Next week is my local guild’s Annual Quilt Show in Fort Worth, Texas.  If you’re in the area you might want to come and check it out!  You can get all the details at our website.  So although I should be finishing up my one and only entry in the show, I’m taking time out for blogging instead.  Remember me?  Last Minute Lucy?  I’m still hand quilting my entry with less than a week to go.  Good thing I work well under pressure.

In honor of our upcoming show, I thought I’d give you a bunch of fun quilts to see today.  Last Monday at our monthly Quiltsitters Club at Quilter’s Dream, Beverly asked for the gals to bring some of their very first quilts that they made.  She started off the Show ‘n Tell for the day with these:
 

This log cabin quilt.  It was one of her very, very early quilts.  I should tell you that the requirement to be a part of this club is that you complete a few quilts based on an old book by Mary Ellen Hopkins called, It’s OK if You Sit on my Quilt.  If you’ve been in the quilting world very long, you will recognize that name.  Basic, traditional patterns like this log cabin.  Mary Ellen’s philosophy was to make quilts simple and fast.  The idea being that it is OK to sit on them and use them, because you can just whip out another one.

This is the back of Beverly’s log cabin.  You can’t really see it but she quilted straight lines in the ditch because she didn’t want to cross any seams in her quilting.  And she made it clear that she was showing her quilts first so no one would be embarrassed to show theirs.

By the way, that nice wide blue border?  That’s the binding.  Apparently she hadn’t been taught that it was supposed to be about 1/4″ wide.  And no, it is not full of batting to the edge.  Judges would not give this quilt really high scores.  But it has been loved and used by one of her sons for many years.

See?  Loved and used.  And coming unstitched.  If I knew how to do it, I’d put an arrow on this picture to show you where.  If you look closely, you can probably find it.

This nice double Irish chain was the next quilt she showed.  She learned about this quilt in a lecture class.  She took wonderful notes that said 1½” strips.  Apparently that was supposed to be the finished size.  But she cheerfully cut her strips that size and then had to make a lot more blocks for this quilt because she was committed to it fitting her son’s twin-sized bed.  A nice, tiny double Irish chain.

And this one has been chewed by the dog.

So it got a nice fabric patch.  Out of dog fabric. 

Loved and used.  Even by the dog.

Here’s another simple pattern.  A triple rail fence quilt shown by Susan.  Cute!

Suzann only made 4 log cabin blocks before she decided she’d had enough of those.  And she showed them so quickly, they were just a blur.  Action shot.

Suzann turned her triple rail blocks on point!  And then decided that the crooked binding on this was too challenging to do.  And this poor quilt has been waiting for a binding ever since.  We told her to just whack off the sides and bind it.  But she was having none of that.  She liked this look and still wants to bind it this way.  Have fun with that, Suzann!

A pretty double Irish chain.  With some cool quilting in the open spaces.

A fabulous log cabin by Claudette.  Complete with the ribbon it won when she entered it in a quilt show.

Another triple rail.  It was fun to see these quilts in all different fabric choices.

Another log cabin.  I love log cabin quilts.  Perhaps one day I’ll make more blocks to go with the 25 I’ve already made and actually sew them together in a quilt.  But only if you give me a deadline.

And another triple rail.  Lovely.

This is not, I repeat, not a simple “It’s OK” quilt.  And Susan might not even let you sit on this one when it’s finished.  But we have all kinds of Show ‘n Tell at this group and I especially thought you needed to see this one.  Beautiful.

This one is an It’s OK Sampler quilt.  A bit of Irish chain in the middle with log cabin blocks around.  Flying geese and churn dash too.  Fun quilt!  And I love the red, white and black.

A pretty sampler quilt.  With wonderful quilting too.

Another pretty sampler. 

This quilt is a Magic Nine Patch.  The pattern was created by Beverly.  She is a math genius.  Very simple and quick to make and is our go-to quilt when we need to make one in a hurry.  Strip pieced with wonderful pressing instructions too.  If you don’t have this pattern, you absolutely need it in your pattern stash.

This quilt was a Mystery quilt that the group did recently.

And another.  Same pattern, different fabrics.

How about this fabulous log cabin variation?  Love it!

Foresteen is a relatively new quilter.  She made this wonderful double Irish chain.

And also this pretty one called Mandevilla.  Also from the “It’s OK” book.  Very nice.

Another Magic Nine Patch.  The request was for a camouflage quilt.  I think she did a great job.  And I camouflaged it further by making it really blurry.  Happy to oblige.

Carolyn showed this pretty Christmas quilt she finished.  Fabulous.

Hey JSS gals!  Recognize this fabric?

And finally, another Magic Nine Patch.  In bright, cheery colors.  We actually have kits for this one at the Shop.  Feel free to call them if you want one.  817-481-7105.  The colors are even more fabulous in person!

And now I’d better get back to my quilting.  And organizing things for my job at the Quilt Show.  I also have toasted sesame seeds sitting in a cookie sheet on the counter fresh from their toasting in the oven.  For tahini.  For hummus.  I need to make some roasted red pepper hummus!  My stomach is growling at the very thought of it.

See you at the Quilt Show!
Barb