Highlights of the 2026 Quilt Fiesta! (2)

In the beautiful Sonoran desert of Arizona, the Tucson Quilters Guild celebrated their 50th anniversary with a spectacular show. The Quilt Fiesta includes a fascinating mix of styles, techniques, and patterns. We hope you enjoy our photos! This is Part 2 of 5.

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Chasing Rainbows by Doreen Diaz, quilted by Athena Taylor.  

Winner of a Blue ribbon for First Place in the Two Person Large Pieced category, Doreen Diaz says "The piecing of this quilt was a definite challenge, due to the number of curves in the design. I use the complexity of a Judy Niemeyer design to make sure my mind still works as I get older." Beautifully quilted by Athena Taylor; see the closeup photos below. [The pattern for this quilt is Coral Reef by Judy Niemeyer.]

Klimt - The Kiss, made and quilted by Karen Rainford.  

Karen Rainford says that she saw the Klimt paintings in real life in Vienna, while bicycling across Europe in 2023. She was inspired by this solo fabric panel of "The Kiss" to find a way to enhance it without distracting from the central image.  Her modern pieced border picks up the colors and textures in the panel perfectly! In the non-judged category, we enjoyed this lovely work. [The fabric panel is from the Klimt collection at Robert Kaufman Fabrics, still available from various sources as of this writing.] 

Out of Darkness, made and quilted by Karen G. Fisher.  

Winner of a Blue ribbon for 1st place in the One Person Primarily Applique category, plus a special award for Exemplary Machine Applique. Celebrating her love of Medieval Art, Karen included a Gothic Rose window, Mozarabic, Romanesque and Gothic arches, stained glass, manuscript illumination, and Italian Mosaic floor, a Celtic shield, and an inlay design from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial. (The "tile" center pattern is from Bella Bella Quilts (Norah McMeeking), the rest of the quilt is an original design.) 

Luxury Living, made and quilted by Stephanie Nordlin.  

 Winner of a blue ribbon for 1st Place in the One Person Medium Pieced category, Luxury Living was based on a 2021 The Quilt Show BOM by Wendy Williams; six blocks were an original designed by Stephanie Nordlin. She says, "Our homes were on an acre, lake and desert, all outside city limits. These, along with the Chrysler building. Oriental Pearl Tower and saguaro are my original designs."

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2026 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

Highlights of the 2014 Arizona Quilters Guild show : Day 1

This is our 5th year attending the spring Arizona Quilters' Guild show.  It's always like finding treasure in the desert!  As you can see, many folks from around North America agree.  It was fun to see cars from Alaska, California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota... plus Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario (among others!)

Agave Sunset by Jo Ann Kilgroe

Jo Ann says, "Working from an agave (cactus) in my yard, I created this design. I pieced, appliqued, and painted colorful batiks." We loved this stunning quilt which depicts the flora of the Southwestern U.S. so well.

Close up, Agave Sunset by Jo Ann Kilgroe

Agave Sunset won the City of Mesa, Arizona Award exemplary work and also won Second Place for Best Mixed Technique in the small quilts category. Here's a great example of how to blend traditional techniques with a contemporary motif:  Jo Ann made a "flying geese" patchwork panel and spiky piecing to enhance the colors of this vibrant quilt.

O Burrito Mia by Margot McDonnell

Second place winner for Large Pictorial Quilts, Margot says,"From children and a donkey, inspired by a 1970 greeting card, I added background details, employing applique, paint, and embroidery for a folk art effect."

Close- up, O Burrito Mia by Margot McDonnell

This adorable landscape quilt, showing a peaceful village by a mountain lake and darling children off to an adventure on their pet burro, really inspired our imagination. We were impressed by Margot's use of vibrant, clear colors.

Purple Agave by Vicki Bohnhoff

Second place winner for Digital Imaged Quilts, Vicki notes of her original design, "I used a negative, purple, variegated Agave image by photographer Camille Spurlock to print with archival inks onto silk charmeuse for a cactus beaded quilt."

