My Quilty World: Houston International Quilt Festival

This is post 3 of 3 on this years Houston Quilt Festival. If you missed the first two, please go check them out.

First up is Diamond Effervescence by Beth Nufer and Clem Buzick of Brookings, Oregon. "The inspiration was the silk fabric. The background fabric is a gradated cotton sateen. I wanted to incorporate the two fabrics together." I think they did a great job and as I stood looking at it closely, I love the way the neutrals play together going from light to darker and back to lighter. The piecing is wonderful but the dots, oh the dots are just magnificent.

Jewels by Amy Pabst of Le Roy, West Virginia was "inspired by a circa 1890 quilt. The embroidered 'X' in the center of the blocks are a tribute to the Log Cabin quilts of that era, which were often tied. There are 8,448 pieces." What???? Dang, that's a big number.

Also -- you really have to look at it up close to see how small they are. Oh my.

I turned my head and from across the way, I spotted this quilt and had to go forward. How lovely. It is called Sapphires on Snow and is by Norma Ippolito of Chester, Vermont who says, "The sapphire is my birthstone. I am drawn to jewel tones, and in particular, the icy blues, as seen sparkling on a fresh winter snow in Vermont. combining oversized blocks with lots of negative space for quilting, Sapphires on Snow merges traditional with modern quilting." It does indeed and I really love it.

Another big winner for traditional artistry is Keiko Morihiro of Sanda-City, Hyogo-ken, Japan. She tells that she "started making this quilt as a wedding present for my beloved daughter. I created a traditional Double Wedding Ring quilt using many round applique pieces, 16 millimeters in diameter. It took five years to complete the quilt because I sewed 4, 500 round pieces and changed hues from light to dark." She truly deserves this award. It's another of those -- not in my lifetime quilts.

Trellis by Mary Owens of Saint Louis, Missouri is up next and she says, "this quilt has a hexagon woven pattern surrounded by a desert flower border. The woven pattern and the flower pattern are from the book Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman." It's such a soft, subtle color scheme. Very soothing and I could maybe tackle one like this.

Another Sampler Quilt only this time by Yoko Saito of Ichikawa, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba-Ken, Japan. Yoko tells that, "Early in my quilting journey, I spent quite a bit of time studying traditional blocks and patterns from American quilts. I also loved the colors of these antique quilts. I made this sampler quilt using fifty-five traditional blocks. although the quilt has many different blocks and a complicated border, the warm colors bring everything together."

This is another one that needs a closer look ---- tiny pieces.

Another entry in the Merit Quilting only Hand category this time is by Sachiko chiba of Morioka, Iwate, Japan. It is called Flower News and she says, "I wanted to express the beautiful flowers which bloom seasonally. I was particular about the selection of fabric to look like realistic flowers. Because I used so many kinds of flowers, I examined the composition closely and reworked it many times before I finished the design." The techniques she used are machine piecing, hand applique, hand embroidery, trapunto. Her concept of color is intense.

Danny Amazonas has an exhibit going on as well. He is from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. His method is a bit different from others and is a "collage" type process. He says, "Since I'm using fabric to create my artwork, I want to maintain the beauty of the original textile designs on each piece of fabric used. I was also inspired by hundreds of people, some of them great artists, family members, friends, and especially fellow quilters, who gave me kinds words of encouragement and praises. This is to express the excitement of feasting. The design is the culmination of studying over 400 photographs of koi, which I've taken in the past 10 years." It is call Feast II and he is simply amazing.

Winter Feeling, also by Yoko Saito (I've posted another of hers) "is a quilt that was shown at a quilt exhibition of twenty Japanese quilters, of which I was one. The theme of the exhibition was 'The Four Seasons in Japan.' I made the vertical borders on the two sides to look like the Japanese paper shoji doors. They were open to show Log Cabin blocks that represented a colorless winter landscape using color gradation from beige to gray with the brown adding movement."

Closer look

This next one is another that I looked at, left, and went back to study some more. It's a small wall hanging, but touches me deep inside. It is entitled Serenity by Diane Wright of Guildford, Connecticut. (Do you see a pattern here?) She says, "The challenge word, serenity, was difficult to imagine in our current world politics. Eventually I discovered it in a piece of discharged wool jersey." Perfect.

At the back of the show there is a GINORMOUS (12' x 14') quilt featuring each of the states. I did not capture the entire quilt, but did bring home images of the states of Texas, Montana, and New York -- all of which hold meaning to my sweetheart and I.

A Gypsy exhibit catches my eye and although I loved a LOT of them, I will only spotlight a few.

One the far side wall, the Van Gogh Challenge of A Starry Night is taking place. I have a couple that I really like - not the winning ones, but great ones still the same.

We are finally in the modern section (yes, modern ones were everywhere, but there IS a modern section). I spot this one and quickly make my way over to discover that it is one of Heather Pregger's. I so love her work. She is from Fort Worth, Texas and has this to say about this one: "The tuning fork resonates with me on multiple levels: not only is it a musical tool, reminding me of childhood music lessons, but it also has become a personal symbol I repeatedly use in my quilts. I love it's essential shape, which can be interwoven to form interesting and unique configurations. Over the years it has become less civilized, and has turned into a wild thing." Thus the name of the quilt is Wild Thing! (Tuning Fork #36)

I spot this one from across the aisle and show it to Sherri. It pulls both of us in. The color and placement is perfect for what is trying to be achieved. While I may or may not agree with the political statement implied --- it is indeed right on point. This is Women's Work by Melanie Tuazon, Jeanine Bowen, Aleeda Crawley, Sarah Fader, Ashley Hinton, Karin Jordan, Alyson Olander, Krisma Patel, Melissa Quaal, Michelle Reiter, Virginia robinson, Anne Sullivan, and Kitty Wilkin. The card reads, "This is Women's Work, a group quilt that depicts a glass ceiling. The glass is cracked by not broken, the panes inspired by the Javits Center, where a victory party was planned on November 8, 2016. It represents the mourning of that loss and the obstacles that still prevent the achievement of feminist goals. This quilt represents the ambition and desire to achieve the symbolic milestone of female leadership and equality through traditionally domestic practices."

Not Easy Being Green is WONDERFUL! It is by Mary Keasler of Chattanooga, Tennessee and I adore it. Mary says, "AS with most of my geometric quilts, I work in an improvisational manner. I began making small four patch blocks, not knowing where it might lead me. My decision was to surround them with various shades of green in a quarter Log Cabin block style. The blocks were pieced together in an improvisational manner, leaving plenty of negative space. I worked out my quilting design once I began the quilting process. It was not an easy quilt to complete in this manner, thus Not Easy Being Green. Also, being green refers to the use of fabric scraps of less than inches in size."

The simplicity of this band of color is seen across another aisle. Spectra by Kristine Zimdars and quilted by Carleen Fletcher of McFarland, Wisconsin is loved. I want to do this. Kristine writes, "My intent was to feature a color visual with movement and fluidity in this quilt. Cotton batiks, cut to varying sizes, produce a geometric design. Although the color portion of the quilt draws the eye to this area, the overall curved pattern of the topstitching forces the eye to extend beyond the off-center section of color, in essence, providing additional movement and depth to this quilt."

And my last quilt for you may just be my favorite one of all. I really do like the play with color and the tiny white sashing between many of the blocks. It is by Judy Nelson and Debbie Spencer and entitled Jeweled Window. It is indeed just that. They are from Bettendorf, Iowa and simply write, "I found this quilt to be the perfect avenue to set off some of the beautiful fabrics in my stash." Short and sweet but perfectly done.