Hello everyone! There is lots to report today. I’m pleased to announce my solo exhibit, “Fabric Fueled – the Supercharged Quilts of Brian Clements” at the Orphanage in Yuma, Colorado.
If you’ve not experienced the Orphanage yet, it is a car museum and event space that recently opened up in Yuma. My good friends, Rich Birnie and Ron Wenger have a passion for vintage… cars, furniture, rugs, etc. The Orphanage is a perfect showcase of their collection of orphaned cars — meaning that the make and/or model of car is no longer being produced. There are currently seven cars and two motorbikes on display. For more information on the Orphanage, I suggest you go to their website
The quilts are all hung, and ready for the opening artists reception, this Saturday, June 1, 2019 at the Orphanage, located at 300 S. Main Street in Yuma.
I’ll post some photos later of the quilts, but until the show, I’m going to keep them “undercover”… and yes that was a pun intended.
The artist’s reception runs from 3:00p.m. until 7:00pm on Saturday, June 1. You’ll be among the first to see the exhibit, and enjoy socializing with friends and neighbors. Snacks to nibble, and sips to savor will be provided. Feel free to come and go as you please, but I’d really love to see you there, and I can tell you more about some of the works that I’ve put on display.
If you simply cannot make the party, I’d still encourage you to visit the Orphanage during the month of June, as the display remains through June 30th.
Hello everyone. A few weeks ago, Joe and I were headed west on I-70 to go to the hot springs in Glenwood Springs. I knew that the museum has recently moved, and I was anxious to go check out the new space.
There were two exhibits running at the time, “SAQA: Under the Western Sun” and “Buffalo Bill: Quilting the Wild West”.
Both exhibits were fantastic, and I thought I’d share a few photos of some of the works that caught my eye… I hope you enjoy, and if you can, the exhibit runs through July 22, 2017.
“Bye, Bye Buckaroos: Vanishing West Series” by Theresa L Fleming – Parker, Colorado“Longhorn Bull” by Heather Cotterman – Elizabeth, CO“Boot Quilt” by Rebecca Schwartz – Niwot, CO“Fertile Hills” by Jean Herman – Denver, CO“On Dahlias” by Shannon M. Conley – Moore, OK“Larger Than Life” by Carol Kolf – Sheridan, WY“Canyon Wrapped in Starlight” by Melody Money – Boulder, CO“Golden Canyon” by Vicki Conley – Ruidoso Downs, NM“Remembering John Denver/Fire in the Sky” by Char D. Punke – Albuquerque, NMI hope this small glimpse of the show, will entice you to go see the full exhibit. More information can be found at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum website.
Thanks for stopping by, and happy quilting to you!
Hi everyone. Wow, has the time gotten away from me and my blogging habit. You should know that I’ve been really busy quilting and creating in my studio. I thought that a good place to begin to catch up would be with my Crown Royal Quilt.
I finished this quilt last year in October, but kept it under wraps for the most part. It has been shown at the Yuma County Colorado Fair (of course) where it was awarded “Best Use of Color” and at the neighboring Phillips County Fair in Colorado as well.
On a larger stage… it was exhibited at the Machine Quilters Showcase in Cedar Rapids, Iowa earlier this spring, and I won a faculty ribbon.
Today, my quilt returned from display in Chicago at MQX. I didn’t win a ribbon, but it’s a great honor to be a finalist, and have your work included in their show.
The quilt features an original design of 84 Crown Royal bag embroideries, carefully cut and sewn into the blocks and borders.
This was truly a solo work, as I designed, pieced, quilted, and bound this beautiful quilt. I hope you enjoy seeing it too!
I’ll keep it short and sweet today, as I’m busy with a customer quilt on the longarm, and I should be working. Thanks for stopping by and checking me out.
Hello everyone. I’ve had a great, albeit very busy, week in Wray, Colorado. With the help of many people, and many area businesses, we pulled off the 16th Annual Quilts of the Plains outdoor quilt show, this past Saturday, June 27, 2015.
We had a great array of wonderful quilts entered into the show, including many from far, far away. Our Viewer’s selected a lovely quilt by Valerie from Dove Creek, Colorado. They also awarded a total of 8 ribbons for the best in category voting. I’ve uploaded a photo gallery of all of the quilts. I think they all are winning quilts. Mixed in, you will also see some street and sidewalk shots. Perhaps, I caught you looking at the beautiful quilts, or driving down the street. You’ll see the kind of businesses that line our streets, and help to make Wray such a wonderful place to live, work, shop, or even visit.
