Houston International Quilt Festival - Eye Candy #1

I took way more pictures at festival this year than last so am posting the eye candy a bit differently.  They will use 3 posts and not be included in the daily journal other than through a link.  Please check on the regular post to see all the fun we had today.  Here's your LINK.

Now, onto the eye candy and please remember that I am not going to spotlight very many of the blue ribbon quilts unless I am absolutely in love with them.  I keep this blog to remember the things that really touched me in one way or another and am happy to share it with you.  These are my loves.

The big winner of $12.500 from Handi-Quilter is this lovely sampler by Janet Stone of Overland Park, Kansas entitled Garden Variety Sampler.  She says, "This quilt is a nod to my love of antique samplers.  The layout was loosely inspired by a page from an antique children's book by Walter Crane from 1878 entitled The Baby's Bouquet.  The color palette was inspired by the beautiful Japanese taupe quilts.  This is number 17 in my "Alphabet Quilt" series."  The techniques are machine piecing and applique, fused applique, hand embellishment and I absolutely am drawn to it.  The details are just tremendous.

This is Black Pearl by Natasha de Souza Bugarin and Aline Bugarin of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.  It is divine and I am literally bowing down.  WOW.  They say, "Black Pearl symbolizes the ability to transform difficulties into beauty.  The design reveals the shining pearl in the center, with its formation layers overlapping one another.  The fragmented edges represent the necessity of time passing by in order to create the pearl.  Different quilting densities allow the black fabric to shine."  Again, WOW.

This next one is kind of hard to see in photograph and it was a bit tough even in real life.  It is called Star of India by Kristin Vierra of Lincoln, Nebraska and is in the Merit Quilting - Machine-Frame category.  She writes, "Inspired by patterns from Dover Clip Art, this traditional Indian henna design surrounds a medallion center.  Cross-hatching, micro-stippling, and line work are used to enhance the henna designs.  I can barely follow a drawn line when quilting so this is just mind boggling to me.

Another one in the same category and my love of whole cloth quilts is showing.  I usually find them in the hand-quilting category, but these are so dang beautiful too.  This one is called First Frost and is by Jan Hutchison of Sedgwick, Kansas.  Jan says, "I designed this wholecloth quilt, inspired by the work of William Morris.  It was quilted on linen with a metallic glaze.  I used cut-away machine trapunto and a slightly contrasting thread to highlight the design.  This was free-motion quilted on a longarm machine."  Crazy cool.

Now for something entirely different.  This is called Stacks on Stacks by Vicki Conley of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico and is actually available for purchase.  Her description says, "Smokestacks remove toxins from indoor spaces and have facilitated urban life ever since people transitioned to living in permanent settlements.  How can we change our behavior or improve our technology to find a balance between generating the energy and industry needed to support our society without irrevocably polluting our fragile environment?"  I do like the statement and the quilt.  I am finding myself enjoying the modern quilts a bit more, but am still a traditional gal.

Onto Wrinkly/Irony by Connie Kincius Griner of Burlington, North Carolina.  I started chuckling the minute I saw this and stopped to enjoy it for quite awhile.  What a great whimsical quilt.  I would love one like it in my studio.  Absolutely.  She says, "Inspired by an internet posting that defined the word 'irony' as the opposite of 'wrinkly'.  This quilt is my attempt to create this concept in visual form.  My hope is to bring a smile to the viewer!"  Well, she succeeded in my case.

Hmmm. What can I say about this one?  Well, it literally stopped me and two other women in our tracks for at least 15 minutes while we attempted to figure it all out.  It is absolutely incredible and that is as honest as I can be.  We are all stumped.  What a perfect execution.  It is entitled A Village for All Seasons and is by Karen Eckmeier of Kent, Connecticut.  "I love creating new Happy Villages", which I've been making since 2003.  In this new piece, I wanted to try one that gradated in values and colors from top to bottom.  I chose the color palette of the four seasons.  The trees in each season match the time of year, as does the river.  It is frozen in winter, flowing freely in spring and summer, and becomes a hiking trail in the fall.  This is the first time I have included a tire swing, bird houses, and weathervanes."  She lists her techniques as Fabric collage, couching.  I'm still lost as to how it all came together.  I REALLY wanted to touch this one.

I am including this next one because the quilting makes me think.  A LOT.  It is entitled Self-Portrait with Illness: Chronic by Thomas Knauer of Clinton, New York and is also available for purchase.  It is a whole cloth quilt and machine quilted.  Thomas writes, "In quilting the phrase 'I am tired of being sick' continuously into a twin bed sheet, this quilt represents the unending nature of chronic illness.  While the words are not immediate visible, this illustrates the hidden realities of many chronic diseases, the experience of seeming 'norma' within a body that is anything but."  Take some time to reread that and really notice his work.

