More PIQF 10-31-08

Three more wonderful quilts and why I like them! Tomorrow I will post the last of the PIQF quilts unless someone I asked on e-mail responds and says it is okay to post their quilt. Then I get back to my mundane life, but I will still post a quilt from TCQC each Sunday night.

I have always admired Charlotte Patera's work. She introduced reverse applique in the style of the San Blas Indians to the quilting world. She has had five books published, all are out of print. The two in my library are: "The Applique Book" was published in 1974 and "Mola Making" came out in 1984. One of Charlotte's quilts is touring with Quilt National. When I saw it at the Quilt National opening in May 2007 I had my checkbook out fast, but, alas, someone beat me to it. I still mourn.

http://charlottepatera.com/ http://www.jigzone.com/

This is the first picture I took at PIQF this year, it is a delight of color and I, also, am fond of Iris. The Iris are done with soft edge applique, giving them a textured surface that seems so right for this garden scene
You can see about twenty tiny thumbnails of her work at:

http://canvasfire.com/search?q=artist:Coni%20Hendry

Terry Waldron had several quilts at PIQF this year. She lives and teaches in SCalifornia and is a member of guilds that I belong to. So, I have seen her work over the years and watched it get better and better.

I like the colors and think the balance is perfect. I didn't look close enough at the grass to see how she did it, but it is very effective, especially against the two textures of blue in the background.

From a distance the developed seed head could almost fool you into believing it is real.www.terrywaldron.com

You also might be interested in looking at the website of the group 12x12 which challenges its twelve members to create a 12" square quilt on a certain subject. Their first challenge was the dandelion.

http://twelveby12.blogspot.com/

3 more from PIQF 10-30-08

What these three quilt makers have in common is that they are all my friends. Jean and Aileyn are sisters, who I met at Asilomar some years ago and both Nancy and I are members of Beach Cities Quilters Guild.

This is a quilt with the tension and motion of a tiger. And the quilting adds to that. I like the irregular border and the "opening" at top right and lower left which add even more to the feeling that the tiger is moving.
You may have heard me mention the Calla Lily quilt that Aileyn designed in Jane Sassaman's class in 2002 - I felt that she was the most successful student at stylizing their drawing. This is another Calla Lily she did recently.The curling shape of the ironwork complements the curve of the Lily and the leaves. The stonework really looks like stonework without being 'pushy'.
Her applique and quilting are the best - the blue ribbon that hung on this quilt was for hand workmanship. Congratulations, Aileyn. Notice that she has deepened the throat of the lily with just a bit of colored pencil.

This tight closeup shows the stitching even better.

There are two problems with signs, they are sometimes hung too high for my 5' 4" body and the light reflects off either the paper or the print. So, I try to take a picture that one can read, rather than one that is straight.

Everything Nancy makes is beautifully done. She is an expert at applique, quilting, piecing, designing, etc. and her quilts are flat and squared up. I have a tiny angel she made a few years ago, but someday maybe I will have a larger quilt for the TCQC.

Click on the photo and see how tiny and even the quilting is. You can't see her applique stitches at all. A fabulous piece, Nancy.

Now that I know why some pictures won't enlarge I worked out the order beforehand when I put these on my blog. I had to make a little diagram and had to redo them twice, but finally it works. Seems safe to move them up or down, but not out of the sequence in which they were posted.

The Alliance for American Quilts auction opened today on eBay at: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=The+Alliance+for+American+Quilts&category0=

Why pictures don't enlarge. 10-29-08

I have finally found out why pictures in my blog (and others) do not enlarge when one clicks on them. It is because they have been moved after being posted. All of the pictures in today's blog post will enlarge except the bottom one - the detail showing the stones. I don't know how to avoid this problem because I can only post four pictures at a time. So, if I have eight pictures to post four of them will not enlarge. Anyone know the solution to this problem?

And why doesn't my profile come up on this particular blog? It does on all the others I run. DELQLTS (at) aol(dot) com

1Innovative+1Traditional Both beautiful 10-29-08

There were so many wonderful quilts at PIQF it would be impossible for me to choose a favorite. But there were two quilts I went back to visit several times.

To my eye this is a great whole cloth quilt design. I think the imagery is lyrical and the hand quilting amazing. I have not been able to contact the quilt maker and am posting this without her permission. If you know her please give my e-address.