Of course, photos never do full justice of an event like this. I do hope it’s a useful resource though, for quilters who entered or viewed the show, as well as a shameless promotion of our town, our people, and our humble little quilt show on the plains in Colorado. I hope it makes you want to be a part of it in the future.
Have fun looking through the gallery. I’ve made smaller versions of the photos, so it will load quickly on your computer, phone or tablet with ease. If you have a need for a more detailed image, I can provide that on a request basis for you.
Thanks for supporting quilting in Wray, and for your continued interest in my life, art and blog. I’d really appreciate if you could share this with others, and leave a comment when you stop by the blog. It really adds a richness to the place.
I hope you have been inspired, and this will manifest in your creative life, whatever that may be.
I’m busy quilting the last of my projected quilts for this years show. I really love how this is turning out, and it will be a perfect gift for a lucky person in my life. It’s a secret, so I don’t want to say much more.
Hi everyone! It’s been a great year, and I hope you’ve had some time to work on your quilt projects. I’m finishing up on the last two king-sized quilts that I intend to exhibit into the show. As you may, or may not know, I am the Chairman of the Quilts of the Plains annual outdoor quilt show, held in Wray, Colorado each year. The event is held on the Saturday AFTER Fathers’ Day each summer. That being said, This years show is on June 27, 2015!
The Quilts are on display for ONE DAY ONLY, June 27, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Most quilts are displayed along Main Street from 3rd to 5th Street, and antique and miscellaneous items will be displayed in the Wray Museum.
The quilts will not be judged, but the Viewers will vote for their favorites. The overall winning quilt will be awarded a BRAND NEW JANOME SEWING MACHINE, and Viewers’ Choice Ribbons will be awarded in each of the categories listed below!!! I hope you’ll enter, and GOOD LUCK TO YOUR QUILT!!!
We NEED your quilts, or we won’t have much of a show…. We don’t have a restriction on the items you enter. You may have made it this year, or many years ago. We kindly ask that you not display items that have previously been in the Quilts of the Plains Show. You may enter as many items in each category as you wish, and we LOVE seeing the creativity that each and every person has exhibited in their quilts.
The categories remain the same.
Large Bed Quilt
Small Bed Quilt
Baby Quilt
Quilted Wall-hanging
Quilt made by youth – age 18 and under
Antique Quilt – Made at least 25 years ago
Miscellaneous Quilted (Quilt Related) Item
Entries will be accepted at Rainbow Fabrics from Monday, June 22 to Thursday, June 25. If you have a need for an accommodation outside of that schedule, please let us know.
This photo was taken a few months ago, as I was beginning to quilt the raffle quilt for Quilts of the Plains 2015. As you can see, the colors are gorgeous, and the fabric is all batiks. The blocks were made by local members of the Quilters’ Anonymous group here in Wray.
Again this year, we have a spectacular raffle quilt. Made of batik fabrics in lovely shades of blue and cream, you are gonna love this one. The quilt is on display at Rainbow Fabrics. Tickets are ON SALE NOW through the day of the quilt show. The Disappearing Hourglass blocks create a very beautiful block, and the quilting was done by Fellow Quilter, Brian Clements. (ME!) Tickets are still only $1 each, or 6 tickets for $5.
We rely upon the help of many volunteers. If you can help, we’d be grateful for anything you can do. We need people to hang the quilts, take quilts down, push a cart along and hand quilts to the folks up on the ladder… At the end, we need some volunteers to take down quilts, fold quilts, sort and checkout the quilts to their owners. We will have an information table, and need people to sit and sell raffle tickets. Even an hour or two is a huge help! Please let us know how you’d like to help.
Lastly, I must thank our sponsors. The quilt show is presented by the City of Wray and the Wray Chamber of Commerce. The main sponsor is Rainbow Fabrics, and supporting sponsorships from Foltmer Drug/RadioShack/Main Street Clothing, Box Elder Ranch, First Pioneer National Bank, Leigh Floral, Wray State Bank, Ann & Steve Brethauer, and Wray Lumber Company are much appreciated.
If you’d like to receive information on this show, or be added to our email list for upcoming shows, please leave me a comment, or contact me at the following:
If you have any questions, please email Brian at fellowquilter@aol.com or call (970) 597-1313
Or to reach Wanda at Rainbow Fabrics, she can be contacted at rainbow@plains.net or call (970) 332-4343
Thanks for your support. I hope you can come to the show!!
Hello everyone. It’s been a busy summer here in Wray, Colorado. We did host the annual Quilts of the Plains show on Main Street on June 21, 2014. Once again, the antique quilts and the smaller items were showcased at our gorgeous Wray Museum.
Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, and especially the quilters! The winning quilt was by Hazel Chapman and her Grand-daughter. It was a beautiful appliqued quilt.
