Best of the Pacific International Quilt Festival 2019 (day 1)

Held annually in Santa Clara, California, the Pacific International Quilt Festival is the largest quilt show on the west coast. It features a wonderful variety of beautiful quilts! Here are some of the highlights of the festival. Let us know which ones are your favorites!

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For Such A Time As This, 68 x 70, by Kathy Wylie, Canada

Top prize winner, the Best of Show award, Kathy says, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven...[In this quilt], time is portrayed by clock numbers, monthly birth flowers and birthstones, leaves changing color with the seasons, moon phases, and the shapes of an hourglass and infinity."

In this close-up, you can see the pretty pale yellow daffodils, the birth flower for the month of March. Kathy's stunning original design is hand-stitched with turned-edge applique and domestic machine quilting.

Family Reunion, 81 x 81, by Barbara McCraw, Texas

Top award winner, Best of World, for the World of Beauty quilt exhibition, Barbara explains, "I designed my quilt after spending several years studying on Ancestry.com. I found my maternal great-grandparents and soon after that, I woke with the vision of the completed design, with them featured in the center." Barbara has produced a breathtaking quilt, well deserving of the Best of World award.

This block is labeled, "In memory of my Ancestors", as they are seen working in the cotton fields. Barbara's original design is hand-appliqued, machine pieced, and sewing machine quilted.

Here are Barbara's maternal grandparents, wed in 1904. They are lovingly encircled by a Baltimore-album style wreath, adorned with three-dimensional flowers and embellished with delicate beads.

Barbara adds, "When [this center block] was done, I decided to design 12 blocks encircling the center, representing my life, my loves, and my dear family. It took nearly 3 years to complete."  Barbara has published a book that tells the story of this momentous work: My Family Reunion Quilt : A Sentimental Journey in Applique.

We Three I'iwi, 60 x 48, by Phyllis Cullen, Hawaii

Phyllis notes, "It is my pleasure to present four of my favorite techniques to create this tribute to one of Hawaii's native birds." For her vibrantly hued original design, Phyllis won the blue ribbon for Best Use of Color in the Innovative Quilts category.

Phyllis continues, " [The techniques here are] free fabric collaged birds, painted branches, sun printed background, machine appliqued, and free motion quilted on the longarm. There is no greater pleasure than painting with fabric and thread."

Trip Around the World II, 38 x 39, by Inger Blood, California

Blue-ribbon winner of the Janome Best Sewing Machine Workmanship Award in the Wall Quilts, category, Inger remarks, "This quilt was inspired by an antique quilt from the early 1900s. Dupioni Silk was used to create the center pattern. Borders were quilted using ruler to extend the center design into the borders. "

These tiny little pieces in the center of the quilt, are less than one-half inch square! Inger machine- pieced them with amazing accuracy. For the border pattern, Inger adds, "Design created with the ruler work was filled with free motion quilting on a domestic sewing machine."

Cat Groove, 44 x 55, by Sue de Vanny, Australia

Second place winner in the Modern Quilts category, Sue writes, "The inspiration for Cat Groove is from my own drawings, 'Art Deco/Retro'. Improvident pieced design inspired by artist Wassily Kandinsky, feline salt and pepper shakers of the 60's/70's, and the music 'Something for Cat' from the Breakfast At Tiffany's soundtrack."

Here's the happy face of a most content kitty! Sue's fun, whimsical original design is machine pieced, machine appliqued, and sewing machine quilted.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2019 Pacific International Quilt Festival.

Highlights of the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival - part 4

The Houston International Quilt Festival is an awe-inspiring event, with more than 1,600 quilts on display, and over 60,000 visitors!! It's hard to describe the scale and visual impact of this event. Here are more highlights of this fantastic show.

Note: We've listed lots of lovely items at very low prices at Quilt Inspiration's E-Bay store !

Sawyer by Gail E. Thomas (British Columbia, Canada)

Gail Thomas says, "Grandchildren are glorious gifts... I hand-painted [Sawyer's] portrait and the stenciled border on cotton batik fabric. Free-motion quilting and hand embroidery add a bit of depth. I used antique buttons on the jeans to bring the quilt to life."

Cum et Iris by Sandra Ruano Navarro (Madrid, Spain)

The Latin phrase "cum et iris" translates to "when a rainbow." This dramatic, original design uses a combination of geometric forms and optical effects to simulate the swirling motion of a twister, with rainbow color flashes, as seen through a window. The quilting extends the swirled lines to the very edge of the quilt. Machine applique was used to create the swirls.

Lichen by Betty Busby (New Mexico, USA)

Betty Busby says, "I was inspired by the endless variety of lichen a tough little family of plants that can grow even on bare rocks in the desert." Inspired by macro-scale images, she created Lichen with machine applique, fusing, and painting, using silk and non-woven materials.

Victorian Jungle by Barbara McCraw (Texas, USA)

This beautiful quilt won the Ina Stentiford Memorial Floral Quilt award. It was hand appliqued, embroidered and embellished, machine quilted, and hand beaded.

Barbara McCraw says, “My favorite old movies always showed women draped in beautiful fabrics, gathered, ruched and pleated. Fabric covered the walls, and urns were filled with opulent flowers and feathers. I used that inspiration to design my quilt and then used animal prints and African batiks to create the flowers.”

Gossiping Ducks and Hungry Tiger by Linda Anderson (Texas, USA)

This dramatic, photo-inspired quilt was entered in the Painted Surface category. Linda Anderson says, "I saw a Tang Dynasty percussion performance on a trip to China. These three men wear the clothing of that period. The background reflects the title, referring to conversations between “gossiping” ducks, while the large drum speaks of the hungry tiger waiting for his meal." This piece was machine appliqued and painted using cotton fabrics.

Pua Haka (Anthurium flower) by Misa Murofushi and friends (Tokyo, Japan)

The anthurium is also called “pua haka” in the Hawaiian language. This quilt was entirely hand pieced and hand appliqued by Misa Murofushi and friends.  The block design is by Kathy Nakajima,  who has authored many Hawaiian quilt books. You can see another Kathy Nakajima-inspired quilt on our 2015 post, Hawaiian quilts by Japanese Masters.

The dark applique shapes really stand out on the bright floral blocks, pieced from floral and Kaffe Fassett fabrics, making the flowers and baskets appear to be lit from behind.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.