Shock Wave

Colorful shapes zig zag around this dynamic quilt! Linda Engstrom included so many fun prints, including the black and white background fabrics and the bright warm hues. We spotted some Kaffe Fassett classics in some of the blocks.

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Shock Wave by Linda Engstrom, quilted by Jessica Dickinson.  

This colorful quilt is based in a published design, titled Fracture, which can be found in the book titled Making Quilts with Kathy Doughty.  Linda Engstrom says, "Playing with color and fabric pattern provided the inspiration for using this dynamic design." This design offers nearly infinite possibilities!

 Here's the original Fractured design by Kathy Doughty:

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Image credits: Photos of Shock Wave were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Quilt Arizona show.

The Best of Quilt Arizona! day 2

Here are our favorite quilts from the recent Quilt Arizona show!  The annual exhibit by the Arizona Quilters Guild draws visitors from around the country - we even saw license plates from Alaska and most Canadian provinces.  The array of talent at this show is truly impressive!

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Grand Canyon Redux : The Sum of Its Parts by Linda Engstrom

Grand Canyon Redux won the award for Excellent Use of Color. Linda Engstrom says, "Kaleidoscopes [were] created from a photograph of one of my quilts, printed on fabric, embelllished with hand and machine embroidery, and joined into one cohesive piece."

Psychedelic Giraffe by Karen Adams

Psychedelic Giraffe has quite a personality! Karen Adams says, "Using white fabric, I traced an enlarged giraffe coloring book image, used FABRICA pens and filled in the blanks.... quilted her and added prairie points."

Lora's Doxies by Louise Bossert

Louise Bossert says, "Our granddaughter has three long hair doxies so I'm going to surprise her with this quilt."  The adorable Dogs in Sweaters quilt pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman.

All Drezzed Up and Someplace To Go by Barb Tatera

Barb Tatera created these Dresden plates from Kaffe Fassett fabrics, using Susan K. Cleveland's method for modern Dresden Plates.  She left plenty of negative space to be dressed up with quilting. 

All Drezzed Up won First Place in the Modern Quilt category, and also received the award for Exemplary Professional Machine Quilting.

Blow Flowers by Cindy Stohn

The giant Dresden flowers were inspired by dandelions, and made with improvisational wedges.  The background was quilted with hand guided leaves and stems, and the flower centers were hand embroidered.  Cindy Stohn's beautiful quilting and embroidery can be seen in the close up photos below.

Millefiore by Nancy Owen James, quilted by Jessica Gamez

Millefiore won First Place in the Scrap Quilt category.  This quilt was made as part of a 2015 quilt along based on Katja Marek's book, The New Hexagon.  Nancy Owen James picked all the fabrics and finished the quilt in January 2017.  Jessica Gamez added the professional quilting.

We recognize many Tula Pink fabrics, including the adorable fussy-cut raccoons (above); they are from Tula Pink's Acacia fabric line. Hexagons lend themselves to fussy cutting, to wonderful effect. 

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Beating the Heat at the 2015 Arizona Quilt Show #3

This is our 5th year of attendance, and we always enjoy seeing the variety and creativity displayed by members of the Arizona Quilters' Guild at their annual show. Here is part 3 of our virtual show including some top award winners.

Silk and Satin by Sheila Groman

Winner of a blue ribbon (1st Place - Other), This rainbow-shaded crazy quilt has a very contemporary look.  Each block is shaded in a different hue of the rainbow. There is even a bright sun rising in the upper right corner of the quilt. Flowers (of course), baskets, fans, butterflies and hearts were used in the blocks, along with some very creative stitches.   Sheila says, "Hand embroidered surface embellishment is satisfying and rewarding for me."

Ghost Walk by Karin Scanlon

This improvisational piece was beautifully composed, and the fabrics added a softness and depth not seen with commercial dyed fabrics. The original piece won 2nd place, Art/Abstract.  Karin Scanlon says, "I used some of my hand painted and stamped fabrics as well as linen in this abstract piece."   We loved the serene colors in this piece. 

Spiky by Vicki Bohnhoff

This Spiky quilt is a finished UFO from a class Vicki took at Quilt Camp in the Pines in 2008 (Inner Light with Deb Karasik).   The stitching with heavy-weight rayon thread was like nothing we've seen before... it really makes this quilt sparkle. 

Vicki says, "My couching design with Razzle 12-weight thread added detail and excitement."  We can't imagine how many thousands of knots were used to finish the lines of stitching.  The quilt was awarded Honorable Mention at the show.

Winter Chickadee by Diane Hansen

Diane Hansen won First Place, Applique-Small for her depiction of a little bird, inspired by a copyright-free photo.  Diane says that Winter Chickadee was started in a class with David Taylor. There are 100 different fabrics and thread choices in this quilt.  The textured quilting was so well done, it makes the applique work blend into the scene.

Life Lessons: Playing With Blocks Can Be Perilous by Linda Engstrom

This quilt won First Place, Art/Abstract (blue ribbon) along with the special City of Mesa award (teal ribbon).   Linda Engstrom says, "As grief therapy during my mother’s final illness, leftover fabric was improvisationally pieced, assembled into 'balancing' blocks inspired by Ann Johnston. The shadowy echoes of the design in the off-white background can be seen in this close-up photo. 

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.