This week, I thought I'd take you on a fun adventure that is quite a treat here in the NorthWest. We have islands all over the waters of Western WA. and up into Canada. These islands are easily accessible through a web of ferries that allow for driving or walking on and off.
On one of the bigger islands, they had a small county fair. I've traveled out to this island several times to teach for their amazing quilt guild that brings in women from all over the islands. Several of those women had finished quilts they entered at the fair, and I thought it would be such a fun day to go celebrate with them!
Friday Harbor WA must be one of the cutest destination spots in the San Juan Islands accessible without a boat or seaplane. We walked onto the ferry knowing we could take the free shuttle to the fairgrounds from the ferry landing. There's plenty to do in the harbor, and you could easily spend the whole day snooping through the shops around town eating your fill of seafood and ice cream cones.
Arriving at the fairgrounds, I was immediately taken back in time to when I was a kid spending weeks in the 4H barn at our county fair. I loved every minute of it! I did sewing competitions and mannequin modeling for the garments I'd made. I walked the runway in front of judges showing off my favorite outfit from that year's creations. This 4H barn made me smile in a big way, I am so glad there are still kids that sew!
We made our way to the main arts and crafts barn with all its vast categories. I found this tumbling block cutting board to be pretty amazing. If I ever stopped making quilts, I might pick up woodworking! Haha!
Out in the main fair area, there was a lot to see, and aside from all the funny face-hole pictures, I thought the vintage tractors were the coolest thing to see. I spent a lot of time watching the guys start these old tractors and talk about their functions. One of my favorite shows to watch is Wartime Farm (BBC). It’s an older show about what it was like to farm through WW2 in England. They use all the old equipment and it is absolutely fascinating!
The original log cabin on the fairgrounds had just been fully restored and was open for visitors. I brought this little star quilt along and pulled it out for photos wherever it seemed appropriate. This quilt was made from the off-cut leftover star center in my Fanfaire pattern and the piles of scrappy triangle leftover cuts from Lollipops and Licorice.
Okay, one more stop before the quilts and that is this knit/crochet-covered car sitting on the lawn outside the wool arts building. What a hoot! You could hardly take in all the detail, it just went on and on. Someone has a lot of time and quite a collection of odd blocks.
Finally, we got to the quilting barn. This is CeCe and I standing in front of two quilts she made (I did the machine quilting for her on the lone on the left.) She is full of life and loves color!
This masterpiece of intertwining leaves was another quilt that I did the machine quilting on. Diane did a stunning amount of work over many years to keep this quilt out of the UFO pile. She was so excited to be able to enter it this year!
Barb did something so special with family hankies surrounded by English Paper pieced hexagons. I did the machine quilting on this one, too, and was able to see all the details up close and personal.
We saw quilts made from my pattern designs. Honeycomb Hexagon, Fall Foliage, and Vintage Windmill. They all did such a beautiful job with these patterns!
And last, by not least, this stunner was hanging right by the door on the way out of the barn. There is a group of gals out on the islands that all made these quilts together a few years ago. They each made their version and hung it as a group exhibit in Houston for the International Quilt Festival that year. They are all masterpieces and will take your breath away.
Okay, one final photo of my little traveling scrap quilt.
Then, it’s back to the ferry dock to head home. What a fun adventure-filled day!
Happy Sunday everyone,
Krista
Comentarios