Others at PIQF

 

I didn't take too many pictures at PIQF, but here a few of them. First up in the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit is "Mixed Box" by Karen Bolan. The transparency effect is so great in this one, achieved by using a jelly roll. The pattern is available here and I think I have just the jelly roll waiting around to be used for something like this.

Next in the same exhibit, "A Traditional Block Revisited" by Susan Dague, quilted by Sue Fox. Why this isn't a picture of the complete quilt I'm not sure, but I hope you get the general idea. I really liked the colors in this one and the super interesting and vibrant composition. It reminded me of my Kitchen Sink Quilt, and yep, she'd also taken a class with Maria Shell.

This is a detail of a quilt that used word fabrics and I think selvedges with phrases on them as a sort of sashing in-between QST blocks. I didn't get the name of the quilt or maker for this one. A very fun idea.

This very excellent use of ombré fabric is "Mobius Meets Ombre" by Helen Klee, quilted by Martine Zaun . It was made with a paper piecing technique taught by Audrey Esarey (Cotton&Bourbon on Instagram). 

I thought the choice to use an ombrê fabric on the border also was just perfect. Great visual impact.

I was happy to see Therese May had a quilt in the NQNC exhibit too. This is a detail of one of her digital sketches that she's had printed on fabric and then made into a quilt, "One Hundred Twenty Cat Faces." It's a very different look, but still instantly recognizable as hers.

I really liked this interesting block, I think it was EPP? Great maximalist colors and patterns in the fabric choices.

Here's "Getting Pickled" by Suzan Lynne Peterson, from an interesting group exhibit, Talk Ten Travels, based on a vintage household magazine from the 1940's, Household & Poetry in Cloth. I loved the vibrant mustard yellow to go with the Coleman's label and the energetic hand-stitching. This one just made me laugh with delight, I guess I was surprised at a perfect giant pickle.

I noticed that there was a whole lot of allover matchstick quilting happening on many of the quilts. It's kind of like the new version of allover stippling. Matchstick quilting gives a flatter surface with a very different texture. It almost becomes like an overlay of a not-so sheer fabric. There were some quilts with even more dense stitching than this quilt. I really like the spacing between groups of close together three lines of stitching on this quilt.

PIQF- My Version

 

Today was the day I was able to go to PIQF with friend Jaye. I was glad to get to visit the SAQA booth where some of the Prism Play show rejects were all displayed together. I thought it was quite fun to see them because these aren't the ones I've seen in the actual traveling quilt exhibit photos. Two of mine are in this first picture. 

This was a lot less quilts than the traveling Prism Play exhibit which has 62 quilts , but still got all around the color wheel pretty completely.

I think really good choices were made by the local SAQA exhibit group and I was happy that two of my quilts got an outing.

It's always good to see any of the Social Justice Sewing Academy completed quilts displayed, they had a whole row of them this year. I was happy to see that there were two quilts that had blocks that I'd embroidered. This block is one that I stitched on way back in 2018.. I wish I'd taken a picture of the whole quilt because it looked so good. Look at that beautiful quilting and the great piecing in the sashing. Gorgeous! 

And here I am cheesing it up in front of my Safe At Home quilt in the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit. Photo credit goes to friend Jaye. I neglected to take a picture of the other quilt I had hanging in the Stretching Art and Tradition exhibit, but it looked pretty good. All in all, a fun visit to PIQF, less quilts than the pre-pandemic normal, no international quilts😞, and a different group of vendors to choose from. Even m ore fun was running into friends from CQFA and BAMQ.

Instagram Quilt Fest

I’ve been participating in the Instagram Quilt Fest this month. There’s a daily prompt and then people share pictures and an answer of some sort. It’s all over the map, there’s some advertising, and also some interesting quilters to discover and maybe follow. You can follow the #️⃣ at #IgQuiltFest2022 and check out the influx of new QUILTY content.

 I posted about this quilt from 2003 “I Guess I Like Pink After All.” It’s so striking to me how “modern quilt” it is, if it wasn’t made with my hand-dyes, but commercial solids instead it would fit right in. It’s also obvious to me just how little I’ve changed my approach to improv construction.

Pasadena for QuiltCon again

Way back in February, I was lucky enough to get to attend QuiltCon again with friend Jaye in Pasadena.

