More PIQF quilts 10-18-08

I wanted to try some Superior Thread threads and stopped by their booth. They are always so helpful, no matter how harried they are. Here are Bob - he of the corny jokes - and Annie who "wo"mans the cash register. There are several clerks to help customers find things and to restock the tables. My hat is off to all these hardworking quilt lovers.

One of the Special Exhibits is "Fiber Force" from SAQA. The catalog says, "This collection "breaks boundaries" and exhibits a "no rules" approach. The mission of the [exhibit] is to awaken the creative spirit of the viewer, and educate the audience as to the endless possibilities presented by the inclusion of untraditional media into fabric based art." I missed these points when I viewed the display. There was no explanation about any 'untraditional media', so there was no education. Many of the works are not very well designed and some seemed to be just slopped together. A big disappointment. Apparently others felt the same as there were few viewers in the area.

I do like this one by Robin Cowley. The colors are clear and well balanced and she used an unusual quilting method.

PIQF Three Quilts 10-16-08

One of the special exhibits at Pacific International Quilt Festival this year is "Currency Exchange". Ninety fiber artists in the USA, Japan and New Zealand each chose a motif from a coin or bill from any country and use the motif on the money as inspiration to design a piece for the exhibit. There is no date shown, but this exhibit must have been put together prior to 2006 because one of the signs indicates that the coin she used would be taken out of circulation in that year. I found the overall quality to be very good and some of the pieces are outstanding. Such as this one from Oregon....

The signs with this exhibit are dark and I find it difficult to adjust the value so you can read it.

The colored circles were made separately and applied to the quilt top. If you click to enlarge you can see that the motifs were taken from the bills below. Bulls, faces, peacock, gazelles (?), camels and .... form the kaleidoscopes.

This is a poor image, but it is a photo of what appear to be photocopies of the actual bills that inspired Linda. The exhibit includes few motifs from US coins and currency, I suppose because those of many other countries are so elaborate.

Jan is a popular quilting teacher in Adult Ed classes in Orange County, CA. She encourages her students to expand their quilt making skills and try new colors and designs.

This is such a bright and cheery quilt, in addition to being very clever. See if you can find each of the different dogs named in the label.

Gail is the owner of Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove. She so busy with her business she doesn't have time to make many quilts that are not related to the shop. I'm always excited to see her latest work.
She has learned from Ruth McDowell how to vary the integrated border fabrics to lend more depth and excitement to the piece. When everything was pieced together Gail felt there were not enough leaves on the tree, she solved the problem by adding enough raw edge leaves to make the completed quilt more like the image in her mind.

PIQF 10-16-08

Blogger doesn't seem to want me to post pictures tonight! So, I'll try posting some tomorrow morning. I think the PIQF show is just as good as always, but I must admit I have not even seen a fourth of it. Mary and her friend Chris and I had agreed to meet to leave for home at 3pm, but at 2pm I just couldn't do anymore looking, standing, reading, photographing, visiting, etc. I told Mary I could just wait for them to finish, but they said that they were also ready to go. Don't know why I am dragging this week - maybe I have "autumn fever"! We are not going back tomorrow (Friday), but plan to go on Saturday and I can go back alone on Sunday if I want to do some more photography. If I am feeling really spry tomorrow morning I might drive up for a couple hours, but it is an hour's drive on Hwy 101 on Friday. Don't know.

An Afternoon in Pacific Grove 10-15-08

Monterey Bay offers such awesome beauty that I always like to drive along the bay front and pull off to watch the waves and the birds and (sometimes) the otters. We didn't see otters today, perhaps because the waves were really pounding in on the rocks.

Here are brown pelicans playing follow-the-leader as they keep their eyes out for fish in the water.

We visited "Back Porch Fabrics", our favorite quilt shop, where there is currently a wonderful exhibit"Two Women– Four Views"Appliques & Watercolors by Wilda Northrop

Quilts & Photographs by Jeanie Anton

Continues until December 3rd

and, of course, shelves of new and wonderful fabrics.

After that we went with our friend Jeanne Mills to the Red House for an early dinner. There were very few patrons, so we suppose that people are saving their money by not driving and not eating out. Their loss - the food is just delicious.

This is Grilled Portabello Mushroom (the dark brown section) with crispy polenta topped with flakes of Parmesan cheese and green onion.

And here is the melt-in-your-mouth individual Blue Cheese Souffle with dressed field greens, very thinly sliced pears, topped with a little chopped tomato and crumbled blue cheese.

No room left for dessert! We dropped Jeanne off nearby at her house and then we drove back to San Juan Bautista. Tomorrow we will be up early to drive north to Santa Clara and the first day of the 2008 Pacific International Quilt Show (PIQF). From past experience, we know we will come home very tired but very excited about the wonderful quilts we have seen.

Now in SJB 10-14-08

I drove up here to Mary's in San Juan Bautista today. Easy trip, "winding caravans" of trucks, few passenger vehicles, no construction, not much wind. An ideal trip, I'd say. We unloaded the van and I set up the computer, but I cannot download pictures, either from the photo card in the photo card slot or by attaching the cable from the camera to the computer. I've been messing with it for an hour and I give up. I'm tired and it is one o'clock in the morning. I am a life long night owl, but not after driving for six hours. I'll see what I can do about it in the morning.

All okay and Grebes 10-13-08

Claire Fenton, who made the little quilt in yesterday's post, is okay and home again. She had tree damage and ,of course, power outage. She was evacuated for a week by Gustav and says that Ivan got entirely too close for comfort, flooding areas south of her. And Corky is doing okay, but he will have to take the antibiotics until this coming Thursday.

When Corky and I walked near his house last Friday I noticed that the Pied-billed grebes have returned for their winter stay. These are some of the smallest grebes, only about a foot from beak to tail. Notice the wonderful circular ripples around them.

A male and female checking each other out.

This is the male swimming a circle around his 'intended'.

Later when we were walking back toward the house I saw them again and the male was displaying for the female, who seems completely bored. It is about a half an hour later and the angle is different than the first two pictures, thus the grey water.

Quilts from TCQC 10-12-08

I am designating Sunday as the day I will post a quilt from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.

"Red Nest" Claire Waguespack Fenton 2006 11"W x 9"L

I am very attracted to Claire's work, especially those she calls nests. Her artist statement includes the comment: "the nest, the ultimate habitat, symbolic of safety and security: a snug refuge.” So, you see, she has an elegant way of defining her ideas. Claire has lived all of her life in the southern part of Louisiana and after Katrina she increasingly incorporated the hurricane and its aftermath in her designs. Ike went over her area and I know that she is okay, but nothing about her home or her artworks. I purchased this piece from Claire in 2006 after checking in on her website to see what she was creating. Visit her website at www.clairefenton.com

After the Collection started getting large (now 100+) I divided my records into quilts smaller than 24" in either direction and quilts 24" or larger. Somehow it makes it easier for me to find the records and the quilts.