Next up is Flash! by Mayleen Vinson and quilted by Jan Hutchinson, both (?) of Haysville, Kansas.  The information reads, "One dark and stormy night, Flash!  Rain is welcome in a hot and dry summer in Kansas.  Since I enjoy watching lightning storms, I asked Jan Hutchinson, the machine quilter, to use weather motifs in her quilting.  Amish quilts, influenced my color choices and the setting for this selvedge Streak of Lightning quilt.  The selvedges were donated by members of my local quilt guild, Prairie Quilt Guild, in Wichita, Kansas."

I see selvage quilts and other items quite often and think they would be so much fun to work on, BUT, and this is a big but, I don't ever remember to trim the selvage until the piece is already in strips.  It's kind of like wanting to win the lottery but never buying a ticket.

Oooooh - next up is The Never Ending Project (I can believe it) by Barb Kissell and quilted by Meg Fazio of Macungie, Pennsylvania.  Barb says, " I decided I loved this pattern enough to take this project on after being a quilter for only two years or so.  If I had done the math and realized before I started that there would be more than 3000 pieces to the finished quilt, I may have changed my  mind, but I'm glad I didn't."  Me too.  It's wonderful and they are so tiny.

As I see this next one, the thought that comes to my mind is, "That is what I think of when I think vintage."  This looks like one that could have been on my grandmother's bed.  It is called Homage to Margaret Gottlieb by Laura Gottlieb.  It is machine pieced and hand quilted.  Laura writes, "The quilt is a reproduction of a tattered quilt in my mother-in-law's possession when she died.  Because the pattern was unusual and appealing, and because I wanted to honor my beloved mother-in-law, I recreated that quilt right down to it's hand-quilted patterns and 1930's fabric."  Yep --- I knew it.  Vintage through and through.

So now we come to some quilts that make me go hmmmm.  When I first got back into quilting, I really almost detested all applique.  Over the last 4 years (yep, 4 years is all) I have adjusted that line of thinking but still say that they scare the bejeebers out of me.  I do, however, start to have inklings of wanting to try one.   This one is by Peggy Garwood of Fairfield Glade, Tennessee and entitled Butterflies in the Garden.  It is hand-pieced, appliqued, quilted and embroidered, machine pieced, trapuntoed.  Oh my.  Peggy says, "I worked four years on this quilt after learning a new and better way to applique.  I had decided to enter national and international quilt shows and wanted to make a traditional hand-made bed quilt using a variety of techniques that would challenge my abilities.  I added the sawtooth borders and the quilted trapunto butterflies."  Oh so very scary to me but oh so beautiful.

As I said, these are starting to appeal to me more and more so there will be several to share.  This one is Roseville Album Quilt by Cynthia Collier of League City, Texas.  She says, "The Roseville Album is a purchased pattern designed by Australian Kim McLean.  I wanted my version to have a more traditional look including the Broderie Perse substituted for several of the original template pieces.  My inspiration for the fabrics and changes was heavily influenced by antique chintz quilts from the nineteenth century."

As a lover of strings, this red/white beauty really caught my eye.  It is Red Hot by Deborah Ross of Tulsa, Oklahoma and I adore it.  She says, "This quilt grew out of my love for two things.  I love strings quilts and the color red.  Scrappy quilts are a favorite also.  All reds seem to play together nicely.  I also wanted to play with color and from from a light value to a dark value."  I think she did a great job and it truly makes me want to do something similar.

Another quilt draws me in and it turns out that it is by the same person who made me think awhile back.  His interpretation for this one is so very good.  I really like it a lot and can understand so much of what went into it.  It is by Thomas Knauer of Clinton, New York and entitled Self-Portrait with Illness: Mutation.  Thomas has this to say:  "Each block of this quilt is a slight variation of the previous block, but much like genetic mutation, small changes in a system can produce radical and even chaotic effects.  While the results of genetic mutations may manifest in profound ways, finding and defining that minor change is often extraordinarily elusive."

Oooooh -- itsy bitsy pieces.  I LOVE IT!!!  I have entered the Remembering Sue Garman:  Traditional Talent Extraordinaire exhibit.  "The late Sue Garman made more than 300 quilts over 40 years, nearly all of them original.  Celebrate her life and artistic legacy with this sampling of 75 of her best works based on antique quilts, red and green quilts, intricately pieced quilts, whimsical quilts, and more."  I have a hunch this is a new love for me and I will be hunting down these patterns.  Something in this exhibit (as I stand in the center and look around) touches me deep in my soul.

