Welcome to the 2021 Pacific International Quilt Festival - part 1

 Welcome to the Pacific International Quilt Festival! Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we could not view all the quilts this year! Therefore, we are showing a small sample of the quilts in this large show. Here is Part 1 of our photos.

Fleur de Leapfrog, 45 x 78, by Lys Axelson, California

 Winner of an Honorable Mention award in the Innovative Quilts category, Lys explains, "Everything about frogs and toads makes me happy. Their color, funny little legs, big giant eyes, the way they hop, swim, and sing. Sadly, in recent time, their has existence has become threatened by loss of habitat, climate change, pollutants, exploitation, and disease. "

Lys continues, "Chytridiomycosis, an infectious fungal disease, attacks the skin of frogs, toads, and other amphibians, causing mass mortality events. Recent evidence shows some species beginning to recover; others continue to experience ongoing decline."  Lys' brilliantly colorful original design is hand appliqued and machine quilted.

High chroma beaded embellishments and closely spaced machine quilting give an energetic appearance to this work and make the frogs appear to be ready to hop right off the quilt !  From the comments of the other viewers at the show, Lys' quilt was a real crowd-pleaser.

Sphere, 76.5 x 76.5, by Beth Nufer, Oregon . Quilted by Clem Buzick.

First Place winner for Best Mid-Century Modern Quilt, Beth notes, "[This quilt was made with all dupioni silk. My goal was to create a 3-D and modern effect."

Precision design and cutting really show off the multiple dimensions of Beth's spectacular quilt. An excellent sense of perspective is required to create this contemporary geometric look. Beth's original design is machine pieced, hand-appliqued, and longarm machine quilted.

Rainy Day Ballet  by Geri Patterson-Kutras, California

Geri writes, "Rain in the big city creates a kind of sidewalk ballet. Dancers perform rapid leaping steps trying to avoid colliding with other dancers and splashing in  unforeseen puddles. The joyful choreographed steps of the tiny ballerina's production of Swan Lake reminds us to slow down and relish the lost childhood gifts of imagination on a rainy day."

Long diagonal lines of quilting, along with an umbrella blown inside out show the effect of the wind and rain on the walkers as they scurry along in the storm. Geri's very imaginative original design includes machine finished edge applique, hand sewn specialty tear shaped and crystal beads, and metallic ink.

Pink Breath of Heaven, 55 x 55, by Allison Alexis Lockwood, California

Allison states, "My quilt designs have been greatly influenced by my love of travel. I am passionate about the color and pattern that I have observed in our exotic corners of the world, such as India, Myanmar, and Bhutan. As Covid-19 has curtailed travel, I find that I have gained months of time to continue creating at home, and my memories continue to inspire me."

One of the charming and lovely embellishments of Allison's work is the tiny little glass mirrors in the center block and in the orange flowers of the inner and outer borders. This type of traditional embroidery is known as Shisha and can be found in India, as well as China, Afghanistan, and Indonesia.

In Perfect Harmony, 36 x 47, by Sandra L. Mollon , California

 First Place winner for Best Wall Quilt, Sandra comments on her original design,  "As a traditional hand applique quilter for more than two decades, it was a leap for me to try a different, realistic, raw edge style. That style, with lots of machine work and some mixed media has become my personal new norm, and it has been a lot of fun."

Sandra adds that her quilt was designed from a photo by Deb Simon, which was used with her permission.  This very intriguing, machine-quilted work has a texture which makes the bears, the water, and the rocks appear true-to-life.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2021 Pacific International Quilt Festival.

Highlights of the Road to California Quilt Show! part 2

Welcome to the Road to California Quilter's Conference and Showcase! The Road to California, as it is called, takes place in Ontario (Southern California), and features over 1,000 quilts by artists from all over the world. Around 40,000 people gather to see the show, take classes, and shop. Join us in admiring some of the stunning quilts from this year's show.

Also check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, books, and collectible items !
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Cody's Cubes by Beth Nufer, Oregon. Quilted by Clem Buzick

Honorable Mention winner in the Abstract Quilts category, Beth remarks, "I wanted to make a modern design quilt with a 3-D effect to it. I love tumbling blocks, so that worked out for this quilt."

