Erin Underwood Quilts

Just spent the day with a good friend antiquing in Havre de Grace, Maryland – Lunch at a waterfront restaurant and slow strolls through emporium after emporium filled with gee-gaws, trash and and treasure. The last shop we browsed was a fascinating little art gallery filled with antique buttons – perhaps 10s of thousands of them, all for sale, any where from $1 to $250 a button.

Now the proprietor also had a bit of button “art”, let the beholder be the judge of the quality, but if you take into account how many buttons were on her artwork too, we are probably talking about 100s of thousands of buttons!  Needless to say, the variety and rarity of the buttons were outstanding, grapes and sea shells, flora and fauna, covered, brass and other shiney metals, glass and wood and bakalite (I don’t know if that’s correct but I am referring to the first plastics from the turn of the 20th century), and so on. From the teeny-tiny to too large to be functional, her collection was outstanding – and all FOR SALE. She has a website Art Pantheon which doesn’t do the store justice.

Any way, I was salivating in the store thinking of all the ways I could embellish this and enhance that. The amount of buttons were a bit overwhelming but I did manage to settle on a few glass ones – some for the snowman I’ve been working on lately and some, just because. If you are ever in the area, and enjoy an eclectic collection of buttons, this is the place for you! But bring cash or check, she does not take credit. That little policy probably saved me a boat load of money since I could buy up to what I had in my wallet!

The QU Quilt show, put on entirely by volunteers, was really quite impressive. Lots and lots of quilts and quite a few vendors too. There were even demos of new products and techniques every hour as well as door prizes for those viewing the show. There were several great classrooms with interesting classes offered.  Well worth the trip – if you’ve never been, it would be worth a day trip next year.

I’m off to the Quilter’s Unlimted Show in Chantilly, Virginia this weekend. I have never been but have heard good things about it. So I’m catching a bus with the Ladybug Quilter’s Guild bright and early tomorrow morning and trekking on down. The plan is to not take much money and leave the credit at home – hope I am successful in coming home with lots of good inspiration and not so many  goodies!

My husband installed a really cool track light above my long-arm last week!

I love the way it swirls across the ceiling.  As winter nears and the light from the picture window is not so good, he promises to install another one on the side of the room.

Meanwhile, I’ve finished another Diamond Star – note how it is casually displayed across the long-arm for this photo opportunity –  and since my handy-dandy hubby has also replaced a faulty switch on my long-arm, I think I’ll spend the day quilting. However, not on the Diamond Star but on another How-Many-Ways-Can-a-Goose-Fly? quilt that has been hanging around for quite a while.

Gotta vacuum up all the dog  hair first. It also swirls around but not as nicely as the track lighting!

I’m off to take a class this morning. We will be using double-needles and basting spray, two things I’ve never done before. May I always stay never too old or too wise to learn something new. I’ll let ya know how it goes!

Just picked up my quilt that has been traveling for almost two years with the Mason-Dixon Quilt Professionals Network. It is one of my favorites – shadow trapunto and extensive beadwork. I actually used lime green felt underneath the white fabric. The end result was a soft mint green. I am so happy its home! I have missed it!

Just last night, I had the wonderful experience of joining yet another guild, The Ladybug Quilt Guild in Newark, Delaware. Everyone there was very generous in taking the time to make me feel welcome and comfortable. I was extremely happy to see their speaker, Linda Pool, and her outstanding Trunk Show. She is the creator of my absolutely favorite quilt, The Bride.  She is more recently known for her lace cutwork patterns. Ironically, Linda was also the speaker at my first meeting with the Flying Geese Quilt Guild in Harford County. She had The Bride there too. I have seen it one more time when I lived in Virginia. Very awe-inspiring work and an amazing talent.