What a fabulous time I had wandering in a state of overstimulation at this year's NW Quilting Expo this past weekend at the Portland Expo Center.

Maria joined me for the initial PMQG meet-up, but then we got so eager to get started we kind of separated from the group.

We decided to begin by viewing the quilts in the exhibit, then doubled back to look at all of the goodies that the vendors offered... and where better to start than with our guild's mini-exhibit! Following are a few that I wanted to document, though do not be mistaken, I loved most everything there!

(designed and pieced by Kristan Collins, quilted by Nancy Stovall)

(a collaboration based on a challenge to the PMQG community using Michael Miller Cotton Couture fabrics, the quilt on the left called "linear" that on the right is "improv", both quilted by Nancy Stovall... missing is the "graphic" quilt, hanging a few steps away.)

(designed and pieced by Brittany Scott, quilted by... can you guess it??? Nancy Stovall!) Brittany's quilt was not technically hanging with the rest of the PMQG exhibit, but we do call her one of our own so I include it here!

(pieced and quilted by Anne Whiting, pattern by Elizabeth Hartman)

(pieced and quilted by Heather Lott, pattern by Cherri House)

And then, of course, I had to take a photo of my own quilt hanging (Maria wanted to take a pic of me standing in front of it, but that was an honor I happily declined).

(mine on the left... designed and pieced by yours truly, quilted by the lovely Melissa Hoffman).

Next I'm going to share some of the quilts that stood out to me in the general exhibit, though unfortunately I have to edit so that this post doesn't get unwieldy.

(constructed and quilted by Cheryle Jolivette)

(pieced and quilted by Betty Davis Daggett)

(pieced by Suzanne Waldrop, quilted by Cathy Frank Quilting, pattern by Cara Gulati)

(made by M. Jill Sullivan)

(constructed and quilted by Judy De Meire)

(Made and HAND quilted by Terri Doyle... that ribbon is for 2nd place in the hand quilted category)

(designed, constructed and quilted by CarolAnne Olson... in conjunction with the "Cover to Cover" quilt group illustrating the classic Peter Pan).

(made by Sara Shayne Miller)

(designed and made by Margaret Miller - I think... please correct me if my information is wrong.)

(made by Mary Goodson)

(designed, pieced and quilted by Sara Horner)

(piecing, applique and quilting by Jean Ludeman, pattern by Karla Alexander)

(made by Joanne Roth, quilted by Joanne Roth and Karen Saltzberg)

(pieced by Cristina Pera, quilted by Elegant Expressions, pattern by Pie in the Sky)... this pattern, Bouillabaisse, has been in my possession for many years - one of those that I loved at first sight and is a perfect pattern for using scraps and strings!

Phew! My feet are killing me just revisiting the photos and labels! That must be why we felt it necessary to break for snacks before continuing on to shop. In that respect, even though the post will be considerably shorter, I think it's wise to leave the vendors info until a later date... but tune in and you'll get to see my swag!!

Here in Portland we've had a long, LONG winter, a very cool spring, and are only recently seeing any signs of summer (coincidentally, those signs began just about the same day as the official first day of summer). Considering that the best place for me to photograph my finished quilts is hanging from my neighbor's fence along our back yards, I waited until just a little over a week ago to shoot some of the quilts I began much earlier this year.

The first quilt I began in 2011 is this one:

which I've been calling Multi-Faceted in Sherbet, a follow up to an earlier quilt:

I did a post about getting this quilt started back in January, beginning with the gorgeous Philip Jacobs fabric I used on the border, and choosing as many prints as I could muster that pulled the colors from within that print.

The process itself went quite smoothly, and I got a finished quilt top just a few short weeks later, but it was the backing and quilting that really brought it all together. The original "Multi-Faceted..." quilt I quilted myself, echoing one of the off-set diamonds, and had chosen a Kaffe Fasset shot cotton for the backing. That was the best choice I have ever made in my quilting career - introducing me to the beauty that is a quilted shot cotton! And so, I went back to Cool Cottons to find just the right color of shot cotton to back the sherbet quilt... and I found it.

Also, in the meantime, I had been introduced to the flexibility of piecework on the backing. I had so many strips left over from the quilt top that it seemed a waste to throw them back in the scrap bags to be mishandled and forgotten, so I decided to use what I could to spice up the backing on this quilt. And this is what I ended up with:

Now, for the stunning quilting you all see, I have the lovely Melissa Hoffman, a.k.a. Fiddlestitches Quilting, to thank. Based in Newberg, OR, wine country just a bit outside of Portland, she is a wonderful person to have in one's corner, and I have never seen quilting of her's that does anything less than enhance the quilt!

The plan, now, is to continue the line of "Multi-Faceted..." quilts in different colorways, and see what I come up with down the road.