Because the different faces of these blocks are separated with dark background fabric, the three-dimensional effect is even more pronounced. We really admire this expertly designed and constructed geometric quilt with brilliant rainbow colors.

Sonoran Desert Sunset by Kathy Adams and Joanne Baeth, Arizona

Third place winners in the Naturescapes Quilts category, Kathy and Joanne explain, "Original design [is] inspired by several photos we took of the Sonoran Desert which were collaged to make our pattern. Bold colors and Southwestern sunsets inspired our fabric choices. We divided the pattern horizontally into 6 sections and each created and quilted an alternating section."

The quilters add, "Work was done independently, sharing progress via phone and email. When complete, sections were mailed back and forth to be joined, as we live several miles apart." With their use of vibrantly-hued fabrics and intricate thread work, Kathy and Joanne have created a gorgeous quilt which depicts the sunset illuminating mountains, the cacti, and the wildflower-strewn floor of the desert.

The Eggs of the Rainbow Serpent by Jenny Bowker,  Australia

Jenny writes, The Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve is a site in the Northern Territory of Australia, which is the subject of an Aboriginal legend, which explains how the Rainbow Serpent carried water across the Australizan desert from coast to coast and left its eggs in the desert.The Rainbow Serpent is the creator of all things in the Dreamtime stories."

Jenny continues, "I wanted a strong sense of our traditional owners in this piece, but Australians of European heritage are not permitted by use Aboriginal symbolism. To avoid offense, I used Aboriginal fabrics in some sections of the quilt. Still playing with the idea of extending a landscape with patchwork blocks, I used an altered Kaleidoscope block in the rest of the quilt. The heat of Australia's desert swirls through the sky."  This is an amazing creation by Jenny Bowker, whose circular images and quilting motif give a dynamic energy to her work.

Untitled by Lynn Czaban, Oregon

Blue ribbon winner in the category of Human Images, Lynn notes, "This 1936 photograph by Arthur Rothstein, a photographer for the Famr Securities Administration, depicts a laborer at the Chopawamsic Recreational Project in Virginia."

For her design inspiration, Lynn used a copyright-free photograph from the Library of Congress. Her ability to capture in cloth the distinct, clear, facial features and expressions of her subjects is amazing. She has done other portraits from the Great Depression, and they have all turned out beautifully.

Digital Interface by Zoe Williams, New York

Zoe comments, "The beautiful, intricate, dexterous, miraculous human hand never ceases to fill me with awe. So much of our interaction with the world and our connection to others is done through our hands."

 

Zoe continues, "This quilt is an enlarged tracing of the proportions of my own hand, which allows me to express myself and function in countless ways."

She concludes, "Quilted into this piece are 122 words, given to me by friends and loved ones, of the meaningful things we do with our hands." We really admire Zoe's excellent workmanship, elegant use of complementary colors, and innovation in selecting such an intriguing and original subject.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2020 Road to California show.

Highlights of the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival - part 5

The Houston International Quilt Festival is an awe-inspiring event, with more than 1,600 quilts on display, and over 60,000 visitors!! We're sharing some final highlights of this fantastic show, before we turn our attention to Christmas!

Note: We've listed quilt patterns and vintage fine jewelry at very low prices at Quilt Inspiration's E-Bay store !

I Choose Joy by Cheryl Olson (Utah)

"I Choose Joy" was inspired by the natural beauty of birch trees. It was featured in a special exhibit, Nine Voices from One, curated by Jane Dunnewold. The exhibit features works by graduates of The Art Cloth Mastery Program, showing some of the finest works created by surface design artists today. Beginning with a hand-dyed silk backdrop, other hand-dyed cut pieces were fused onto the surface, then machine quilted. 

We liked Cheryl Olson's explanation of her quilt title,  "I Choose Joy", so much that we turned it into an image:

APPreciation: Ineka by Helen Godden (Australia)

Helen Godden says, “My muse is my daughter, Ineka. This quilt is based on a holiday photo from the dry Lake Hart. The glare from the dry desert salt pan requires sunglasses, even for a photo.” Helen altered the image with the Dreamscope phone app, then painted it with acrylic paint on cotton fabric.

