"GARDEN VARIETY" QUILT SHOW (Cheri)

Have you ever wondered about how the phrase "garden variety" originated?

You might think I'd chosen the title for this post because of the striking botanical theme of the Best-in-Show winning quilt above.  (Can't believe I failed to get a readable picture of the artist's name.  I'll edit if I find the information.)

The origin of the phrase "garden variety" goes back about 150 years:

It began in England as a descriptor for plants that thrived
not just in cultivated gardens but also on public commons
– shared land where everyone could forage.

(One-Word-A-Day)

I typically go to regional quilt shows, occasionally a national one.  I also like attending North Carolina local shows, to see different parts of the State.  You also see "typical" - amazing - workmanship that doesn't get submitted to the larger shows.

Friday it was the Catawba Valley Quilters' Guild Show.

Here's an outstanding example of the difference between the types of shows.  At a national or regional show, you see the quilts developed and executed by original artists.

At a local show you will see more quilts like this, a stunning example of someone's work following a pattern created by that original artist:

I am not the kind of generous artist that would be willing to develop patterns from her - or his - work.  If I had created that piece, I wouldn't care if I could make money selling the patterns; I couldn't do it!

Maybe Loma Linda, California quilter Veruschka Zarate chose to sell the pattern not only for the income, but also because she herself had "collaborated" with painter Johannes Vermeer in creating the piece.  Here's a link to a video of her making the quilt.

At first I thought this quilt had been prepared as part of the Quilts of Valor program, which prepares quilts to give to military members and veterans in thanks for for their service:

Actually, not.  I was so intrigued by the history of the inset piece, which is described in the artists' statement:

A fun Harley-Davidson themed T-shirt quilt:

A Christmas pattern that I'd like to make:

This next quilt was actually my "Viewers' Choice" pick.  It's made of fabrics from of "The Ghastlies" line.

Do I like spooky stuff, even if it's not orange and black?  Noooo!  But I love the way the artist designed a quilt that featured many portions of the fabrics.

The colors and waves of this quilt almost could have been the inspiration for the "Garden Variety" title, too, but really the reason I included the quilt was its title.

I don't read all quilt titles, but this caught my eye somehow.

"Roy G. Biv."

I remember that, but who was he?  This doesn't look like a commemorative quilt.

It almost felt like "Kilroy was here."

Curious.

A quick Google search led to the "Ahhh!"

"Isaac Newton's color sequence (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) is kept alive today by several popular mnemonics. One is simply the
nonsense word roygbiv, which is an acronym for the seven colors.[5]
This word can also be envisioned as a person's name, 'Roy G. Biv'." 

(Wikipedia)