Bee Sewcial at International Quilt Festival

In a word? Priceless. The whole experience of having 26 of Bee Sewcial's quilts displayed as a special exhibit at International Quilt Festival in Houston was exciting. The opportunity to join my bee mates there to see the exhibit and to share it with others was deeply meaningful. 

From the airport on Wednesday, we went straight to Preview Night, and walked through The Quilts of Bee Sewcial exhibit, reminiscing over blocks we'd each made, admiring how they'd all come together, mulling over the challenges and joys. Considering the quilts span the eight years we've been creating together, some of the memories were fuzzy and that just added to the fun.

And then Thursday was a full first day at Festival. We spent most of the day together, hanging around the exhibit. The highlight was our gallery talk where Leanne @shecanquilt gave a brief history of our bee, and then folks walked with us through the whole exhibit, as we each shared briefly about our quilts, and answered questions. It was fun to see the excitement over the quilts and the curiosity about working virtually, creating with only solids, the prompts, and of course improv itself.

That morning, I wandered off to meet my online friend, Carolina, @carolina_oneto, and see her own special exhibit.

Bee mate Karen @capitolaquilter and I also ran into friends Allie @exhaustedoctopus, Sarah @saroy, and Jessica @maeberrysquare, which was such a delight. All three I had met online during the pandemic, so being able to meet in person was so so good.

Stephanie Hackney of Hobbs Batting found us, so we were able to thank her for their support and sponsorship of our exhibit.

On Friday, in addition to another gallery talk, Bee Sewcial stopped by the Aurifil booth to say thank you to Brad Mitchell @aurifilbrad and the team for their sponsorship of our special exhibit!

As fellow Aurifil Artisans, my Bee Sewcial mate, Karen @capitolaquilter, and I were happy to visit the Aurifil booth and get an appropriate photo together.

Then Saturday was my last day in Houston. Bee mate Marci @marci_girl and I met up with Ellyn @ellynz and her hubby for breakfast at Phoenicia (love that place!). What fun to catch up a bit before walking over to the show. 

And of course, Marci and I had to get a selfie in front of our two quilts, Efflorescent Midnight and Rings, hanging side by side.

By early afternoon, I was on my flight back to Seattle. It was a full few days, but the kind of wonderful you don't forget about for a long long time.

Vera Slouch Bag

After making all those Hudson Pouches for my Bee Sewcial bee mates in anticipation of meeting up at International Quilt Festival, I had just enough time to make myself a tote as well. I finally settled on the Vera Slouch Bag by sotak handmade. As pattern designer, Svetlana, says, "It's a perfectly sized everyday bag. Not too large, not too small, with two exterior slip pockets, one lining zipper pocket ....  and a smaller lining slip pocket as well." And quite honestly, I think it's just what I needed.

Of course, I used my Bee Sewcial fabric - the Linen Cotton Canvas designed by bee mate Kari @quiltsforthemaking. I paired it with Essex Linen for the exterior, and for the lining, I used a stash find I'd been hoarding for a very long time. I always expected I'd use it for a quilt exterior, but I think it found a very nice home here. 

Zipper-wise, I made an unexpected choice, making use of what I had on hand. But on reflection, I really like it! Its colored teeth kind of ties in with the colors on the bags exterior, no? 

I was so happy that Svetlana included an option for leather D-ring tabs, as I loved the look. 

And I just grabbed the leather handle off my current Brookfield Bag, and voila! the bag was done. 

It's a super straightforward sew with (I think) a terrific result. I'm excited to be using it as I head off to Houston!

The Quilts of Bee Sewcial

If you've been around A Quilter's Table for a while, you know that I have been a member of the Bee Sewcial improv bee since it's inception in 2015(!). It's been fun, challenging, and sometimes even frustrating, but definitely a good thing, and it has really impacted my creative journey. In the process, I've made countless improvisationally-pieced blocks based on the most interesting of prompts; and so far, have completed seven quilts, with an eighth currently in the works.

Well after all this time, you can now follow Bee Sewcial on Instagram, as it has its own account! Expect to find our monthly prompts, blocks and quilts we create, and ....

some really exciting news for our bee! This November at International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, there will be a special exhibit: The Quilts of Bee Sewcial!

Industry sponsors: Aurifil Threads, Hobbs Batting, Lucky Spool Media, Studio 39 Fabrics 

"Bee Sewcial is an international, improvisational quilting bee. Each month, the selected group leader provides an inspiration—a theme, palette, restrictions, etc.—for the members of the bee to follow when they design and make a block. The monthly group leader designs a quilt using the improv creation of each contributing member. Each quilt is unique, yet reflects the cohesion and trust they have toward each other."

Below is "Poster Pop," one of our Bee Sewcial quilts by Kari Vojtechovsky.  It has been selected as the Signature Quilt for the 2022 Houston Quilt Market. Thus, it will appear on the cover of the Buyer’s Guide, show program, postcard, and other online promotions. Pretty cool, eh?

"Poster Pop" by Kari Vojtechovsky

As for the Festival exhibit, 26 Bee Sewcial quilts will be featured, including 4 of my own. All the special exhibit quilts will be shown, in part or full, on the Bee Sewcial IG page in the coming weeks.

So we are excited! I hope you'll consider following our new Bee Sewcial account, and if you're at Quilt Festival in November, that you enjoy the exhibit!

R.A.N.D.O.M.

Even though Live a Colorful Life's Really Random Thursday hasn't happened in a while, I still always think of it on Thursdays. And today I actually have some randomness to share, so I figured why not?

Hopefully you caught Christa Quilts' post showing off the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase at the upcoming International Quilt Festival? Very fun! After seeing this impressive collection, I'm even more thrilled that my Fissures was included.

photo credit, Christa Watson

Here's the blurb about the exhibit from the show's online catalog:

The Modern Quilt Guild Showcase 2014

Sponsored by Aurifil USA, Inc.

Modern quilting is a new twist on the traditional art of quilting, and is rapidly gaining interest

from the next wave of quilters. Members from chapters of Modern Quilt Guilds around the

world were invited to submit their works for this popular annual exhibit.

While perusing the Quilts.com site, I came across the results of the Quilting in America 2014 survey. A few stats . . .

• 10.3% of U.S. households (12.62 million) are home to at least one active quilter
• 30% own more than 4 machines
• 86% access the Internet daily
• 12.2% of quilting households are considered “dedicated,” responsible for generating 60% of quilt industry 

You can see the complete summary here. I think you'll be surprised at some of it!
          From the Quilting in America™ 2014 Survey presented by F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company

The Blogger's Quilt Festival is well underway, and hasn't it been something seeing all those awesome quilts? Just a couple of days left to add your entries. I had high hopes of finishing and entering my current project, but the quilting's been slow-going, so I'll be content with my one entry, and just sit back and enjoy the show.

And as the BQF is winding down next week, Handmade Holidays at Sew, Mama, Sew will be going gung ho. Every day in November, there will be tutorials, printables and recipes to help you create a Handmade Holiday. Here's a link to lists for previous years - all sorts of holiday goodness! And more to come.

Just a reminder that my A Quilter's Table facebook page is always a good place to find some randomness. I post whatever strikes my fancy, most recently daughter dear's x and + quilt, the latest from shecanquilt, and a fun {and random!} way to hang mini quilts from pieceful life. Check it out!