Downton Abbey and a Very Quilty Month

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, drop everything and go see the movie. It's wonderful in every possible way, and it is as if you were visiting dear old friends (albeit those who live and work in a house a bit fancier than mine.) I saw it yesterday with a friend, and we both loved it!!! It was delightful seeing it all unfold on the big screen. I cannot wait to see the next movie which I imagine Julian Fellowes is already in the process of writing.

It has been two weeks since my last blog post, but I have been happily very, very busy. The only finished stitch piece was this wool applique, autumn themed vintage truck scene which was a pattern from Buttermilk Basin.

So, what else have I been doing quilt-wise? On Monday, Sept. 16th, I attended  "Meet the Teachers" at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell. This program allowed representatives of quilt guilds to hear from teachers who are eager to speak at our guild meetings. I'm mentioning this because there is currently at the museum an exhibit of the work of the late Sue Garman which is not to be missed. Her daughters have allowed the museum to host an amazing collection of her work. Her Baltimore Album quilts were exquisite and the range of her other quilts is definitely worth a visit. I first became aware of Sue Garmen when I made her Old World Santas quilt in 2012. Here is my quilt. I apologize for a not so great photo as it was was taken while it was hanging at our 2012 guild quilt show.

Sue Garman had designed many of the BOM quilts for The Quilt Show.  Her patterns are still available from her daughters on their website, Come Quilt.

At our first meeting of the year at the Herring Run Quilt Guild, I took a class taught by delightful, energetic Beth Helfter of Eva Paige Designs.  Beth has developed a fun technique for creating very scrappy "Accordion Sewn HSTs." She has a number of instructional videos on Youtube and a new book, OOMPAH! which explores her method.

On Friday, Sept. 20th, I took a class with award winning, improvisational quilter Marge Tucker at her Rockland studio. The class was "Eel Grass and Eddies (Long Layered Curves,)  and I have been addicted to making these blocks ever since. :-) [Marge was at the "Meet the Teachers" program at the Quilt Museum, and each of Marge's quilts was met with audible gasps. Her work is fresh and exciting, and she is an excellent instructor.]

Finally, at Tuesday's meeting of the Crosstown Quilters, our speaker was award winning quilter Pat Delaney whose trunk show was perhaps the most impressive trunk show that I have ever seen.  It was beyond words.

All of these lovely ladies have trunk shows and offer classes and workshops.  Click on their names to go to their websites for more information.

And now it is time to finish this up and take ever patient Emma for a long walk . . .