Best of the Pacific International Quilt Festival 2019 - Day 5

Held annually in Santa Clara, California, the Pacific International Quilt Festival is the largest quilt show on the west coast of the U.S.A. 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!

P.S.  For quilt patterns, books, and vintage collectibles, please visit us on E-Bay quilt-inspiration !

Layla, 42.5 x 44.75, by Holly Adame, California

Holly says, "Layla was created in a Rod Daniel class taken at Empty Spools Seminars in Asilomar, California. He taught us to turn a photograph into fabric art. Thread painting was used to enhance Layla. The original photo was taken by my husband, an amazing shot of a leopard sitting in a tree just behind us. She seemed to be surveying the animals on the Savannah below, contemplating which one would make a tasty lunch."

We really admire the intricate thread painting here, which elegantly portrays the shadows and nuances of Layla's face and eyes. Holly's original design is machine pieced, machine appliqued, and sewing machine quilted.

Ladies of the Sea, 87 x 87, by Shirley Tchou, Ohio

Shirley writes, "I fell in love with Sue Garman's pattern for Ladies of the Sea 10 years ago, especially with the borders. That is how long it took me to complete this quilt."

Shirley adds, "After appliqueing the blocks, I postponed quilting it until I felt competent enough in my free motion quilting skills to perform a good job. I felt my quilting skills progressed significantly while quilting it. I am pleased with the results."  And, we'd like to add that we are amazed with the results, which are most stunning !  This is one of those quilts which will always be a treasured heirloom.

Bloomin Dahlias, 57 x 25, by Melanie Missin, United Kingdom

Melanie notes, "My inspiration was big, bold, fluffy, colorful Dahlias. The background was Procion dyed, and some faux trapunto was used to enhance the flower shapes. The 3D petals were made using interfacing organza and transfer dyes, 264 in total- hence the name "Bloomin" ! The cord in the center was handmade and machine stitched.

These cheerful flower petals convey such a crisp, three-dimensional effect that they almost pop right off the quilt ! The organza fabric gives the petals a pretty transparent effect, just as if the sunlight were shining through them. Melanie's original design is machine pieced, machine applique, and sewing machine quilted.

Our California, 67 x67, by Karla Dellner, California, quilted by Shireen Hattan

Blue ribbon winner for Best Visual Impact in the New Quilts of Northern California category, this very creative quilt of California landmarks really does have something for everyone. If you look around the outside of the circle, you'll find: the State Capitol building in Sacramento, the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, the Los Angeles skyline, and the "painted ladies" Victorian homes of San Francisco. Inside the circle, among other places, you can spy the Disneyland castle and the Santa Barbara Mission.

Karla's lovely work is all hand-appliqued! She comments, "I am hooked on wool applique, almost as much as I love quilts that reflect my family's and my own experiences and pasions. Wool felt applique and embroidery allow me to create highly pictorial quilts full of texture, wonderful color, and personal meaning. Thank you [to quilt designer] Wendy Williams for your inspiration!"

Quirky Collections, 46.5 x 57,  by Dianne Dowd, New Zealand

 

Diane explains, "This was a wonderful online class with the amazing Helen Godden, who designed this quilt. My first experience of fabric painting, this was an interesting challenge [and] great fun learning to trace, paint, and quilt using black homespun, Lumiere paints,  and heaps of free motion quilting. Diane's charming work is machine pieced and sewing machine quilted.

These Matyroshka dolls ( classic Russian folk art nesting dolls) here look adorable. We love the brilliant complementary colors in these blocks.

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

The Best of Quilt Arizona - day 3

The Quilt Arizona exhibit draws quilters from around the country and features an exciting array of talent from snowbirds and residents.  Here is a sample of the beautiful and award-winning quilts from the recent show.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains ! For continuous free patterns, please visit us on Twitter !

Magic Carpet 2 by Georgia Heller

It looks like a rug, but it is a quilt!  Trompe-l'œil (French for "deceive the eye") is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Georgia Heller says, "I was inspired by the Trompe l'œil wool rugs we saw at market in the Sacred Valley surrounding Cusco, Peru."

Magic Carpet 2 was created by painting with inks on Evolon. It was awarded 2nd place in the Art/Painted or Digital Quilt category.

