Farmpark Quilts 2012 Show Preview

So without further ado, here's a small preview of the quilts hanging at the show this year:

 This quilt was made by my friend Janet. She wanted to try some fabric painting, and combined with her quilting, this is just stunning in person.

 My other friend Leslie made this quilt. Typically Leslie makes HUGE California King quilts, but this one is a bit toned down from her entries in years past, but I still love it and would take it off her hands if she would let me! :)

 I have to start with saying I LOVE this quilt! Carol, the lady who taught me how to hand quilt made this one. It's beautiful from a distance, but when you get close up:

 She echo quilted 1/8" around each of the applique designs. And hand quilted at that! I know she worked really hard for a LONG time on this quilt and I'm super excited she got a blue ribbon for it. She really deserved it!

 My friend Darlene happens to be one of the biggest Ohio State fans I know, do you think it influenced her color choices? Maybe if you check out her blog I Quilt Scarlet and Gray, you'll see all of her other Ohio State inspired projects.

 I couldn't help myself, this is the Best In Show by Sue Wilson. It is spectacular! She had it machine quilted in Alaska! Some of it was computerized, and some of it was free motion, but the detail is incredible:

 I am so glad this won the award this year, you can just sit and stare at it for hours. I walked by it several times Thursday night and each time you look at it you notice something new and breath-taking. It's just plain gorgeous!

 My friend Ruth created this wonder... All of those little squares finish at 1/2". She always seems to make teeny tiny things, and I'm catching the bug! Ruth was actually the one who inspired me to design General Jack with it's tiny pieces. At first I was worried they would be too small, then at our Quilt Guild meeting later that week she showed a panel of these... Worry gone!

 Oh, and did I mention they are all hand pieced? Ruth sits watching TV at night and has a basket of small scraps sitting next to her waiting to become another masterpiece.

 Here's Mom and her massive quilt! (She's sssooooo going to kill me for using this picture, but owell!)

 And my General Jack - with a Second Place Ribbon!!! I know many of you had been asking, so here's the grand news! But I think the coolest thing of all about the show this year, at least personally is:

 Mom's quilt and my quilt are right across from each other. How cool is that?

 So here's me and my quilt... Thanks for the picture Ben! I can't wait to bring this quilt home! I just love it, not that I play favorites (but this one's right at the top of the list!)

 It's interesting to attend the reception each year and see what everyone entered. My friend and fellow hand-quilter Jan made this beauty. I saw it from down the hallway and loved it immediately. Then I read the name attached to the quilt and found out it belonged to Jan! How awesome is that! I think she did an amazing job with the design and the colors!

 My friend Carol (another one, there's lots!) made this quilt at a workshop with her friend Carol. She loved the design and we played with fabrics and placement for a long time with this one. Carol decided to hand quilt this and the deadline to turn in the quilts to the show was approaching... the hoop she was using wasn't exactly doing a great job. So I let her borrow one of mine and she got the job done with time to spare. When she returned my hoop back to me it also had some African fabrics wrapped around it. Like fabric FROM AFRICA!!! Carol and I have a love for batiks and texture that we play off of often. Thank you Carol for the fabrics, I will cherish them, I swear! (I'll post pictures later)

And last but not least my friend Mary Ann made this adorable log cabin. She machine quilted this herself on her domestic machine and she did an awesome job! She came up with the neatest feather design for the center, and she used 2 different threads perfectly. One is a darker variegated thread matching many of the colors in the quilt, and one is a cream like the lighter fabrics. I will try to get a more detailed shot next time I'm out at the show, she did a wonderful job on this one!

So that's the sneak peek. This year's show has a little bit of everything. Compared to years in the past, I think this is the best show yet.

Last year there were a ton of French Braid Quilts, but may guilds in the area held workshops for that style... The year before there were several duplicates, which there's nothing wrong with, but... This year I cannot think of any one quilt that is a duplicate. With 200+ quilts, that's incredible. It's unheard of actually.

This year there are fabrics for all styles, big quilts, small quilts, bright fabrics, traditional, batik, Civil War, primitive, you name it. If you have the opportunity, the show has just opened and will be open through March 20th I believe, you should definitely take an afternoon and go check it out!!!

So what do you think of the quilts you've seen so far?