Monday, October 26, 2009

More PIQF

by Carol Taylor

Five Bouquets
by Michiko Takakuwa of Japan
This isn't a style I would normally find interesting, but this was made of teeny tiny squares-nearly 53,000. It was pretty crazy.



Marshland
by Lynda Christiansen, Eugene, OR

Credo
by Annette Bamberger, Germany


Habitat in the Sun
by Morag Orr-Stevens, Canada

Black-White and Chartreuse
by Gerry Smeltzer, Eureka, CA

There were so many more incredible quilts. These are just some of the ones that impressed me.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pacific International Quilt Festival

I arrived home on Saturday, just in time to go to the last day of the Pacific International Quilt Festival on Sunday (by myself, I must add. After a day traveling with two children, going to the show by myself was heaven.) A couple of people who write quilting blogs had mentioned that they would be working at different booths, so I did try to find them, feeling for all of the world like an internet stalker.

The main reason I was there was not stalking or shopping, either. I wanted to see the quilts, of course! They did not disappoint. There were such a variety of different quilts that I think there would have been quilts for anyone's taste. These were a few of my favorites.

Color Me High on Life
by Karlyn Bue Lohrenz of Billings, MT


Coming Together-La Piaza
by Laura Fogg, Ukiah, CA


Leafing the Nest II
by Nancy Hinds, Covington, LA

The Painted Ladies of San Francisco
by Jo Names, Joy Waggener, Jeanie Ferguson, Lynda Lasich, Millie LaMoure, Marylee Drake of Grass Valley, CA


Monterey Bay Fisherman's Wharf
by Back Porch Employees (Jean Dunn, Gail Abeloa, Wendy Warth, Carol McCoy, Maggie Wentzel, Janet Tatlon, Sharon Winter, and Joan Hughes)



Not Even Solomon...
by Ruth de Vos, Australia


Carnival In Rio
by Kathryn Celliers-Louw, South Africa



Joy
by Marilyn Smith of Columbia, MO

Close up


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I took photos of many more quilts, so I will probably post more later in the week.

When we lived in Kentucky, Allen and I went to the American Quilter's Society Show in Paducah. Tons of quilters, quilts, and vendors, much like this. I was fairly new to quilting at the time. I'd never seen a long arm, I'm not even sure that I knew such a thing existed. I was pretty intimidated by the incredible quilting, both hand and machine quilted. I remember Allen telling me that the biggest difference between my quilts and these was a $10,000 machine. While there was (is) more of a difference in skill as well, he did have a point. No matter what your field, you can definitely be held back by your equipment. Obviously, the machine doesn't do all of the work for you, but there are some things that just cannot be done on a cheap sewing machine. I remember reading a cartoon recently where one person asks another "If I had a camera like yours, would my photos look just as good?" The response is "and if you had a piano like Mozart's, do you think that you could play like he did?" While I get the point, there is certainly skill and artistry involved as well, having a nice camera certainly makes a big difference.

While I still do not have a $10,000 longarm, while looking at some of the quilts, I did find myself thinking "I could do that!" Actually, I really mean that I could do that eventually. In other words, I don't think my machine is keeping me from eventually having the skills to do certain applique and quilting techniques. (Yes, there are still quilters who do everything by hand, but I will NEVER be one of them. I do NOT have the patience or desire to quilt by hand.) Now, some day I could reach the end of what my current machine is capable of doing, or I might just decide that it would be easier on a longarm (and I have the money and space for the investment.) In short, I found most of what I saw to be inspiring, rather than only intimidating.

Baby Maggie Quilt

I finished this quilt back in July for Maggie, not due until September. Her mom told me to wait and give it to her in person. While I definitely prefer to give gifts in person, I was so excited that I wanted to mail it. Anyway, Christal (baby's momma) picked out most of the fabrics with me and requested something simple and modern. With all of the fabrics, I wasn't sure that I liked the quilt at first, but once I started putting more together, I loved it. It is very bright and feminine.
I used a row of blocks in between a simpler pink for the back, and made a scrappy binding. And, I realize now that I didn't take a photo of the quilting. I quilted a curved swirl in the center of each block and then squared up the lines on the outer part of each block. Maybe not the best description. I actually quilted this one twice, because I hated the quilting the first time. I'm much happier with this quilting.

And giving it to Christal.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Quilt Festival



Park City Girl is hosting an online quilt festival.

My entry is a quilt from earlier this year. I couldn't find the best photo of it, and I didn't make it for me, so I couldn't get another. Anyway, I made this quilt for the prayer shawl ministry in Germany. It was for a friend who had recently lost her fiancee in Afghanistan. I had also recently become involved in Jacquie's Project Improv. I was playing with improv blocks here. I really liked the palette of this quilt and was really happy with how it turned out.

When planning, I just thought it should do this way, so it bothered me when my husband held it "upside down."

I first blogged about the quilt here.

Go check out the rest of the quilts!

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