I promise not to go through all 75 with you here, but 10 seems a good compromise.  First up is Omigosh! and the card reads, "Sometimes, while making a quilt, Sue spent a great deal of time trying to decide what to name it.  While making this quilt, friends kept looking at it and say, "'Oh, my gosh!'  That led to the name of the quilt (maniac and Certifiable were also candidates).  Making its 221 blocks was labor intensive, but more than worth the effort.  This quilt celebrates the excitement of complexity, order, and a myriad of wonderful fabrics!"  It's delightful and did ya know? - Sue Garman was from Friendswood, Texas.  Sounds perfect.

Blue Heaven is next up.  This one is quilted by LeeAnn Lively and reads, "Sue saw an antique quilt hanging in the Quilts, Inc. corporate offices in Houston and fell in love with it.  The antique was obviously patterned after a woven coverlet, and was exceptional in that it was perfectly pieced and included a substantial amount of trapunto quilting.  She immediately wanted to make a quilt of her own based on this beauty, and Blue Heaven was the result."  Look at the intricate work in the borders too.   Geez.

This next quilt catches my eye because it reminds me of the old Granny Square afghans I saw while growing up.  It is called Tucker's Tulips and the card reads, "In one of Sue's quilting bees, she drew a pattern for a 12-inch block, based on an 1853 wedding quilt made by Serena Tucker, which showcased the style of Germanic coverlets made by quiltmakers in America's Midwest.  Then, she enlarged it even more, to the 36-inch block you see here, and created this beauty."

Applique takes the stage now -- and all I can say is OMG.  Seriously - OH EM GEE!!!  This one is called Bouquets for a New Day and reads, "Sue loved flowers; she felt like they could brighten up even the greyest day.  She designed this pattern as a Block-of-the-Month for 'The Quilt Show,' and felt like she had the privilege of bringing bouquets of flowers to each of the quilters each month."  Oh goodness, there is no way I could complete one of those a month.  Not a prayer.

Autumn Joy brings a smile to my face instantly as I do love this season so very much.  "Autumn Joy is a quilt that celebrates the changing of a season - from falling leaves to harvest moons, from dried flowers to pumpkin pie . . . the harvest season brings the scents of field and kitchen together through warm mellow nights and glorious stars in the sky."

There has to be at least one holiday quilt, right?  Well maybe more than one but first up is Night Before Christmas and "Sue loved Christmas time.  The holiday season was always a joyous time for her, when the family gatherings multiply and each day brings new surprises.  She based the blocks on Clement Moore's poem, which helped shape our view of Santa as a jolly, round-bellied, gift-giving man."  Cornerstones, cornerstones, OH MY.

Autumn colors appear again in Twirly Balls and Pinwheels.  "Sue loved her Twirly Ball blocks, her name for the block that she designed based on a traditional block that has been called a variety of names:  Rising Sun, Wagon Wheel, Fly Wheel, Circle Saw, Wheel of Life, and Oklahoma Star.  She ran across a quilt made by Fanny Noel Spindle Tod in a book one day, and knew she had found the quilt for her Twirly Balls."  The tiny pinwheels are crazy cool and my mind goes to "bonus triangle" ideas.

So a flavor of Christmas is in The Glorious Princess Feather.  "In the early 1990's, Sue visited a textile museum in Washington, DC, where a display of red and green quilts was being exhibited.  She fell in love with a Princess Feather quilt there, and the idea for this design took root shortly thereafter.  It took her years to finish the quilt, as it sat on the back burner several times, until she decided to simplify the border and leave space for beautiful quilting."  Great choice.

Good Golly is up next and what an appropriate name.  I can think of others but probably shouldn't type them here.  "Sue loved intricately pieced quilts!  She didn't consider herself a master of precision piecing, as she almost always relied on paper piecing foundations to get her past even the simplest of projects.  She felt like they made the job of precision piecing a breeze, and gave her extremely accurate results.  This beauty consists of forty-eight blocks sashed together in different sizes of sashing strips, which are then surrounded by multiple other borders."  So creative but I think paper piecing is oh so challenging.  Wow.

This last one I somehow neglected to get the card information so don't even know the name of it.  Since we know is it Sue Garman's, I feel okay in posting it for your viewing pleasure.  Just look at the up close detail work.  Oh, such beautiful applique work.   Well that's it for this post.  More to follow as I still have a ton of pictures.  Was the candy good?  Keep on creating.