We sure did enjoy the Sulphur Springs quilt show last weekend.   The quilts were beautiful and we met some new quilting friends in East Texas. 

   

I must share with you this beautiful quilt that won Best In Show!   It is called "Perseverance" and you can see why, 10,509 hexagons and all hand pieced  by Linda Neal.   I spoke with her a bit at the show and she said it was a great take along project which she worked on everywhere she went.   The hexagons were English Paper Pieced and it took her 2 weeks to remove all the papers.    The quilting which was done by Jackie Brown is exquisite and compliments the quilt.

I'm sure we haven't seen the last of this quilt,  it has many ribbons in it's future.

This will be a busy weekend!!!   We are setting up our vendor booth this evening for the Lone Star Heritage Quilt Show in Sulphur Springs, Texas.   The show runs Friday from 10:00 am.-5:00 pm. and Saturday 9:00 am – 3:00pm.    If you are in the area stop by the show!   It is supposed to be a rainy day so, what better than to be inside at a quilt show.   

http://www.sulphurspringstxquilts.com/quilt_show.htm

Mary and I spent all weekend cutting kits and bundles to get ready for the Lone Star Heritage Quilt Guild 2012 Show.  

Mary designed this gorgeous Christmas Pineapple table topper as a kit. The kit includes a beautiful pineapple center with pieced churn dash blocks and baskets appliqued in the corners. The kit is totally pre-cut and includes the pineapple papers, and the basket which has the fusible already applied.   

   

So, it is so easy to put together.  The first batch we cut are made with the Grace collection  by 3 Sisters from Moda.    It’s a beautiful red and green collection with a large floral focus pattern, the only thing Christmasy (is that a word?), is the colors.     If the kit is popular, which I think it will be, we will have to use another line of fabrics that are similar.

Pick-up Sticks quilt

Last weekend "The Bees" (Mary and I),  along with a group of our quilting friends attended a quilt retreat.   It was not planned but, three of us at the retreat worked on putting together blocks that were traded with a swap group that is part of Bear Creek Quilt Guild.   It was a swap using scraps we already had in our stashes, the only requirement was that black or black tone on tone was used with them. This was a pattern featured in the September/October 2011 issue of Fon's & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine. This is a great pattern to use with a swap group and the blocks are so simple even beginners can participate. 

Check out our quilts on the design walls.

The quilts look very similar, we even did a little more trading among ourselves at the retreat to spread out the brights. I plan to complete mine using the pieced border that is shown in the magazine and I'll post a photo of it when it's finished. 

These are other quilters and their  projects in the works!

I worked on a four inch pineapple block today and made a pincushion out of it using vintage rickrack. I stuffed it with crushed walnut shells. It came out adorable.... I love it. I'm thinking of making a kit of it and selling it on our website (www.twobeesfabric.com). I think I'll try a Civil War version as well. 

 

The Two Bees were vendors at the Ellis County Quilt show in July.    This was only the second time we participated as a vendor at a quilt show and we had a great time and met some wonderful quilters.   We would like to thank everyone who stopped by our booth for making it such a successful show. The quilt guild in Midlothian has some wonderful quilters.  I’ve attached a few photos showing some of the ribbon winners from the show.

   The bright yellow medallion quilt "Grandma's Ruffled Roses" won Best in Show. The quilt was pieced by Deborah Ray and Sabina Thompson, isn't it gorgeous! 

Congratulations Deborah and Sabina!

 

Another ribbon winner was "Hot & Spicy" pieced by the Kaufman Quilt Guild Members and quilted by Mary Jo Smith.

Here are two more quilts from the show. Unfortunately, I didn't get the information on the piecers and quilters.

 Thanks again to all our new friends we met at the Ellis County Quilt Show and the Midlothian Quilt Guild.

Two Bees

Two bees or not two bees…is not the question.
Pre-wash or not  pre-wash, now THAT is the question.
Although some quilters never pre-wash their fabric, I almost always do.

Color Fastness   

Some fabrics bleed, especially reds, purples, blacks and some other dark or vivid colors.  If you haven’t pre-washed your fabrics bleeding dye can stain and transfer into lighter fabrics in your quilt.    I throw a Shout Color Catcher into the washer to capture the excess dye in the wash water.   That will prevent bleeding dyes staining fabrics during pre-washing.  

Some quilters prefer working with unwashed fabrics because of the crispness and find that the sizing and coatings on the fabric makes it easier to rotary cut.   If you are going to use unwashed fabrics make sure to perform a test on a small sample to make sure they are color fast.    All you have to do is take a small sample of the fabric and wash it with a few drops of detergent.   Then place the wet sample on a paper towel or piece of white fabric and leave it to air dry on the paper towel or fabric.  If the color has bled onto the towel or fabric, you’ll need to pre-wash. 

If you really like the crispness of unwashed fabric you can always us spray starch when pressing. 

Shrinkage

Some quilters intentionally use unwashed fabrics to assemble the quilt because they like the puckering that takes place after washing the quilt.   This will give a quilt a vintage or puckery effect.   If this is not the look you are going for and prefer a smoother quilt, pre-wash your fabrics. 

Some quilts, particularly scrappy quilts will contain different fabrics from various manufacturers and the each fabric will shrink at a different rate which could cause puckers or distortions.   It’s another reason I prefer to prewash …. I love scrappy quilts.

