Southport Quilt Show, part 1

I had the great good fortune today to do something very special. This morning I met my grandmother at the Southport Congregational Church in Southport, CT to have lunch and attend their annual quilt show. I missed it last year due to a work conflict, and so I planned ahead this year--extensively!

It was absolutely worth it. The event is put on by a group of volunteers, and the proceeds from the show, called Fabric and Fabrications, go to benefit Make A Wish, Emerge, and Project Learn. They really out-did themselves. Before I go any further, to my CT readers, the show continues tomorrow--I highly recommend it!

The use every aspect of the church for display. The view when you walk in is really quite stunning...



Antique quilts, contemporary and modern quilts. Art quilts. Really, it's inspiring, and I have to say, my pictures don't do them justice.


One of the first quilts I got up close and personal with was this Double Wedding Ring quilt.



All hand pieced and quilted. My regular readers know by now that I have a deep-seated love of scrappy quilts, so it's no wonder that this lovely drew me right in. I could have spent an hour up close and personal with it!

The sun graced us here in CT today, and the effect through the stained glass windows over the quilts was really lovely, giving everything a hazy, golden effect.



This bed sized quilt took up its own pew. It is approximately 100 years old, and overall in great condition. Each of those little HST squares finishes at just over 2.5"! That is a labor of love, no? I love the bits of poison green that pull your eye around.

Seating was at a premium at the luncheon, so we didn't linger there too long. My gram and I shared a table with one of the contributors/volunteers and a friend for a bit, and they were lovely. I was delighted to see her quilt up close and personal after lunch!


Lakeside Hunter's Star, by Millie Ohm. It was made for friends who are building their dream house, as a gift. It was really striking--it caught my eye when I first walked in. If you look back at that first photo in the post, you can see it off to the right.

Finally, just inside the door when I walked in, I saw another great Double Wedding Ring quilt, another antique. It was in some disrepair, but without ropes in front of it, so I could get quite close.



No, no. Closer!



Made with a variety of 20s and 30s floursacks, as far as I can tell. (Note, I'm not a historian, just a quilter and enthusiast!) But look a little closer. See a print you recognize? That caught my eye in a flash! (Wondering what I'm talking about? Go and look at Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabric collection, then come back and look at this photo again. I'll wait...)

Come back tomorrow for part two of the quilt show, including some modern quilts, and more mention of Denyse Schmidt!