Fall Quilt Show

I ventured over to the Chicago Botanic Garden for their annual Fine Art of Fiber quilt show over the weekend. Always a great way to spend the afternoon. Two of my favorite things -  fall and quilts. 

The gardens are a lovely backdrop for this unique show. Because it's Illinois and November, the show is held indoors. It was quite cold but sunny at least. This was before the snow came (yesterday). 

The quilts that are featured in this show every year are usually very different from the type of quilts I make - modern, bright and non-traditional. There are always a few traditional quilts thrown into the mix, but only a few. I don't mind. The fun part is seeing just how creative some of the quilters get with color and fiber. It's always a glorious show of color indoors and out. And all the natural light makes it a great place for a show.  

Here are a few highlights - 

Made by Marsha Gordon

Made by Mary Meyers

In the midst of all the modern quilts, imagine my surprise when I spotted not one but THREE Dear Jane quilts! What a nice treat. Many of the fabrics used in these were more on the modern side but it all worked. 

Made by Cheryl Paras

Made by Chris Deering

Made by Barbara Wessel

I never get tired of seeing different DJ quilts. 

Made by Cathy Baker

Made by Suzanne Davis Killen

The Gift Boutique is always fun too.

Now that my next book is finished and the quilts and manuscript have been sent off to the publisher, I finally have some time to breathe and work on other things. I've decided I really need to make myself some larger quilts. I've got several that were started before the book project but they had to be set aside. And, of course, there's my own Dear Jane that still needs to be worked on. But, instead of finishing one of those (I will! I will!) I got the urge to start something new. So, as I was cleaning up my sewing room last week, I took frequent breaks and began to mindlessly sew a bunch of 3" half-square triangles for a simple antique-looking quilt I want to make someday. I've already made 100 HSTs from some of my favorite prints in just a few days. I think I'll probably need several hundred for a big quilt so we'll see what happens with this "someday" project.