Day of the Dead in quilts

The Mexican holiday known as Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is celebrated on October 31st, November 1st and 2nd. It overlaps with All Hallow's Eve (Halloween), the night before All Saints Day.  The tradition honors those who have passed, whose souls are thought to come back to be with their loved ones. Here are some fun and colorful quilts that reflect the holidays!

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Catrina's Halloween by Michelle Howe (Irvine, California)

We were captivated by the gorgeous fringed and flower-bedecked hat worn by the skeleton, who is also holding a giant red peony.  This is a great example of broderie perse - a quilting style where flower motifs are cut from fabric and used as design elements. 

Michelle says that she fell in love with the "Catrina" quilts in the special display by Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli at the 2018 Road to California quilt show.  This is Michelle Howe's second "Catrina" quilt.  The colorful painted face was created using the face-painting techniques of Patt Blair.

The black and white background fabric, featuring bats and crows, provides a perfect haunted setting for "Catrina". The design elements, including skeleton parts, flowers, hat and dress were appliqued.  Many of the elements were edged with black blanket stitching, helping the pieces to stand out.

Emily by Jane Rua (Arizona)

Jane Rua made this fabulous quilt as a wedding gift for a great niece who loves skeletons and haunted houses. The piece was inspired by a quilt made by Jane Impey. In this delightful scene, a skeleton is enjoying a relaxing bath while shipping on a glass of wine.  Meanwhile, bugs rain from the shower head! 

In the closeup photos, spiders can be seen weaving webs on the wall above the bathtub (above).  A skeleton cat is having fun chasing after a huge spider (see the photo below)!

Save the Last Dance for Me by Nancy Arsenault (Tucson, Arizona)

This is the eleventh quilt in Nancy Arsenault's renowned Dia de los Muertos series!  Our photo does not do justice to this quilt, as the lighting was very uneven at this show. We hope you can appreciate the outstanding design nevertheless.

This original design was created in a workshop on mandalas.  Nancy says, "Everyone else was drawing beautiful flowers.  The more I drew, the less I liked it.  The teacher, Sharon Schamber, noted my frustration.  She said, Nancy... do what YOU do.  Then she walked away and I thought - does she mean SKELETONS?"

The center mandala features a ring of grinning skeleton heads with flower eyes.  They are surrounded by an outer ring of colorfully-dressed male and female dancers. The dancer shown below is elegant attired in a red dress with a striped Mexican shawl, with a cockatoo perched on her shoulder.

Image credits: Photos were taken at the 2020 Road to California show (Catrina's Halloween and Save The Last Dance for Me) and the 2020 Quilt Arizona show (Emily).

Best of the Road to California - Day 1

More than 39,000 visitors from all 50 U.S. states and several foreign countries come each January to visit the Road to California show in Ontario, California.. This quilt show features traditional, art and modern quilts. Here are some of the award winners and our own favorites from the 2018 show.

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Erin by Sandy Curran (Newport News, Virginia)

Erin was awarded a first place ribbon at the Road to California show. Sandy Curran says, "To me, my daughter, Erin, is one of the most beautiful people on earth. I have been afraid to do a portrait of her because I believed I could never do her justice. So, I created an unlikely color scheme and a simplified pattern. You can still recognize Erin, but, because it is not literal, I don’t have to agonize over whether or not I captured her."

Santorini Sunset by Melissa Sobotka (Richardson, Texas)

Santorini Sunset won the Best Use of Color award. Melissa Sobotka says, "I desperately tried to photograph the golden hour (sunset) in Santorini Greece, but that was an image so many had already captured. So I added a new twist, and challenged myself to turn the sunset-washed town into an abstract for a new perspective."

Melissa’s photo-realistic style of quilting is created by appliquéing numerous pieces of raw edge fabrics, and then enhancing them with inks to give them greater depth. You can see more examples of her work at her website, MSfiberart.

Rainbow Dash by Michelle Howe (Irvine, California)

Michelle Howe says that Rainbow Dash was completed in one week in a class given by Susan Carlson.  We admire Michelle's clever use of batik fabrics in creating this collage quilt with raw edge applique.

Remembering Roatan by Pamela Kuck (Shawano, Wisconsin)

Pamela Kuck achieved a remarkable realism in this seascape. She says, "This view of the sunset is from our home in the Western Caribbean Bay Island of Roatan. This piece uses raw-edged fused applique, thousands of ¼-inch fabric bits, a layer of tulle, and embellished with 500 Swarovski crystals to help the water sparkle."

Gilded Roses by Susan E. Stewart

Gilded Roses won the Best Domestic Machine Quilting award. Susan Stewart says, "this quilt was inspired by the lacy, watercolor-y rose machine embroidery design from Urban Threads, in a variety of soft colors to make all the roses just a bit different. The gold swirl designs are from OESD; the fold lace motifs are John Deer's Adorable Designs. All the quilting was free-motion on an APQS George."

Your Place or Mine by Marva-Lee Otos (Ketchikan, Alaska)

This quilt design was a block-of-the-month project by Australian designer, Wendy Williams. Vibrant fabrics by Kaffe Fassett enliven this quilt. Marva-Lee Otos says, "I have always been inspired by Wendy Williams' vibrant use of color. This quilt was a personal challenge to myself as it used non traditional applique techniques."

Marva continues, "I liked the combination of needle turn and wool applique on the pieced cotton background. That, coupled with use of a creative variety of embroidery stitches, allowed me to express my artistic options."
Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.