Featured Artist Show

Cutting the ribbons is fast work with extra hands

Last weekend was the Featured Artist Show. It featured work of 21 past presidents!
A small group of us arrived early for set up because in the past the hall sported beautiful fall arrangements that we had to move and return which added about an hour to the set up and take down process. This year. . .the space was bare!
So while we waited for the equipment to arrive, we helped Karan cut the ribbons that divided the spaces.

Karan and the ribbons

To keep the ribbons organized, Karan just draped them around her neck . . .much like a measuring tape.

Then our equipment arrived and it was all hands on deck getting it put together! I had planned to take photos of the stages; but, honestly, I was just going from to level answering questions!

Miraculously, all the quilts that had stories fit. Some past presidents' used less space and some used more. There were a couple places that had much fewer quilts than was thought; but, with a little scooshing here and a little scooshing there as well as using someone's "extra" quilts, all the draped areas had quilts. Who could ask for more?

Phyllis' Yo-Yos

Of all the Featured Artist Shows I've attended, this one was my favorite because of the range of techniques. There was hand quilting, beading, paper piecing, micro quilting, intricate piecing, art quilts, painted quilts. . .well, you are getting the picture. Of course the colors were just as varied.

Diana's Bitty Quilt

Phyllis made this Yo-Yo coverlet. . .it was small. It also drew lots of comments! I like yo-yo's although I can't imagine myself making even half this many!!!

I heard people say that they liked the show because of the variety of types of quilts and fabrics used.  Diana used only fabrics from her scraps to make the blocks and sometimes, the piece she had to work with barely was large enough! I visited this quilt often! She said the quilt pattern came from a BOM through a quilt magazine last year.

Phyllis' small items display

Phyllis brought some unique small items to fill a seating area. She said that she loved making dolls and that the Raggedy dolls in the photo were two of 600 she had made and given away over the years! The crazy patch quilt in the background was her work in progress. She received lots of ideas of what kind of border it needed next.











I liked the story behind Jan's round robin quilt. The rules were that you couldn't move anything once the block or section was sewn!

Jan's Round Robin

Chris' Honeymoon Beach

Chris and I were in the same class for her Honeymoon Beach class. Her's is finished. . .mine . . .well, I haven't even completed the pattern!!! At any rate, she made this quilt from a photo she took when she was on her honeymoon! It was so fun to see it again!

Jan's Santa's Big Night Quilt

Jan's embroidered Christmas quilt garnered a lot of attention too. That tiny candy cane border was the perfect accent to this quilt!

I thought that I had taken more photos than I did so you will just have to take my word for it about the variety in each president's display!

All too soon it was time to take down the show. It took us about two and a half hours to hang the 173 quilts and about 50 small items. It only took an hour to take it all down!

First step in taking down the quilts. . .lowering them!

Our hanging system is really cool. The uprights collapse so that you don't have to stand on a ladder or step stool to take the quilts down. But, team work is involved because the whole section needs to be lowered at the same time! It can be done differently, but it is easier it is lowered at the same time.

Once the quilts are at a reachable height, they are removed from the hanging bars, folded and removed from the area.

The lanyards, hanging bars are removed and stacked in a central area. The drapes are removed, folded and stacked. Next the cross bars come off the uprights, then the uprights

Ross beginning to load the bases in a cart.

are removed from the bases. Once there are piles of like equipment, the pieces are boxed. Each box has a label on it that lets you know how many go into that container! The last item to be picked up are the bases. These are heavy!

It is a good idea to wear gloves and closed toe shoes so that you don't get your fingers pinched! Ross is Sandie's husband. Once the boxes are packed, a moving crew that we hire packs the boxes in a truck and drives them to the storage unit and puts them in the unit. It is worth the $400 that costs to not be lifting and carrying those heavy boxes!

One of my partners in organizing this show was Sandie. She was the president who followed me. Although we knew each other, this was the first time we had worked so closely together. We used to laugh because we tend to problem solve the same way. For example, we each had brought a kit of maybe needed items. We didn't tell the other that we packed the kit. . .ha! The kits were identical right down to the lint roller brush!

Sandie, who helped organize the show!

I so enjoyed working with her. If she heard of an issue before me she took care of it and then let me know what she did. Every time, if I had encountered it first, I would have solved it the same way! Isn't that a hoot?

She recruited all the volunteers for the show. . .the overnighters (they sit and sew because the building is open to its tenants 24/7), the hostesses, the set up and take down crew.

Lots of people attended the show. We brought in $1096 in donations which was almost $300 more than we estimated! (We asked for $3 to see the quilts. Some gave more, some gave less, a few not at all; but that is how donations work!) We spent less than our budget and will add about $400 to our general fund. Life is good.

Now, I can get back to sewing. I do have another guild commitment; but, I'm thinking I'll be able to make progress on that list I made at the beginning of the month!  Cheers!!!