Highlights of the Houston International Quilt Festival! (2)

We had a wonderful time at the Houston International Quilt Festival! We enjoyed seeing 1200 quilts from around the world, and are excited to share photos of our favorites... here is Part 2!

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FIRST PLACE - Pictorial:  Peony Dream by Chen Jing (Beijing, China)

Winner of a blue ribbon in the Pictorial quilt category, Peony Dream was perfect in every detail, from the portrait itself to the oversized peonies and the elaborate embroidery in the borders.

The centers of the peonies were embellished with small pieces of fabric or ribbon, giving a 3-D effect as shown below.

 

Innova Master Award for Contemporary Artistry: Color My World by Karen Kay Buckley

Color My World features applique and embroidery that completely fills the spaces. Each block contains a critter (insect, animal, bird); some are hidden and some are obvious.

Maryland by Martine Crabe-Lanux (France)

This gorgeous quilt was based on a Baltimore Album quilt, circa 1847.  It is beautifully hand appliqued and hand quilted. The quilt took 3000 hours to complete over 2.5 years. Check out the tiny hand quilting stitches!

Kaleidoscope Garden by Judy Ballance (USA), quilted by Patty Wilson 

This quilt sparkles with bright colors and strong contrasts! Wool applique and hand embroidery lend a dimensional effect to the appliqued blocks.  Winner of a Third Place award in the Balanced Piecing and Applique category, this quilt is based on the Fairground quilt pattern by Wendy Williams.

 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Houston International Quilt Festival.
 

Garden Party: Applique and Hand Quilting

Hand quilting is such an amazing art form, it always stops us in our tracks.  Here's a beautiful album quilt by Melanie Harris. Scroll down for close-up photos of the colorful batik flowers, expert hand applique, and precise hand quilting.

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Garden Party, made and quilted by Melanie Harris 

Garden Party is a quilt in the Baltimore Album tradition.  we can see  a wreath, bird, tulips, and an amazing leafy vine that encircles the border. Winner of a blue ribbon in the One-Person Applique/Hand Quilted category, Melanie Harris based this gorgeous quilt on a pattern by Lori Holt. Melanie says, "This is my first hand applique quilt, it was a joy to work on in the evenings.  It took one year to complete the applique blocks and borders, followed by a few months to hand quilt."

This is among the best hand quilting we've ever seen, with perfect even stitches and spacing.

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

Floral Album Quilts: Celebrating the Garden!

Album quilts, which show a variety of blocks, are on almost everyone's list of favorite quilt patterns.  They provide great visual interest and are often a valuable source of inspiration for your next project. Perfect for spring, here are some floral album quilts we admired at a recent show!

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90th Birthday Quilt, made and quilted by Robin Walton

This quilt is gorgeous done in soft hues and batik fabrics! Winner of an award for her hand quilting, Robin Walton says: "The quilt was made for my mother-in-law in her favorite colors: blue and white. Her many trips to Japan inspired me to use blocks published by Susan Briscoe [from the book, "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match" by Susan Briscoe (2007).]  We admire Robin Walton's beautiful hand quilting as seen in the block below.

 Color Play with Circles, made and quilted by Janet Rupp  

This spectacular quilt has beautiful wool applique blocks in a profusion of colors! Winner of an award for Exemplary Machine Applique, this quilt was inspired by Ericka Kaprow's book titled Everything's Blooming: 30 Floral Wool Applique Quilt Blocks.  Placing them on an off-white print allows the applique work to stand out. Check out the embroidery work which adds a lovely finishing touch.

Wild Artichokes by Christine Nelson, quilted by Barbara Logullo  

These blocks are perfectly proportioned.  The olive green hues remind us of a Renaissance work of art! This pieced and appliqued design is based on a pattern by Vicki Stratton called Wild Artichokes.

The quilter had fun using her creativity in quilting this piece: It's hard to see in photos, but the green quilted areas include dragonflies, beetles, spiders, bees, butterflies, flowers and other motifs!

 Circle of Posies On Point, made and quilted by Karen Kelter

Wreaths, tulips, hearts, and green leaves make up a garden of blocks. Karen Kelter says that these blocks were an option in a BOM program, circa 2007, at the Quilt Basket [a local shop].  "It was my first attempt at machine applique.  It took a while to choose a palette in which to present them.  It is so gratifying to get them out of my UFO pile." Here's a lovely block featuring a basket of red tulips:

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Tucson (Arizona) Quilters Guild show. 

Welcome to the Quilt Fiesta! (2)

We attended the 2025 Quilt Fiesta in Tucson, Arizona, and had a wonderful time.  This show is produced by the Tucson Quilters Guild, and there were so many beautiful quilts to admire. We hope you enjoy our photos of the show! Here is part 2.

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We Chose Arizona by Maine-ly Quilting Sisters (Karen Chrisman, Betty Jordan, Mary Lucas, Katherine Kenwood & Susan Baxter); quilted by Betty Jordan & Katherine Kenwood.

This incredible landscape quilt was constructed in parts, then assembled.  Each part was made with Seminole piecing. The description says, "Our group began practicing Seminole piecing together. Betty, Katherine & Mary are from Maine; Susan is from Oregon and Karen is from Arizona. We live in this beautiful state by choice. The work shows our skills and our bond as quilters."

