PIQF 2011 10-15-11

Today I was at PIQF from 10am to almost 5pm and I am completely exhausted.  How lovely to come back to Mary's where she had dinner ready to put on the table and even fetched the frozen peas from the freezer to put on my poor abused ankle.  What a friend!

I'm not sure I saw all the quilts, but I did my best.  I visited a few vendors that I know, but, as usual, I didn't do much shopping.  However, the vendor area seemed packed whenever I went close and an abundance of bags was being carried out the door.

 The list of all the prize winners is at: http://www.quiltfest.com/activities_detail.asp?id=56

 

www.judymathieson.com/

I love this quilt - like Judy's other doggy quilts it is very unassuming, but full of details that pull in the viewers and keep them looking at each little vignette.   I guess "bekow" should read "below".

Cats and dogs and rats and....

...birds and hamsters and turtles...  beloved pets whose human beings mourn for all the rest of their lives.

They all rest within sight of the great Golden Gate Bridge.   Thanks, Judy, you make great quilts.

 

I don't find a website for Kathy, but if you Google her name you will find many references.

Blue and yellow, yet again. 

Such nice hand stitching and that one red square to make an enriching contrast.

Also, no website for Ruth Bloomfield, but Google her name for many references.

The "vignettes" do look like photos when viewed from a few yards away.

It is amazing to look up close and see the tiny pieces (less than a baby fingernail) that were used.

 

http://nancybrownquilts.com/

This is the other quilt that Nancy had on display.   Her "take" on the animals is so true and her hand applique is simply the very best.

 

The bright reflections in the eyes are placed to give a soulful look. 

I'm beyond the point of seeing accurately.  Gotta get to sleep.  More tomorrow.

PIQF 2011 10-14-11

Continuing with photos taken at PIQF on Thursday.  We did not go to Santa Clara today, but instead visited Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove and had lunch at The Red House.  Both were wonderful, as always!

Click on images for enlargements.

Gorgeous trees on an equally gorgeous background.   Lovely color and excellent work on the fir trees.  The branches are done with FMQ on net (and presumably Solvy or some such material). 

As you can see, they are very three dimensional.

Along the bottom edge they are also very thick.  Great effect.

Simple machine applique with straight stitching very close to the edge of each piece gives hard edges to the trees in this work.  I am somewhat bothered by the trees lean to the center, but it is a peaceful quilt.

Odd place to put a fat T-pin - right in the middle of the quilt name.  Who hangs these quilts anyway?

This is a delightful "modern" quilt with nice color - but I would call it pastel, not bright.

I was not familiar with the work of Holly Casey until I saw a raffle quilt from the King City quilt guild on display at PIQF yesterday.  But many of my friends up here know her gift with a long-arm machine and take her their quilts to be quilted.  The raffle quilt struck me especially because the quilting has something to do with the design of the quilt instead of being a completely different "layer".  Then I saw that Holly has other quilts at the show and I looked for them in particular.

This is another good example of the quilt design and the machine quilting design relating to each other.  This quilt shows uniquely New Zealand motifs and.....

...so does the quilting.  Lovely.

This crazy quilt by Cathy Hoover won first place for Embellishment.  Like the crazy quilt made in the late 19th Century it includes ribbons, buttons, and charms, along with other trims and the great Koi border.

An amazing tour de force in support of the people of Japan whose lives were changed forever in the earthquake and tsunami. 

The white diagonal chain is to keep footprints off the bottom edge of the quilt.  It is very large.

I had a few more quilts here, but Blogger declined to post them.  I am going back to Santa Clara tomorrow, so there will be many more pictures - at least through next Saturday.

PIQF 2011 10-13-11

Today was the first day of the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.  I drove up to Mary's yesterday and this morning she and her friend Chris and I drove to Santa Clara.  There were a lot of other ladies who decided to enjoy the first day of the show and the place was packed!  I am still gimping around with the sprained ankle (it would get better faster if I were to stay off it - I know) so I have to find places to sit down every now and then.  Tonight I a really exhausted and am just going to post the first four quilts I photographed.  I go back to Santa Clara on Saturday and will continue posting pictures from the show all of next week. 

The Mancuso shows post the quilt measurements with the length before the width, which gets a little confusing sometimes. Some of the quilters have shown quilts at PIQF or other shows I have attended, so check for their names in the side bar if you would like to see more of their work.

 

http://nancybrownquilts.com/

I do love Nancy S. Brown's work and this is the first time I have seen a person on one of her quilts.  She does a lot of wonderful animals - Henry, one of her little sweater wearing dogs is in TCQC. 