I won’t say a lot, but just invite you to peruse the show, by way of the photos I captured that day. I really appreciate if you could leave a comment about the show – perhaps your favorite quilt, or something relevant to the show.
I thought I’d make a quick blog entry to remind you about the Yuma County Fair. I am a big supporter of the fair, especially the open class quilt exhibits. I make a point to enter at least one quilt each year. The main reason I do, is to get feedback from the trained quilt judges as to my work. Over the years, I’ve learned many things, and my quilt-making is improved as a result.
So… you’re wondering why I’m writing this. There cannot be a quilt exhibition, without the quilts! Entering is easy… just drop your quilt or quilts off at the Yuma County Fairgrounds in Yuma, Colorado on Sunday, August 4th from 1:00-4:00 p.m. or on Monday morning from 7:30-9:00 a.m. Don’t worry too much about the competition, as there are many age groups and levels to accommodate everyone. Think how proud you’ll be to see your quilt on display at the fair.
If you do drop off your entry on Monday… you might consider staying to watch the judging. It’s fascinating to hear the judge comment on what makes one quilt stand out, or what might have made the quilt more stunning. I’ve learned a lot by listening… just wish I could attend the judging every year, but Monday mornings are very busy at the stores.
I’ll be entering this quilt, entitled “Miniatures”. You may have seen it at the Quilts of the Plains show in June. It has some great quilting, and the flying geese blocks are super small. It was fun to make, and I hope you’ll come and check it out, as well as the many other quilts that will be on display.
I hope I’ve inspired you to share your work with others through my blog posts. I welcome your comments, and I hope to see you at the fair! Bye for now, and happy quilting, gardening, BBQ’ing, or whatever summer activities that you enjoy!
I took a photo of each quilt in the show, and I’ve uploaded them to an album on my webshots site. Please click on the link to be taken to my album. You may post comments to the photos. I tried to list the quiltmaker and many times the quilt name in the caption under the photo. You will also find a button on the right hand side to show you a slideshow of all of the images. There are over 170 images, and you can order prints and other related items on the website.http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/583013853CnwwuF?vhost=home-and-garden
Please post your comments regarding the show here on my blog, so that I can hear about your experiences!
We had an awesome grouping of quilts… 129 of them to be exact. The overall winner was Devonna Haines of Benkelman, Nebraska with her Sun Bonnet Sue Calendar quilt. Other winners were Keeley Confer, also of Benkelman, Laura Nicks of Loveland, Colorado, Nicole Howard of Saint Francis, Kansas, Sheena Burr of Seibert, Colorado, Millie Bracelin of Wray, Colorado and Anita Hoyer of Elizabeth, Colorado. Congratulations to all of the viewer’s choice favorites listed… however, each and every one of you who entered quilts was someone’s favorite quilter, so I think you are all winners!
The raffle quilt was won by Gene Bainbridge of Wray, Colorado. Gene is the Mother of winner Anita Hoyer, a long-time participant in the show, and multiple viewer’s choice winner, as well.
If you have yet to pick up your quilt… they are being saved for you at Rainbow Fabrics in Wray.
Again, enjoy the photos… whether you were able to attend or not. I think it gives a pretty good representation of the show.
The next years show is scheduled for June 22, 2013 and upcoming details will be posted at www.wraychamber.net/quiltsoftheplains.php so check back periodically for updates.
I just returned from a trip to the Quilt Market in Kansas City. While I was there, I made many new connections with some pretty amazing people and companies. One such person was Jim in the Colonial Needle Company booth. We got to talking about Precensia thread, and pretty soon the conversation shifted to our outdoor quilt show, Quilts of the Plains. Jim made a generous offer to send an item to our show… I just emailed him the details, and I’m sure he’ll be sending something way cool…. You’ll have to come and see for yourself. It may be an item for the silent auction, or maybe a giveaway… Hmmmm.
As I’ve said before, the show is coming up on June 23rd, 2012 in Wray, Colorado. The quilts for display will be dropped off at Rainbow Fabrics between June 18th and June 21st, however, I usually receive some out of town quilts early. This year is no exception… I’ve already got a few great quilts lined up in my studio, which I will enter into the show for some out-of-towners. They are planning to come to the show, but this simple act saves them a second trip to drop off their quilt at Rainbow Fabrics.
Add a comment to my blog about your experiences at Quilts of the Plains… What did you enter? Have you seen a favorite quilt on display there? Have you won a prize or ribbon? Whatever you can add to this discussion… others will enjoy reading!
Thanks for stopping by, and good luck finishing your projects. I’ll look for them in the show!
Fellow Quilter 