So many tiny log cabins

 

Stars and Stripes by Amy Pabst

One of my favorite quilts on display at the 2019 International Quilt Festival is this one.

Stars and Stripes is an original design using 5,480 individual pieces.

There are 100,000 pieces in this series.

signage from the 2019 Quilt Festival

Sawtooth Star by Amy Pabst

 Love this red-and-white log cabins in this quilt.

Sawtooth Star is a design from Log Cabin Star by Elaine Poplin.

3,600 pieces in this quilt.

Ultra Violet by Amy Pabst

Ultra Violet's design is Baby Quilt #5 by Ann Brooks.

3,600 pieces 

 

   

Marching Elephants by Amy Pabst

Marching Elephants is a design from an unfinished quilt top dated 1881.

2,750 pieces

 

Milk and Honey by Amy Pabst

 Milk and Honey has 8,700 pieces.

Fever Dream by Amy Pabst

 Fever Dream's design was inspired by the quilt Japonism by Yumi Hatori.

6,411 pieces in this one.

Off-Center Barn Raising by Amy Pabst

 Off-Center Barn Raising is a design from Four Patch Charm by Kathy Schwartz.

2,730 pieces.

A Long Way Home by Amy Pabst

A Long Way Home is a design from Classic and Cool by Caroline Wilkinson.

3,024 pieces

Barn Doors by Amy Pabst

Barn Doors is a design from a log cabin quilt, circa 1880-1910.

3,000 pieces

Absolutely beautiful!

These intricately pieced quilts are all small in size.

Every log cabin is teeny-tiny

Mini Log Cabins pieces with tiny tiny tiny slivers of fabric.

Wow!

I wonder if Amy went cross-eyed after awhile? 

Amy Pabst is from El Roy, West Virginia.

Susan's work

Tuesday before the opening of the 2014 International Quilt Festival, I visited the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) with a friend visiting from Chicago.  I was delighted to spy a quilt in the current exhibit CraftTexas 2014 that is a creation of a local friend of mine. 

Moon Drunk is an original work by Susan Fletcher King.

Susan used fabric, dye, thread, ink, and batting to create moonlight scene, stitching this piece in 2012.  (note: CraftTexas 2014 is open through December 24, 2014 at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft located at 4848 Main St, 77002.  Be sure to see it.)


Thursday was the first chance I had to view special exhibits at the huge festival.  Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison co-curated an exhibit titled Reflections (sponsored by Havel's Sewing, presented by the Dinner at Eight Artists).  It's description in the program reads: "A mirror image. A response to a thought or word. A memory. What glints back at us as we gaze upon the water? The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it. What will your reflection reveal about you?" Susan has a piece in this exhibit too.

The Parable of the Dragon and the Sheep by Susan Fletcher King

Susan explains her Reflection piece with this statement:  "Do you choose to stand out, be bold, and make a statement?  Or do you choose to be part of a flock, merely a reflection of your surroundings.  Every day the choice is yours."   She was inspired by a photograph of a South African Blue-headed Agama Lizard.

Then on Saturday as I was admiring the many quilts in the International Quilt Association's judged show, I spied a third quilt by Susan.

 

The Visitor by Susan Fletcher King

"Little miracles happen very occasionally, and if we are lucky, we might be in the right place at the right time to witness one.  Here, this heron is stepping from his world into ours, giving us a moment to always remember." reads Susan's statement.  Materials she used include prepared-for-dyeing (PDF) fabric, Tsukineko All-Purpose inks, acrylic paints, cotton batting, commercial fabric backing, numerous and various threads. Her original design was inspired by a photograph supplied by Thomas Wrublewski.  

All three quilts measure 24" x 60" in size.  All three quilts feature original designs that Susan drew, painted, inked, fused raw-edge applique pieces, stitched with many various threads and machine quilted.  To see more of her work, visit her website:

http://susanfletcherking.com/

Susan's work is also shown and sold through Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas:

http://coppershadetree.com/

Letter Carriers

I like sharing some of my favorite quilts from the International Quilt Association's judged show held in Houston during the International Quilt Market and Festival.  The winners are revealed on Tuesday evening, after Quilt Market has closed and before Quilt Festival has opened.

