15th Annual Quilting Bee

February is heart health month, dental health month for your pet, black history month, and I'm sure lots of other causes . . . In my neighborhood, it's Quilting Bee time.

This year marks the 15th year our church has held the Bee. Congregations and quilting groups from all over the area work on quilts all year in their own organizations. In February, we come together and work for one last day to finish up.

Most of the quilts are tied, but there are some that are quilted and we are now accepting fleece blankets and crocheted or knitted afghans. The gym in the church is full of quilt lovers from all over the area working together for a great cause.

After working for a few hours in the morning we break for a luncheon and then a presentation. The quilts are totalled and handed over to NAM (Northwest Assistance Ministries). This is an organization that helps people in our area who are down on their luck. When a family goes through NAM's program to get back on their feet, each person in their family gets to choose their own quilt.

Imagine finally being able to get into a place of your own, maybe not even having a bed for everyone yet, but every family member has their own quilt, made with love.
This year there were over 300 quilts donated. That's a lot of selfless work. Aahh, it feels good to be a part of something like this.

C8's Quilt

Finally, it's all done. It was done before Christmas, which I think is pretty good--only 6 months after graduation. :)

We took this picture north of Dallas. Pretty fence on a muddy morning.

And, Caitlin loves it--that's the best part.

Quilt Festival Pictures

So, I think I took a lot of pictures. Hhmmm....I know I took a lot of pictures. It's hard to not take them when the quilts are SO beautiful. Going to the Quilt Festival is like going to a Fine Arts Museum. Except it's more crowded at the Festival. Enjoy the pictures.

If I remember right, this pink and red one looked like the pink was painted on.

It was the sweetest softest shade.

This quilt is called Hurricane. Here, on the Gulf Coast, you get a few of those--sometimes all at once.

I like the rectangular court house steps in this and how it's used as a background.

One day I will make a colorful, black-and-white quilt.

This one looks like a sad guy wandering past doors. I wish he would just open one up, go inside and be happy to be somewhere. Cool doors, definite story.

Funky, happy shoes.

Looks like a corkboard full of favorite trips, not a quilt.

Wizard of Oz on steroids. Every detail included from the hot air balloon to flying monkeys and a munchkin hiding in the flowers. Totally amazing.

Love the colors in this one.

Very eye-catching. Awesome color combination.

20-something thousand pieces. Definitely a wow quilt. While we were admiring this quilt, a lady by us said, "All those pieces and it didn't win? How many do you need to win??"

Stunning.

Also stunning. By looking at this one for a while, I think I finally decided how to quilt my black quilt. Finally, after 5 years, it might get finished.

Amazing shadows.

Kool Krazy Kwilt.

I love this quilt, but especially the center.

Infinity. My sister and niece met the quilter who did this one.

They were impressed by her down-home personality.

Absolutely LOVE this door. I've always loved cool doors--and this one is expecially cool.

It's amazing that it's fabric!

This one wasn't that big but very eye catching.

It looks like a leaf floating in the water.

Another amazing quilt. Usually the quilts with faces don't wow me.

This year, there were a few that were amazingly fantastic! Big wow!

Love the colors.

Another amazing work of art.

Love the colors, placement of elements. Nice.

This whimsical quilt was definitely a favorite.

It had wool felt balls on it and sparkly confetti. Very fun!

In this one, I love the use of color.

The pastels in the background and the changing of color around the border and the inner medallion.

Love how bright this is!

Amazing colors, LOVE the leaf imprints.

I love a good house quilt. The batiks in this were very fun and added a whimsical touch.

I have to say that this one is my all-time favorite for the year. I love reds and pinks and I love how this has such a fun twist on the traditional log cabin. LOVE it!

Yeah, And that's not even all of my pictures. :)

IQFHouston--It's All In The Details.

Skitchy edge with pink chain stitching/vines rambling through.

I love going to the International Quilt Festival! It's a tradition. In the last 11 years, I've only missed maybe 2 years. There's always something new to see, a new idea to spark my desire to get busy and sew. New tools, notions, fabric, wool! This year was especially fun since I was able to go with some favorite family to enjoy the show together! We spent two full days enjoying each other's company and enjoying all that there was to see!

In looking through my pictures, I've decided that I notice the details. I took a lot of pictures of details of quilts. An interesting border, a bazillion tiny pieces courthouse-stepped together, fun embellishments. I wonder if the artist/quilter had every detail in their original plan or added and changed as they went.

Here's some of my pictures of small parts of quilts that show off different details. Enjoy!

I'll post again soon with complete pictures of my favorite quilts.

The above quilt is a beach scene and the octagon you see is the top of a beach umbrella.

This colorful quilt had close to 23,000 pieces, all arranged in tiny courthouse steps. I wonder if this quilter ever wants to make this pattern again.

I loved the tiny, close quilting in this quilt. There was a LOT of tiny, close quilting in the quilts there. Is there a term for this? "Tiny, close quilting" is a lot to say.

I LOVE whimsical quilts and this one was very eye catching. Wool-felt pom-pom's and sparklies all over! Great colors, too! It looks like a party!

The selvage edge quilt. Very clever idea!

It's hard to see but the quilting on this pink car was incredible! Very fun quilt, too!

It was hard to stop looking at this one. The muted tones made you want to search for the details.

I loved all of the piecing that went into this quilt.

This font quilt was amazing! Besides being a unique idea, the shading/color changing of browns on the letters was incredible.

It's hard to see in this picture, but there are little scallops all around the edge of the flower petals and all of the quilting is amazing. When you use light thread on dark fabric, you can't hide anything!

I love reds and browns together so I love this quilt muchly! Look at the loops and buttons all along the edge. It was like an updated red-work quilt.

This quilt had a gazillion yo-yo's. I've sewn yo-yo's before and it's not something that just zips up fast. It's all hand-sewn and then hand-sewn together. And this was a big quilt.
Something drew my eye to this quilt--the yellows and blues, the small perfect circle berries, the little birds. It's a traditional-looking comfort quilt.

I LOVE the rich colors in this quilt. And one day I will make a quilt with vines and leaves in the border!

I really like this stripey quilt and one day I will have a quilt like this in my guest room. The entire queen-sized quilt--skinny stripes. Maybe different colors, but this stripey look is something I've always loved.