Crafting in the Quiet Corner

Kelli was kind enough to let me take a side trip on our Saturday together, so we could pop into The First Church of Christ, Congregational's 14th Annual Quilt and Needle Arts Show in East Haddam. As a very amateur crafter, an afficiando of the needle arts, and the grand daughter of an accomplished quilter, it was awe-inspiring to behold all the work that went into the show, and all of the pieces. Since we didn't want to incur the wrath of the 'white-gloved ladies,' and my little camera can only zoom so much, these just give you an overall view of the packed sanctuary and some of the more interesting pieces.

Could this been more New Englandy?Quilts, quilts, and art EVERYWHERE! Left side of the sanctuary Some of the smaller pieces were displayed underneath the pulpit: altar runners, Christmas tree skirts, hand-made hooked rugs, handbags, and other many fine pieces. Center block of a red & white quilt. Embroidery on quilting.
One square of a prize-winning quilt called "The Circus is Coming to Town."

You can't really tell from here, but some of this is 3D

due to fabric and batting. This piece was stunning.

Miniature Quilts by Reta Rehm of Hebron, CT.
Pieced by hand and shown up close.
My hands and eyes ache just thinking about these tiny masterpieces.

Down the right side of the sanctuary According to the program, this cross-stitch quilt was made in 1971. Now it's a family heirloom.

This was one of the oldest quilts there.

Made by Sarah Lane for her wedding in 1768 to Jonathan Sikes in Suffield, CT.

Another family heirloom, and no wonder.

Hand-stitching, embroidery, and crewl-work

BY CANDLELIGHT!

This "Wildflower Alphabet" sampler was embroidered in the 1960s.
Look at the detail

Beyond the chapel, there were quilts in the foyer, knit and crochet pieces in the Rec Hall, samplers on the walls, and many, many, many fabrics for sale. Aside from doing our bit to bring down the average age of the attendees by oh, 20-30 years, I managed to escape with only minimal damage to the wallet. How we resisted buying any homemade chili or pie, I'm still not sure. If we had known what we were going to deal with when we did stop for lunch, we may have stuck around a bit longer.

Why, oh why, did I forget how to sew? Why, oh, why, do I not know how to use a sewing machine. My fabric collection is starting to be as large as my yarn collection ... and that's saying something.