A Pretty Customer Quilt...and Art Quilts from the Mid-Atlantic

Here is a quilt I just finished for Ann.  She made it in a class sponsored by Capital Quilters Guild of Raleigh a couple of years ago.  Neither of us could remember the name of the instructor, but she figured out a way to incorporate fancy borders into the piecing of the blocks.  I think she called this inner border "Salt Water Taffy."  The long skinny shadows are from my windowpanes!  (Thanks to CQG friend Katie Greenwood for supplying the teacher's name- Sally Schneider!)

I quilted it with leafy, twirly vines all over.  Some of the fabrics had the same motif.  I love to use curving quilting designs to soften the strong points of star quilts.

On to the Mid-Atlantic again.  There were many special exhibits with very original quilts, in addition to the Art Quilt category and Innovative category.  Here are a few that I loved.

The first one is from the SAQA special exhibit, Layers of Memory.  It is called The Fern Flower, by Valentina Maximova.  Such a joyous combination of colors and scenes from nature.

Look at this exuberant pieced bloom!

From tropical foliage, let's go to snowy winter hillsides.  In The Bleak Mid-Winter is by well-known art quilter Ruth Powers.  Look at all the colors and hues that actually are used to create what the eye perceives as white snow.



In the Bleak Mid-Winter, by Ruth S. Powers





Here is a lovely mermaid napping on the ocean floor.  The maker is Eileen Williams, whose work was inspired by another fabulous art quilter named Ruth McDowell.



Shell Study #1 by Eileen Williams



In addition to the fabulous pieced seashells, there are real shells attached as embellishment (and perhaps some shell buttons?)

I love the colors and images in the next quilt.  It makes me happy just to look at it.  Not sure if it is actually an art quilt, but it certainly compels the viewer to come in for a closer look.



Traveling Sunshine, by Becky Guinn

In addition to the whimsical images, there is some very fine quilting in this piece.



I absolutely adore the next one, a very realistic rendition of an ocean wave.  It is in my favorite color.  I pulled up a chair and sat under this quilt when my friend Mary was white-gloving and I was too tired to walk any farther.  Very relaxing quilt!



The Wave, by Sandy Curran



Just one more for today.  Unusual shapes really catch the eye at a big show.  This group quilt has a series of floral quilts hung almost like banners, or perhaps a valance.



Floral Promise, by Fiber Art Friends



It is interesting how each quilter worked with the same basic daisy shape to make their own unique quilt in different colorways.

I will leave you among this bevy of blossoms, but don't worry, there are many more quilts to show another time!



More Quilts from the Mid-Atlantic

Let's look at some more quilts from the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton Roads, Virginia. 


The first one here is certainly eye-catching in shape, color, and embellishment.  It is part of the special exhibit from the 54-40 African American Quilt Guild, made by Delilah Armstrong.




Psychedelic Shack, by Delilah Armstrong



Ever wondered how to attach a 45 rpm record?

There was so much texture and fun things on the surface of this quilt that it was really a pleasure to view up close.

The next quilt is more traditional, but very pleasing in the color palette.  I can't locate the maker's name, but will add it in if I find it.



Moon Over Mountain

I was so excited when I stumbled across this beautiful quilt by my blogging friend, Vicki Welsh.  She made it from one of her hand-dyed palettes.  It won an Honorable Mention ribbon in the Traditional category!

 

Star Struck, by Vicki Welsh



Lots of intricate quilting adds to the pleasure in viewing this quilt.

Here is a gorgeous quilt that was a big prize-winner.  The red  and pink flowers on the gradient of whites, grays, and blacks is most unusual and spectacular in graphic appeal.  It won second place in the Traditional category.



Let's take a look at some of the garments that were not part of the Hoffman Challenge, but were regular entries in the festival.

 

I was captivated by the glowing desert scene depicted on this jacket.

Desert Sunset, by Wanda Seale

For bling-bling, you just can't beat this little red number that is literally covered in Swarovski crystals.  It was made for a daughter's equestrienne costume.