Ruby Red Nesting Night Owl by Barbara Spitalny and the Night Owls

The Night Owl Chapter of the Arizona Quilters Guild wanted to create a quilt celebrating the 40 years of AQG [the Ruby Jubilee]. The challenge was to use a piece of ruby red fabric to create a nesting owl shape. These owls have sparkling personalities!

Color in My Kaffee by Constance Clark

This jewel box-like quilt was based on a design by Kim Diehl.  Constance Clark says, "Kim Diehl’s pattern for a traditional quilt was transformed into a riot of colors using Kaffe Fassett’s fabulous fabrics."  The central applique medallion is surrounded by three brilliant rows of snowball blocks.

The colorful snowballs were set against a charcoal-colored background, providing a vivid contrast.  This quilt was awarded the Third Place prize for hand quilting.

All Around Town by Nancy McFall, quilted by Janet Grant

This is Nancy McFall's beautiful version of Sue Garman’s All Around the Town design. She  received a set of the patterns on Christmas 2014. The majority of the fabrics were from Nancy's stash.  The red ribbon is the 2nd place award in the Applique - Medium/Large quilt category.  In the closeup photo below you can see that Janet Grant quilted a clamshell design on the roofs of the houses.

A Slice of Norway: Along the Fjord, entered by Margot McDonnell  (group quilt)

 

Winner of 1sst place in the Group Quilt category, this original design quilt was based on a photo taken by Margot McDonnell. We didn't realize this was a "slice" quilt until we saw it close up!  In the photo below you can see where two slices come together (in the middle of the boats).

 

The landscape and houses were fused, painted and hand embroidered. Each of five quilters (Margot McDonnell, Karen Adams, Patricia Bliss, Evelyn Link and Anne King) worked independently on her slice and quilted it.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2018 Arizona Quilters' Guild show.

24 Days of Christmas at Quilt Inspiration - Day 19

Welcome to the 24 days of Christmas ! Each day this month, up through Christmas Eve, we'll feature a work of fiber art that reflects the joy and beauty of the season ! Let's continue with Day 19.

Note: Please check out our eBay shop, where we are Top-Rated Sellers, for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry! For free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter!

The Christmas Lady by Sue Garman

What a wonderful Christmas scene! This is one of three "Lady" quilts that Sue Garman designed and made.  The large hand-appliqued and hand-quilted center panel is surrounded by a border of sawtooth stars; outside of that, there is a tiny border of 1/2" squares that twinkle like lights. This one celebrates Christmas with the Santa Lucia girl bedecked with a wreath of candles, holding a teddy bear.

The quilt description says, "Sue loved designing this quilt!" You can see Sue's wonderful hand applique and quilting in the closeup photos. On the girl's apron is an embroidered saying, "Love and Joy come to thee"...

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

24 Days of Christmas at Quilt Inspiration - Day 15

Welcome to the 24 days of Christmas ! Each day this month, up through Christmas Eve, we'll feature a work of fiber art that reflects the joy and beauty of the season ! Let's continue with Day 15.

Note: Please check out our eBay shop, where we are Top-Rated Sellers, for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry! For free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter!

And to All a Good Night by Sue Garman

From the Sue Garman exhibit in Houston, Texas, the description card states, " Crisp wintry snow and a starry night are the perfect setting for snowmen, angels, and Santa with his tiny reindeer! This quilt brings sheer delight for years to come. And to All a Good Night is made of a long applique panel, an array of both Four Patch Evening Star blocks, and extended Nine Patch blocks, and a set of borders.

Close-up And To All a Good Night

Here's a close-up of the applique block, with an enchanting depiction of a snowy night, complete with evergreens and tiny houses. Reindeer fly through the sparkling sky, while a little angel and bunny add extra interest to this landscape scene done in folk-art motif. Sue's delightful work is machine pieced, hand-appliqued and hand-quilted.

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

24 Days of Christmas at Quilt Inspiration - Day 11

Welcome to the 24 days of Christmas ! Each day this month, up through Christmas Eve, we'll feature a work of fiber art that reflects the joy and beauty of the season ! Let's continue with Day 11.

Note: Please check out our eBay shop, where we are Top-Rated Sellers, for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry! For free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter!

