THE QUILT SHOW by Laura Peterson

The Quilt Show by Laura Peterson

Quilt Show by Bertha Stenge

Many of you have been fortunate enough to see "The Quilt Show" by Laura Peterson in person, but for those who haven't, check out www.laurapetersonquilts.com. This quilt is winning ribbons left and right! On the website, Laura explains how this quilt came to be. There is even a writeup about each miniature quilt!

The moment I saw this quilt I thought of Bertha Stenge, an amazing Illinois quilter in the first half of the 20th century, who also had a quilt she called "Quilt Show", also featuring miniature quilts.

I think Laura may be the Bertha Stenge of our times. She is so talented and innovative, truly one of the best I've seen!

(P.S. Thanks to Laura for bringing this amazing quilt to my husband, John Stalowy, for photography.)

STAR LIGHT, SNOW BRIGHT

BBCC is entering uncharted (for us, that is...) waters. We're so excited about the NEW WOOL patterns being developed by Traci Suzanne Marvel, Sylvia Gauthier, and Jane Anderson. If you know Traci, you know that she is an amazing whimsical, folk artist. She paints and also has notebooks filled with sketches. Sylvia and Jane are going to interpret some of those designs in wool, and we are going to offer the patterns!

Chris Schroeder's "Spirit"

Chris Schroeder joined us on Tuesday morning for "Fireside Stitchers". She always brings wonderful show and tell. Here is her rendition of Toni Whitney's "Spirit". She bought our kit, but changed out the background and borders to match her colors at home. Isn't it GREAT??

Baby Lexi's Quilt

This is my current project...unrelated to Bigfork Bay Cotton Company, other than that a lot of the fabric came out of the shop. It's for my new niece, Lexi, born on January 1st! I pulled elements from the wall decals for the applique blocks and then just made a million squares. I have one more applique block to finish. I hope to be quilting it by this weekend.....

WHAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON

BACK in October I decided to make quilts for four of our kids for Christmas. At the time, it seemed like plenty of time....you know what I mean? Especially considering that one top was already almost done, and another had most of the blocks done (made by one of my daughters for my other daughter). Plus, the patterns were easy....No problem, right? Of course I was scrambling at the end. I hoped to have them to the longarm quilter by November 15...then by December 1....I think she got the last two a week in to December, and I had to have them back and bound by the time we left on the 20th. Well, three made it....the fourth would probably have gotten done also, but my quilter had a leg injury and was unable to stand at her machine. (By the way, she's also our store manager, and also made eight quilts in December to give to a needy family in our area. She's amazing.) Anyway, here are the quilts....


This pattern is my interpretation from the book "Nine Patch Pizzazz" made with a Moda collection from a couple of years ago called "Rites of Spring".




This pattern is "Full Bloom" from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, made with a Moda collection called "Shangri-la".


This is the quilt that my younger daughter and I made for my older daughter. I know she got the idea out of a book...I'll have to look it up when I get home and let you know the name of the book....it's a great book. My daughter picked out all the fabrics and made the blocks, and then I put them together and added the borders. We liked the fabrics so much that we used them for kits in the shop and made up Miss Rosie's "Stella Blue". It is also a beauty!



This pattern is "Blooming Nine Patch" from the book "Traditions With A Twist" by Blanche Young. This book is one of my Top 5 all time favorite books. Everything in this book turns out great....The instructions are the best..... This book should be in every quilter's library.

PS....Did you notice all the matching pillowcases?

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!

Well, I have been away from blogging for quite a while....more than a month and a half. It has been a busy, busy time. We moved our offices....just a mile down the road, but a lot of work nonetheless. Then, of course there were the holidays...... We visited with my daughters in Phoenix for a week, then drove up to Denver and visited with my stepsons, then made our way home. While we were in Phoenix, we had a 3D ultrasound done of my grandson (due to arrive in April...) Thought you might like to see what he looks like! The ultrasound was amazing...we watched him rocking and rolling....he was still tiny enough to be able to move around. I imagine he's a little more crowded now.... Can you see that sweet little smile on his face?