Highlights of Quilt Arizona 2019 ! part 3

The Arizona Quilters Guild has over 35 chapters, and they all get together annually for the Quilt Arizona show. The 2019 theme was Jewels of the Desert: "Every quilt is like a gemstone, the dancing colors play through patterns to endlessly fascinate and amaze. This year your quilt should convey Arizona's iridescent beauty, from golden sunsets and emerald cacti, to clear sparkling memories."

Note: please check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry ! (For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter !)

Mod Cactus by Ellen Born, quilted by Ellen Born

“I had fun trying this modern quilt called Mod Cactus. The curved pieces were made using the QCR ruler (Quick Curve Ruler). The quilting in the background was a foray into some different quilting, some with ruler work.” The Mod Cactus pattern is by Sew Kind of Wonderful.

Star Light, Star Bright by Linda Hopkins, quilted by Linda Hopkins

Winner of Honorable Mention, Mixed Technique, Linda Hopkins says: "I enjoy combining different techniques into each quilt. Shiva art stick rubbings, applique, embroidery and beading on hand dyed fabric make this an unusual quilt."  We love this creative use of hand embroidery, shown below.

Earl the Burro by Karen Adams, quilted by Karen Adams.

Winner of Honorable Mention, Mixed Technique, Earl the Burro was taken from a personal picture of a burro in Oatman, Arizona. Karen Adams says, "I was attracted to him with his goofy expression and tough, good eye contact and his personality. Earl became known and is a symbol of Arizona." The quilt was started in a collage quilt class taught by Susan Carlson; you can see the work in progress on Susan Carlson's website.

Prickly Pear In All Its Glory by Maureen Pastika. Quilted by Maureen Pastika.

Maureen says, “I bought the pattern in 2004. It sat in a drawer with all the fabrics I had picked out for it until September (2018) when I ‘found it’ again! The theme of this year’s quilt show (Jewels of the Desert) was a perfect fit for this quilt."

Tango, Rhythm of Buenos Aires by Georgia Heller, quilted by Georgia Heller.

Winner of Honorable Mention, Pictorial – Original Design, Georgia Heller says, "This quilt was inspired by a trip to Argentina where we watched several dramatic tango performances" This quilt incorporates all of the musical instruments of the tango, along with the graceful lines of the dancers.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2019 Quilt Arizona show.

Highlights of Quilt Arizona 2019 ! part 2

The Arizona Quilters Guild has over 35 chapters, and they all get together annually for the Quilt Arizona show. The 2019 theme is Jewels of the Desert: "Every quilt is like a gemstone, the dancing colors play through patterns to endlessly fascinate and amaze. This year your quilt should convey Arizona's iridescent beauty, from golden sunsets and emerald cacti, to clear sparkling memories."

Note: please check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry ! (For continuous free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter !)

Wilma and Howie by Monika Hancock, quilted by Debbie Stanton

Second place winner in the Medium Size Pieced Quilts category, Monika says, "I made this pattern using Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I also made this quilt to honor my long time friends, Wilma and Howie Young. Wilma passed away in May 2018. I love them both so much! "
Wilma and Howie is based on the Lloyd and Lola quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

Monika's excellent choice of vibrant complementary colors really help these two whimsical llamas to "pop" against the neutral background. What a wonderful tribute to her beloved friends !

Debbie Stanton's intricate longarm quilting on this piece adds a great deal of texture and visual appeal.

New York Beauty by Linda Wood, quilted by Jessica Gamez

First Place winner in the Scrap Quilts category, Linda notes, "The New York Beauty block is one of my favorite quilt patterns. I loved gathering all the fabrics to make this quilt."
This quilt reminds us of the famous paper pieced New York Beauty quilt by Karen Stone. We love the way the New York Beauty blocks are offset with triangle wedges, creating wonky stars.

