Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII – Wearable Art Competition

In my last post on the Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII, I will show you  some outstanding pieces of the Wearable Art Competition.

“Passing through the Painted Desert” by Judy Mullen was a marvel with the sunrise neckline…

…and the intricately appliquéd, embroidered and beaded cacti on the desert sands:

Eve Kovacs’ Spanish-inspired “Flamenco Rose” featured a beautifully quilted bolero jacket and matching purse. The understated red piping near the hem of the slacks pulls together the ensemble while keeping the focus on the jacket.

My mother was particularly taken with Kimberly Andert’s “Thrift Shop Muse” vintage ensemble. It is a true tribute to found treasures and would make any Second-Hand Rose proud:

Because of time constraints, we could not visit all the wonderful merchants that sell their goods at this show. I did, however, manage to squeeze in a few moments to ask Susan Christie permission to photograph her booth of fantastic vintage jewelry:

She offers a truly stunning collection of sterling silver and marquesite jewelry. I especially like the exquisite details of the sterling silver musical instruments:

This concludes my mini-series of posts on the Pacific International Quilt Festival. It was a privilege to showcase the astonishingly talented artists who were selected for this show. I would like to tip my hat to the Mancuso Brothers who always put on a grand show despite all the logistical and physical challenges they must face in presenting these precious works of art.

I hope you enjoyed strolling down the aisles with me and my mother.

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII – Wall Quilts

 

Quilt #3005 Camellias in my Garden, 35” x 28” 

Janis Arredondo 

Roseville, CA  

For my next-to-last post about the Pacific International Quilt Festival of 2009, I will show you some of the spectacular entries in the wall quilt category.  

Janis Arredondo did not get an award for this quilt, but she gets a blue ribbon in my book. I love the composition of this quilt and the exquisite botanical detail of the flowers and their foliage. My mother observed that the edges of the fabrics were not turned under thus giving a very flat finish. Since there is so much machine embroidery and the fabric was cut so close to the stitching, there is no danger of raveling. My mother very excitedly declared that she was going to do the same thing on her quilts. She always had difficulty with turning the fabric under without it pooching out in places, especially around the curved edges.  

 

Quilt #3005 Camellias in my Garden, 35” x 28” 

Janis Arredondo 

Roseville, CA  

As sewing machine technology improves, it opens the door to more creativity than ever. Tanya Brown froze a summer moment of “Brian at 10 Months” using unbelievable machine embroidery skills and Tsukineko ink. 

 

Quilt #3017 “Brian at 10 Months” 28.5” x 29” 

Tanya Brown 

Sunnyvale, CA  

Christine Woodhouse would win top prize in the humor category, if there was one, with “Guard Duty”:

 

Quilt #7021 “Guard Duty”, 64” x 44” 

Christine Woodhouse 

New Zealand  

In reading the descriptions, I learned that a couple of quilts I chose to photograph were partially created in a workshop in Asilomar. I enjoy the simplicity and clarity of the designs in both these quilts. The first is “Viola” by Helen White, inspired by a Provencal painting:

 
“Viola” 

Helen White 

Ukiah, CA  

And the second, by Dorothy North, was inspired by the tomatoes she planted this spring. She incorporated fragments of the paper seed packets, leftover seeds, garden twine, and leaf prints to create this triptych quilt: 

 

“Tomato Triptych” 

Dorothy North 

Woodside, CA  

I am often attracted by bolder designs, especially in quilts, but this little wall quilt pulled me in from far away. Thom Atkins had to shift his medium of expression from bronze sculpture to textile arts after suffering injuries to his wrists and thumbs in a traffic accident. He printed Photoshop-manipulated photographs on fabric and reinforced the image with waterproof Sharpie pens. My favorite element of the quilt is illusion of rain created by the shimmery threads of glass beads. I can’t help but think that this quilt is a metaphor of the terrible traffic accident. Though I’m sure the injuries that deprived him of the ability to work with clay were a rainy day in his life, from it a thing of beauty and a new passion emerged.

“Outside Looking In”

Thom Atkins 

Santa Cruz, CA  

I was glad my mother pointed out he beautiful doves in the quilt called “The Beauty of Life”. My photo was too fuzzy to make out the last name of this quilter from Australia. The first name is probably Julie.  

