Friday, August 5, 2011

Halton Quilt Show - Part one

Quilts in the Gardens took place at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario on May 14th and 15th of this year. I had promised to show these during a slow summer period and so, here they are. I would like to say that the venue was gorgeous - even if one of the main rooms could have used much better lighting.

As you can see, down below are some of the vendors. It was a great place to shop because of all the natural lighting. However, because of where the air conditioning vents were located (and because they were on) some of the vendors were cold. Others cleverly covered up the vents. I only bought one kit but I did get to talk to a couple of the vendors.

Other than the two above, this was one of the first quilts you saw as you entered. Very simple applique and design and it just goes to show you what can be accomplished. I think it's fresh looking.

 
Rich colours in this French Braid quilt.

Another applique but still not really overly difficult.

One of the reasons I love going to quilt shows is to see the variety in sizes, colours and patterns of quilts. This one combined piecing with applique.

Another vibrantly coloured bargello quilt.

Stunning. Compare the piecing of this one with the one below.

Simple basic triangles but very effective because of the colour placements.

I had to take a photo of this one. It's the back of a quilt but I love the fabric.

This quilt is basically just two colours - yellow and blue but the quilter used many different shades of both those colours to make a wonderful quilt.

 Fish. I think, if memory serves me correctly, the quilter built this quilt around a piece of fabric her son brought from an Asian country.

An innovative sampler done in fabrics that read as solid.

 As I have mentioned before, there aren't many people making medallion quilts anymore. It seems that everyone wants quilts that quick to make. This one takes dedication and time. I didn't note whether or not it was hand or machine quilted.
 Just as I don't think I will ever make a hexagon quilt, I don't think I will ever make a double wedding ring quilt either but I do admire people who do. This one has a very nice appliqued border - something that double wedding rings usually don't have and an unusual colour scheme in the rings.

And now we come to the quilts in the big room with poor lighting and lots of people. Please keep this in mind for the rest of the photos. These two little wall hangings look like fun to do.

 Please click on these photos to see them bigger.

The quilter has an explanation as to what this little quilt is.
Another quilter and the description of the quilt.

I thought this was a little different in the area of challenges. The quilter had to pretend to have a themed luncheon or dinner. The challenge was to produce a cloth of 43-45 inches square (pieced or appliqued with a backing fabric and finished edges), a napkin (unique and related to your theme) and centrepiece "must relate to your theme and it must include something botanical." A white dinner plate would be provided.

What a wonderful display.

Obviously not a really popular challenge but I do commend those who decided to try it.

That's it for today. I do believe there are enough photos to do two more days of the show. Stay tuned...

3 comments:

  1. Love the variety of the quilts. And, the challenge was really cool.

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  2. Thank you for another beautiful quilt show! Like your header - some day I'd like to take that ferry.

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  3. Beautiful quilts. Thanks for sharing!

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