This is one of the most spectacular scrap quilts we've seen. The rule in this guild is that a scrap quilt must have at least 50 different fabrics, and Linda has done a tremendous job of making sure that all her fabrics go together so well. She's produced a sophisticated, finished look for a scrap quilt which looks carefully planned and organized.

Loma Nat Watni- Bountiful Harvest by Linda Visnaw

Linda explains, "A bountiful Hopi harvest brings melons, pumpkins, beans, and corn. Hopi women form a circle in the plaza with wicker plaques to sing songs of prayer and gratitude, while men surround them to receive the gifts." Linda's quilt contains all of these items in a creative, original design.

Close-up, Bountiful Harvest

Linda's beautiful quilt is accentuated by her precision in creating the circular Hopi wicker basket motifs. We really enjoyed seeing all the details of her wonderful work.

Let's Play Ball by Carol Collett

For "Let's Play Ball", Carol won a special award for Exemplary Non-Professional Machine Quilting, and she also won an Honorable Mention award in the category of Art/Innovative quilts. She writes, "[This] free-form pieced quilt was fully quilted and imposed on a second fully quilted white quilt. Border/binding was totally glued using Sue Carlson's technique."

Close-up, "Let's Play Ball"

Carol adds, "The dog center [motif] was a section of a silk scarf." We really enjoyed this fun quilt, which is a great tribute to our faithful and friendly canine companions.

Sonoita by Karen Carns

Honorable Mention winner for Best Use of Theme "Jewels of the Desert", Karen states,  "[This is] a quilted wall art consisting of applique, walking foot machine quilting, free motion quilting, tulle overlay, and decorative trim. Cacti inspired by Carol Morrissey's 'Prickly Pear in Bloom' pattern."

Close-up, Sonoita

Karen's expert use of techniques has imbued her lovely quilt with a very realistic sense of texture and dimensionality. The bright cactus flowers are beautifully represented with colorful batiks.


Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2019 Quilt Arizona show.

Best of the Road to California - Day 1

More than 39,000 visitors from all 50 U.S. states and several foreign countries come each January to visit the Road to California show in Ontario, California.. This quilt show features traditional, art and modern quilts. Here are some of the award winners and our own favorites from the 2018 show.

Also check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry!
For continual free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Erin by Sandy Curran (Newport News, Virginia)

Erin was awarded a first place ribbon at the Road to California show. Sandy Curran says, "To me, my daughter, Erin, is one of the most beautiful people on earth. I have been afraid to do a portrait of her because I believed I could never do her justice. So, I created an unlikely color scheme and a simplified pattern. You can still recognize Erin, but, because it is not literal, I don’t have to agonize over whether or not I captured her."

Santorini Sunset by Melissa Sobotka (Richardson, Texas)

Santorini Sunset won the Best Use of Color award. Melissa Sobotka says, "I desperately tried to photograph the golden hour (sunset) in Santorini Greece, but that was an image so many had already captured. So I added a new twist, and challenged myself to turn the sunset-washed town into an abstract for a new perspective."

Melissa’s photo-realistic style of quilting is created by appliquéing numerous pieces of raw edge fabrics, and then enhancing them with inks to give them greater depth. You can see more examples of her work at her website, MSfiberart.

Rainbow Dash by Michelle Howe (Irvine, California)

Michelle Howe says that Rainbow Dash was completed in one week in a class given by Susan Carlson.  We admire Michelle's clever use of batik fabrics in creating this collage quilt with raw edge applique.

Remembering Roatan by Pamela Kuck (Shawano, Wisconsin)

Pamela Kuck achieved a remarkable realism in this seascape. She says, "This view of the sunset is from our home in the Western Caribbean Bay Island of Roatan. This piece uses raw-edged fused applique, thousands of ¼-inch fabric bits, a layer of tulle, and embellished with 500 Swarovski crystals to help the water sparkle."