 Queen of the Night by Trish Hastings-Sargent  

This is a framed work of art, representing a relatively new category called Rigid Finished Art Quilts (RFAQ).  They are supported by a frame, stretcher bars or other means rather than a sleeve.  When art quilts are stretched onto a rigid frame, or matted and put into a decorative frame, they resemble a fine-art piece.

We were captivated by the translucent quality of these flower petals and the embroidery representing the pistil and stamen in the center. Trish Hastings-Sargent says, "Once a year in June, the night-blooming Cereus (cactus) turns into a stunning display of fragrant white blossoms! The show begins just after dusk and is usually over by midnight. By morning, the blooms are all gone."

Tucson Five-O by the Tucson Quilters Guild Quilt Fiesta Committee, quilted by Athena Taylor.  

 Pattern source: Inspiration from TQG opportunity quilt blocks over the years.  In 2026 the Tucson Quilters Guild will celebrate its 50th Anniversary. This quilt was created with this milestone in mind (hence the name, Five-O).  It will be the guild's 2026 opportunity quilt (wow!)  The quilt center showcases the stately saguaro cactus of the Sonoran desert, along with an ocotillo and prickly pear, highlighted against the mountains and the colorful sky.

Various local birds can be seen including an owl, hummingbird, and a Gambel's quail (below). 

Sonoran Baltimore by Judy Tenen, quilted by Linda Cote 

This gorgeous Baltimore album-style quilt was designed by Nancy Landon.  Judy Tenen says, "As always, I enjoy making quilts that Nancy Landon designed.  I modified her pattern slightly and enjoy the elements that represent Tucson while still being a traditional "album" style quilt.  Linda Cote furthered the desert theme with her custom quilting. Thanks to both Nancy and Linda!"

The historic San Xavier Del Bac mission is shown in the closeup photo above. Sitting just south of Tucson, the mission is not to be missed if you are visiting the area. It is Arizona’s oldest European structure and a masterpiece of Spanish Colonial architecture, completed in 1797.  

Beautiful applique work can be seen throughout this quilt, including the doves, squirrels, and vines in this photo.

Happiness by Sandra Schuster, quilted by Rick at Sunset Quilting

Sandra Schuster won a blue ribbon for her brightly colored beauty.  She says, "It pulses - from small to big, from thin to thick, with such saturated colors, and OH! Those feathers that are quilted on it! Brought together they equal happiness."  Pattern source: Prismatic by Gina at Gem Hill Quilts. 

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

Yukiko Hirano Baltimore Album quilts

When the incredibly talented Japanese quilter, Yukiko Hirano, passed away in 2010, her husband Takeo Hirano wanted to make sure that her work lived on for others to enjoy.  These four incredible Baltimore Album quilts were on display together in a setting Mrs. Hirano would find fitting and complimentary for her exquisite work. 

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Baltimore Album Quilt II by Yukiko Hirano

Mrs. Hirano was inspired by Baltimore Album quilts and couldn't resist making her own.  She mastered the art of applique, as well as the art of color placement, as exemplified in these quilts.   

Baltimore Album Quilt I by Yukiko Hirano

The precise hand quilting was done with thousands of tiny stitches in a grid pattern. The appliqued leaves and flowers were done with a trapunto effect.

 

Baltimore Album Quilt III by Yukiko Hirano

 

Many of the elaborate applique blocks in these four quilts were inspired by the books about Baltimore Album quilts written by Elly Sienkiewicz. 

Baltimore Album Quilt IV by Yukiko Hirano

This stunning quilt won Mrs. Hirano the coveted Founders Award at the 2005 IQA Judged Show.  It was the first time she had entered her work in an international competition. This is an excellent example of how well Mrs. Hirano knew her subject matter: applique and the Baltimore Album style. The pale hues and floral border give this quilt a springlike feeling.

Image credits: Photo were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 International Quilt show in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Floral Album Quilts: A Trilogy of Techniques

Are you looking forward to spring flowers?  Here is a trilogy of wall quilts celebrating floral basket blocks. Janet Rupp created the quilts using three different techniques: machine applique, hand applique, and redwork, giving a totally different look to each quilt.

p.s. Please see our E-Bay shop for great bargains on patterns and vintage collectibles. For continuous free quilt patterns and blog updates, please visit us on Twitter.

Trilogy 2020-2021 by Janet Rupp (Tucson, Arizona)

These flower baskets are bursting with a variety of colors and flower types. Janet's outstanding machine applique is shown here, complemented with embroidery on the flowers and leaves. 

The block patterns are from two sources: Applique Masterpiece: Little Brown Bird patterns by Elizabeth Docherty; and a Sonoran "Roseville Album" block-of-the-month project at Cactus Quilt Shop (Tucson, Arizona). 

Trilogy 2020-2021 by Janet Rupp

Precision hand applique was combined with hand embroidery, highlighting the floral details of each block as shown in the closeup photo below.

Trilogy 2020-2021 by Janet Rupp

This gorgeous redwork adaptation of the designs is so cheerful. Many hours of work must have gone into this creation. The echo quilting, done by machine, highlights the shapes of the flowers and baskets. 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 Tucson Quilters Guild show.