Sew Saturday ~ In Stitches Part 1

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the In Stitches Quilt show in Centralia, WA.

The theme in the tea room was Double Wedding Ring through the decades.  Each quilt had a wedding dress beside it from that era.  It was so interesting to read the stories and see the quilts, many of which were hand pieced and quilted.

Though I consider myself more of a contemporary quilter than a traditional one I can certainly appreciate all the work that goes into these hand stitched beauties.

Check out the neatly spaced stitches.  When I grow up I want to be able to sew like this!

My friend, Marla, who invited me to the show gave me a personal tour of the main exhibit hall.  I think I took at least half a dozen pictures of her various quilts on display.  This one is probably my favorite because of the teeny tiny flying geese.  :)  The entire block can't be more than 12" wide.

As we were walking around I told Marla I had seen a bag of selvages on sale at Esty and asked what someone would use those for???  She took me to a quilt made with them seen above and another one that she made. Now I want to cut an extra inch off of all my selvages too.  :)

I was both fascinated and FLOORED by the handiwork of this amazing quilter.  She pieces all the blocks by hand, then hand stitches them and the most amazing bit of info I learned, she is 91 years old!!!  WOW! I almost got a picture of her standing by this quilt, but someone stood in between her and I so I missed my chance.  Marla, can you tell me the name of this quilter?

Here is another eye catching and unexpected quilt.  Not all of the quilts at the show are hand quilted and hand pieced, but many have at least some hand stitching.  The group meets once a week and usually bring some hand stitching or applique project to work on.

Clicky to see part 2 or scroll down.