Lowell Quilt Festival - BMQG Exhibit

Well, the Lowell Quilt Festival is officially over, and that means our first ever special exhibit is in the books! Aimee, Alexis and the rest of the planning committee deserve huge props for putting together such an amazing show. I love the way the quilts look hung without the drape.  There's so much more light and space to see the quilts.  It really lends to the modern feel too. 

Our exhibit was held in an old restored Mill.  For those of you not from the Massachusetts area, Lowell has a very strong history in textiles and is called the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution.  I was born in Lowell and I have strong family roots there, despite moving to NH 20 years ago.  Seeing these old mills restored and renovated means a lot to not only myself and my family, but so many people from the area.  It's so much a part of my past and those from the area.  I had grandparents work in many of the mills.  Suffice it to say, seeing my quilts hung in a restored mill was touching and something that I'll remember for a very long time.

I showed you all of the mini quilts on Saturday.  I can't say enough how impressed I was with the talent displayed in this challenge. 

Onto some of the awesome quilts.  First up is Amy's New York Beauty quilt.  I love Amy's version - it's probably one of my all time favorite NYB quilts.  Maybe I'll finally finish my NYB quilt and can show it in our next show sometime. 

Alexis had some great quilts in the show including this one.  I love the colors she used in this quilt.

Karen (AKA KK) made this quilt.  She finished the binding and hanging sleeve the day before she left on a business trip that brought her back the day after the festival started, so she cut it close on this one!  She used Ricky Tims' technique on making a Kaleidoscope quilt.

Lia made this awesome quilt.  She finished it during our July sew-in at Fabric Place Basement and then gave birth to her daughter the very next day.  I'm sensing a theme of finishing things at the very last second here.  Hmm.

Speaking of finishing things at the very last second, I finished my Dreaming in Color quilt on Tuesday, August 7th.  On Wednesday, August 8th, I drove up to Lowell and hung this quilt just in time for the show to open on Thursday morning.

Aimee made this awesome double hourglass quilt.  I love the fabrics and choice of colors she used.  You should see the awesome piping that she made for this quilt too!  Ask her about it sometime ::wink wink::

Alice had several quilts in the show.  I LOVE the quilting on this one.  It caused a lot of headache for Alice, but I think it was totally worth it!

This is Rebecca's quilt, and probably one of the ones I most wanted to take home with me.  Watch out Rebecca - I might steal this quilt from you someday. 

On the left here you have two great art quilts and one of the quilts from the Habitat challenge we did a little while back.  On the right are two of the Around the World bee quilts all finished.  I contributed a round to each of these quilts.  Didn't the come out great?

We also had a great display of mini quilts at the show.  Mine is the house on the bottom left.  Seriously, such awesome talent!

These two quilts were bee quilts on display.  Both of them included blocks from both our bee and other bees to complete these.  I have to say, these are probably two of my favorite bee quilts I've seen. 

Mel's quilt is on the Left and includes pictures of her kids. She made this quilt for her husband for father's day.  Laurie's quilt is on the right.  I love the citrus colors of this quilt.  I might have to make a quilt in these colors some day.

Jane made this awesome Echo tumbler quilt.  Seeing Jane's version makes me want to make another one.

Linda made this great quilt.  The quilting on this one was awesome and definitely my favorite part!

Here's Aimee's quilt again on the left.  On the right is Andrea's quilt.  This is one of thirteen dowry quilts that she made for her wedding. How cool is that?

We had two great Dresden quilts in the show.  On the left is Laurie's quilt.  This was one of my Dad's favorite quilts.  He said it had a 3D effect.  On the right is Rebecca's quilt.  Both of them were just awesome.  I have all of the stuff to make a Dresden quilt, I just need to get my act together and make one.  Both of these were great inspiration.

On the left is another one of Andrea's dowry quilts on Emily's awesome quilt is on the right.  I love her use of color and placement in this quilt.  It looks so different when you stand close to it versus when you stand far back.  I just love it!

This is Jane's sampler quilt.  I've never made a sampler quilt, but after seeing this one, I might just have to try one some day.  I love the black and white with splashes of color.

This is Stephanie's paintbox quilt.  I just love all of the color!  I'm a big fan of color if you can't tell.

This is Alice's Ghastlies quilt.  I heard so many people comment on this quilt and studying the fabric.  She quilted an awesome spiderweb pattern on it, which really got people talking.

Aimee and Alice made coordinating zig zag quilts!  Hmm, more inspiration?

In the background you can see Alexis' Gees Bend inspired quilt.  On the right is Linda's t-shirt quilt.  Don't you just love how she used the dot fabric to go from big to little?

And here's another one of my quilts, my Moonlit Sky quilt, with me and my family.  With so much of my family being from Lowell, quite a few of them dropped by.  I'm very lucky to have such an amazing, supportive family.  Thank you to everyone who attended!  I really appreciate your love and support!

There are several other quilts that were in the show, but the pictures I have of those quilts didn't turn out so great.  All in all it was a fantastic show and one that every single person in the guild should be proud of!