Busy, Busy!

Greetings!  I have been busy helping the American Girl Dolls and friends realize their wildest dreams.  They wanted to have a quilt show, so they are having one!  I made a floor that sits on top of a standard six-foot folding table. It is 7 ft long and 4 ft wide.  I made the pipe and drape for the quilt show.  I purchased all my materials from three different Ace Hardware Stores, Lowes, and Canvas Etc.  

I ordered 23 yards of banjo cloth to make the drape part of the pipe and drape, and to make the skirt that went around the 22-foot circumference of the "floor" of the quilt show.  

Last February, I met with the Superintendent of the Home Arts Department of the Western Idaho Fair.  I told her about the "doll quilt show" and she granted us (the dolls and I) a showcase, in the Home Arts section at the Fair.  So, "we" got busy and built a quilt show!  Above is a photo of the banjo cloth I carefully measured and cut.  I am so glad I was careful, as I used all but six inches of that 23 yards.  

I had never made pleats before, so I practiced on the "admissions table".  It was very slow going, so I worked out a way to make pleats with the fork method.  I needed a half-inch fork, however, so my husband used his Dremel tool to cut two tines off of a fork to make it a half-inch wide.  It worked like a dream!

By making the pleats 1/2 inch with a quarter inch between each pleat, I only needed 44 ft of fabric to go around my 22-foot circumference board.  Once I got it on my machine and stitched all the pleats I had pinned, I was able to just make pleats as I went, with my fork, and kept sewing and sewing and sewing.  This was truly the most daunting part of the entire not-quite-sane project. 

The banjo cloth really made this showcase come alive and look neat, clean, and professional.   This shot was taken while the set-up was still in my quilt studio.  It has since gone off to The Fair.  It looks marvelous there, and I have had so much positive feedback and excitement, even, from Fairgoers both young and old, women and men.  I am truly satisfied with my efforts to help those quilting maniac dolls finally have a quilt show.

There are 19 doll quilts displayed.  All of them are of different designs, except the two red, white, and blue ones on the end.   Both quilts are of the same design and same color pallet (red, white, and blue).  By arranging the colors differently, or in different quantities, perhaps combined with fabrics of different color saturations, the results are totally different looking quilts.  To view more photos and information about the Good Friends Quilt Show, visit czdollquilts.blogspot.com by clicking HERE.  Those dolls are blogging all about it.