There's no business like show business! A quilt show, that is....

I know a promised a post explaining why I think Turkey is a paradise for quilters, but my guild quilt show was this weekend, and I couldn't wait to write about it and show you some pictures of the magnificent quilts in the show. We had lots of visitors oohing and ahing over the quilts. And well they might. The variety of styles and colors was amazing, and the workmanship was certainly impressive. interestingly enough, many of these quilts did not appear at our monthly meeting show-and-tell. A lot of talented quilters are keeping their work under wraps until showtime.

Here are some of my favorites.

Pauline's blue ribbon applique quilt. Believe it or not, all those squares are appliqued! I think they are 1" square. Wonderful.





Miriam captured the colors of the African sunrise in her quilt made with African fabrics. I love the way some of the circles form the edge of the quilt.





Clare used the colors--and the birds-- of the southwest in her quilt. And look at all those triangles!



Susan's quilt with blue and cheddar sparkles with the addition of a dash of pink. Stunning!





Elizabeth used Asian fabrics in her blue ribbon pieced quilt, added an applique border, and then hand quilted it, incorporating Sashiko (look at the lower right.) And look at those wonderful cranes at the top.
Just beautiful!




Only one fabric was used for all the blocks and the border in Diane's four patch posey quilt. I love the colors!



Susan's wonderful applique quilt has it all: great design and color, and exquisite hand applique and quilting. If I had been a judge, this quilt would be wearing a different color ribbon for sure!




Barb's Abe Lincoln quilt is such a wonderful example of a medallion quilt. I think the different sized star borders and the variety of fabrics make this a winner, and the judges thought so, too. I need to practice my photography skills because as you can see, I lopped off the outer border and that important Blue Ribbon!

There are lots more to show you, so I'll save some for another post! I hope these quilts inspired you to get busy and quilt!

Pesky Blogger!!!!

A post about my guild's quilt show is coming as soon as I can wrestle Blogger into submission (pun intended!)

Let's talk Turkey!

Dave and I recently returned from a nineteen day tour of Turkey. Dave had spent some time there forty years ago and has always wanted to return, so when we got an email last February about an alumni trip to Turkey, we signed up right away. It was a dream of a trip!

We enjoyed time in Istanbul; traveled down the western coast, stopping along the way to visit Troy, Pergamon, and Ephesus; spent four nights on a small boat called a gulet sailing in the Aegean; traveled across the southern coast to Antalya; visited Myra and Perge; and spent four days in Cappadocia. Whew!

We had wonderful traveling companions (there were 24 of us including a professor,) and a terrific guide.

Here are some highlights:

The courtyard of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul

The Library at Ephesus

Under sail in the Aegean

We had cabins on the gulet, but it was cooler to sleep on deck!

The view from our hotel room at dawn in Cappadocia

We took a balloon ride, too!
These images are courtesy of one of our fellow travelers, Dean Aulick.

Blowing up our balloon

Up, up and away!

Our balloon over Cappadocia

Back to earth!

A good time was had by all!

In the next post, I'll show you why Turkey is a quilter's paradise.