Close up, Purple Agave by Vicki Bohnhoff

Vicki embellished her work with elegant, tiny blue beads which outline and enhance the luminous quality of these spiny, symmetrical leaves.

Koi Pair by Georgia Heller

First place winner for Pictorial Small Quilts, Georgia explains, "[This original design was] made for a 2013 exhibit at the Phoenix Japanese Friendship Garden. A vital part of the beauty and ecology of a Japanese garden are the colorful koi [fish]."

Close up, Koi Pair by Georgia Heller

We enjoyed this lovely machine applique work, along with the pretty thread painting of the undersea plants along the bottom of the quilt.

Roman Tiles, 76 x 76", by Ann L. Petersen

Best of Show and First Place - Large Pieced Award winner this year, Ann writes, "My original center star, borders, layout, and painted quilting designs were added to Norah McMeeking's  St. Mark's Wallhanging  pattern of Roman mosaic tiles."

Close up, Roman Tiles by Ann L. Petersen

Ann notes that after quilting the motifs around the star, she painted them with metallic paint to give them added luster and clarity. This show stopper also won the award for Excellence in Machine Quilting at the 2013 Road to California Quilt Show.


Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

California Fall Quilt Show: Part 6

Here's a variety of blocks, patterns, colors, and techniques from the talented artists at Diablo Valley Quilters 2013 show.  We're sure there's something for everyone; and hopefully, you'll enjoy all of these, as we did !

Patches, 32 x 26", by Ellen Brill

Ellen notes, "The creation of my little friend began in a class taught by Susan Carlson at the Empty Spools Seminars. I was inspired by a photo of a baby porcupine and created a pattern from enlarged photos.

Close up, Patches by Ellen Bill

We loved the wonderful sense of texture created by this combination of applique and quilting, which Ellen did herself. Notice how the dimensionality of this piece is enhanced by the use of darker fabrics beneath the porcupine to create a shadow illusion. 

30's Baskets, 26 x 30", a mini quilt by Bonnie Sherr 

Bonnie writes, "Handpieced blocks, paper pieced borders, and hand quilted. The pattern is from Those Fabulous 30's: Sweet Little Quilts to Brighten Your Day, by Gwen Hurlburt."  Basket blocks are one of our favorite designs, and Bonnie's choice of a flying geese border really provides visual interest to this cheerful, classic quilt.

Rainbow, 69 x 83", by Linda Probst

Linda says,  "Rainbow won 1st place in a four county quilt guild ( Mt. Airy, Maryland) mystery quilt competition."  We liked the brightly colored border, which looks like mosaic pieces or puzzle pieces all fitted together.

Close up, Rainbow by Linda Probst

Linda makes very effective use of strong contrasting hues, including a white background, to emphasize the interlocking diamonds of this intriguing quilt. If you look closely, you can see the cute dragonfly motif that is part of the pretty quilting pattern done by Linda herself.

1863 Dixie, 74 x 84", by Carroll Stephens, quilted by Sharon Graves

Carroll writes, "This pattern was called 'The Cotton Club' and was a block of the month project from Bonnie Blue Quilts.  Forty-five different blocks here are an excellent way to showcase America's heritage of folk arts, especially as shown in this work reminiscent of Civil War quilts. The quiet taupe background and muted cranberry red tones reflect colors from cloth often colored with plant dyes during the mid 19th century.

Generosity, 74 x 74", by Layne Rahbar

Layne says, "This circular pattern is from Bella Bella Quilts by Norah McMeeking. I challenged myself to make it from fabrics in my stash. Then I added my own borders and [the] Mariner's Compass pattern in the center." Layne's superior workmanship is evident in both the construction of the medallion and the inner and outer borders. Her careful selection of monochromatic warm autumn hues has resulted in a spectacular creation.

Close up, Generosity by Layne Rahbar

The continuity of this pattern is enhanced by the fact that each individual "spoke"of this design contains the same print fabric, as it radiates outward from the Mariners Compass. The creams and beiges of the background provide a sparkling contrast for the rich gold and umber tones of the spokes.

Image Credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.