 

Quilt #2591, “The Beauty of Life”

The opalescent seed bead detail on the tail feathers of these turtledoves give the appearance of pixie dust fluttering in the air as they coo about the beauty of life: 

 

Quilt #2591, “The Beauty of Life”

The last wall quilt I will feature here is a single square that is the ultimate Dutchbaby quilt. We came upon this little beauty in the “Vintage Revisited” section. “The Little Dutch Girl” by Judy Gula contains vintage fabrics and notions plus tiny ceramic and wooden “klompen” dangling at the bottom.  

 

“The Little Dutch Girl”, Vintage Revisited category 

Judy Gula 

Annandale, VA  

You may view all my posts covering this quilt fest here, my 2009 Quilt Fest flickr set here, and last year’s here.

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII – Innovative Quilts

Quilt #3103 “Courage”, 36” x 47.5”

Geri Patterson-Kutras, Machine quilting by Trudy Hardy

Morgan Hill, CA

Last week, my mother and I went to the Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII at the Santa Clara Convention Center. We agreed that this show was even better than last year’s. Today I will tell you about some of the quilts in the innovative category.

The first innovative quilt that gripped me was the beach scene Geri Patterson-Kutras created using acrylic paints.

Quilt #3103 “Courage”, 36” x 47.5”

Geri Patterson-Kutras, Machine quilting by Trudy Hardy

Morgan Hill, CA

My mother and I both loved Nancy S. Brown’s original design named “EIEIO”. Each animal showed such personality as they poked their heads out of the barn windows.

Quilt #1013 “EIEIO”, 46” x 49.5”

Nancy S. Brown

Oakland, CA

The spiral-printed cotton fabric was a great choice for the sheep’s coat:

Quilt #1013 “EIEIO” detail, 46” x 49.5”

Nancy S. Brown

Oakland, CA

I would not have noticed the larger pattern on Leigh Cabell’s cathedral windows quilt if I hadn’t overheard someone talking about it. You may have to step across the room to see the image.

Quilt #1015 “Ribbitt”, 90” x 106”

Leigh Cabell

Denver, CO

Here’s a close-up of this hand-pieced and hand-appliquéd wonder:

Quilt #1015 “Ribbitt” detail, 90” x 106”

Leigh Cabell

Denver, CO

Kathy McNeil’s “Heron Happiness” is aptly named:

Quilt #1086 “Heron Happiness”, 57” x 53”

Kathy McNeil

Tulalip, WA

The details of the fluffy breast feathers were impressive…

Quilt #1086 “Heron Happiness”, 57” x 53”

Kathy McNeil

Tulalip, WA

…and I liked how she folded down the tips of the cat tail leaves:

Quilt #1086 “Heron Happiness”, 57” x 53”

Kathy McNeil

Tulalip, WA

Jean Renli Jurgenson created a very interesting perspective of a “Hong Kong Taxi” as seen from her daughter’s apartment:

Quilt #1069 “Hong Kong Taxi”, 60” x 41.5”

Jean Renli Jurgenson

Walnut Creek, CA

I wanted to step right into Rachel Wetzler’s inviting kitchen in “Fragrant Memories” and help myself to that strawberry cake:

Quilt #1059 “Fragrant Memoriesi”, 51” x 60”

Rachel Wetzler

St. Charles, IL

My mother loved Chicko Baba’s interpretation of a shopping center…

.

Quilt #6003 “Shopping Center”, 73” x 52”

Chicko Baba

Japan

…especially this sweet sales lady:

Quilt #6003 detail “Shopping Center”, 73” x 52”

Chicko Baba

Japan

Ann E. Rauen’s “Into the Woods” work of art also merited close inspection:

Quilt #2098 “Into the Woods”, 89” x 65”

Ann E. Rauen

Santa Cruz, CA

The details on this calendar quilt were mindboggling – each square was a field of crazy-quilt patches featuring a highly-detailed tree and surprising little creatures.

Quilt #2098 “Into the Woods”, 89” x 65”

Ann E. Rauen

Santa Cruz, CA

There are many, many more innovative quilts that you can see on my Flickr set and here is a fantastic slide show by quiltbaby (no relation to me or tangobaby) here.

To see the winners of the 2009 World Quilt Festival, also produced by the Mancuso brothers, click here:

There’s a controversy brewing about one quilt I posted on Flickr. To participate in the discussion, click here.