In the Mixed Technique category, sponsored by Robert Kaufman Co., this delightful quilt caught my eye.  It was created by Janet Stone from Overland Park, Kansas and is titled "Letter Carriers".  This quilt won a first place ribbon!  (Validation that someone else likes the same quilts that I do!)

The quilt is an original design created by Janet Stone.  It features a variety of techniques such as: weaving, machine piecing and raw-edge applique (also by machine).  Decorative touches include prairie points, half penny circle edging, hand-covered buttons, and both hand-sewn and hot-fixed embellishments.  There are wood, metal, plastic and glass embellishments - can you spy them?

Janet explains that a love of basket blocks sparked the idea to create baskets by hand-weaving new fabrics together.  She also created twenty six new baskets to adorn the sides of the quilt, each with a single letter embroidered with in it.

I enjoy the variety of basket blocks, as well as the tucked-in alphabet.  Is it possible that teaching my two and three year-old students has increased my interest in alphabet quilts?  I love alphabet samplers too -- the embroidered samplers -- both old antique samplers and new modern-day ones.

It is a lovely quilt!  Hopefully Janet will be publishing a pattern for it one day!

IQA: Embellished

More prize winners from the International Quilt Festival of last month.  These quilts are from the Embellished category.

 

detail of Une Belle Amitie

 Une Belle Amitie

by Cynthia Williford and Harold Williford

of Houston, Texas

"This quilt pays homage to the Presentation Quilt attributed to Mary Simon and currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (occ.#197424).  My son, Harold, reinterpreted and redrew the original blocks with my hand applique and embellishment techniques in mind.  We worked together for seven years on this quilt."  For more of Cynthia's beautiful quilts, look at her website:  http://www.cynthiawilliford.com/cynthiawillifordgallery.html

Techniques:  needleturn applique, hand embroidery, silk ribbon work, beading, stump work, hand quilting.

Design source:  designed by Harold Williford, inspired by Baltimore Friendship Album by Mary Simon.

Materials:  cotton, velvet, silk, new and antique lace, wool batting, cotton backing, silk ribbon, silk floss, buttons, beads, charms.

 detail of Naturally Crazy

 Naturally Crazy

by Linda Steele 

of Park Orchards, Victoria, Australia

 Linda stated "I designed this quilt to represent the joy of Crazy quilting, which is enjoyed all over the world."  Linda has both a website:  http://www.lindasteelequilts.com/   and a blog:  http://lindasteelequilts.blogspot.com/  Click on either to follow her spectacular work.

Techniques:  Crazy quilting embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, hand applique, beading, machine quilting.

Materials:  cotton fabric with wool/poly batting

An original design by Linda Steele

Winner of Third Place in Embellished division.

detail of Coeurs de la Soie

"When I saw the beautiful heart designs Barbara was working on, I began looking forward to machine quilting the beautiful work she had done.  Having always wanted to quilt on silk, it was a pure pleasure."

 Coeurs de la Soie

by Patricia Kerko and Barbara Goodman

of Sunset, South Carolina

Techniques:  machine embroidery, free-motion machine quilting.

Materials:  silk dupioni, Aurifil thread, Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting, Hobbs Tuscany wool batting under the hearts, cotton backing.

Design source:  Sarah Vedder's Silk Hearts embroidery designs.

 detail of Red Letter Daze

 Red Letter Daze

by Janet Stone

of Overland Park, Kansas

"This quilt was inspired by Quaker cross stitch samplers.  Each block was pieced or appliqued, bound, and then appliqued to the background.  The red letters and scrolls were drawn freehand and then free-motion embroidered.   And, of course, I had to add embellishments."  For more on Janet Stone, click here for a direct link to her profile page on the Quilt Show.

Techniques:  Machine piecing and applique, free-motion machine embroidery, machine quilting, hand couching, embellishing.

Materials:  cotton fabrics; poly, silk, cotton, and metallic threads; metal, glass, shell, and crystal embellishments; wool batting.

An original design by Janet Stone.

Winner of Second Place of Embellished category.

Another Honorable Mention goes to....

