My quilt studio has become a bag factory.  I've been churning them out.  I now have fourteen completed for my guild's boutique and for gifts.  I can't say that it was boring, since each was made with different fabric, or at least different linings.  I'm quite pleased with them all.  They're about ten inches tall, a useful size.

 

I did like that I was able to use a lot of fabrics that I've bought because they had wonderfully bold patterns and then wondered how on earth I would use a fat quarter of the fabric in a quilt.  

On the other hand, making these bags has kept me from the work of making quilts.  AND now I'm heading for Quilt Odyssey at Hershey, where I have signed up for yet another class to make a wall hanging that will be someone else's design, not my own.  

I took a very pleasant scrap quilt class at my guild a couple of weeks ago and didn't even make the first block.  I enjoyed the color theory information but recognized that I would not be making that particular quilt.  I don't want to stop learning, but I need to make my own quilts.  Sooner, rather than later.

I've been doing a lot of clean-up/catch-up work this week.  I finally got the binding on the Anita's Arrows quilt, now known as "Dewey's Quilt."  It's on the white sofa ready for Dewey to nap on when the cold weather comes.  In the summertime, he sleeps outside, often on the patio chairs or table.  I've never had a cat before that could sleep soundly outside.  He's a pretty self-confident guy.

I've also put labels on a couple of quilts.  I've been typing them in Pages (the Apple version of Word) and printing them out on fabric pressed to freezer paper sheets.  Some people make really lovely labels, and I'm not too happy with the look of these.  They have a technology-produced look that runs counter to the look of the quilts.  I'll have to post a few of my efforts so that I can look at them and think about what to do.

I've also been working on some little bags.  My guild asks everyone to donate at least three handmade items to sell in the boutique at our show.  I found the pattern and tutorial for these by the Gourmet Quilter.  I just love her!  She lives on a houseboat that makes tantalizing creaking sounds during her YouTube videos.  She is unassuming and absolutely clear in her instructions.  Her taste in fabric is totally different from mine, and sometimes I scratch my head at her choices, but I love her ideas and techniques.  Here's a link to the bag tutorial:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcKMLG75cb0 .

I went to the quilt auction at the Kutztown Folk Fair today.  It is THE place to see traditional quilts, especially those made by the Mennonite community.  There are about 2400 quilts selected for sale in the quilt barn during the 10 days of the fair.  On the final Saturday, 24 of those quilts, those judged to be the best, are sold at auction.  Of the 24 this year, 21 were hand-quilted.

Here is a photo of the audience waiting for the auction to begin.

The quilts that sold at auction went for $1000 to $5000, with most in the lower range.  The bidders here love hand quilting and traditional designs.  Three of the quilts received no bids and were returned to the farm.  I can't begin to imagine how I would feel if that happened to me.

Here is a gorgeous cheddar, red, and green hand-quilted Whig Rose quilt. 

This beauty with the traditional Amish distlefinks was a favorite with the crowd and sold for about $3000.  Personally, I'm not fond of the stars in the corners.  I think that they detract from the lighter look of the hand applique.  (Just my opinion.)  In case you're not sure what a distlefink is, it's a dove-like bird that is always looking back over its shoulder toward Germany from Pennsylvania.

When the auctioneer described this quilt has having "yoyo flowers," he set up a howl in the audience, which gave him a quick and chaotic lesson on ruched flowers.  It was quite funny!

I've learned that it really pays to stand in the line for the ladies' room.  The woman in front of me was the successful bidder on the quilt with ruched flowers and shocked her husband by telling him that the dogs would no longer be permitted to sleep on the bed.  The woman behind me was a tiny Mennonite woman who explained to me how she hand-quilts away from her body on a frame.  (I have to use a hoop, because I can quilt only toward myself.)

It was a glorious day here in PA, and we even bought a beautiful hand-made rocking chair.  No quilts: those I have to make myself.

I've been away, cruising on the Danube River.  What a beautiful trip!  It's funny how I see everything through a quiltmaker's eye now.  I kept snapping pictures of patterns for applique or quilting.  I'm not much of a photographer, but these are really just for reference.

This one was a plaster ceiling in the abbey at Melk, Austria.  Another one below.

The next one is the tile roof on the Matthias Cathedral in Budapest.

And here is a doorway in the Parliament building in Budapest.

And these two small bags were irresistible.  They are Hungarian and hand-beaded.  I can see them translated into applique.  They are stunning on black, but I'm not sure I want a black background.  I'm starting to imagine a medallion quilt with a pale yellow background and some of the flower designs in reds and pinks.  Not at all sure about that, though.

When I travel, I take along a project that will probably last me for years.  I make small Sawtooth Stars, cut from templates and pieced by hand from my scraps.  (I thought that these were called Evening Stars, but maybe not.  I think that they are also called Variable Stars.)  I try to make each one pretty within itself, but I don't try to make them match each other in any way.

Meet Dewey.  Look at that arrogant face!  "You want to take a photo of a star?  Well, here I am."