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII – Traditional Quilts

Quilt #1502: “Inspiration Draws from Nature’s Art” 80” x 80”

Patricia Delaney

Abington, MA.

World Quilt Competition: Best Machine Workmanship – Traditional.

Oma and I went on our annual pilgrimage to the Pacific International Quilt Festival this week.You can read about our trip to last year’s festival here and see the 2008 quilt competition winners here. This show is the largest and highest quality quilt extravaganza on the West Coast. It features over 800 quilts and works of wearable and textile art, and over 300 merchant booths. If that’s not enough, you can attend any of the 60 or so workshops and lectures offered by world-renowned textile artists.

Here are some examples of the traditional quilts. I spent a lot of time studying Patricia Delaney’s red and white quilt. It certainly is no surprise that she won the ribbon for Best Machine Workmanship in the World Quilt Competition.

Quilt #1502 detail: “Inspiration Draws from Nature’s Art” 80” x 80”

Patricia Delaney

Abington, MA.

World Quilt Competition: Best Machine Workmanship – Traditional.

But it was more than the machine workmanship that set this quilt apart from others, there was something else. Then a fellow admirer pointed out Delaney’s description:

“As my morning walks allow me to escape everyday concerns, so does the time spent at my sewing machine. One of these walks inspired the flowing drawings of woodland ferns. I found each frond to be unique and perfect in its imperfection. The quilting and eight shades of thread reflect this variety. Just as the dappled light is reflected on the forest floor, so, too, the ten red, twenty-five whites and trapunto add shadow and depth to this quilt.”

Imagine twenty-five shades of white and ten shades red fabric plus eight shades of thread! The subtle shift of colors gave this quilt truly an organic feel to it.

Even though Vicki Slawson’s design of this eight-point star and checkerboard border is very intricate, the simple blue and white color scheme keeps the design strong and crisp:

Quilt #2117: “I Know Thy Works”

Vicki Slawson

Brentwood, CA

I regret that I can not give proper attribution for this next masterpiece because my photo was too fuzzy to read the tag. Thanks to Robbie Marie (see comment below) for recognizing this quilt! The quilt is called "Majestic Bugs"

"Majestic Bugs", 104" x 107", double batting
Irena Bluhm

The workmanship is world class – the surface was painted after all the quilting was complete.  112 bugs have been quilted into the background design. Here you can see a couple:

With use of ethnic fabrics, Linda Hibbert gives a new perspective to the traditional quilt:

“Kaleidostar 3”

Linda Hibbert

To see the superb machine quilting of this quilt, click here.

There’s nothing like a white-on-white quilt to show off someone’s workmanship.

Quilt #1508 “Irish Cream”, 84” x 84”

Linda M. Roy

Knoxville, TN

Best Hand Workmanship, Traditional – World Quilt Competition

Sandi Lush used colonial knots and glass seed beads to add interest and texture in her hand-quilted beauty named “Crystal Dreams”

Quilt #9507 “Crystal Dreams”, 86” x 86”

Sandi Lush

United Kingdom

First Place, Traditional –World Quilt Competition

Quilt #9507 “Crystal Dreams”, 86” x 86”

Sandi Lush

United Kingdom

First Place, Traditional –World Quilt Competition

Heather Harding’s choice of butter yellow fabric is inspired:

Quilt #7503 “Welsh Gold”, 56” x 56”

Heather Harding, New Zealand

It’s not often one sees Moorish designs in a traditional quilt.

Ronda K. Beyer

Tualatin, OR

Best Machine Workmanship, Traditional – Pacific International Quilt Competition 2009

The tiny crystal seed beads that Ronda K. Beyer added gave just the right amount of sparkle to this exotic quilt:

Quilt #2010 “Gypsy Rosalie”, 64” x 64”

Ronda K. Beyer

Tualatin, OR

Best Machine Workmanship, Traditional – Pacific International Quilt Competition 2009

Margo Hardie's all hand-sewn "Down Under Florabunda" is spectacular. I can spend days birdwatching here.

Quilt #2502 "Down Under Florabunda"

Margo Hardie, Australia

There were so many other fantastic traditional quilts. You can see some of them here and here and here. The full Flickr set is here.

Next time I will show you some of the quilts in the innovative category.

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.