Houston - The Quilts!

When I was at International Quilt Market I allowed time to see the Special Quilt Exhibits and the Quilts: A World of Beauty competition quilts. Today I'll share a few of my many pictures.

When I visit a quilt show and take pictures I always take a picture of the quilt description as well as the quilt. This is so I can give credit to the quiltmaker and read the story about their quilt. All the photographs posted here include the name of the quilt and the quilt maker. I have also included a bit of information about the quilt in some cases. This is so easy with smartphones!

One exhibit where I spent quite a bit of time was the Japanese Quilts - WA QUILT: KOTOHOGI-Celebrations.  The "Wa" quilts reflect a very Japanese sense of colour, material, scenery and pattern. The overall theme of this exhibit is to convey the feeling of different Japanese festivals and celebrations.

Soap Bubbles
by Keiko Goke, Miyagi, Japan

Celebratory Fan
by Junko Sawada, Kanagawa, Japan

A fan is regarded as a symbol of prosperity
 according to its spreading shape.

Red & White
by Yoko Okamoto, Osaka, Japan

  

The next quilts were all entries in the Quilts: A World of Beauty competition.

From the Art - People, Portraits and Figures category:

African Village
by Janneke De Vries-Bodzinga
Kollumerzwaag, Friesland
The Netherlands
This is an original design inspired by the maker's holiday in Africa.

From the Group category

Manoa Falls Valley
by Shigeko Haruki and eight friends,
Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

The quilt description:

This the view and flowers we saw in the forest in Manoa on Oahu, Hawaii.
Can you hear the birds chirping?

From the Art - Abstract, Small category

Spring Thaw
by Beth Gilbert, Huntley, Illinois
Inspired by the idea of long-awaited spring.

This quilt won the Koala Studios Master Award for Innovative Artistry, sponsored by Koala Studios.  I was so excited to see this quilt in person!  I had seen photographs and the quilt is so amazing. I felt like I could just walk over and take one of the cushions from a shelf. This truly is a well-deserved winner! 

Silk Road Sampler,
by Melissa Sobotka, Richardson, Texas

Here is part of Melissa's artist statement:

Where East meet West in Instanbul, there is a
spice bazaar that has been there since 1597.
 
There, surrounded by exotic smells and tastes,
 the vibrant colours of the Silk Road come alive. 

I took a lot more pictures but these ones give you a sense of what 

appealed to me as I spent a morning viewing the quilts. 

Can't wait for all the surprises next year!

One Wonderful Curve - Book Review

I have been meaning to tell you about this great book for a few months but time seems to get away from me. One Wonderful Curve is the 2nd book by the wonderful designers from Sew Kind of Wonderful.

These are contemporary quilts and each one uses the Quick Curve Ruler designed by sisters Jenny, Helen and Sherilyn.  I have taught several workshops using this ruler and the QCR Mini ruler and students learned how to cut the perfect curves and sew perfect blocks very easily. I love tools that can be used over and over again - and the Quick Curve Ruler fits my requirement well.

This book has patterns for 12 quilts and each one is very appealing.  This is not a book where you'll like just one or 2 designs.  I'm sure you will want to make them all!

The Techniques section is well-illustrated, showing how to cut and then sew the curves. Close-up photographs are very helpful in this section.

Projects range in size and complexity. The first project, Summer Citrus Runner, is easy for quilters who are new to the technique and for anyone wanting a quick project.

There are wall-size projects and full bed-size projects in the book.


My personal favourite is Moroccan Vibe Quilt. I have a collection of fabrics I bought in Hawaii last February and just need a couple more to find and then I can get started on this quilt.

One other thing I LOVE about the book is the photography. I can really SEE how each project was quilted.  A bonus at the back of the book are Quilting Suggestions to help with this part of your project too.

Although I wasn't able to attend Spring Quilt Market this year I found this photo of the Sew Kind of Wonderful booth taken by Quilters Newsletter Magazine.

I'll be watching for new patterns for quilts displayed here!

You can buy the book (and a wide range of patterns)

directly from the gals at Sew Kind of Wonderful.

Patio Lanterns Quilt

This is the last quilt I made for International Quilt Market using Northcott's Stonehenge Gradation Brights fabrics. The pattern for this one will be available in early 2016.

