In the last post I talked about Country Heritage Tours and how much I enjoyed travelling with them. What I didn't mention is that they are well known and popular world wide. On our bus, we had ladies from England, Scotland, Canada, Switzerland, the UK and New Zealand. We also had travelers from states as far away as Oregon, Washington, and Montana to name a few. I really enjoyed touring with such a diverse, fun group. I was blessed with fair weather and excellent company!
Wicked Wahines:
The gals from New Zealand all wore a little handmade doll that is called a Wahine. You could spot them anywhere because of the doll; they called themselves the "Wicked Wahines." Such fun!
Ruth from New Zealand wearing her Wahine doll.
Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry of Bryerpatch Studio
Ruth became a newspaper celebrity after we visited the Bryerpatch Studio. We were fortunate to visit this week since Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry will be moving to Washington state at the end of April. This was the last week to tour her studio and how lucky we were to see it. It was fantastic! Here are some pictures and highlights from that day . . .
Ruth (a Wicked Wahine) and Caryl Fallert-Gentry make front page news in The Paducah Sun
Another Wicked Wahine Gal
Leap by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry
Caryl does art quilts focusing on birds and dancing'
This is the ceiling in Caryl's living room. Awesome!
Dorm room for quilters on retreat.
Caryl's Studio
Loved this painting and quote!
Studio Design Wall
Even though Caryl and her husband will be moving to Washington state overlooking Puget Sound, you can still visit her website for Bryerpatch Studio.
I did buy a little kit to try Caryl's technique. Of course, I had to have her sign it! It says "Simple," so I should be able to manage it. Wish me luck!
Check back tomorrow for more about our Paducah travels.
What an awesome beginning to our Quilt Week in Paducah. Our bus pulls up to the little visitor center in the small town of Paducah and who should appear to greet us but "Quilt Man"! His sidekick "Bobbin" was out on a mission. This just proves that real men quilt! Check out the video below:
Country Heritage Tours
If you are not familiar with Country Heritage Tours, let me say I would highly recommend them for anyone who enjoys tours and is also a quilter. This was my second trip with them; my first was up to Vermont for the Vermont Quilt Festival along with my sidekick, Barbie (Bobbin). Miss Vicki Pitts was our tour leader and we were fortunate to have her again for the Paducah Tour. She is top notch because of her tour experience, sense of humour and caring attitude. Vicki made us all feel special! I found out that Country Heritage Tours is family owned and when you call, you get a person, not a recording. Here is the website for information about their upcoming tours.
Along with Vicki, we also had a top notch bus and a top notch bus driver. His name is Pat or Sweet Cheeks as Vicki so fondly called him. By the end of the tour we were all calling him Sweet Cheeks. He was wonderful and funny.
Meanwhile, back to our adventures in Paducah. Barbie and I walked around the town and enjoyed the sunny weather. Pink and white dogwood, lilacs, and tulips were blooming; plus, the trees had leaves! Wowser! It was beautiful!
The dogwood was in full bloom and especially pretty this year. How blessed we were to be visiting just at the right time to see them. There is a "Dogwood Trail" through town where the trees are all lit up at night and Pat (Sweet Cheeks) drove us around the trail one night.
Pink Dogwood
You are probably anxious to see some of the Paducah Show quilts. We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum, but I did take some at the show. The show quilts were all spectacular, and here are a few highlights:
Traces of Seasons Past, Roxanne Ferguson, Mayfield, Kentucky
Dreaming of Home, Barbara McKie, Old Lyme, Connecticut
Under The Ginkgo Tree, Tanya Brown, Sunnyvale California
Katie and the Cornflower, Robbie Porter, Batavia, Ohio
Park City Barn, Jan Berg-Rezmer, Gladwin, Michigan
My Mother's Spirit Guides Me Still, Sara Sharp, Austin, Texas
Blue Tone, Aki Sakai, Tokyo, Japan
Plainly Not Simple, Denise Havlan, Plainfield, Illinois
Purple Feathered Star, Charlene Brians. Red Bluff California
To end this post, here is one of Miss Vicki's encouraging quotes that she shared with us:
"Love is a quilt; a quilt is love. Both love and a quilt should be:
Soft enough to comfort you
Bright enough to cheer you
Generous enough to enfold you
Light enough to let you move freely
Strong enough to last a lifetime
and
Given gladly from the heart."
Thank you for this quote Miss Vicki!
This is just the beginning of our adventures and I have lots more to write about - tomorrow. Right now, I need to curl up under a quilt for a little nap.
It's been almost two weeks since my last post. I have been a bit under the weather lately, both from the yucky snow and then a bad cold, but today I was feeling better and had a nice visit with my QBee friend, Kathy.
Happiness is a new sewing machine.
Kathy was recently at the Sewing and Quilt Expo in Cleveland. She came home with a little Tin Lizzie Quilting Machine and is having sew much fun being creative. She was excited to show it to me and gave me the chance to sit down and try it out.
Kathy was doing a line and loops.
This is how you practice - like doodling with thread.
Ohio Star Quilt:
Last night at the Streetsboro Quilt Guild meeting, the quilt with all our Ohio Stars put together was brought in for show and tell. It came out awesome.
Have fun quilting and remember:
"A creative mess is better than tidy idleness. ~Author Unknown
For our Tuesday quilt guild meeting, we were to make a 12" Ohio Star Block that will go in a raffle quilt to help a local National Guard Unit. This sounds easy enough, but I was not happy with the first block, it looked like the outside points would be lost. So, I ended up making two and was more satisfied with the second block. The Ohio Star is a lovely pattern!
Block 1
Block 2
For the second block, I used the Easy Angle ruler that Bonnie Hunter taught us how to use while making Easy Street. That seemed to help with the points:
Funny coincidence, at the quilt guild meeting, I talked to many of the ladies and they also made two squares because they were not quite happy with the first. It seems that quilters are usually the most critical of their own work.
Ohio Star Block History:
If you are interested in learning more about the history of the Ohio Star, which has many other names, check out the website: Quilting in America. Click Here for the link!
The Ohio Star Block dates back to the 1800's and there is also a political connection.
"This block was also known by the political slogan Tippecanoe and Tyler Too, after the 1840 presidential campaign slogan of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. Harrison had become known for his 1811 victory against the Indians in the battle of Tippecanoe, so during the campaigning of 1839 and 1840, which was the first in American history with slogans and songs, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was the popular slogan associated with Harrison and Tyler."
