Saturday, July 17, 2010

Country Creations Quilt Show


Last week-end, I took a drive in the country with my daughter, Sarah. We weren't looking for fruit stands, but rather were going to Country Creations for a mini quilt show. Now, I don't know about you, but a quilt show to me is several things: quilts (of course!), sales (even better) and quilters (the best!). Lorraine Stangness, the designer behind Country Creations, and her staff always put on an excellent show and all of the above are well represented there. Lorraine has a large quilt show every other year, but I knew that it would be worth the drive to attend this year's show and I was not disappointed. 


Lorraine has several books and many patterns, the majority of which use the connector corner technique in construction. I have purchased many of her patterns over the past few years and value them for their clear, concise instructions and wonderful diagrams, usually in full colour. I purchased a few more of her patterns to add to my collection on my latest visit. 


In addition to the wonderful quilts on display, Lorraine also had several of her sample quilts available for sale. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but I also admire Lorraine's quilting expertise. Lorraine teaches machine quilting at local shops and is a wonderful and informative teacher. Now I examine her samples to see how many different quilting motifs she used in that particular quilt. I'm always amazed at the selection of quilting motifs and the amount of work that she puts into her quilts, all, of course, beautifully done. 


This year Lorraine was selling off some of her quilting books and I was fortunate enough to purchase several at great prices. I love collecting books and have lately started to add older books to my library. Lots of great design ideas there and many wonderful reference books. I also bought some fabrics, particularly batiks as they were on at such great prices. 


If you are in the Calgary/Strathmore area next year in early July, stop in at Country Creations for the "big" quilt show. You won't be disappointed.

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