Saturday, November 08, 2008

"You're Closer To God In A Garden.....

.....Than anyplace else on earth." Especially if there are quilts on display throughout the garden!





One of my favourite places is a small Botanical Gardens, designed and maintained entirely by members of the local garden club. Many quilters like to garden. Some gardeners, while not being quilters themselves, admire quilts. A few months ago, some gardeners and some quilters put their heads together and decided to have a quilt show in the botanical gardens. Everyone in our little guild was asked to loan some of their quilts for display. I loaned four of mine. We had a total of one hundred and three.

Today was the day!

The weather was lovely. The sun shone, but not too brightly, the better not to fade the quilts! The advertising worked. More than two hundred people, who had never been to the gardens before, turned up for the show, in addition to regulars, quilters and gardeners.

So sorry you couldn't come.....but follow me! I'll give you a peek.

Here we are at the entrance.....




Here you can see the first quilts, just ahead......




Before we proceed, please heed this gentle warning!




Here's one of mine, on the left. I made it for The Bean when he graduated from high school. I don't think he likes it very much, even though I'd saved animal prints for a few years, since he's been animal crazy all his life. C'est la vie....




I'll bet whoever this was made for appreciates it! Of course I like the colours here better too.



Take a good look at the quilt in the middle here. Who would have believed that purple and brown would look so good in the same quilt? It was gorgeous!





Since I spent the whole afternoon on quilt patrol at the gardens, I had no time to blog! So I will have to continue this tomorrow, or risk being thrown out of naBloPoMo for non compliance with the rules. It is three minutes to midnight! Ciao!

9 comments:

Pam said...

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow. What a wonderful combination - gardens and quilts. (I wonder why Scotland doesn't put on something like this in November... hmmm...) I want to go there.

By the way -

Yes, Molly, she did hand-quilt it (see her blog, http://thimbleanna.com/
September 29th - sorry I don't know how to do the underlined "here" that people do). She used a bowl. And a lot of patience, I'm sure. Yes, I did realise that it means she's a very very very nice person! But I already knew this.

Tanya Brown said...

LOL at the convict Sunbonnet Sues!

A quilt show in a garden seems like a brilliant idea (aside from exposing the quilts to sun and dirt, that is). A combination of two things we all love. Being able to amble along comfortably, and having the hues of the quilts set off by the greens and browns of nature.

Your animal print quilt is charming. I always forget about the quilting side of you, because you're such a compelling writer. (But why must one be constrained to only being good at one thing?)

Pauline said...

what a splendid idea - quilts and gardens! I am just reading a novel in which the main character, an artist, sketched flowers not only for quilt designs but as an accompaniment to the quilts themselves (they were sold together). Thanks for the delightful tour.

Kacey said...

Lovely, just lovely! People in your area make beautiful quilts. I've been spending most of my time hand quilting a quilt my husband's grandmother pieced in the 1940's or 50's. It's sort of (You have to finish this before you go on to anything else!) But, I read all your other posts that I have been behind on and then had to Google Rainbow's End.....I want to go there! I saw that they have silk ribbon for embroidery and I really need to get some. The husband has a friend from Ocala who wanted him to come up to Tampa for deep sea fishing and I pitched a fit, because that would leave me alone in Ft. Myers without a car. But, this give me serious ideas....like, uh, "Okay, Honey, you go fishing and I'll go on a fabric binge". I could just throw him out at the boat and then head for the Batiks! You are a bad influence!

Feeling Simply Quilty said...

That SS prison quilt is awsome!

Suburbia said...

I had to visit today because of your title. That poem or phrase always reminds me of my granny because she had it carved on a stone by her bird bath in her garden!
However after seeing all those lovely photos I'm so glad I called in. What a wonderful idea to hang them in such a beautiful setting.

Thimbleanna said...

Wow! What a fantastic idea. The quilts look beautiful hanging in the gardens. I love that Cathedral Windows -- I didn't use to like them (gosh that phrase looks funny -- I'm thinking I'm writing it wrong -- where's Isabelle when I need her?) but the way they're constructed is so intriguing!

riseoutofme said...

Idyllic.

I've just noticed the word verification ... OVELESS???

Spooky??????

PBS said...

So beautiful, what a great combo quilts and gardens! Wish I could see it, but the photos give a good peek. Sounds like there was a very good turnout.