 I longarm quilted the other quilts for Market (see my previous post here) but for this one I wanted to use some decorative machine stitches for the quilting.  Here's a closeup of one area of the quilt.

Machine Quilting with Decorative Stitches is one of the workshops I teach. See examples from this workshop here.

If you would like me to teach this workshop (or others) for your guild or shop, see details on my website.

International Quilt Market - Houston

Here are a few pictures of the Northcott booth at International Quilt Market. I design patterns with their upcoming fabrics and I am the sales rep for Vancouver Island. I go to Market to help in the booth and to see everything that is NEW in the world of quilting. These fabrics will be coming to a store near you soon!

Northcott's ColorWorks solids have been revamped with all new colours. I LOVE working with solid fabrics because you can add so much texture with the quilting design.

 My Chips & Churns  quilt is top right in the photo above. 

Here is a closeup of my quilting. See how the texture shines with solid fabrics!

Sandscapes is the latest addition to the Artisan Spirit series. This collection includes a wide range of exquisite marbleized textures in vibrant hues with metallic accents. There are twelve palettes ranging in a progression of value which makes them perfect for quiltmakers.

A portion of the sales from Sandscapes will be donated to Prokritee, a certified fair trade company based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, employing the artisan women who inspired this collection.

Amazing neutrals - quilts by (clockwise from the top left):

Jean Boyd, Elisa Wilson, Sue Harvey/Sandy Boobar and Patti Carey

Traditional, Modern, Applique, Landscapes

Sandscapes work well in all of these! 

Eclipse (top right) is another new design from my design company, Patchworks Studio. 

Sunglow/Coral colours.

Quilts by Karen Bialik, Diane McGregor, Wanda Milankov and me
(bottom, horizontal, Star Gazer bedrunner).

And a closeup of the bedrunner quilting - an amazing job done by Northcott's longarm quilter. THANKS Northcott!

Patterns will be available for my 3 quilts in the next month. 

Watch my Newsletter for the release date.

Mystery SOLVED

You remember those bricks that were on a pallet during setup for Quilt Market...all 2000 pounds of them?  Well, I found the booth where they are installed. 

This is Jill of Jillily Studio (booth 936 if you are here in Portland). 

Jill told me they wanted the bricks for,the floor because one if the fabrics in her new line has bricks on it.  Great idea and a lovely booth display, Jill!

A 'Curiosity'

I am in Portland, Oregon for International Quilt Market. That is everything quilts, and I mean EVERYTHING!  Fabric, patterns, thread, sewing machines, hand sewing supplies, batting, every tool you could possibly use and more!  

This pallet of bricks was moved along the aisle beside the Northcott Fabrics booth where I am helping with setting up the booth. Stay tuned over the next few days. I'll be searching the entire convention centre to see which booth is using them and how. Should be an interesting conversation. 

Preparing for Quilt Market, Portland

I've been having a great time sewing new quilts to take to International Quilt Market in Portland. This is a wholesale trade show for the quilting industry. I have attended nearly every year since 1998 (I've only missed 3 spring markets and 2 fall markets). 

I thought you might like to see a couple of  'works in progress'.

First is Cobblestones & Stars (PS316) - just have to finish sewing the binding for this one. I used Northcott's Stonestrips (Everest colourway) for this fun quilt. I best thing about this design is how the star points 'float' over the background strips. Easy to sew and you'll NEVER have a chopped off star point!  Order this pattern here.  If you are interested in a kit, leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do.

Next is a new version of my Aztec Sun pattern (PS224 - available here). Northcott asked me to do new versions using Stonehenge fabrics - of course I couldn't resist those wonderful fabrics.  I made a small version using red, white and blue first.

Then I made the large quilt and just need to get this one bound too.  I think there will be some TV time this weekend - perhaps I'll watch The Masters golf tournament.

 

 

I normally quilt my own quilts but time is getting tight to get these quilts done in time for Market and I have a couple of teaching trips in the next month.....so I aksed my friend, Jennifer Watson, to quilt this quilt for me.  She did a SUPERB job.  Her creativity in deciding what to quilt and where is just MASTERFUL!!  Here's a closeup of an area of the quilt.

Jennifer's longarm business is Quilt As Desired.  I highly recommend Jennifer!