Gilded Roses by Susan E. Stewart

Gilded Roses won the Best Domestic Machine Quilting award. Susan Stewart says, "this quilt was inspired by the lacy, watercolor-y rose machine embroidery design from Urban Threads, in a variety of soft colors to make all the roses just a bit different. The gold swirl designs are from OESD; the fold lace motifs are John Deer's Adorable Designs. All the quilting was free-motion on an APQS George."

Your Place or Mine by Marva-Lee Otos (Ketchikan, Alaska)

This quilt design was a block-of-the-month project by Australian designer, Wendy Williams. Vibrant fabrics by Kaffe Fassett enliven this quilt. Marva-Lee Otos says, "I have always been inspired by Wendy Williams' vibrant use of color. This quilt was a personal challenge to myself as it used non traditional applique techniques."

Marva continues, "I liked the combination of needle turn and wool applique on the pieced cotton background. That, coupled with use of a creative variety of embroidery stitches, allowed me to express my artistic options."
Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Best of Utah: The 44th annual Springville Quilt Show (3)

This annual Springville quilt show is a juried exhibition that features quilts of all styles and sizes created by some of Utah's finest quilters. This is our third year attending the show and the quality of the work is outstanding. Here are some of our favorites!
NOTE: for continual free patterns, please visit us on  Twitter.

Ralph the Rhino by Kathy Porter

Kathy remarks, " I saw a picture of a stylized rhino in the Biltmore House in North Carolina when I was touring with my daughter. I couldn't wait to try my hand at collage using this armored rhino [as the subject].

Detail, Ralph the Rhino

Kathy continues,"Susan Carlson made a Pink rhino using the same technique and same inspiration. She's my idol! Ralph is made of hundreds of pieces of fabric, glued, then quilted. I loved every second of it ! We especially like Ralph's wild-looking blue eye, which adds to his distinctive personality.

Let Us Out by Josephine Keasler , quilted by Kim Peterson

Josephine explains the source of her quilt: "In 2015, I completed Midnight Wedding Star without the optional border.The border was pieced, but when auditioned with the center of the quilt top, it appeared to be too busy and detracted from the center's stars. That quilt, (Midnight Wedding Star), won many awards.
The unused border pieces were just too pretty to not be put into a quilt. It was time for me to 'go modern' and utilize the colorful flying geese [seen here]. With a pencil, graph paper, and big eraser, I worked at designing the quilt top, then turned it over to Kim Peterson for her bright quilting.

Detail, Let Us Out

In this close-up, you can see the different colored quilting threads used by Kim Peterson, which show a pretty contrast against the darker background.

There Is Beauty All Around by Anna Marie Neider

Anna Marie comments, "This quilt represents my love of home, family, color, and [fabrics by designer] Kaffe Fassett !
We recognize this pattern as the Ryokan quilt design by Joe Wood from ThimbleCreek.

Detail, There Is Beauty All Around

Anna Marie used some of Kaffe's purple/tangerine "Aboriginal Dots" fabric to serve as a contrasting border for her vibrant houses and background of various purple, lavender, and violet hues. The polka-dot chimneys provide such a cute, whimsical element !

Hometown Memories by Karen Phillips, quilted by Linda Meier

Karen states, "This is one of my most favorite quilts. I love creating my own tree and houses. I have always wanted to work with black and white. My Mother passed away while I was making the quilt, and I put some fabric from her bathrobe in the quilt."

Detail, Hometown Memories

This bird, birdhouse, and tiny wool/felt flowers are adorable ! Karen obviously put a great deal of time and effort into her lovely work.

Tennessee Pineapple by Pamela Andersen

Honorable Mention winner Pamela notes, "The tradition of the pineapple block is amazing, especially because turning, twisting, or placing the chevron fabric in a certain direction makes a square look. It's a fantastic traditional block !"
We recognize this particular design as Woven Stars by Nydia Kehnle and Alison Glass. You can see their patterns here and here.

Detail, Tennessee Pineapple

Pamela quilted what looks like thousands of small pebbles and ovals into this traditional pattern with a very modern twist. The circular quilting motif provides a pleasing contrast to the angular, geometric patchwork. 

