As promised, here are a few of my favorite innovative quilts that competed at the Pacific International Quilt Festival XX last month. With over eight hundred works of textile art showing, it was difficult to choose.
The quilters drew inspiration from boundless sources. Roberta Deluz did not have to go far to let her imagination go wild. She designed It Came from Beneath the Sea as a tribute to her father who instilled a love for classic monster movies in her.
I will never be able to look at the clock of the San Francisco Ferry Building without wondering what might ooze up the tower from the bay below.
I can related to Janet Fogg's Magic in Times Square, her interpretation of her first cab ride in New York City .
Other quilters were inspired from faraway continents. Pat Rollie's thirty years of quilting experience is evidenced in her original design depicting a tender scene from the Serengeti. As I saw this quilt, I longed to go back to Africa and encounter a mother giraffe and her calf once again.
My 85-year-old mother made a small wall quilt for an Indian friend featuring the Taj Mahal...
...and exotic creatures.
Nancy S. Brown deservedly won the best hand workmanship ribbon for her wonderfully composed penguins of South Georgia in Antarctica.
It wasn't until I took a closer look that I noticed that the penguins were navigating between mounds of elephant seals.
In contrast to the cold of the South Pole, Hilda Koning-Bastiaan chose to depict the warm hues of a blooming desert.
Sherry Reynolds honored her beloved Wyoming with this cowboy quilt. She made five variations of the traditional Wyoming Valley block pattern in the upper right.
In another warm desert scene, Kathleen Malvern of Colorado celebrated the majestic saguaro cactus...
... while Kimberly Buzolich celebrated the Sierra Tiger Lily. I like how she produced the soft-focus feeling of the background with the pools of greens and the swirled quilting.
Pat Durbin used every scrap of her twenty years of quilting experience to render the larger-than-life interpretation of Begonia Picotee Lace...
,,, in exquisite detail.
While Pat Durbin zoomed in on her subject, Jo Bauer took a panoramic view in Reflections of Mt. Shuksan.
Other quilters turned to fine art for inspiration. Megan Farkas mimicked a Japanese woodblock print...
...and Kim Butterworth's Cherry Blossoms reminded me of Van Gogh's almond blossoms.
Ellen Wong embraced abstract art by piecing together strips of commercial fabrics...
...and quilting a grid pattern that gives the work a pleasing uniformity.
Kathleen Collins's fascination with 18th century European court paintings of women in headdresses inspired her to create original paintings on cotton cloth...
... which she then incorporated into a pair of elegant quilts.
Nancy S. Brown had productive year. In addition to the penguin and seal quilt above, she finished this poignant quilt of a grandmother at the San Francisco Zoo.
Sue Anthony found a wonderful way to preserve her grandmother's dress...
... and Giny Dixon showcased her father's silk ties...
... set in wool flannel pinstripe resulting in a true work of art.
Congratulations to all the quilters here. I am inspired by your creativity and sewing artistry.
21 comments:
Such talent is amazing!
I tend more to the traditional but these are amazing and several...like the Hokasai Wave are mindblowing!
Thanks for sharing.
I am in total awe! The preserved Grandmother's dress is very special... but I would hate to have to judge these as they are all remarkable. And I think I see more in the post below- Thanks for sharing these!
Thank you for sharing these--I love getting peeks at other quilt shows.
I have never seen so many beautiful quilts all at one time. Thanks for sharing!
Creative art like this just blows my mind, DB! Last night Astrid and I watched "March of the Penguins," so I was particularly fascinated by Nancy Brown's quilt. I wonder what I would quilt if I were to use that medium now? I'm sure I'll be thinking of that all day...maybe a Celtic design.
The giraffes are really cute!
Love their fluffy "pom poms". ;)
Wow! What amazing quilts, all of them. I think my favorite is the penguins with a close second of the giraffes. How lovely to have your 85 year old grandmother enter a quilt too.
Some years ago my husbands 92 year old grandmother sent me her favorite pattern and I pieced it, then she quilted it. It is a treasure.
I don't even know what to say here. I have never seen anything as beautiful as these. I did not know quilts could look like this. The talent and work involved in the creation of these is beyond comprehension. Thank you SO much for sharing these here!!!
Wow these are all so amazing. You have photographed them so clearly and shown them wonderfully on your blog. I have lots of ties, and those typewriter paperclips that looks like they are on the clock quilt.
Oh glory. I have been dying to get over here to look at these quilts. The details of some of these are beyond incredible. The giraffes! The tiger lily! The begonia! The stitches there make my wrists ache (already aching from Poppy Seed's quilt), but they're worth it! I love the Hokusai-inspired one, and van Gogh's almond tree, and the dress and ties. But my favorite has to be your mother's, just wonderful.
Have a beautiful Thanksgiving week with your family, and enjoy that banana bread baking with your daughter.
Dear EG Wow,
I find their talent mind-boggling.
Dear CC,
I understand your preference for the traditional quilt, but I'm glad that some of these won you over to the innovative side also.
Dear Margaret,
I couldn't imagine being a judge in this show. I'm so glad that I was able to showcase even the non-ribbon-winners.
Dear Margaret Almon,
I can imagine how quilters and mosaic artists would be inspired by each other. I love the log cabin mosaic you made recently.
Dear Ginnie,
I think you could make a fantastic windmill quilt using your banner design!
Dear Kala (didn't mean to skip over you) and London Caller,
Thanks for your visit and for leaving word.
Dear Marilyn,
I adore those animal quilts too. They are so full of expression.
Dear lisa,
I am bowled over every year I attend this show. Thanks for your visit.
Dear Shasta,
I bet you could make a beautiful quilt out of men's ties. This one is the nicest one I've seen in a very long time.
Dear Ruth,
Thank you for noticing my mother's quilt. We are so happy she is back to quilting now that she's mostly recovered from her illness a few years ago.
I can't wait to see Poppy Seed's quilt!
Our Thanksgiving was glorious; I hope yours was too.
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