Heritage California oaks form the backdrop (and hold the clotheslines) for an alfresco quilt show
With temperatures typically bouncing past the 90 degree mark in September and October here in Northern California, it’s truly difficult to pinpoint that moment when summer gives way to autumn.
Here it’s often easier to count on marquee events to signal seasonal change like Quilting in the Garden at Alden Lane in Livermore at September’s end or the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) in Santa Clara in early October.
Quilting in the Garden, though, is truly our “alert the media” moment—bring on the changing leaves, crispy mornings, and frost-covered pumpkins, we’re ready!
As the featured artist for 2012 Judy Mathieson’s spectacular quilts hold pride of place at Alden Lane’s entry, although you can see quilts by Jennifer and Christie peeking through on the right.
As you can see from the photos, Alden Lane is not like any roadside plant nursery. It’s set in a shady grove of heritage California oak trees and winds around gravel paths and pretty seasonal vignettes. The quilt show is curated masterfully by Alden Lane’s coordinator Cyndee Carvalho, her staff, and quilt show volunteers who hang the quilts by color, maker and/or theme. The result is a visual feast of brightly colored quilts that glow in the oak-tree-filtered natural light. (Makes the quilts hung in indoor shows with uneven fluorescent lighting look washed out in comparison.)
Running left to right, another view of the entry featuring quilts from Christie, Jennifer, and two quilts from Darra’s Sunbonnet Sue and Cuddle Me Quick books
We spent two busy days doing product demos, selling our patterns and crafts, and socializing with visitors. We’d do it again, anytime! Having the opportunity to share our quilting stories and handiwork in such a lovely setting was a real pleasure.
Thanks as well to those who stopped by and were so positive about our blog–we LOVE the feedback! It’s a funny experience sending our posts out into the online quilting universe. It’s such a relief to know that we’re making contact and we engaging our audience with fun projects and creative inspiration. Yeah!
More Judy Mathieson, featured artist 2012 Quilting in the Garden
We have so many photos of Quilting in the Garden that we thought it would be fun to open the Gallery and share some of the very pretty sights from the weekend. Check back this Friday, November 2 for the debut.
A friendly Alden Lane staffer outfitted for the big day
Our photographers for today’s post and the Gallery exhibition on Friday include: Kim Butterworth, Mike Harding, and Nelly Schrager. Thanks for your contributions!
See ya’ll on Friday for more quilting wonders from Quilting in the Garden!
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