Winter Memories by Sue Garman

The description card from the tribute to Sue Garman last month in Houston, Texas, reads: "In Winter Memories, you can almost hear children laughing in the midst of building a snowman, you can almost feel the icy cold of a starry night; and you can sense the joy of a season of giving."
We love the high-contrast flying geese border which really sets off these angular geometric blocks !

Sue's delightful, vibrantly colorful work is all machine-pieced, without applique. It is hand-quilted, embroidered and embellished with buttons.

Santa's neatly pleated shirt and the little bell on his cap are just some of the fun embellishments here that add to the three-dimensional appearance of this quilt.

Image credits:  Photos were taken at the "Remembering Sue Garman" exhibit at the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival.

24 days of Christmas at Quilt Inspiration - Day 5

Welcome to the 24 days of Christmas ! Each day this month, up through Christmas Eve, we'll feature a work of fiber art that reflects the joy and beauty of the season ! Let's continue with Day 5.

Note: Please check out our eBay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage estate jewelry! For free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter!

Gingerbread Joy by Sue Garman

Sue was inspired by the Christmas season, a time when gingerbread cookies are abundant, to create this beautiful block-of-the-month quilt. She included appliqued blocks of various gingerbread characters, a house, and floral designs.

Close-up, Gingerbread Joy

In between, she added pieced blocks, which vary both in size and design.  Sue made sure to capture the gingerbread man rhyme with the embroidered words between the blocks.

Sue's darling quilt is hand-appliqued, embroidered,  embellished with buttons, machine pieced, and quilted. These whimsical gingerbread people really do look like freshly-baked cookies whose fragrance fills the home. We hope your holidays are filled with the fragrance of wonderful goodies this year !


Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration in the special exhibit, Remembering Sue Garman, at the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival.  Sue Garman's quilt patterns are available for purchase at Come Quilt.

Two Color Quilts : Blue and White

Here's a tribute to quilts done in the shades of blue and white, which always seems like such a calm, cool, color combination. These soothing tones seem to work so well in every season and in every climate. We hope you enjoy this lovely work on display !

Tentmakers of Cairo quilt, 99 x 99”, by Mr. Mahmoud

Khayamiya is a type of decorative appliqué textile historically used to decorate tents across the Middle East. The vibrant, intricate design on this quilt is entirely hand appliqued. Since 2007, Jenny Bowker has worked with the Tentmakers of Cairo to get their work out into the wider world and to show people the magnificent work they do.

This quilt was featured in an AQS exhibit that toured the U.S. in 2014. Designed to be displayed on the wall, many of the Tentmakers' quilts are available for sale.  Check out the gallery at the American Quilter's Society.

One Fish, Two Fish by Jane Taylor, Gone to Pieces Quilters (Florida)

Jane Taylor notes, " I love the idea of the chevron blocks depicting the ocean surface." This quilt was inspired by one posted on Pinterest, designed by Small Fox in a Big World. The embroidery design was a free download at Mary Corbet's Needle n Thread website.

This hand embroidery was done with perle cotton and the blue bubbles were hand appliqued. The fabric is cotton and the batting includes layers of White N Natural and wool felt. The quilting was completed by Jane Taylor on her domestic sewing machine.

Blue Plate Special, 73 x 73", by Susan Stewart (Kansas, USA)

Susan Stewart teaches heirloom sewing and embroidery techniques; you can see a listing of her classes on her website at Susan Stewart Designs. Blue Plate Special contains cotton sateen, Cherrywood hand-dyed fabrics, and a strip of border print left over from a quilt Susan cut out for her mom to piece.  We really enjoyed the intricate machine embroidery on this quilt.

#402 – Blue Metamorphosis, 52 x 38", by Marcia Baraldi (Brazil)

Blue Metamorphosis was inspired by the miracle of nature which turns crawling caterpillars into beautiful blue butterflies in the sky.  The butterfly was constructed with individual applique shapes including hearts and feathers, which are echoed in the quilting design.

Bluer than Blue, 96 x 102”, by Cindy Seitz-Krug

Bluer than Blue is machine pieced, machine appliqued and machine quilted. Cindy Seitz-Krug says, "For almost ten years I had wanted to make a blue and white quilt but couldn’t decide upon a pattern. When Robert’s Floral Garden [by Robert Callaham] came out in McCall’s Quilting, I knew that this would be a beautiful quilt made in all blues and whites. This pattern was perfect for the blue and white fabric stash I had been collecting for so long."