Could it be that my new favorite award is the Honorable Mention?  This year, many quilts receiving this honor happen to be in my top favorites from the entire IQA show!

In the Art-Abstract, Small division, one Honorable Mention went to Elizabeth Camping for her quilt Fantasy Seedpods.  I like this piece, from the title to the interesting background and best of all are the seeds rolling out of their pods.

Fantasy Seedpods

by Elizabeth Camping

of McLaren Vale, S. Australia, Australia

In her statement, Elizabeth explains:  "The words of the title started the creative process for this quilt, and drawings of imaginary seedpods followed.  The background colorwash effect is shaded to enhance and draw the eye to the seedpods.  I like to embellish with beads, yarns, and embroidery to add depth to my quilts."

Techniques:  Needle-turn hand applique, hand embroidery, machine quilting

Materials: Cotton fabrics, beads, sequins, yarns

An original design by Elizabeth Camping

I've been emailing Elizabeth -- she's in Australia (cool!), in South Australia, specifically in McLaren Vale.  I wonder how close that is to Adelaide?  and whether she knows my friend Kathleen???  Could be a small world, right?

Be sure to look at her blog, http://elizabethcamping.blogspot.com/  to see some of her other quilts.  They are quite pleasing to the eye!

IQA: Art - Naturescapes

Four more quilts from the 2012 Internations Quilt Association's judged show in Houston last month.  This time I am featuring four quilts from the Naturescapes category of the Art Quilts. 

This first quilt is by my friend, Connie Fahrion.  She has used a bit of her "thread trash" technique in this quilt that was inspired by a day spent at the Houston Zoo, hence the title.

Zoo Inspirations: Fencework

by Connie Fahrion of Nederland, TX, USA

 a detail of Connie's quilt

Connie was inspired by the imaginative interpretation and use of zoo fencework, artfully crafted to enhance each environment, while offering protection and camouflage where necessary.  "My thread-trash fence was inspired by camouflage netting used to disguise military tanks exposed on the field."

Techniques include:  raw-edge pieced and appliqued, embellished with thread trash, machine quilted

An original design based on her own photograph using commercial cotton.

This next quilt, by Eileen Williams, won Third Place in the Art-Naturescapes category.

 Cry Me a River

by Eileen Williams of Cedar Point, North Carolina, USA

"This quilt was born from a desire to use the tree fabric with the black background.  It evolved into a quilt that told the story of the outpouring of human emotion."

Techniques include:  Machine piecing, machine applique, inking, painting, free-motion machine-quilting.

An original design using batik and commercial cottons, velvet, sheers, wool batting, Superior cotton and Sulky rayon threads.

This quilt, by Robin M. Haller, won Second Place in the Art-Naturescapes category.

 The Leprechaun's Tree

by Robin M. Haller of Carbondale, Illinois, USA

"Glints of color from the setting sun on a tree in Ireland inspired thoughts of leprechauns and pots of gold."

Techniques: machine piecing, fused applique, free-motion machine quilting

Original design inspired by a photograph Robin took while in Ireland.  Quilt uses cottons, silks and a variety of threads.

One more favorite quilt of mine from this Naturescapes category, by Mary Williams, is actually three quilts.

 Patterns in Nature Triptych - Stripes

by Mary Williams of Summertown, South Australia, Australia

"Nature, especially leaves, has always been a favorite subject of mine.  The Phormium, or New Zealand Flax, is a great example of stripes in nature, and the variation of color within a single plant is amazing.  Batik fabrics and many different threads created the color and texture of these striped leaves."

Techniques:  Fused applique, machine embellished with various thicknesses of thread, bobbin work, programmed machine stitches.

An original design using cotton fabrics, Pellon batting, cotton, rayon, polyester and metallic threads.

To see other award winning quilts from this show, click http://www.quilts.org/winners.html

IQA: Whimsical

One of my favorite categories of the annual International Quilt Association's juried show is Whimsical.  They are always delightful and make me smile.  Here are a few of my favorites from this year's IQA show.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do....


