We met the G-man’s folks around 11:00am and his mum and I promptly headed over to the main display, which was housed in the Children’s Activity Building out on the point. The gents knew they were being abandoned in favour of textile goodness and made their way, well somewhere, I don’t really know where, and amused themselves!! The day was beautiful, with a light breeze coming off the St. Lawrence River, and we were glad for it as we walked out to the point and through the village in the hot sun.
The building was chock full of amazing quilts, both traditional and very modern, with a wide range of personal styles and color palettes. And there were many quilters from, I think, The Thousand Islands Quilting Guild out of Brockville (sorry no link – seems to be broken) working on their own pieces and answering many questions.
We both remarked on the several black-bordered or black background quilts displayed, more than we have seen at other shows. I personally like them very much, as I love the way the colors seem to take on a life of their own and just pop against the black background, like this one.
One of my many, many, many unfinished projects in my sewing room is a strip quilt top that will be bordered by black stripes in between the bars of colored scrap fabrics. Simple, very Amish style in its simplistic layout except for the colorwork.
As well we saw an amazing quilt done with handed down family made doilies. It totally showed me how I could salvage and use many of the doilies I inherited from my Grandmummy, that I was wondering what to do with. Although I am not a “frilly’ person, this quilt top was simple in its layout, showcasing the doilies centered in each square. (sorry – this was not a good picture, too light). While the background color choice wasn’t completely my scheme, it was a good choice for the light colored doilies. Still I will experiment with alternative backgrounds to see if I can bring some more color into my quilt tops. I think I have enough to do at least two quilt tops, maybe more, especially if I keep them twin sized, that I could give to the younger girls in the family as a keepsake of their great-grandmother.
As well I was inspired by an number of borders to finish two of Grandmummy’s quilt tops with plaid borders, so need only to find a co-ordinating fabric suitable for matching up to the tops. Woo-hoo – fabric shopping!
I noticed I was especially drawn to quilts that had random characteristics and/or scrap fabric components. The appeal is making something beautiful out of what you have available or re-purposing textiles into new uses. While I totally appreciate the electric beauty in modern quilts, and the exciting new fabrics used in reproduction patterns, and the attention and exacting standards of piecework, it is the lowly patchwork, scrap or striped quilt with a basic simple layout and random fabrics with no theme or careful matching that grabs my attention over and over again. I just can’t get enough! It totally explains why I buy quilting fat quarters at random with no purpose, just to add to my fabric stash, just because I like them! I just like to look at them and re-arrange them into pleasing combinations until I’m ready to use them. But that’s the beauty of quilting – there’s something for everyone!
We finished off the tour with a trip to the very small vendors market, but there wasn’t anything that really grabbed me, and no plaids to speak of, so sadly I didn’t make any purchases.
On our way to an amazing lunch at the McDiarmid House (the beef stew is the best!), we stopped to see a weaving and spinning demonstration in the Ross Farmhouse. And when the G-man pointed out that the Saxony Spinning Wheel was just like the one I am inheriting from my great grandmother, I got a wonderful extra detailed demonstration with some practical tips about using this type of wheel. I know my wheel needs lots of repair, but now I have a really good idea on how it works and what to expect. I am really excited about getting it now!
It was a very, very inspiring day, and I have had itchy fingers to abandon my knitting and sit down at the sewing machine and hear it whirring along…. but I have been good and am working hard to not get caught up in another round of startitis! There’ll be plenty of time this winter for the quilts, and I need the time to formulate the colorways and find the border and backing fabrics anyway. The Innu sweater has only 3 inches of stockingette to finish the sleeve, and for a quick mental break I knocked off a matching ribbed toque yesterday. As one of my travel knittings this week, I’ll take along the matching mitts and get them finished up too, and this project will be complete.
It was a very good day.…
Knit on…
kate
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