Saturday, March 22, 2014

My personal quilt showcase



 

I am very lucky to live in a town that celebrates the arts so much (ironically, I went to a high school that holds one of the longest football rivalries in the nation with another school... :P). Every year, there is a "Day of the Arts," where the community is invited to see various artists at work. Kids also can make crafts for themselves. For a short while, I considered teaching a class, but with sewing, it seemed a bit complicated (unless we just used felt and dull needles). So, I thought I'd be better suited for the demonstration aspect.





If every Saturday could be like this, sign me up! My sister Marisa (always awesome) and I set up camp in the middle school lobby, which was PERFECT for hanging quilts. It was like a big quilt party - most in my possession at the time, including Marisa's, were there. I could feel all the hours I have spent working on them. I also hung some on the glass so you could see the other side! Double-sided quilts are the best!

Peek-a-boo.




Dresden Rainbow was the main attraction. I sent people (especially my students) around through the doors to see the other side...

 
 Signatures and pictures from the guests at our wedding. :)

All day (6 hours - yes, I was pretty tired by the end!) I quilted "Allons-y, Allonso" and showed students how I work a sewing machine! Many adults stopped by to admire the quilts and/or ask how I came up with ideas. One of the FAQs was: "Why are you wearing gloves?" People also asked why they were dirty if I'm just touching fabric (they just get like that, I swear, right Neva?). Most of my visitors mentioned a sewist in their families or circles of friends. I hope I inspired people to jump out of their comfort zones and try quilting! It was also SO fun to show my students my passion (besides just telling them all the time how much I love to sew)!

Some outtakes from the day:



 Haha, Ris is a ham. She loves selfies and Dunkin. And her quilt!


 I couldn't post this until now because Renee finally has "Plumes of Orchid" in her possession, and it was in most of the pictures! I love the picture above because it has BOTH of my Pantone Challenge quilts together ("Facets of Emerald" is from last year). :) Just realized that!

I can't wait until next year! Thanks to the PTA for everything!


14 comments:

  1. That is so awesome! What a fantastic display :) can I ask what type of machine you're using in the photos? :D

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  2. How fun to be surrounded by all your quilts in one room and get to be quilting and talking about quilting! I love the photo of you sewing and peeking through the window! My gloves get super dirty too--they just pick up ink and dust from the fabric, I think. Spoonflower fabrics are the worst--so much extra ink on them my gloves went from greyish to quite black in one small quilt.

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  3. That looks fun day, Jessica! Great that people were able to see your beautiful quilts and you working. 'Dirty' must be colours from fabric (if you don't pre-wash). x Teje

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  4. How awesome! Your quilts look fantastic hanging up together. Sounds like a fun (and exhausting) day :o)

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  5. Such a great concept! My high school is home of Writer's week which featured a variety of writers. I hope more schools add an appreciation of the Arts day or week! Your quilts are so beautiful and colorful I bet they were not what people expected.

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  6. That is just the coolest thing ever. I love all your work and so neat you could share it with the community.

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  7. This is so great! Your quilts are beautiful! We had a similar 'day' going on at the High School and we also had a bunch of 12" flannel boards out with tons of squares and triangles for people to 'make' blocks. We then sewed up the blocks and put them into a quilt that we later sold at auction. It was amazing to see the colors and blocks people came up with!

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  8. That is wonderful! I love the school having a day of the arts. A friend and I are having a trunk show at the train station in town as part of the library monthly talks, their first expansion into art. It's usually history, nature or literature.

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  9. what a great idea and a great day!

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  10. Neat! At least one person there that day is probably on the road to a lifetime of quilting, because of you. :) Your quilts are wonderful and I'm sure they enjoyed the experience.

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  11. That's such a cool idea to showcase the arts that way. Looks like yo had fun, Jess!

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  12. Lovely stuff...so cheery....I was trying to peek at the front of the Janome 6300 in the pictures and see of the two colored items on it were floral stickers!? ;) I have that machine and I have Hello Kitty on it. Cheery and makes me feel good! :)

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  13. What fun! I had to stop back and look at that big churn dash, I just love it! I'm thinking of doing that with my Tule bundle and coordinating solids :) Thanks for the inspiration!

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  14. How cool! What a way to open the eyes of the younger kids. Your quilts look so great!!

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