Diamond Effervescence by Beth Nufer (Oregon) and Clem Buzick

Machine piecing and hand applique was used to create this brilliant original design. Beth Nufer says, “My inspiration was the silk fabric. The background fabric is a gradated cotton sateen. I wanted to incorporate the two fabrics together.” Clem Buzick's award-winning quilting can be seen in every element of the quilt.

Wild, Wild Plum by Carolyn Skei (Texas)

Carolyn Skei created Wild, Wild Plum with apps on her iPad.  It was inspired by a Hosui pear photogarph by Susanne Kaspar from The Great Book of Pears. Carolyn says, "My iPad experimentations yielded the outline and coloration for this quilt; fabrics and threads from my stash took it to the next level."

Carolyn used machine applique; fusing; hand and machine embellishment; hand and machine embroidery; and fabric collage techniques with commercial and hand-dyed cottons.

Balancing Act, 56 x 40", by Bodil Gardner (Denmark)

The woman in this whimsical quilt balances precariously on a seesaw, with the world on one end of the seesaw and a baby carriage on the other; a book and teacup are perched on her head. Bodil says, "In 1985 I made a quilt called Woman’s Life, a Balancing Act. So many wishes to fulfill, so many dreams to pursue, so little time of your own, little has changed since then. This 2015 quilt is on the same theme."  These lines are stitched onto the borders:

I would give you all the stars in the sky 

I would catch the drops from threatening clouds 

I would plant thornless roses by your way 

But would life be worth living then my child? 

Elements #12: Blue River by Michele Hardy (Colorado)

Elements #12: Blue River was shown in the special SAQA: Textile Posters exhibit. It depicts the colorful annual cycle of snowfall in the mountains, spring melt, runoff that replenishes the rivers, and water that gives life, summarized in the words Snow - River - Life. The fabrics were hand dyed, screen printed, fused, machine appliqued, and stitched.

Kazenobon by Masako Sakagami (Japan)

Masako Sakagami says, "I live in Yatsuo-machi, Toyama prefecture. Here I depicted the folk dance of the [traditional] Kaze no Bon festival."   The festival occurs at night, therefore Masako set the whirling dancers against a black background.  She used kimono fabrics along with machine piecing, machine applique, machine embroidery, painting, and free-motion quilting to create this masterpiece.

Gold and silver metallic threads stand out beautifully against the black background.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival.

Best of the 2014 Pacific International Quilt Festival : Day 6

The Pacific International Quilt Festival, known as PIQF, is the biggest quilt show on the west coast of the United States. In this series, we're displaying some of the fabulous, innovative, and just plain fun quilts we saw there.  This year's theme is  "The Whole Nine Yards", meaning "to show maximum effort in work or play."  Here is Part 6 of our photos!

Six Faces of a Life by Barbara Held

Barbara writes, "I had been thinking about life. Within a two-month period, my mother passed away, then my granddaughter was born, and my other daughter-in-law had a miscarriage. I decided to make this quilt celebrating the different phases of life from early infancy to old age. I painted the same face and aged it. I appliqued all the fabrics appropriate to the season of life they represent. I am very proud of this quilt."

Close up photo, Six Faces of a Life by Barbara Held

Three-dimensional flowers adorn the hair of one of the younger faces. We found this quilt to be a poignant and moving reminder none of us are free from aging and eventual loss of life.

Mimi's View, 109 x 109", by Beth A. Nufer (Oregon, USA)

Beth  notes, "I try to go the whole nine yards with each quilt I make. It is the best way for me to try to get better.  The inspiration was a painting by John Zaccheo. Design permission was given."  Doesn't this lovely quilt depict what might be the very best vacation spot ever?  We could relax among these cheerful flowers and look out on the sun-splashed lake for a very long time.

Closeup photo, Mimi's View by Beth A. Nufer

Mimi's original design is hand appliqued, machine pieced, and longarm quilted by Clem Buzick.

