Quilt Festival LBeach #11 people Posted 08-08-09

This may not be of interest to anyone. But I used to wonder what a Quilt Festival would be like - I'd think of the 50,000+ visitors to Quilt Festival Houston and think, "Nope, I would feel claustrophobic in a crowd like that." LBeach has about 20,000 visitors and the space is much smaller and the crowd doesn't look so huge in these pictures which I took on Sunday. I know Sunday is not a big day, perhaps the least attended. However, I may be able to attend Houston after all. Not this year, maybe next.

A vendor aisle.

Another vendor aisle. Seemed there were a lot of younger guys there.

On the left was an exhibit of wonderful traditional quilts. On the right the Journal Quilts for 2009 - "Elements - Earth, Water, Air, and Fire."

Journal Quilts

Traditional and Journal Quilts again.

I have one more quilt I would like to share with you, but I missed the sign so I am trying to get in touch with the maker to have more information about the quilt. Whenever I have it, I'll share.

Quilt Festival LBeach #10 Post 08-07-09

I wonder if these are the chickadees that spend the winter in San Juan Bautista? I guess not, the SJBautista chickadees probably go to British Columbia, or maybe even Alaska. This quilt catches the communal life they live, no matter where they are found.

Unfortunately the sign was positioned so that a full view of the quilt was not possible.

Just look at these little guys, Cynthia even put on the toes!

This was one of the first birds I learned to identify when I was a child, the American Robin was also one of the first. They were thick in Oregon in the spring and through the summer. I rarely see a robin here, but there are some in the older neighborhoods with the big trees and wide lawns.

Quilt Festival LBeach #9 posted 07-06-09

This quilt is an attention grabber just because of the intensity of the color.

And it is not as unreal as it may seem. This is exactly the sky I see in my mind when I think of my month in Australia in 1972. I didn't see Baobab trees - just a bare tree silhouetted against the sunset sky. A truly amazing sight, I almost expected such a sky to make a noise.

Beth Miller's quilts are on her website: http://bethmillerquilts.com/gallery.html

So you remember this quilt from Quilt Festival 2008? It has since appeared in Quilting Arts Magazine.

It is so imaginative and has such crisp detail.

This year Kathy York showed this quilt - imaginative and much attention to detail.

But oh-so different. It caught my eye from across the room!

She has used the many fabrics to create a rich color and texture. I admire the satin stitch edging between the main colors - something more to see when you get up close.

If you Google "Kathy York" quilts you will get quite a listing. Her Flicker stream is:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathy_york/ and includes a number of quilts. She also has a blog about her Journal Quilts: http://kathyyorkjournalquilts.blogspot.com/

Quilt Festival LBeach #8 posted 08-05-09

I got the pictures a little messed up - the fawn quilt is not in the "Tactile Architecture" exhibit.

But if I move the pictures they will not enlarge when you click on them.

It was in the "Celebrate Spring 2009" exhibit.

This is such a lovely quilt. Her fabric choices are spot-on. It has a wonderful spring morning feel - look at the tree in the right background, it is just sprouting leaves.

"The Old Homestead" Ruth Powers - Carbondale, KS. 03-06 56.5"W x 49.5"L

I did not take a picture of this quilt, it was in one of the SAQA exhibits which don't allow photography. But I pulled this one from my files.

Yes, another Ruth Powers quilt.

This is the one that was in "Tactile Architecture". There were quite a few fire quilts in the Journal Quilt exhibit, but none as good as this, which is too big to be a journal quilt. This one has that sooty, gritty feeling of a burning building.

This man adds a bit of mystery - is he a volunteer fireman? Or the owner of the building? Or...? Ruth has made her guys look very realistic and yet it is all done with straight seams. Notice the watch, which I suppose has an appliqued round face.

I completely missed Ruth's "Nasturtiums" quilt which was in the exhibit "In Full Bloom V: Floral Quilts in the Memory of Helen Pearce O'Bryant. And I don't have an image in my files, but you can see a picture of it in the Gallery on her website. http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/

I have to admit my bias - Ruth Powers is my dear friend in Kansas. She is an award winning quilter and her quilts are available, if they haven't already sold. There are two of her pieces in the TCQC.

Quilt Festival LBeach #7 08-04-09

This quilt is from the special exhibit "The Silver Screen II" which only had nine quilts. I think this is the best one.

I do wonder if Sally had a class with Pamela Allen, or perhaps is an admirer, because this resembles some of Pamela's work.

Especially Gloria's right eye. Pamela has many eyes printed on fabric which she uses in her own individual style. Good fabric choices in this one.