The colors in this one first attracted my attention, then the wavy log cabin block.  Then I saw the villages within each cabin and more little houses surrounding the entire piece.  Karen Eckmeier has a great eye for color and for fun.  I love her own admission which I found on her website: My art is happy and upbeat, concentrating on the positive  and whimsical side of life. Yes, indeed it is!

Around the Block

by Karen Eckmeier

of Kent, Connecticut

Below is a close-up of the lower corner

Karen's words:  "As quilters, we have 'been around the block' when it comes to making quilts!  I thought it would be fun to substitute the central square of the Log Cabin design with a village so that it would be like walking around the block of several different towns."

Techniques:  Fabric collaged under tulle, layered, topstitching, machine quilting.

Materials:  Commercial and hand-painted cottons, tulle

Design Source:  Log Cabin Barn Raising

Winner of an Honorable Mention in Art-Whimsical

Cheryl Costley's piece tickles me too.  Why is it that the healthier way to eat is also a bit more time-consuming?  Don't you love her eggplant, cauliflower, and other veggies?  I am also drawn to the chef's face and curly hair!  I think to myself -- this looks like fun!  On her website, Cheryl says: Creating art is what I love to do, and my favorite medium is fiber. Textiles and fiber can be manipulated, painted, dyed, stamped, cut, stitched, woven, glued and much more. The possibilities continue to challenge and surprise me.

 Cleaning the Veggies

by Cheryl Costley

of Bonita Springs, Florida

Cheryl's words:   "Since adding more vegetables to my family's diet, it seems like all I do is clean the veggies."

Techniques:  Primitive hand stitching for applique and quilting, machine quilting.

Materials:  Painted and hand-dyed fabric by the artist, commercial fabric, assorted threads.

An original design by Cheryl Costley

I adore the wonky-whimsy of the houses in Susan Bleiweiss's award-winning quilt.  If you look at her website, you'll see that she's been having lots of fun with these happy, crazy little homes in many different settings. 

Tutti Frutti Village

by Susan Bleiweiss

of Upton, Massachusetts

Susan's words:  "This quilt was inspired by a digital sketch I did on my iPad using a very simple sketching application.  I used only my hand-dyed sand-washed cotton (yes, even the black is hand-dyed!).

Techniques:  Fused, raw-edge applique with machine stitching; machine quilting.

An original design by Susan Bleiweiss

Winner of an Honorable Mention in Art-Whimsical


I recognized Susan's name right away, too, because the one online course I have taken was one she taught: Journal Making.  I made three journals with the course and still have plans to finish the last few lessons (it was only 5 lessons long, but life does have a way of jumping in and interfering with my 'druthers' at times.) Click here to see my post on this class, if you're curious.

Sue has also authored a book, which I happened across in a local bookstore earlier this fall.  I bought it right away (the only copy!). 

Look for The Sketchbook Challenge in your local bookstore (or online too - Sue has it available on her website - click here for a direct link).  There is a blog dedicated to the challenge of the sketchbook as well, titled (can you guess?) The Sketchbook Challenge and found at http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/

Hollis Chatelain

Now that the Quilt Festival has been gone for several weeks, and the natural quilt nirvana that I reach while soaking up the quilts in person begins to wan ... it is time to share some of my favorites from this year's juried IQA show.

Many of you may be familiar with Hollis Chatelain's work.  It is outstanding!  She continues to create amazing pieces.  This is a detail view of her award winning "Silk" - full view follows below...

 Silk

by Hollis Chatelain

of Hillsborough, North Carolina

Hollis' words:  "A good friend of mine has always had a love affair with silk.  She traveled to Thailand to learn how to spin and weave.  The base of this quilt is created from Thai silk she brought back.  The women depicted are some of the experts she learned from on this trip."

Techniques:  Machine pieced and quilted

Materials:  Silk fabrics, wool/polyester batting, polyester threads

An original design by Hollis Chatelain

This beautiful quilt is the proud winner of The Superior Threads Master Award for Thread Artistry, sponsored by Superior Threads.  (it comes with a lovely cash prize too!) This is not the first award-winning quilt by Hollis, nor will it be the last, I am sure. 

Congratulations to Hollis and Thank you for sharing your fantastic skills with us, the humble quilting public!