#220 – Sarah’s Revival in Blue, 87 x 84",  by Gail H. Smith and Karen C. McTavish (Illinois)

This is a Sue Garman (who sadly, just passed away)  rendition of an 1847 quilt done in reds and greens.  Gail chose to make it in blue to use up her stash from an earlier quilt.  It won First Place in the Large Quilts - Longarm Machine Quilted category in the AQS QuiltWeek® – Grand Rapids, Michigan 2016, along with many other awards.  Quilted by Karen C. McTavish.  Design source: Sarah's Revival Pattern by Sue Garman

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2016 AQS quilt show in Phoenix, Arizona, except for the Tentmaker's quilt (2014 AQS) and One Fish (2015 World Quilt Show - Florida).

Glorious basket quilts

As spring is finally reaching the Northern states, it is a perfect time to feature some glorious basket quilts! There is no doubt that baskets are among the most popular themes in quilting.  Made with colorful prints, or filled with flowers or fruit, basket quilts are perfect for any time of the year.
p.s. Did you know that we're continually posting free patterns on Twitter ? Check us out @QuiltInspire ! 

Baskets, Baskets and more Baskets by Pat B. Fuller, quilted by Janae Tanner

This fabulous row quilt features Dresden baskets, wonky baskets, pots of tulips, and honey bees! Pat Fuller says that she was inspired by a basket quilt made by Helen Butler (for a photo see the post by Cactus Needle).

Pat explains, "With the big basket idea from a pattern by Two Peas in a Pod, some of Lori Holt’s Quilty Fun row patterns and a wonderful applique lesson presented by Helen Butler at Winter Retreat held in Bryce Canyon (Utah), I was able to not only enjoy the process, but use up some scraps and design my own colorful quilt."

Emily’s Garden by Katherine Porter, quilted by Virginia Gore

This beauty, done in muted tones on a taupe background, is based on the Green Tea and Sweet Beans quilt pattern by Jen Kingwell Designs. Katherine Porter says, "My neighbor has a beautiful ever-changing garden that I love to walk past each day. As I was making this quilt, I realized it was the colors of Emily’s Garden."

Yoshi, the Deer with Glasses by Kaye Evans, quilted by Sue McCarty

This quilt really knocked our socks off. Kaye Evans says, "I used funky Japanese and Australian Aboriginal fabric to make the quilt. Hand applique, combined with machine applique, completed the top. While completing the quilt I was watching the [2014] winter Olympics and heard the name “Yoshi”, hence the title": Yoshi, the Deer with Glasses, shown below.

We love the fun fabrics and quirky basket shapes.  The pattern, called Basket Case, was designed by Chris Jurd of PatchworkFun  (Australia).  Kaye Evans says, "Combining all of the fun fabric made it enjoyable to complete." 

My Pink Flower Baskets by Linda Williams, quilted by Kim Peterson

The look and feel of the pattern and the fabrics make this quilt one to die for. Linda Williams says,  "I have an antique that sets this quilt off just right. I knew as soon as I saw the pattern that this would be the perfect quilt for my antique white bed."

We admired Linda Williams' machine applique and embroidered French knots, shown above.  The quilt was based on the Strawberry Baskets pattern by Verna Mosquera at The Vintage Spool. The pattern is now retired but can sometimes be found on Ebay.

Rose Arbor Wonder by Marget Kunz, quilted by Marget Kunz

Rose Arbor Wonder was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2015 Springville (Utah) quilt show. Marget Kunz says that the quilt was designed by Sue Garman and was the featured BOM several years ago. The pattern is called Ruffled Roses.

This is an heirloom quilt with its medallion heart center, multiple borders and pieced baskets, and the unusual inner applique swag and outer pieced swag borders.  The outermost border is made with a bargello-like design made with hundreds of small strips.  Marget says, "The piano key border was a big hang up for me. After spending a lot of time trying to come up with an alternate, I bit the bullet and just did it. It really is the right border for the quilt."

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2015 Springville (Utah) quilt show.  If you like basket quilts, you might also be interested in the free patterns for basket quilts in our Free Pattern Archive.