Yesterday morning DH and I packed our van with all the photography equipment, quilt stands, lint brushes, etc. that we would need later. Then I headed over to my friend's place to help her with a sewing project. I pinned, and she stitched. Then we inserted elastic in several casings. By that time, it was time to stop for a quick cup of tea before I had to leave.
DH and I ate dinner early, then headed over to the church where we are doing the quilt photography for the upcoming quilt show.
We arrived at 5:15, and got busy setting up all the equipment, while several quilters arrived, with their loads of quilts. Some were bringing some for friends as well. Once we got started, things ran quite smoothly. We had a steady flow of quilts going up on the stand, having one or two pictures snapped, and then back down again. DH showed some of the ladies a quick way to fold their quilts using the church pews. Our quilt show registrars want all the quilts folded a particular way when they are handed in next Tuesday. Things began to slow down by 8pm, and we were able to take time to chat with the last few arrivals. We thought everyone had arrived, so DH began taking the first stand down, when one final quilter arrived with one quilt. Of course, we stopped and took the picture, then packed everything back up and loaded it back in the van. My final job was to assure that the sanctuary door was locked, along with the front inner and outer door, and then I was able to leave through the church hall - the door there locks behind you, so everything was left secure.
We were back home by 9:30pm, having a final cup of tea, and watching something mindless on RV before bed.
I took the luxury of sleeping in a bit this morning, then we began to do some of the chores on our lists. This afternoon, I made copies of the camera files ( I'm storing all the information on my computer, in a cloud account, and on a portable hard drive, just in case!) Then I spent time changing the file names on all the photos taken to match the official quilt number in the show, but just on my working file. I think I'm ready for an afternoon cup of tea!
We have one more photography session planned for next Tuesday, which is the day all the quilts have to be handed in, so that they can be stored, and sorted into the various hanging areas in the show. On day two of set-up, they will be delivered to the venue, and placed in each area, ready to be hung. It certainly saves time on the final day!
Wish me luck. I'll be back to editing all the pictures after my tea!
Last Thursday was our first photography day for the quilts that will be displayed at Quilts Kingston 2018 in June. DH and I set up 2 quilt stands in the sanctuary of St John's Portsmouth Anglican Church, one with a black backdrop fabric, and one to hang quilts. We had a steady procession of quilters arriving with their quilts. The Kingston Heiroom Quilters Guild was having a day-time meeting, and pot luck lunch in the church hall, so many of their members brought their quilts along, but as usual, there are many sewing madly to get things completed in time for the show!
I've spent most of the weekend, editing the 150 or so pictures that were taken, to show each quilt to its best advantage. I also received the files with the quilt "artist statements" that will be displayed on, or next to each quilt in the show. These all had to be re-formatted so that they could be loaded onto the CD.
I was feeling stitching deprived, so I pulled out a bag with some cotton cord, wrapped with selvedge edges, and stitched a couple of baskets - I didn't want my machine to feel neglected!
This small basket was made with mostly black and gray fabric selvedges. I added some buttons to hide the end of the join. It is 8 inches across, and 4 inches high.
I used a heavy "jeans" thread in the bobbin, to add a colourful surprise to the outside.
The second basket was made from blues to white selvedge edges. I like taking advantage of the colour along a white edge to create stripes. This basket also has a selvedge that had a fuzzy thread edge, making the final edge of the basket more interesting.
I decided to roll the top edge of this basket. This one also finished at 8 inches across, but is only 3 inches tall. I used Superior Twist thread, in a light turquoise colour in both the bobbin and needle.
This basket is 9 1/2 inches across, and 4 1/2 inches tall. Most of the selvedges used in this basket, came from a quilt that I made for my son and daughter-in-law.
When I was nearing the end of the stitching, I stopped and made a small disc from the remaining wrapped cord. Then I returned and stitched the final row, reinforcing the stitching where the curl began. It makes a neat finish (just visible on the picture above).
I don't keep track of how much fabric goes into these, as the selvedges would have ended up in the trash. I sit and wrap the cords while watching TV with DH in the evenings, and then it only takes a few minutes to stitch each basket.