How much more interesting this quilt became when a bite was taken out of it!

http://www.pamelaart.com

Pamela Allen of Canada has such a great imagination and a wonderful sense of whimsy.  I adore these blue grazing creatures alongside a polka dot tree.

Pamela has used both hand and machine stitching.  Notice the turquoise machine stitching around the fern fronds - be that took many an hour. 

Is he a cutie, or what? 

I like this elephant quilt, but wish the blocks were slightly different.  Great sashing and border. And just the right amount of embellishment.

This year the heavy quilting on many quilts seems to be more in keeping with the design of the piecing or applique.  A big improvement over some quilts in the past which I felt were ruined by just overall quilting that had not relationship to over all design. 

 

www.nancyota.com

 

Nancy is a friend of many years and her quilts are always wonderful.  I don't understand why one shouldn't make a quilt with white flowers, I think they are very striking.  And look at the great "pebble" machine quilting she has done in the flower centers.  I'll post the other quilt she has in the show, it is right around the corner from this one (if you are going to PIQF this weekend).

  

Wordless Wednesday 10-12-11

Quilter's Studio fabric - SAQA meeting 10-11-11

On Sunday I drove up to Newbury Park (about eighty miles NW on Hwy 101) to attend a SAQA regional meeting and the opening of "Art From Cloth" an exhibit by the Extreme Quilters at the Thousand Oaks Regional Gallery.   The Extreme Quilters are quite a large local group, twenty-three names are listed on the announcement card, and the work on display was extremely varied.  Eileen Alber, the founder of the group, is the owner of Quilter's Studio www.quiltersstudio.com/  a great quilt shop right off the highway.  Eileen has a good eye for "art quilt" fabrics and she regularly schedules well-known teachers, so the shop is always worth a stop. She is now a Bernina dealer and is remodeling the shop to accommodate that endeavor, making it even more of a destination for serious quiltmakers.  Do I need more fabric?  Sunday purchases pictured below!  

 

The SAQA meeting was at a large restaurant, a location which I always think is a mistake.  Everyone enters, chooses a table and then talks almost exclusively with the three people sitting around her at the table.  Most often friends sit with friends, so there is not much effort to mingle and get to know new people.  There was a very brief meeting consisting of a few announcements and then Show & Tell.  Unfortunately, the room was dark, the music was disruptive and there was not enough room to effectively show the quilts.  I had taken  "Exaltation of Larks" by Mary Rowen Quinn, a quilt I purchased at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, CO, last May.  The attendees seemed to like it and I got on my soapbox about rolling (or folding) quilts face side out so that the fold lines are on the back instead of on the front. At every quilt show/exhibit I go to I am saddened that some very nice pieces are marred by deep creases because they have been rolled/folded face side in.  I also reminded them to roll their quilts from the top side down so that the weight of the piece tends to pull out the curl left by rolling.  Sometimes I can be a real pain!

Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA, runs Thursday through Sunday, so I will head up to Mary's tomorrow.  We plan to spend Thursday at the show and I will go back for some more pictures on Saturday.   So, brace yourself for an abundance of what I like in quilts at that the moment!

Monday Browsing 10-10-11

Hysterical clip from Carol Burnett show:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCz8he36hsk

 

Tutorial on making rustic board signs:

  http://diddledumpling.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-vintage-looking-painted-sign.html

 

Carlsberg beer ad!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS3iB47nQ6E&feature=player_embedded

 

A Red & White quilt display in Temecula until the end of October:

  http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/

 

I've always thought of "down under" as just Australia and New Zealand, but there are a lot of countries south of the Equator and I suppose all of them can be considered "down under". You might enjoy looking at these 20" square quilts from "down under".      

 http://www.myplacequilts.com/index.html

Speaking of purple.....

Heliotrope has an awesome fragrance - belongs to borage family.

Not a quilt! 10-09-11

I've been wanting to share this little card, so I took a picture when I was photographing quilts last weekend.  It was made and sent to me several years ago by Judy Hooworth.  Her work has moved in a different direction than it was when I met her - you can see her current pieces at: 
http://ozquiltnetwork.org.au/index.php/judy-hooworth?showall=1
When Judy was in the US traveling and teaching in 2005 I provided chauffer service one day and she wrote to say Thank You. 


 
"Eastern Rosella" Judy Hooworth, Morrisett, NSW, Australia

With the mounting the piece is 5" x 6.5".

The feathers are from an Eastern Rosella, resident of Australia.
http://animaldiscovery-chanel.blogspot.com/2011/06/eastern-rosella-amazing-birds-from.html