The second weekend of July there is the Shoshone Quilt Show in Shoshone, Idaho. It is part of Arts N Park arts and crafts event. Several years ago I suggested they include a Quilt show along with their celebration of arts and crafts and I believe this is our 5th year for the quilt show. This year I was asked to do a demo of my fabric painting on Sunday morning. Of course I said yes. Anyway it turned out to be a great quilt display that my friend Sali Hubbs organizes and puts on.
The quilts this year ranged from very, very, old and some finished recently. There were also other demos including Judy Smith doing flower ruching, Sara Marsh did cross stitch and Pat Dailey did applique.
One of the handicaps this year was that the Lincoln County Museum, where we hang the quilts, has grown a lot over the last year.
So when it was time to hang the quilts it was pretty touchy trying to hang them over the display cases. Much discussion was made as to maybe moving the show next year to a different building where we could have more quilts, vendors and of course demos.
All and all it was a great show and as you can see by the pictures there were some great quilts. It seems like the quilting world is usually dominated by women but you can imagine my surprise when a nice gentlemen from Deitrich Idaho entered some of his quilts in the show. He was taught by his mother and he does beautiful work. I asked him if he is still quilting and he laughed and said he has enough fabric to make five or six more quilts. Doesn’t sound like he is slowing down soon.
I just love how quilting connects us together into this fascinating world of design, color, technique and texture. There was another stunning quilt which was made all by hand in a unusual star pattern. The pieces in this quilt were no larger than one inch and then it was hand quilted. It is interesting hanging my hand painted art quilts next to traditional quilts.
Sometimes it is like looking at two different worlds but what I noticed during the show was that quilters are inspired by all things quilting and just like the fact that we are all uniquely made so is each quilt project. I hope this inspires you to keep creating ladies so that we can keep quilting alive and growing for generations to come. One of my goals is to go to more quilt displays this year and to talk to other quilters about what quilting means to them. Our stories are what keeps this great quilting tradition alive…
Wonderful Job ladies!
I love your blogs, Karen. Have you ever been to the quilt display at the Oregon Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho? They have some very beautiful quilts but I haven’t seen any done in the style you do. I love your watercolor quilts and someday may try my hand.
Thanks Nancy. It has been a blessing to be able to talk about the things that impact my life. The Oregon Trail Center sounds interesting, I will have to check it out. If you ever want to learn my process let me know and we can set up a lesson. Aren’t there lots of quilt shops by you? Karen