This quilt was in the Tactile Architecture exhibit and it is very different from the others shown. I think it is a very original idea for a design and, therefore, a very original quilt.

Showing the road as dashed yellow lines really works, I get the feeling of "no way out".

Most of the "blocks" don't have a realistic image, but here in the upper left is surely a golf flag and maybe a rain shelter?

And here is a bit of a house on the top right. She has used many fabrics collected over years - I recognize some of them! Also in this block is a fabric with words - letters home?

QFestival LBeach #6 Posted 08-03-09

Just one quilt this time. I finally finished the SQG newsletter this evening and I feel like some has been beating on me! Sitting in a chair, no matter how comfy it is, for two or three days has left me in one big cramp! And my eyes..... Well, I guess I will have to spread the newsletter out over a longer period. So, I will start the September N/L as soon as I recover a bit from this one. Thanks to Jeanne Mills in Pacific Grove, CA., again for rescuing me. I couldn't figure out where my pages were going - they seemed to just disappear. Turns out I was saving them as individual pages, but looking for them on the entire 15 page document. They were there all the time, just under different names. Sometimes I think the lights are out upstairs!

I think this is the most simple sign I saw at the QFestival. Minimalism, indeed.

I cropped this image back to the quilt, but surrounded with the grey computer background it died, so I retreived it.The backgroundt was something I observed when I was looking at the quilt at the QF. One would only want to hang this quilt agaist black, I think. Across the aisle there was a quilt with open work in the center, it would have been more effective against a light background. Something to think about when purchasing quilts for your walls.

Here is a detail shot, which shows the different fancy machine stitches used to fasten down the strips. Something that Ruth B. McDowell has experimented with. It does add some texture to the surface of the quilt. I really love this quilt, but all my walls are light. 8>)))

QFestival LBeach #5 Posted 08-01-09

I am not the only one who was impressed with this quilt. If you Google "Karin Pierce" quilt (yes, IQA spelled her name incorrectly) you will find it mentioned in many blogs and flicker streams. However, I couldn't find a website for Karin - I was hoping to find more information about her and especially about this quilt.

I suppose she said what she wanted to say - but I hoped for much more. How did she decide on the quilting lines? Did she plan them or just start in and let her fancy dictate what to do next? Her hand quilting is quite nice and done in a contrasting thread - that takes some self confidence. She has quilted in branches and leaves and berries and whirligigs and a spider web. They are all mixed up as one might find them in a thicket where the owls hang out.

"Charming" is the closest I can come to describing it. Each owl has its own personality and all are hand embroidered. Look at the different colored feet and notice that some are "eared" owls - either short eared or long eared Some of the owls are holding snakes for their meal.

But this little guy on the end has a special mousy treat!

And there is always the amazement of all the hand work in this era of fusing, painting and machine stitching. I am truly impressed.

Do click on the images to see enlargements.

QFestival LBeach #3 Posted 07-30-09

One of the comments I have heard about this event is that there weren't enough traditional quilts. I find that odd, because it seemed to me there were quite a few. This entire Festival is Special Exhibits, some are at the end of their travels and some are just beginning theirs

The "19th Century Patchwork Divas" is a group devoted to using traditional patterns and reproduction fabrics from the 1800s. Their work is very precise and the quilts could deceive us into believing they were a hundred years old and had never been out of the cupboard. They were quite beautiful. Above and below are two general views of some of the twenty-three quilts in this special exhibit.

There were also quilts using traditional patterns in other exhibits. This one was shown as part of "Country Living Classics" co-sponsored by Country Living Magazine and Int'l Quilt Festival.

You may notice that all the signs in my pictures are on a slant - that is because when the image is straight on the light reflects on the printing and it is illegible.

The blue is much more "old indigo" than in these images, but I could not adjust the color without showing the red-orange becoming neon. I think this is a most amazing use of African fabrics, an outstanding quilt in my book. The balance of the verticals, horizontals and diagonals is just 'melodious' to my eye.

How many of us would think of using these unusual prints in such very familiar block patterns? Good for Mickey Beebe.

Quilt Festival - LBeach #2 posted 07-28-09

This quilt was part of the Special Exhibit "West Coast Wonders II". I am very impressed with it. At first it doesn't have a "Wham" impact, but is more subtle in its beauty. Unfortunately Quilt Festival doesn't post or print sizes so I can only guess about each quilt.

"Coastal Ovals" Sandra G. Hart from Los Gatos, CA (approx. 38" x 50")

These bottom three pictures are taken on the right edge of the quilt - top to bottom. What a great job she has done with the images, showing creatures and plants from shore to air.