International Quilt Show Chicago 2008

I know I'm really VERY late but I just thought I would post some pics of some beautiful quilts that I saw at the International Quilt Show that was in Chicago on April 12th last month.


This quilt was Best in Show and it was truly amazing! It is titled "I Ain't No Spring Chicken" and it's by David Taylor of Steamboat Springs, CO. He worked from a photogragh to guide him and pieced together many different shades of white for the chicken and brown for the barn wood in the background.


This quilt was called "Dresden Plates" and was made and machine appliqued by Jeanne Pfister from Kaukauna, WI. It also won first prize in its category.


This quilt was entered in the "Celebrate Spring" exhibit. It was entitled "Just Dandy" and it was machine pieced and quilted by Ruth Powers of Carbondale, KS.


This quilt was also in the "Celebrate Spring" exhibit. It was called "Standing Tall and the techniques used to make it included fused applique, and water-color pencil. That reminds me... I want to pick up some water-color pencils while I'm still here in Cleveland. I was told that the white or grey color can be used to mark quilts, and they wash right out!
OK, that's my quilty tip for the day! Happy quilting!

Seven Random Facts...

Hi everyone! I'm back in Cleveland visiting my kids with DH. First I must tell you that I spent two days at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago - it was amazing!!! I was a little jet lagged but I'm glad that I had the experience. The quilts were wonderful! More on that later after I get my computer to download my pictures...

I've been tagged for the first time. Let's see how this goes...

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Here are the 7 random facts about me:

1. When I was in college I wanted to be a veterinarian until I found out that part of the program consisted of working on large animals, I mean horses, cows and pigs! No thanks, I just treat guinea pigs...

2. I speak English, French and colloquial Arabic.

3. I spent two summers working for the Canadian Government in a Microbiology Lab.

4. I've had to escape from a polar bear on an ice flow by jumping back into the helicopter.

5. I love to watch Syrian soap operas especially the historical ones.

6. I took ballet lessons when I was in my early 20's and I always had season's tickets to Les Grands Ballets Canadien when I lived in Montreal.

7. I consider myself a New Englander at heart even though I haven't lived there for many years.

OK. That's it for me. I would like to tag the following bloggers:

Aby
Siti
Laura
Wendy
Tine
Sandy
Vickie

Greetings from the USA!

I've been tagged by Jackie for seven random facts about myself but it may take me some time to answer because I'm still traveling with my husband here in the US and I'm not sure if and when I'll have internet access.

Please stay tuned!

...To finish divine!

I'm sure you've all come across the saying: To quilt is human...to finish divine!? That's how I feel about this latest baby quilt. Yes, I finished all the hand applique and the machine quilting. Better than that is the feeling that I did a pretty good job and that's saying something because I'm usually quite critical of my own work. My applique circles are not completely round but I doubt that anyone would notice (unless you held up the template and examined each one)!

On the positive side, I learned quite a few things about quilting while making this baby quilt many of which I picked up from my daily reading of quilting blogs. For example, to learn how to make perfectly round appliqued circles (this info will be used when I make my next applique quilt!!!) check out Kim's pictorial tutorial. Then check out the results she gets in her cherry block (very cute!)

When it came to hand sewing on the binding, I decided to try Dorothy's method over at Morning Pages. She uses a ladder stitch that sews up really fast and becomes almost invisible. I had been getting painstaking results with a modified applique stitch before but Dorothy's method is so much faster!

So big 'thankyous' to Kim and Dorothy for their 'virtual' help - isn't this world getting smaller? Wow!


I even managed to sew my label on the back!


And finally, I must show you this picture of 'Mademoiselle Misty' who has decided to grace our picture with her presence! Our wonderful house helper Arti is holding up the quilt (she feels shy about her feet being in the picture!) but I told her I must show all the quilters in blogland our 'cute kitty'!


Quilter's thought for the day:
Count your blessings, stitch them one by one!

Fabric journal covers

I had fun making this fabric journal cover from the February 2008 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine that E lent to me. Thank's E! It's a nice short project - took me about 2 hours to pick out the material and put it together. At first I wasn't sure about the instructions but then I read them slowly and went step by step. The instructions kinda confused me because I've seen versions of this on the internet and they used a different method. You can check out Lara's blog for another way to make these covers, in fact, I might try Lara's so that I can compare the two methods.


It's my quilting buddy's birthday soon so this will make a nice present, don't you think? No peeking Jean!!!!!!

A Birthday Message for Safia!

Happy birthday dear daughter! Twenty-four years ago on March 24th God blessed us, so this is your lucky year! You are our sunshine, and our life (hayatee)! Have a wonderful day and we will see you soon!

More Good Things from the Garden...

Can you guess what this is? Nnnooooo.... it's not a lemon on steroids!!!!


You are close, though. It's a fruit related to the lemon family which is cultivated in gardens all over the Middle East. These trees are common in Syria where they are still found in traditional Damascean interior gardens.


Here's how it compares to an ordinary lemon! Kind of bumpy, eh? Well, there's not much juice in these things but the peel is very thick and, you guessed it, it's used to make a sort of marmelade.


The peel is trimmed off and boiled in a concentrated sugar mixture on a low heat so that it becomes this candied, lemon-type peel which can be eaten at breakfast or for dessert sometimes. My dear Syrian MIL used to make it and she called it 'kabbad' in arabic.


This is just to show you my poor, sun-baked, outdoor thermometer which is registering about 94F. Not too bad since it's noontime here and don't forget it's a DRY heat! So I'll wait 'til July to complain!!!






I'll leave you with a few more hibiscus flowers.











Aren't these colors pretty?