Baltimore Beauty from Brazil by Colleen Earnshaw

Show Committee Award winner, Colleen writes, "I taught myself to applique by following the "Baltimore Album Quilts" book while serving a mission in Brazil. I designed the sashing on the edges myself."  She clearly spent countless hours of labor, which resulted in this spectacular creation.

Detail, Baltimore Beauty

Colleen continues, "I finally finished hand quilting it in January of 2017. It has been a labor of love and LOTS of work ! We especially admire this intricate, even stitching and the lovely three-dimensional flowers.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Amador Valley Quilt Show (California) : Day 3

We recently attended the annual quilt show of the Amador Valley Quilters in Livermore, California, with the theme "Colors of the Vineyard". This prolific guild had two big rooms full of fabulous quilts It's difficult to decide which quilts to feature, as they were all wonderful ! Let's continue with Day 3.
Happy Mother's Day on Sunday, May 14 !  😊

(We're featuring fun books, patterns, and fabrics at very low prices on Quilt Inspiration E-Bay !)

Labyrinth Walk by Donna Driver, et.al.,  quilted by Dianne Saugier

In sewing this intriguing quilt, Donna Driver was assisted by Elizabeth Taylor and Karen Loughrige. Donna says, [Labyrinth Walk] was made in June 2014 by the United Methodist Women's Quilt Group for Pastor Paul Harkness on his retirement. Paul had always said he wanted to build a labyrinth, so here it is in the eyes of a quilter. This is.... a work of fellowship and love given by the members of Castro Valley United Methodist Church. " The pattern is by Christopher Florence. 

Donna continues, "Christopher Florence's design was inspired by a gorgeous floor he discovered in Naples, Italy. He had the honor of Quilt Magazine publishing his pattern in the April/May issue of 2012."

Chanticleer by Jean Ann Luther

Jean Ann notes, "Chanticleer is the result of a class by Susan Carlson. I have always loved chickens and wanted him to have a real "presence".  Jean Ann was inspired to create Chanticleer from a cartoon drawing. We really like the lively personality with which Jean Ann imbued Chanticleer.

Here's you can see some of Chanticleer's gorgeous plumage, of which (we imagine) he is obviously very proud ! Jean adds, "He is made using many small raw-edged pieces, then covered with net and quilted."

Tea Pots for a Tea Party by Elizabeth F. Taylor, quilted by Darla Padilla

We really enjoyed viewing this charming quilt ! Elizabeth states, "[Tea Pots] was made from a kit from Keepsake Quilting. Three friends each bought a kit and challenged each other to complete it. Mine got finished in 2016. This quilt is a work of love. The fun is in making all the pieces go together." The Garden Tea Party pattern is by The Quilt Company.

The description card says, "There was piecing of the fabrics, applique on some of the prints, embroidery by machine and by hand, and a lot of patience by Elizabeth F. Taylor. The quilt was longarm machine quilted by Darla Padilla of "Wildflower Quilting."

Stars in the Garden by Elva Blackburn

Elva writes that she chose the "Stars in the Garden" pattern by Piece O' Cake Designs because she really liked this design. It's bright, very artistic, and a real eye-catcher.

Close-up, Stars in the Garden

Elva's embroidered embellishments on these tiny blue flowers add such a finished, pretty touch to this lovely quilt. In this close-up, you can see the precise, even hand-quilting that Elva did on this project.

Symphony in Sea by Susan Mangels, quilted by Lora Zmak

Susan states, "Growing up in California, I have always lived on the coast, currently I live near the coast. I love the sea and the life it contains. This design hit all my favorites, so I just had to make this."

It must have been such fun to applique these happy ocean creatures ! This pattern is by Karen Brow at Java House Quilts.

Susan continues, "Lora Zmak was recommended to me by a friend, and her work on my quilt has enhanced its theme beautifully."

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.