Wrapping up another Festival

It happens every year .... the quilters leave town and the George R. Brown Convention Center is in need of a good cleaning!

When that final closing announcement is made, everyone exits the building.  Then the taking down of the quilts from displays everywhere commences.  The Festival quilts are secured and moved to Quilts, Inc. headquarters where they will be wrapped, packed and returned home.

The red carpets get rolled up even as workers scramble to get all the quilts down.  Is it a race to see who can finish first?

I love the peek from the upstairs windows.  All the Shoppers are gone and the Venders are busily packing their unsold wares.  See the many boxes and empty walls?  The samples are down.  Boxes are out from under tables, filled and moved to trucks parked outside.  It doesn't take long ... soon the place is deserted again.

Yes, Festival closed several weeks ago and I am only now coming off of my Quilt Nirvana High.  I am thankful to live in Houston where this wonderful Festival of Quilts takes place every fall.

I plan to share some of my favorite quilts from this year's show in the next few weeks .... I never can get them posted up during Festival -- but then I'm too busy AT Festival enjoying them!  Festival never lasts long enough for me!!!  Of that, I am positive.

2012 IQA Group Quilts

For years I have been fascinated by the wonderful work displayed in the Group Quilts category of the International Quilt Association's show (IQA) which is the mainstay at the International Quilt Festival (IQF).  Below are four of my favorites.  I've included the information displayed with each quilt (Name of quilt; IQA member entering the quilt along with names of others who participated in the making of this particular quilt; their home town, state/country; their description of their quilt; techniques used; materials incorporated; and design source).  Enjoy!  

 

This quilt won Honorable Mention in the Group Quilts category this year.

 The Jennings Homestead

Suzanne Mouton Riggio

and 26 members of the Milwaukee Art Quilters

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Art Quilters, a group of 40 artists, have been meeting for over ten years in the business space at Plank Road Publishing owned by Teresa and Paul Jennings.  In gratitude for the Jennings' generosity, the group made a slice quilt of their Victorian home.

Techniques:  Machine piecing; hand, machine, reverse, and raw-edge applique'; fusing; bleach discharge; inking; machine quilting; machine and hand embroidery

Materials:  Commercial and hand-dyed cottons, cord, paint, fabric markers, ink, thin batting, threads

Design source:  Inspired by a photograph by Teresa Jennings

Guitar Blues

by Julie Poirier-Mathur

and the Beaconsfield Quilter's Guild

Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada

The puzzle quilt begins with an image divided into pieces.  Each artist is assigned a piece of the puzzle and constructs a quilt block independently, as accurately as possible, following specific instructions.  Once assembled, the blocks divulte the original image.  The rule for this particular quilt was to construct the block in blue.  The guitar strings were added after the quilt was assembled.  

Techniques: Hand, machine, and fused applique'; had and machine piecing; machine quilting, couching, embellishments.

Materials:  Cotton, fusible web, buttons, embroidery thread

Design source: Original design adapted from a photo at MusicRadar.com

This quilt is the First Place Award winner of the Group Quilts category.

 Ms. MacDonald Had a Farm

by Lynn Czaban

and members of the Hanging by a Thread group

Vancouver, Washington

The topic is appropriate for these ladies whose lives are rooted in the colorful farming community in Boisfort Valley, Washington.

Techniques:  Piecing, fusing, machine applique', thread painting, inking, machine quilting

 

Materials:  Tsukineko inks, Quilters Cotton, Thermore batting, Steam-A-Seam 2 

Design source:  Designed by Bonnie Keller

 Balancing Act

Sherri McCauley

Frances Holliday Alford, Barb Forrister, Connie Hudson, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Susan Lewis Story, and Kathy York

Lakeway, Texas

Group dynamics are complicated.  Working together is a balancing act.  With our mutual fascination with cairns and balanced rock sculptures, we independently created our rocks and worked on the rock placement together.  As a group, we were able to form the balanced stacks, and as a group, we balance.

Techniques:  Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted, hand embroidered, applique'd with fusible and by hand; background pieces are individually machine quilted and joined with zigzag; shadows are hand painted.