Floral Fantasy, 40 x 38", by Barbara K. Confer (California, USA)

Barbara notes, "A huge bouquet of flowers I saw in Amsterdam was the inspiration for this quilt. I loved the joyful combination of colors and textures; and I anted to share that joy with the viewer. I threw out all the stops, using fabric, yarn, vintage doilies, buttons, trims, beads, and anything else I could think of to compel the viewer to seek out the various items hidden in the quilt. "

Close-up photo, Floral Fantasy by Barbara K. Confer

Here you can see some of the doilies, three dimensional flowers, and tiny beads which embellish the lush, elegant arrangement depicted on this quilt. Barbara's original design is machine pieced and appliqued, plus machine quilted.

Arum Bouquets, 89 x 89", by Anne Yeo (New Zealand)

Blue ribbon winner for Best of Country,  New Zealand quilter Anne Yeo says of this original design,  " My original inspiration was a bouquet of lilies in a church. This formed the bouquet in the central diamond. The 8 other bouquets were design to fit the 8 corners formed by the squares and diamonds of the quilt layout......... I feel that this design and quilt layout work very well together." Please see the biography of Anne Yeo at Wine Country Quilts.

Closeup photo, Arum Bouquets by Anne Yeo 

Anne continues, "Techniques used are hand needle turn applique, machine embroidery, domestic machine quilting, and hand couched fine gold cord around the ribbons."
We really enjoyed the straight line quilting pattern that radiates out like spokes of light from the graceful bouquet. Anne's original design is hand appliqued, machine pieced, and machine quilted.

It's About Time, 68 x 68", by Robbi J. Eklow (Illinois, USA)

Robbi explains, "I dye my own fabrics, design my own quilts, and quilt them myself, so I'm involved the whole way through. I'd dye the quilting thread if it wasn't such a pain." This quilt reminds us of an abstract image of the inside of a clock, with its intricate gears and wheels. We enjoyed the way that the right side of the "clock" was offset and hidden behind the border, with only part of the gears and wheels showing. That's a refreshing and innovative setting for a quilt with strong circular motifs.

Close up photo, It's About Time by Robbi J. Eklow

Robbi's original design, done in vibrant complementary colors, is longarm quilted. Notice the pretty feathers that adorn each leaf outside the circular Greek key motif.

Image credits:   Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Road to California 2014: Part 1

By luck or chance, we've found ourselves attending three quilt shows in three weeks (!) Last week we featured the Tucson Quilt Fiesta and this week we're sharing photos from the Road to California.  (Next week we'll be going to the AQS show, which will be coming to Phoenix, Arizona for the first time.)  Here are some of the awe-inspiring quilts we saw at the Road to California.

Celestial Splendor, 62 x 62”, by Rachel Wetzler

Rachel Westzler won 2nd place in the Innovative Wall Applique category for Celestial Splendor.  Her original design is based on the ceiling in the crossing tower of Canterbury Cathedral, one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. All of the shapes that make up this original and colorful design are appliqued - even the straight lines - with fused raw edge applique.  This quilt really stood out with its intricate geometric design and beautiful colors.

close up, Celestial Splendor by Rachel Wetzler

Rachel did all of the work - design, applique and quilting - on Celestial Splendor. In her blog post, she explains that Celestial Splendor is a quilt with a hundreds of individual shapes:  "The only way to achieve accuracy on a complex quilt like this is to use acrylic overlays for exact placement of the fabric shapes." After fusing, each shape is finished with a small zigzag stitch using tracing paper as a temporary stabilizer.  For more information on  techniques, see Rachel Wetzler Quilts.

Where We Met, 43 x 59", by Linda C. Anderson

Where We Met won a major award of $1000 for Best Wall Quilt at the Road to California.  There were so many admirers crowded in front of this quilt that we had to wait until late in the day to get a photo.  From a distance this quilt looks like a landscape painting rather than an art quilt. What is interesting is that the trees, pond and reflections were done in shades of gray, while the color was reserved for the house in the background and the green lily pads in the foreground, which are balanced by a swath of green on the pond's edge.  Linda Anderson achieved a meticulous, almost photorealistic effect with changes of value.

close up, Where We Met by Linda C. Anderson

Linda Anderson explains the inspiration for this scene:  "After an exhaustive genealogy search, I discovered unknown family in Sweden. Seven of us from the US traveled to meet them in a little village north of Stockholm named Hogbo. After over 100 years of both sides losing knowledge of the other, we were reunited with much joy and love. This is a depiction of Where We Met."

