Machine Stitches Quilt Block

 The February block

with

Skill Builder

Block of the Month

features

Machine Stitches

Learn how to make these cute

Asterisk

Cross Stitch

and 

Vine Stitches

 You can join this

Online Class 

taught by Alyssa Lichner (Pile O' Fabric)

anytime

Click on the Skill Builder icon on my right side bar,

and follow from there!

Love Birds

Love shall be our token;

love be yours and love be mine.

                              (Christina Rossetti)

*Image found on Pinterest

Happy Valentines Day!

The Tentmakers of Cairo Quilt Exhibit

 Another well presented Exhibit

during AQS QuiltWeek/ Phoenix was

Stitch Like An Egyptian

with

The Tentmakers of Cairo

125 beautifully appliqued quilts lined an entire section

of the Convention Center

 With needles flying 

and snippets of cloth laying at his feet

Hosam Hanafy worked rapidly 

on brilliantly colored applique

for the full 4 days of the show.

 This ancient art 

begins with a canvas back

and then layers of solid colored cloth

are sewn in bit by bit

by hand 

to form the top. 

Rows upon rows of beautiful quilts.

 Such intricate designs!

Each quilt was for sale.

 We marveled at the prices

for such detailed pieces.

 For example:

Wael

54" X 65"

was listed at $1,200 for AQS Members

$1,500 retail

The Tentmakers of Cairo

is a traveling exhibit with AQS

check their listings

for future shows.

A recent comment with additional information:
A great post about the Tentmakers of Cairo. If you are keen to see more or find out more about them you should take a look at our website www.tentmakersofcairo.com where you can find out more about the men and about our upcoming documentary film about them.

Cheers.

Kim Beamish
Producer
The Tentmakers of Chareh El Khiamiah 

Cow Stampede Quilts

 Quilts can be quite humorous.

I heard some 

deep hearty belly laughs

through out the aisles

while viewing the

Cow Stampede Exhibit

Looking at Cows From A New Perspective

during AQS/Phoenix Quilt Week

**

This special exhibit is a hilarious

and very creative interpretation

of anything "cow"

Using the whimsical cow block from Mary Lou Weisman's book

Out of The Box with Easy Blocks

Mary's students have been

original 

 clever 

and offer a great play on words.

I saw a similar exhibit at Quilt Festival in Houston

and AQS provided even more ideas.

This post is a quite picture heavy,

but I wanted to share with you every funny inch:

COWafornia

by Sue Cresse

 MOOlah A Cash Cow

or

COWculator

by Charlotte Lorenzo

 Notice the numbers on the cow's body

 and the udders!

 Eat More Veggies

by Kathy Collins

 Carrot udders :)

 Cow Tipping

by Terri Jones

made me think of the movie "Cars"

 PanaMOO Canal

by Susan Typpi

 complete with 3-D

parrot earrings

 Cow Town

by Mary Lou Weidman herself

 Neighborhood houses with names like 

Bessie

Bossy 

and Lulu

 Hot Dog udders :)

 Zorro the BOOvine

by Eilene Hamilton

 Who is that masked man cow?

 Captain

AMOOica

by Julie Post

 Caped and Flying

 MOO-rage

by Rebecka Schafer

 Sunglasses with a desert view

 The Three COWballeros

by Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli

 Who would not love

a three headed 

mustached cow?

 Especially one adorned with a bird

wrapped in a Serape?

I seriously have to come up with an idea

and make one of these some day!

The basic cow block can be found

in the book 

Out Of The Box with Easy Blocks

HERE

Obsession and Mistaken Identity Quilts

 I love Quilt Shows

I love walking around to see the 

wide variety and diverse creativity

that can be applied to quilt making.

For me, Quilt Shows are like

one big happy Show and Tell

presented in the most comfortable and easiest way.

Obsession

by Mary Bauer

Crestwood, Kentucky
As I stood by this quilt
a group of ladies walked up, read the title
and commented
"Obsession! Great name!
  Isn't that the way we all feel about quilting?"

 I was particularly drawn to this quilt

because of the wonderful color combinations.

 Mary won a 3rd Place Ribbon

in the Bed Quilts-Traditional category

 Great border

 Interesting quilting

Congratulations Mary!

 Mistaken Identity

by Gail Stepanek

Quilted by Jan Hutchison

New Lenox, Illinois

1st place Winner

in the Bed Quilts-Traditional category

 The contrast of the dark gray background

mixed with pops of color

from the stars

had many of us studying Gail's quilt in detail.

 Fabulous quilting!

 Beautiful border design.
Congratulations Gail and Jan!

Both of these quilts

along with all of the other winners

will be featured in the next issue of

American Quilters Magazine

As I walked around and viewed the quilts from 

AQS/Phoenix Quilt Week

I wished they had given more of a story

to accompany each quilt

like many quilt shows do.

Maybe their magazine articles

will give us more of an insight to the

creators and their design process?