Fierce Intentions, by Jennifer Bernard



I thought this colorful vest was very artsy and attractive.



Hunderwasser's Pohutakawa Tree, by Barbara Lynne



The back is even more fabulous.



My art bee friend, Roberta Morgan, had two entries in the Wearable competition in the show.  Way to go, Roberta!

Midnight Garden, by Roberta Morgan

More to come...next time it will be all art quilts or innovative original quilts.

Catching Up

I apologize for neglecting my blog for the past couple of weeks!  Sometimes life just intervenes, doesn't it?   I have not been very creative or done any quilting since my last post. 

My quilt bee, The Whacky Ladies,  met on March 1 with only three members present at Carolyn's house, but we had a great time.  Carolyn is making log cabin blocks out of gorgeous fabrics.

I took a picture of her pattern, but can't read the name of it.

Irene brought me her beautiful charity project to quilt for the Quilts For Kids program at Capital Quilters Guild.  It is the Warm Wishes pattern again.  She tried to machine-quilt it herself, was not happy with the results, and picked out all the stitching.  I hope to work on it and a customer quilt next week when things get more back to normal, I hope.

My Anything Art Bee also met last week on Monday at Roberta's house.  I was so pleased to see that Ruth-Ellen is continuing to make great progress on her Pamela Allen-style quilt that she started at my house in January.  I love that she has broken up the flat-looking green with additional fabrics, pathway, and fence.  The quilt hanging on the fence is actually a small piece of beading in the grandmother's flower garden pattern. 

Our technique for the month was metal work!  Roberta has a full set of tools in the garage workshop, and an amazing collection of metal cans to cut into jewelry, purses, and other ornamentation.  Here is an example of a framed mirror that she decorated with flowers and leaves punched from soda cans and painted with alcohol inks and Sharpies.  You can see my hand snapping the photo in the mirror!

Toni opted to work on a similar project.  Ruth-Ellen worked on making a book cover from a metal tin, and I worked on a metal cuff cut from a cookie tin.

I love that we experiment with new techniques at these meetings.  Several times I have found out that I have no interest in pursuing the technique or, more importantly, purchasing books and materials.  I did not really like cutting metal, pounding metal, or filing metal.  Ruth-Ellen managed to cut herself within minutes, and I was very wary of doing the same.  I brought home a cuff, but forgot to take a photo.  It is home and I am currently in the mountains.

Roberta has a very friendly cat named Lola who was posing for me next to a very funky cat sculpture that looked a lot like her.  It does not show up well silhouetted in the photo.

We got up here to our mountain cabin yesterday afternoon.  It makes us so happy to cross the creek to our "family compound" in the North Carolina mountains.

We have only been one other time this winter, when we enjoyed a snowy weekend. This time it is bright and sunny, although a bit breezy. We wrapped up and went for a ride up the mountain on our Gator.

Even though the creek must be near freezing, it did not stop the intrepid Kasey from plunging in for her refreshing drink from the sparkling mountain water.

One good shake, and she was ready to go!
 

I still have many pictures from the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival to share with you.  Here is my favorite quilt from the show, Star Struck, an amazing piece made from three-fourths inch hexagons in a rainbow of colors.

I made a point of photographing the identifying labels for each quilt, but wouldn't you know the maker's name is left off the picture.  Fortunately, it was a big award winner, and I found the award list online.  The maker is Cheryl L See.

In addition to the tiny hexagons, there is added embellishment such as flowers.

And Elvis was in the house!  The King appeared several times among the myriad of colorful hexagons.
 

Here are a few more detail shots of Star Struck.

 
And here is a quilt that my husband loved when he saw the picture.  He has this thing for sheep-LOL!



Crazy Sheep, by Debora Konchinsky



The handwork that embellishes her felted sheep patches is just beautiful.

That's it for today.  Hope this long post makes up for my absence from the world of blogger for awhile!