The Northern Illinois Quilt Fest runs July through September and during this time some of the local barns and gardens are either featuring a painted quilt block or a quilt block garden, or both. Paige and I decided to hit the road yesterday for a little break from sewing and check out the ones that were being displayed locally in Crystal Lake.

First up was our local community college, MCC. The college has a small walking flower garden on campus. This was such a delight to me because I didn’t even know it was back there. If you’re a local, you should definitely take a little tour.

Everywhere we looked we saw perfect areas to drape a quilt, so we asked permission to come back and take pics. We had just finished up with one of our shop samples from the Pick A Bunch line. What better quilt to display in a flower garden than a sweet little quilt with colorful daisies on it.

This quilt was made from the Heather Mulder Peterson book, Living Large and the pattern was called Pretty In Pink.The original pattern had several appliqued flowers in the corners but we choose to leave them off. It was so sweet, it didn’t need any extras…it’s a Pick A Bunch of sweetness!

We took Summer Tweets along with us too. The Wrenly fabric was also perfect for these outside pics since it’s full of birdie artwork. There were two perfect spots to display it.

The quilts looked beautiful hanging in the sunlight surrounded by flowers and trees. This little garden would have made a perfect place for a small quilt display. MCC was featuring the quilt garden block on the tour, but to be honest, we still can’t figure out which block it’s supposed to be.

This barn is our local community space for people to plant a veggie garden who don’t have the space in their own backyard. There is acreage behind it and I always see the people back there tending to their garden. This block was the Weather Vane Variation.

Countryside Nursery hosted both the garden and painted quilt block…the St. Louis block.

And this one was a private participant in the tour. Their block was Ohio Star Variation.

I’d like to see them leave the painted quilts on the barns even after the show ends. Hopefully, Paige and I will be able to see more of the barns,  gardens, and festivities in the other cities in the quilt fest through the next few months. We’ll be sure and take the camera along so you can follow in on the fun!

Have a great weekend everyone!