Zion Mennonite Church Quilting Workshop 2016

I drove out to the Zion Mennonite Quilt Show this morning after work.

I have known about this amazing array of quilts for many years but this was my first time where my work schedule and my other life schedule said "Go!".

It's not very far from my house and I know many of the quilters.
This is their 44th year holding the workshop.

Her machine is a Brother.

 You can't come to a quilt show without your quilted tote.

 I liked this strip quilt set on a dark gray solid.

Little kitties playing. Embroidered baby quilt.

 Hawaiian Applique

 The big room in their fellowship hall. Giant quilt frame. Anyone can join in.
The walls were lined in quilts.

 Liked the seeming simplicity of this pastel quilt.
It probably is easy to make, or not.

 A couple of flower wall hangings.

 Someone made the stuffed toy. 
I liked the quilt behind it and really liked the photographer in my shot.

 I love these giant sunbonnet sue variation quilts. This one with fabric and embroidery. Each one holding a posie. This quilt is hand-quilted.

 This is not some giant quilt show that charges admission. The ladies accept donations to fund their charity of choice but all items can be touched, photographed, lusted after.
Look at these tiny sweet sewing machines.

 This appliqued quilt is to the left of the sewing machine montage.

 Teeny, Tiny one-inch squares. Set on point.
Gorgeous mini quilt - although it is baby quilt sized.

 Vintage Amish Baby quilt.  Sorry - the sign tag had too much light to show up.

 Dimensional BowTie.

 And then we get to the Friendship quilts. A couple of these were from the 1970's. I thought most were done in the 40's & 50's. 

This pink sashed one above is very typical. Everyone was given a white block to embroider/sew/autograph and then it was sashed in pink with white squares between. Squares and rectangles.

 The one I found at an estate sale (for a buck) was more elaborate with the hexagons.
It was in very poor shape and I salvaged what I could and upcycled the good parts into pincushions.

Made in the 40's, this Grandmother's Flower Garden incorporates typical 40's pinks and greens.

Oh - I did find one airplane quilt made with these Michael Miller fabrics ( I have these same fabric panels stashed away!)

Nothing to compare with my Lucky Lindy airplane quilt:


I still have not decided what to do with this. The wadding is all lumpy in the seams. There are only a couple of places where the fabrics have worn through, however, it is in poor/acceptable condition because of the wadding. 

I had thought of hanging it at the head of my bed. I need to find a rod and brackets and then fashion a hanging pocket on the back.

***If you click on the photos, you can see the tag details of who made the quilt, what year, what pattern.

Donations are accepted via Zion Mennonite Church and fund various charitable groups.

Friendship Quilt Pincushions

I thought I had already blogged about this estate sale find. All of $1 - that's right - one dollar!
The quilt was in pretty poor condition but it was a friendship quilt.
Back in the 1930's, 40's and even into the 50's, these quilts were very popular.

Each lady hand-embroidered their block with their signature done in their signature embroidery stitches. Embellished or not.

This particular quilt was done mostly by ladies from Oregon (swoon) in the 1930's using feedsack fabrics and tiny little hand stitches throughout. No machine piecing done.

If I hadn't of bought it, it would have gone to a landfill.

I sat on it for about a year before thinking of a way to upcycle it into something 'new'. 

All of the blocks were the same, hand-stitched six-sided stars with hexagons created  in-between. There is a fancy name for this block . . .maybe one of my readers knows it?

Seaside, Oregon. Complete with fishing boat and fish jumping. A crab! and a seashell.
Some ladies embroidered their town in addition to the date.
 This block was age-spotted but I couldn't leave it out of my pincushion collection.

 Cutting out 6 inch circles, preparatory to making the pincushions.

I gave the remaining holey quilt to a friend. There is still some usable parts of feedsack but I was done with it.

I made 20 pincushions.
Stuffed with lavender and polyester stuffing.
Finished off with floss and buttons from my grandmother's stash.
For sale in the etsy shop.

 More information on Friendship Quilts.