Music of the Spheres by Ann B. Feitelson

We were excited to see this gem of a wall quilt at the Road to California. We think that this show needs to create an award category for Contemporary Design, as this quilt surely would have won.  In her artist's statement for Music of the Spheres, Ann Feitelson says:  "I love stripes. I love circles. Striped circles on stripes evoke the sun, or a sunset, or lightwaves. I made a few blocks with circles on stripes, and a few more, and started to put them together. An order evolved (very slowly!)"  In the lower right corner block of the quilt there is a blue-green sphere that reminds us of images of the earth from space.

close up, Music of the Spheres by Ann B. Feitelson

The illusion of transparency in the spheres is more apparent in this zoomed-in photo. You can also see tiny birds, which appear to be riding the quilted waves which undulate across the surface of the quilt. Ann Feitelson is a contemporary art quilter who is best known for her mastery of color in design; this new piece is so harmonious and pleasing to the eye, we could have gazed at it for hours.   For more photos and information on the work of Ann Feitelson, please see our 2013 feature article and interview in A Fine Art: the colorful quilts of Ann Feitelson. 

Big Bertha, 99 x 99”, by Margaret Solomon Gunn

Margaret Solomon Gunn won the Masterpiece Award of $5000 for Big Bertha.   We enjoyed seeing her outstanding quilting close up (unlike many of the quilts at Road to California, this quilt was not blocked off with tape, but it was attended by a white-glove volunteer).   Traditional Dresden plates form the basis for the colorful design, but there is plenty of open space to showcase Margaret's exemplary quilting.  There are many motifs, with portions of the quilting motif or the piecing repeated.

close up, Big Bertha by Margaret Solomon Gunn

We hope this close up photo captures the incredible detail of Margaret's hand-guided original quilting designs. On her website at Mainely Quilts of Love, Margaret explains that Big Bertha took approximately 22 months from start to finish.  She spent about 150-175 hours on the quilting over the course of 6-7 weeks. The quilting was done using several shades of silk thread – 5 miles or so.

Margaret included feathers, straight and curved ruler work, and a multitude of fillers. Some of the fillers were designed specifically for this quilt. Big Bertha also won won Best of Show at MQX-New England in April 2013.

Grandpa Calls Everybody Cowboy by Melanie B. McFarland, quilted by Kathleen Woods

This charming, whimsical quilt by Melanie B. McFarland really made us smile. Melanie explains the theme for this quilt:  "When my sons were younger and we would visit my parents, they would ask, “Why Does Grandpa Call Everybody Cowboy?” He would forget the names of his grandchildren and call them all “cowboy”. You may know Melanie as the co-author (with Mary Lou Weidman) of the book, Out of the Box with Easy Blocks: Fun with Free Form Quilting.  The borders of this quilt have many free-form blocks made with Western prints.

close up,  Grandpa Calls Everybody Cowboy by Melanie B. McFarland, quilted by Kathleen Woods

This quilt shows "Grandpa" wearing a real bolo tie: "the bolo tie came from his vast collection of Native American jewelry. He also had many dachshunds (you can see a dachshund in this photo) and [he] raced homing pigeons... He has 9 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren; 8 cowboys and 6 cowgirls." You can see the backs of the childrens heads as they are facing Grandpa in this photo.

Byrne’s Spiral by Beth Nufer and Clem Buzick, quilted by Clem Buzick

Byrne's Spiral was one of the most dazzling quilts at the show, both for its pieced design and exemplary quilting (by Clem Buzick).  The quilt was named for Beth's husband,  Byrne Miller.  Byrne's Spiral won a blue ribbon in the Innovative Large Mixed category at the Road to California.  Beth Nufer says:  "My inspiration was the sateen gradated fabric. The central design was done on graph paper first, then paper pieced."  The gradated gray fabric gives a lustrous background to the colorful spirals and flying geese.

close up, Byrne’s Spiral by Beth Nufer and Clem Buzick, quilted by Clem Buzick

This close up photo shows the dynamic vortex created by this spiral design.  We hope that you can see the innovative quilting, which was expertly done by Clem Buzick. 

Stay tuned this week for more quilt show photos from the Road to California!

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.