Make sure if you are doing a swap or trade with a quilt bee or group, that you specify whether to pre-wash or not.  

Personally, I’m a big fan of the color red; it’s actually my favorite color.  So naturally, I’ve had some experience with dyes bleeding and running.    It’s heart breaking to spend hundreds or dollars on fabric and quilting not to mention the amount of time and then discover that the colors have  run.  

Hapbee Roberta

Happy Fourth everyone!!

Another great 4th of July!

Love the Layer Cakes

This blog is hosted by Twobeesfabric.com. We are an on-line quilt shop focusing on reproduction and French inspired fabrics at below retail prices.

Get a free fat quarter with the purchase of one yard of fabric every Tuesday until Easter 2012.
Click image below for all the details.

 

Friday, May 20, 2011

Love the Layer Cakes

Don't you just love Moda Layer Cake?    You can do so much with them by cutting them differently.   Check out the cutting variations to see all the things you can do with a Layer Cake.  http://www.unitednotions.com/measurements_layer-cake-cutting.pdf


Two Bees Fabrics now has layer cakes in the Pom Pom de Paris and Grace fabric lines. 

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Redwork Quilt

YES, the borders are on the Redwork quilt.  One more of my UFO's completed for my New Years resolution.   It's all ready to be quilted.  Now, to figure out how I want it quilted.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, April 15, 2011

Infinite Variety: Thee Centuries of Red and White Quilts,  the quilt show I blogged about earlier inspired me to finish a redwork quilt I started in 2001.  Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've even looked at these blocks.  This will also be another UFO I'll be completing this year.  The box held all the embroidered blocks and the pieced setting squares which I pieced together last night.  I don't know what took me so long to finish this quilt, I really like it now that it's up on the design wall.   I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do for the borders.  I have some of the red fabric left but, I'm very limited on the ivory and I'll never match it after all these years. I'll come up with something though, I just need to think about it for a few days.

The layout patttern and some of the tracings are from the Quilts & More Redwork book by Laurene Sinema.

Redwork became propular in the late 1870's whenTurkey Red was the craze. The root from the Madder plant was used to create the secret recipe for the "Turkey Red" dye.  The durabilty and color fastness of the dye were highly valued back then and attributed to it's popularity. It reached it's peak of popularity between 1888 and 1935. As other colors or embroidery thread became available redwork lost it's popularity. 

Friday, April 1, 2011

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White quilts

I  commented in March that this show was coming to New York. Now that it has come and gone, I've seen the photos and read the reviews, I am so sorry I didn't make a point of going to NYC, just for the show.    Check out the link to Martha Stewart's Blog.   It contains a slideshow of 37 photos of the show.   It really was spectacular and the title, "Infinite Variety" is perfect.   All 650 quilts are from the private collection of Joanna Rose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Why Quilt?

Have you ever asked yourself, “why do I quilt?”  I’m a quilter, I have friends who are quilters, my mother-in-law was a wonderful quilter and I’ve met many people throughout my life who are quilters. But what is it that motivates people to quilt? Is it to make blankets to keep us warm, to create something to hang on the wall for people to admire, is it something we do to simply occupy our spare time or is it something else?

Recently, to pass the time during a long drive, my husband and I decided to check out an audio book on cd from the library. We couldn’t quite decide what book to get until my husband came across a book cd titled, The Quilters Homecoming, by Jennifer Chiaverini. Now, it didn’t surprise me that my husband, who is not a quilter but comes from a long line of quilters, would be interested in this book. The book, In a word, was great, we both loved it and we are now listening to Jennifer’s, The Sugar Camp Quilt.

Now I can speak only from listening to The Quilter’s Homecoming (Narrator Christina Moore) but if you are one of those quilters who has ever wondered what it is about quilting that makes you want to cut fabric into little pieces and then meticulously sew them all back together again in a completely different pattern…you will want to read or listen to one of Jennifer Chiaverini’s books. She is most definitely a quilter, a wonderful author and most important, she is very familiar with the phrase, “a labor of love.” Quilting is truly a labor of love.

When you get a chance:

http://elmcreek.net/books  

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Quilt Retreat Treats

I just returned from a quilt retreat this past weekend in East Texas.   For dessert one evening the hostess served Oreo Balls.   They were sinfully delicious and I can't wait to make them the next time I have a gathering at my home.   They are so easy and only require 3 ingredients.   Check out this Oreo Ball Recipe !!! 

Monday, March 7, 2011

Quilt related events in New York City this March

March is the month to go to New York City if you are interested in quilting.   There will be 4 great exhibits going on in March.  

Super Starts & 9/11 Tribute Quilt - The American Folk Art Museum/Lincoln Square Branch.   This will be going on through September 25th.

Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts - Park Avenue Armory

March 25-30

Empire Guild's Urban Inspirations 2011 - Fashion Institute of Technology
March 26 - 27

Quilts :  Masterwork - The American Folk Art Museum
Part 1 through April 26, Part 2 opens May 10

I wish I could get away this month to NYC, I'm sure all of the shows listed above will be fabulous. The one I personally would love to see is the Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts. I'm partial to 2 color quilts and red is one of my all time favorites.  Just imagine there will be over 650 quilts on display!