"Whispers of Hope" Pat Durbin - Eureka, CA

I missed the sign on this one (too busy looking at it?) but I estimate it is about 58"W x 48"L.

A detail shot showing how the pink flowers are done.

And another detail shot of the stones at the lower right. There are real pebbles trapped under the illusion netting. But I could not decide what color the netting is. Looks like grey to me - maybe she dyed it.

I am still waiting for permission from some people. If I don't hear from them I will post the pictures and then remove them if they contact me and say "No, you can't post pictures of my quilt."

"Mosaic Picture Quilts" by Pat Durbin Publ by Martingale Dec 2007 http://www.patdurbin.com/

One giant quilt from PIQF 10-28-08

In the tradition of Japanese quilters this quilt is expertly pieced by machine and quilted by machine. I wish there had been more information about it. Where is it going from here, will it be installed at Nagoya Castle, how much does it weigh? And I wish there were enough room to take pictures from more of a distance so you could get the impact of such a piece.

There are four separate panels and I managed to photograph only three.

Left two panels.

Left and right center panels.

And a closer photo of the panel that shows the mama tiger nurturing her baby.
If any of you took a picture of the far right panel I would like a copy of it. Let me know by making a comment. Thanks.

Picture added to past post 10-28-08

I have added a full picture of Nancy S. Brown's quilt "Pup Art" to my blog of 10-19-08. This quilt won Viewer's Choice at PIQF '08.

More PIQF quilts 10-27-08

These quilts were photographed by Chris who traveled with us to PIQF on Thursday. She is mostly interested in traditional quilts, so I thought perhaps some of you would be also. These are all quilts she admired, but unfortunately she didn't take pictures of the signs. I have been able to find some information, but not all.

"Stars of Numenor" 66"W x 81"L

Made by Jean Smith, quilted by Norma Riehm (Wisconsin). Machine pieced and quilted. The sign also says it is an original design.

From the World Competition this is "Les Etoiles Colores" by Kathryn Botsford of Canada. 60"W x 70"L Machine pieced and quilted

"My... That's a Lot of Yella" Fay Pritts & Merl Pritts - Mt. Pleasant, PA. This quilt won a blue ribbon for Best Hand Workmanship and a Judge's Choice ribbon from judge Judy Taylor.
You can see another quilt made by the Pritts ladies at: http://www.smokymtnquilters.com/2007QuiltShow/140-wreathandstar.JPG

Quilts from TCQC 10-26-08

Quilts have been added to the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection in many different ways. The first one was purchased at auction - the first auction at which I had ever made a bid. It was exciting and I was, and still am, thrilled to have that quilt. But I wasn't really collecting quilts. Then I bought a quilt at a quilt show and had two. Next I bought one from an exhibit and had three. Someone told me that two makes a pair and three makes a collection and the TCQC began. I have purchased quilts from artist's websites, from quilt shows and exhibits, from eBay, from live auctions, from estate sales, from teachers whose class I was in, from speakers at guild programs, and from seeing work in progress on a blog. This is just to show you how accessible quilts can be. Not just contemporary (art) quilts, but traditional quilts of the present era and antique quilts. There is no theme to the Collection, I just buy what I like, what I can afford and what I have room to store! The current production of so many small quilts, especially for auctions, allows many people who are interested in textiles to have a collection of small, medium or large pieces - or some of each. There are two online auctions coming up in early November that offer some outstanding work by known and yet-to-be-know artists. The Alliance for American Quilts auction begins on October 30 - http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/myquilts/

The auction for Studio Art Quilt Associates starts on November 10 http://www.saqa.com/newsebulletins/Squares08_1a.aspx

"Ripples on the Pond" Carol Taylor 2000 35.5" x 18.5"

I know, it doesn't look like what Carol is doing now, but eight years ago she was experimenting with dyeing and discharging and used the fabrics to make a few quilts. I saw "Ripples in the Pond" in a special exhibit at PIQF and contacted Carol to see if it was for sale. I think she was a little startled to have an e-mail from an unknown lady in California, but she was happy to sell the quilt to me. I like the way the ripples, flames and crossing lines go in all different directions between the calm flat hand-dyed pieces. They give the quilt dynamic action. I like a lot of the quilts Carol has made in the last eight years and took a class with her at Asilomar to see how she goes about her quilt making. I hope some day soon I will be "in the money" again and be able to add another Carol Taylor quilt to the TCQC.

http://www.caroltaylorquilts.com/