Even More Pacific International Quilt Festival XVII

"Valley View", by Pamela Druhen, USA

One last post of the quilt fest in Santa Clara. I found the winter scene above particularly striking.

I’m bowled over at how the snow is embroidered just so on each branch. With the fabric is all crumpled up under the arm of the sewing machine, it’s not like you can step back and examine your work like an oil painter could. I have never quilted, but I have sewn my share of garments during my teenage years. My guess is that your choices would be to:

A. Cut the thread, pull out the fabric, examine your work, then re-insert the fabric under the presser foot and start up again. Unlikely choice.

B. Straighten out the fabric as much as possible and then stand on a ladder to see the big picture. Equally unlikely choice.

C. Go blindly without examination. Impossible.

D. Use witchcraft. That’s it!

"Valley View", by Pamela Druhen, USA

You never know where a quilter’s gets her inspiration. This is Hurricane Katrina:

I laughed when I saw this quilt. I include this because I worked for a major credit card firm for thirteen years.

The Pacific International Quilt Festival also features quilts from all over world. This one got the top prize for Japan. It’s difficult to see on this photo but he gold fabric is matte metallic -- quite arresting, not overdone. The quilt is an interesting fusion of cultures: an American-style quilt with Celtic knots in a Japanese palette.

"Celtic Fantasy", Diane Abram, United Kingdom

One may wonder how all the elaborate machine-quilting is accomplished. These long-arm quilting machines are mechanical wonders. They are not exactly little tools you would tuck away in your crafting armoire. My sister and I have exhibited at book conventions and we high-five each other when we’ve finished schlepping all the books from the car to the booth. I can’t imagine putting together a booth like this. How big is their truck, how do they get all this equipment across the convention floor?

Wait, I may have just solved the mystery of the snow scene quilt. Do you suppose the quilter used one of these machines?

Any supplies you might possibly need to complete your quilts can be purchased here. Every shade of thread (check out the quilts hanging at the back of the booth): .

Fabric:

The competition is fierce in some booths:

Patterns. I love the long-suffering look on the husband’s face:

Buttons:

Vintage items are very popular, click to view the messages on these kitchen towels:

With 800 quilts and 300 merchants, this was just the tip of the ice berg. I hope you enjoyed coming along to the show with me!

Flickr slideshow here.