Get expert advice on repairing old quilts.

It’s a little smaller than California King, but larger than a Queen. That means it will be hung on the “back wall”. No one will believe I created this – even if I were dumb enough to try to pass it off as my own. Our guild members were not born yesterday, ya know.

😉

Members Showcase: Jennifer Cabral

November 2, 2014October 30, 2014 Independence Hall Quilters1 Comment

JenniferCabralWithQuilts — Jennifer Cabral

At our last IHQ meeting, we had the pleasure of admiring the work of one of our most prolific quilters, Jennifer Cabral.

Jennifer showed us masterpieces from her past, on up to recent projects. Her quilting and applique work is astounding. Although she does a lot of long-arm quilting, she still finds time to do hand quilting on some of her special projects.

Jennifer told us about her roots in Oklahoma, and how her two grandmothers taught her quilting. She told us many funny stories – about her childhood and family. She kept us laughing with her playful, self-depreciating sense of humor, while explaining about the different quilts and how and why she quilted them. A fun time was had by all.

Thank you Jennifer, for sharing your artistry and your stories!

A special thank you to Diane Mitchell and Trisha Cabral, for unfolding, holding and re-folding Jennifer’s artwork. Like Vanna White twins, only with quilts and not letters.
Photography by Chris Sellman & Jodi Greenfield.

Here is a random selection of Jennifer’s hard work, in case you missed her show…

Birds of Paradise	Appliqued Flower Blocks
Flamingos (under protest!)	Pointing Out Details
Log Cabin Flowers	Patriotic Family Challenge
Houses And Trees
This was a complicated pattern to do	Scrappy Log Cabin Blocks
Log Cabin Blocks Also!	Stained Glass Wall Hanging
Star & Flowers made With Scraps	Gazillions of Tiny Pieces

TTFN!!
J

Quilt Faire

The Aftermath

October 14, 2014 Independence Hall Quilters

Quilt Faire 2014 has come and gone. Quilters & their families are sighing with relief that the wildness is over. Until next year. We should be rested up by then.

QF-TakeDown — Take-down. In layman’s terms, “come get your quilts!”

Granted, the aftermath of a Quilt Faire (QF) is not as horrific as, let’s say, a nuclear bomb would be. Nevertheless, it’s a large job. Next year – I need to wear my camera around my neck with a lanyard. To remind me to shoot photos. I will have a new camera next year. One that should take more than 10 photos before the batteries are dead.

GetYourRaffleTicketsHere — The lovely 2014 Scholarship Quilt was won by a Guild Member this year: Jennifer Cabral!

The Take Down crew, lead by the same guy that leads the Take In crew – my hubby, are very efficient. I think it only took 25-30 minutes to get them down and back to their owner’s.

Anything not done after 5pm, is put off until the next day’s cleanup posse. Because pizza is waiting for us, to celebrate another successful Faire.

🙂

Check back next week when we announce our Viewer’s Choice Awards!