 

Materials:  Hand-dyed cottons, felts, velvet, silk organza, and batiks; metallic foils; fabric paint; ink; commercial fabrics, embroidery floss, batting, fusible 

Design source:  Original design



If you'd like to see more of the award-winning quilts from Festival this year, go to  http://www.quilts.org/winners.html

International Quilt Festival winners!

This year's International Quilt Festival was filled with lovely quilts.  Here are close-up details of my three favorite top prize-winners:

The Founder's Award (prize of $7,500.00) goes to

 ElaTED
by TED STORM
of 'S-GRAVENZANDE, THE NETHERLAND 

Sponsored by International Quilt Festival (includes transportation to and hotel accommodations at International Quilt Festival/Houston).

Click here for a direct link to Ted Storm's website.

 http://www.tedstorm.eu/eng/

The World of Beauty Award (also $7,500.00) goes to

 Hot Africa
by JANNEKE DE VRIES-BODZINGA
of KOLLUMERZWAAG, FRIESLAND, THE NETHERLANDS 

Sponsored by e-Quilter.com (includes transportation to and hotel accommodations at International Quilt Festival/Houston).

Click here for a direct link to Janneke De Vries-Bodzinga's website.

http://jannekequiltstudio.com/

The Fairfield Mastery Award for Contemporary Artistry ($5,000.00) goes to

Prairie Fire
by RUTH POWERS
of CARBONDALE, KANSAS

Sponsored by Fairfield Processing Corporation (includes transportation to and hotel accommodations at International Quilt Festival/Houston).

Click here for a direct link to Ruth Powers' website.

http://ruthpowersartquilts.com/

These are merely a slice of the entire quilt.  Be sure to look at them on the International Quilt Festival website and also look at the award winners own websites too.  There were many more award winning quilts and others that were simply favorites of mine.  I will share more photos soon ... that's the plan!

Veterans Day 2011

Happy Veterans Day to all our nation's Veterans -- including my own Sister-in-law (who served in the First Gulf War), my Dad (who served in Korea and Vietnam) and in memory of my Father-in-Law, Papa Herb (who served in World War II).
Happy Veterans Day to many many more who have served or who are currently serving in our Military.

This quilt is titled And Our Flag Was Still There and was created by Melinda Bula of El Dorado Hills, California.  It appeared in the 2011 International Quilt Association's show that was open one week ago in Houston, Texas.

And Our Flag Was Still There by Melinda Bula

On the placard near this quilt are Melinda's words:

Attending my son's graduation from Marine Boot Camp in August, 2010, I was moved by the young men who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms.  I consider myself patriotic, but nothing prepared me for that day.  This is for all the families like mine, who raised proud and devoted young Americans who have and will continue to protect the United States and what it represents, with their lives.

Melinda, thank you for sharing your colorful quilt and its heartfelt message with us.  

This quilt is an original design by Melinda Bula.  She used commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabrics, 30 weight rayon Sulky thread, and Quilter's Dream cotton batting.  To create her quilt, Melinda used fusible applique techniques as well as thread painting techniques.

To see more wonderful quilts (think lovely flower blossoms), please check out her website at http://www.melindabula.com/

Melinda also has a blog (doesn't everyone these days?).  Her blog is called Melinda's Cutting Garden (great name!).   Read about her adventures in Houston by clicking here.

2011 IQF Founder's Award

This year's IQA Founder's Award is Flourish on the Vine by Kathy Wylie, who is from Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

Here she is with her quilt -- Doesn't she have a fabulous smile? 

Kathy Wylie posing in front of her quilt Flourish on the Vine.  Her quilt won the 2011 IQA Founder's Award, sponsored by International Quilt Festival.  This is a $7,500.00 prize award, Wow!

Kathy is lovely to chat with and was happy to have her art posted here, on my humble blog.  She is a Canadian quilter and has a quilting blog, http://www.kathykwylie.com/blog/ that is linked with her website http://www.kathykwylie.com/
Click here for her own blog post about this quilt, Flourish on the Vine.

Click here for photos of the other award winning quilts from the 2011 International Quilt Association show.

For each quilt in the IQA's judged show, there is a corresponding placard telling about the quilt.  This is the one that accompanied Kathy's quilt.