Setting up the Quilt Show......

So, it's Monday night but I am posting what we did on Friday when we set up for the quilt show. When I am in Iowa visiting, I usually don't have computer access unless I get to the library for a few minutes to use their computers. This time I was at the library most of the day Friday and Saturday but I was so busy with the quilts that there was no time for e-mail checking or blogging those days!

The day started on a "good note" and ended "in tune". It was a beautiful sunny morning and stayed that way all day! As my mother and I headed into Lehigh, we stopped first to take a picture of the new signs that mark each entrance into the little town of Lehigh. You can see it in the picture above. Lehigh sits in the valley of the Des Moines River and the water was still quite high. Flooding here was minor compared to other areas in Iowa. The committee that was planning the 125th celebration decided that nothing would be cancelled, they would just relocate some events to higher and dryer ground!

Our plan was to set up the quilts in the City Hall office. I was to meet my cousin, Patty Dellechiesa there and while we weren't sure how many quilts we would have, we thought that would be enough space. Turned out that we were also able to use the library and that was a good thing as we had lots of quilts to display. We didn't have large quilt racks or any fancy way to display the quilts so we used anything and everything from chairs to file cabinets, etc. to hang and drape the quilts for display. Tonight, I'll post the quilts that were in the Library and tomorrow evening, I'll post the ones that were in City Hall. Patty and I started pulling quilts out of bags and did the set-up and we had my mom give us advice on which quilts looked best next to each other. It took us twice as long to set up because we ended up with twice as many quilts! And what a treat that was!!! When we were finished this is how it looked. As you entered the library you saw the applique wall hanging on the left which was made by my mother, Mary Linn. She does beautiful applique and I was so happy when one of the younger women came to her and told her so!

When you looked to the left you saw the Red Hat quilt that my mother made. She found the pattern in a book and then decorated the hats with all sorts of trims and embellishments. I enjoyed watching her when she was working on it and then when it was finished she surprised me by giving it to me for Christmas that year (2003). It hangs in my sewing room.

In the center of the library you saw the quilts pictured below. We had a nice mix of quilts from new to vintage, small and large. The green quilt on the left was made by Patty, the vintage quilt belongs to her sister Sharon and Deb Hayes made the kaleidescope quilt on the left.

The two quilts pictured above - the Sunbonnet and the Hexagon - were made by a local woman many years ago. She had made them for her daughters-in-law but they didn't want them so they ended up on the estate sale where my parents bought them. They are beautifully stitched and quilted. Both are nearly king-size quilts and are very heavy! You would definitely be warm under these quilts!

At the check-out desk we hung a machine embroidered sewing theme quilt made by Jane Dutcher. She had a new sewing machine and wanted to try out the stitches so embroidered sewing themes and then stitched it into a wall quilt. Next to it is a little doll quilt made by my mother. She hand sews and hand quilts everything she makes. The fabrics in that little quilt are reproduction 30's prints. I cut 3 1/2" squares for her last summer and gave her a whole box full of them so she could work on them while visiting my dad at the Care Center. He always enjoyed seeing whatever she was working on and was so proud of her stitching.

In the children's area we hung this colorful A-B-C quilt made by Lavonne Beckman. Her daughter is Deb Hayes and between the two of them they shared six quilts. Deb does the machine quilting on their pieces.

And here is Jane with another sewing themed quilt she made. I liked the quilt because she used satin fabric for the "thread" on the spools so it made the quilt unique. Do you see the scissors, too? That guy walking into the picture is my brother, Doug. He didn't hear me say "Jane, let me take your picture" and got up from the table nearby and walked right into the picture. We all got a good laugh at that!

That's all for Friday.

The quilts in the City Hall will be posted Tuesday evening. There are four wonderful quilts that are historically tied to Lehigh. Check back and take a peek!