2018 Fair Quilts

For awhile now, I've shown quilts at my local county fair and the Nebraska State Fair in the Open Class Division. In 2018 I finished a couple of quilts that had been in the works for awhile and included a class project and my one and only entry in a Project Quilting Challenge.

Make It Fun Quilt
The Make it Fun quilt was begun as a part of the Improv Sampler Quilt Along hosted by Patty Dudek of Elm Street Quilts in 2017. Each block was improv-pieced in response to her weekly prompts. The blocks were showcased in previous posts: 1 and 2. I designed the setting. This quilt was special and then Marsha Gormley Swanson of Dog Ear Creek Quilts added her magic. It was fortunate to win the best of its lot at the Saunders County Fair and was named the Best Improv Quilt at the Nebraska State Fair in 2018. It also hung in the 2018 Lincoln Quilters Guild Biannual Show.

Lola the Llama
Using one of Elizabeth Hartman's adorable patterns, Lola the Llama is Kona and batik on linen. It was quilted at David M. Manglesen's in Omaha. It was begun for my neighbor's baby who is now two but should have a llama quilt to go along with her real-life kitties, dogs, horse and herd of goats. Hopefully I'll finish her sister's quilt soon so she can have it. Lola earned a blue ribbon at the Saunders County Fair and hung in both the Nebraska State Fair Open Class Quilt Show and the Lincoln Quilters Guild Biannual Show.

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
I was fortunate to participate in a workshop with MJ Kinman at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum early in 2018. MJ guided us through creating a gemstone quilt using a freezer paper template piecing method. I quilted it on my Pfaff. My mini was finished just in time to hang in the Lincoln Quilters Guild Biannual Show. It also earned a fifth place ribbon in the Nebraska State Fair Open Class Quilt Show.

Nebraska Home
Kim Lapacek's Project Quilting challenges have caught my attention for quite some time. I really wanted to dive in this year but life got in the way. This was my lone entry for the first challenge: Hometown Proud. Since Nebraska, in some ways, is one big small town, it seemed apt to try out Cassandra Beaver's raw edge appliqué meets quilting via many stitches. I was pretty pleased with the effort. The Saunders County Fair judge wasn't as pleased. :) It received a red ribbon in its class.