Make a Mini Make a Friend - 2023

This year I joined in with the Modern Quilt Guild mini quilt swap, it's the 2nd time I've participated, and it did not disappoint! This is a fun swap and I enjoyed creating something for my partner @margaretfleisher. I wanted to incorporate improv curves, and combined that with some paper piecing too. 

I started with some doodles, playing with the arrow shapes and then drew them out so they could be paper pieced. Other than a dislike of purple, I had free reign for color and started pulling the green and yellow from my stash, then added in the blues for contrast. After piecing the three arrows, I auditioned several fabrics before deciding on the orange dots.

I love free motion quilting, and once this was all together, it was fun creating different designs in each section! The middle design is a new one to me - and I'll use that again!

Swapping with Margaret at QuiltCon was fantastic! We pulled and flipped our quilts at the same time and I think both of our eyes lit up at what we saw. This is what Margaret made for me - and it's perfect. The curves, the colors, the fabrics, I love it all and can't wait to add it to my wall of quilts.

Many thanks to our swap fairy @lovinglissa as well. There's a huge crowd of swap groups and partners, so you get to see what others have made and there are so many amazing quilts being shared!

#mqgminiswap2023 

QuiltCon in the Music City

                     (this is post 1 from QuiltCon)

Last weekend I headed East to Nashville, picking up Momm from the airport as we headed for QuiltCon and a quilty weekend together!

We haven't been to QuiltCon since the first one in Austin. Nashville is a fun city and we had a good time packing in all we could see of quilts & vendors & new friends & mini quilt swaps.









We made buttons to trade this year based on our Instagram names: @bumblybzs & @RNquilter. Mine features a bumblebee that I stitch into my quilts, and Momm used one of her quilts in her design. This was such a fun way to chat with people as we wandered the hall, and to remember who we met & their social media at the end of the day.

Since Nashville is only a couple hours away, I brought quilts to put on our hotel beds for ambiance. :) 

We met a lot! of lovely people, Heather from Crimson Tate, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Marianne Fons & Sue Reich at Quilts of Valor, the Aurifil team, Amy Milne at Quilt Alliance, @Shoppershaz, and many more quilters, enthusiasts & creative souls! Thanks to everyone for being so nice and lovely all weekend.

 Between raindrops we managed to squeeze in some exploring downtown, spotting some great murals & great gelato!

gelato break at the terrace firepits

We also made it out to the TN state museum to see their new quilt exhibit: Between the Layers: Art and Story in TN Quilts :which was cool. I mean, visiting other quilt museums is part of what I do. ;)

Star Variation quilts in the exhibit

Quilt by Lillian Beattie, made when she was 100 years old!

Momm was lucky & won one of the new Ruby Olfa cutters! And we both won some thread playing Aurifil Jenga.

We got off the wait list & into the Free Motion class with Christina Cameli @afewscraps on Saturday night. This was so much fun! 3 hours went really quick as we learned some excellent FMQ ideas and practiced creating showboats, clusters, layering, divide & conquer, and blends. I'm so looking forward to using these ideas in my own quilts!

I can also finally show the mini quilt I made for the #mqgminiswap as I swapped with my partner @sunchaserquilts during QuiltCon. 

We ran into each other the first day, and kept crossing paths until our designated swap time. So much fun to meet in person and now I can add this lively mini to my wall.

We're holding the quilts we received

Now it's time to follow the direction from our newest, comfy, quilty shirts (from Patchwork Threads) & MAKE QUILTS!

Quilt Con love

The inevitable wrap up of my travels to Quilt Con - in short, Awesome!  

The slightly longer version includes just some of the highlights of the trip:

Breakfast of Quilters each morning at Le Cafe Crepe - delicious!  

Photos in the Moda Bakeshop Booth each day with Momm was so much fun.  It was great to meet Lissa from Moda in person as well - instead of just exchanging emails about School Block Challenge.

Fabric!  The vendors had wonderful fabrics and notions and all sorts of quilting deliciousness.  Here are just some of the goodies I brought home with me.  Not pictured is some Architextures and snippets of Pearl Bracelets.  Can't wait to play with them!

the Quilts!  Of course the quilts - so many wonderful quilts and designs and colors.  Such an inspiration to see these all together, face to thread, so to speak.  I've been quilting for about 10 years and seeing quilts that are exciting, that stand out while still being rooted in the history of quilt making was awesome!  I loved having the chance to see some wonderful quilts in person, that I've only seen online.  There are too many favorites to try and show them here so I'll just put this one in.

with Jaybirds awesome Science Fair *squee*

Thanks to all in the MQG who put on a great show!  Thanks to all the talented quilters who were represented in the show and to all those who create beautiful quilts.

My first trip to Austin was excellent:  Great food, good friends, warm weather and a grand time at the 1st ever Quilt Con!   :D

to the Con!

I'm so thrilled to being going to Quilt Con with my Momm!  It's awesome to be going to the first show and I know there will be so many gorgeous quilts to see.  I'm also hoping this incoming winter storm (which will probably bring rain/sleet here to KY) won't be an issue in the morning. 

Here's 5 fun facts about me to join in on the meet up party [even though I'm cutting it close tonight].

that's me at the top of the Arch

1  My Aunt taught me to quilt one summer and when I got home, I hooked my Momm in too.  :)  I love all parts of quilting!

2  I earned my Girl Scout Gold Award.   Scouting took me to Savannah, St, Louis and Switzerland and I am a Lifetime member.

3  Music goes with me everywhere: car, work, home, in my head, iPod, etc.  I'm really quick at learning  song lyrics and pull them out to create a soundtrack for myself.

4  I've read Harry Potter too many times to count and went to most of the movies midnight opening.  I highly recommend the audiobooks too - amazing!  :)

5  I love my job!  I work at the National Quilt Museum and am surround by quilts all day, teach quilting to kids and get to learn & try new things all the time!  Serious fun happens at my desk.


Looking forward to seeing the quilts and those of you going this weekend.  Otherwise, I'll see you back here in blogland next week!  Onto the Con.