It was crowded at first when we registered, but the line went very quickly, they have things efficiently planned out. In the main halls the quilts for that year's donation exhibit were hung so that was fun to look at as we waited.

 There was a selection of Aids Quilts on display, they were terribly impactful and moving (and huge.)

 It was nice SoCal winter weather.

 The ceiling in the main lecture hall was interesting, just something I noticed while waiting for Carolyn Friedlander's great lecture.

Especially after putting it through a filter or two.

 The selection of Modern Quilt Guild branded merch was great this time around. I've gotten a lot of use out of the project zip bag.

 There were even more vendors this year. Isn't this a lovely display to show off those solids?

Interesting shadows in the convention center.

Wandering Wednesday but on Tuesday: Alden Lane Nursery

I was lucky enough to get the chance to attend a beautiful outdoor quilt show at Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore just this last Sunday.

The spreading oak trees were so beautiful, I almost was more interested in them than the quilts.

 The quilts were waving in the slight afternoon breeze, it was about 95F, so it was okay even if it was harder to take pictures.

 There was a nice mix of modern and traditional quilts.

 A lot of the quilts were much too high up to actually see very well though.

 I think this was the first outdoor quilt show I've ever attended and I really liked the combination of being outside and getting to see quilts.

 I went a little gaga over the color-sorted glazed ceramic pot display.

 Seriously, I was glad I wasn't shopping for garden stuff or I would have come home with a car full of these colorful pots even though I don't need them. That and the plant selection which was terrific. Dangerous place for a gardener's wallet!

 The quilting really shows up well on this quilt thanks to the afternoon lighting.

 Some of the quilts were highlighted when the sun shone right through them.

It was a great day to meet up with quilting friends and stroll around together looking at the great display. Definitely worth the drive and I hope they have the show next year.

Zig-Zagging Through PIQF

Last month I met up with Jaye and her mom, Mary to see the PIQF show in Santa Clara.  It was a great show this year, and it was really fun to see it together with them. We each notice really different things about quilts, so it's fun to talk about them all at once.  And it was really great to see Jaye's quilt Zig Zaggy hanging in the special exhibit New Quilts of Northern California (yay Jaye!).

 Jaye and I both bought this template from Come Quilt With Me for our next hey-cut-me-one-of-those-out-of-your-fabrics-when-you-feel-like-it quilts.  We did that using their templates (which are great, very well-made) for the Tumbler quilt I'm still working on and her Eye-Spy quilt.
We're both going to do our own background fabrics and cut out the windmill shapes for each other.  I haven't tried to make a block yet, hope it isn't too hard.

I had to buy these lovely soft fall colors, dyed in Kenya along with some very cool rolled paper beads.  Oh man the guy running this booth, Akonye Kena was a hoot, I could have chatted with him all day.
I also bought a new ironing board cover but I haven't put it on yet, so I'll tell you about it after I've managed it (wish me luck, it's a little involved).

I noticed in the quilts that I took pictures of  that I was focused on noticing many things like:

• interesting stitching, both machine and hand-embroidery 
• use of other pre-quilted/embroidered/embellished/exotic textiles 
• unusually shaped quilts (hooray! finally!)
• circles
• leaves 
• interesting found objects as embellishments
• dimensional shapes as part of the quilt
• text/fonts on the quilt surface

The Primal Green Experience

Here's a look at  CQFA's Primal Green show (through 7/30) that is now showing at the San Francisco Public Library.  First up is the official sign announcing the show, isn't it beautiful all lit up?  The quilts are scattered around through the whole area, and there is a map showing where to find them.

 Here is the view from the table before all the guests for our talk arrived.  It was a little nerve-wracking waiting for the panel discussion to start, so I distracted myself by taking pictures.  I kind of wish I'd taken one when the audience was there! It was a fun experience being part of the panel and I was really glad I got asked to do it.

 Thanks mom for taking this picture of me in front of my piece "Lorabund 3-step"

 I really liked the displays of ATC's that were put together, mine is on the lower row second from left.

 One of the coolest things in this beautiful new library building is this long curving wall that is covered in the cards from the old card catalog. 

I guess they let people write on them and "art" them up.  It makes for a beautifully textured wall, just fascinating and a great way to re-use/re-purpose/recycle.

I hope you can go see the exhibit!