Sunday, August 14, 2011

Material Girls Adventure: a journal quilt

     In late June, my friend Ann and I headed west to the Material Girls Quilt Guild show in Leominster, Central Massachusetts.  We took off the day for culinary pleasures and art. Certainly, Jessica's works at that show were a major draw. We started at a top diner, did the show in depth, and stopped for a seafood lunch and baskets of farm strawberries on the way home.  I couldn't ignore this outing when there is a strawberry challenge quilt to be made for the Journal Quilt Connection 12" x 12" group! (see last week's strawberry blog)
click to enlarge

     But sometimes things don't work out! I wanted a basket weave pattern (such as I found at the fabulous  Quilter's Cache/Marcia Hohn), alternating the yellows with the reds); but I didn't have enough basket yellow.  I thought I would have a learning experience this afternoon and gamble on two prints of no contrast. I learned my lesson :*{ I did a basket weave and I used some strawberries albeit accompanied by kiwis. I alternated the strawberries with cars and put a simplified strawberry pattern on the back and drew it around the sides for a binding. Let me tell you, the back looks better than the front. Why the cars? We drove and drove and drove! all over the place, having a good time looking for quilt stores, inspired by the fabulous show where we saw great talent and picked up inspirational books and fabrics. Such sweet memories make me fond of this troubled little journal quilt!

5 comments:

  1. The combining of the red cars and red strawberries makes total sense, when you read the account of your memories of this fun outing! The kiwi fabric makes a good contrast. I like the way you bring the backing around to the front for the binding--an old tried and true technique that our ancestors who quilted often used.

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  2. I love your story of your experiences on your super busy day AND all of the driving that you did to make it all happen/come together. Love the cars and the strawberries. Now I'm going to check out the Material Girls Quilt Guild and your other links. Your good memories are the priceless aspect of the whole experience.

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  3. The vivid colors capture the brightness of your happy day. I love the strawberries and the car on the quilt--captures it.

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  4. I think I'll try strawberry and kiwis in a fruit salad. I love the red, green and black colors plus the strawberry backing. All your sewing difficulties and techniques go over my head. Your day out is memorable. Thanks for sharing!
    NM

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  5. Cute idea --- the fabric and the fruits and cars ---what a great day! Such fun for you and Ann : "culinary pleasures and art" - a perfect combination. ss

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