Quilt Festival, Part III

"The Cubist's Edge" by Frances Holliday Alford.


"Rondo of Roses" by Akiko Muraki.


"Pointless Possibilities" by Jamie Fingal is part of the "Edges" special exhibition.


Here's Jaimie (left) with Leslie Jenison in their arty aprons. Jamie and Leslie are co-curators of the Dinner at Eight Artists group.


"The Pittsburgh Friendship Quilt" has 32,000 pieces, each 2-1/4 inches, and measures 80 feet long.


A detail shot of "Oriental Expression" by Karen Kay Buckley. This quilt is the focus of the book Japanese Garden Quilt by C&T Publishing. It is being produced in the same format as my book (a booklet and full-size pattern sheets in a laminated cover envelope). It is being released in November 2009; you can pre-order it on Karen's website, or from C&T.


"Moon Garden" by Judy Coates Perez won an Honorable Mention in the Art-Painted Surfaces category.


Michele Muska demonstrates techniques in the Open Studios/Make it University area. That's the ATC swap area on the right side of the photo, and the Make It University floor behind her.


Fiber artist and textile designer Melanie Testa at work in Open Studios. Melanie's book Inspired to Quilt: Creative Experiments in Art Quilt Imagery teaches how to "transform a concept into a finished art quilt using new and innovative ideas while capturing your unique design style." It is published by Interweave.


I traded ATCs (Artist's Trading Cards" with Lyric Kinard. Lyric's book Design Principles and Creativity Exercises "delves deeply into the building blocks that make up visual language," offering exercises to help art quilters learn design principles. It is published by Interweave.


Here's art quilter and teacher Laura Wasilowski reading Lyric's book. Laura sells her quilts, patterns, and hand-dyed fabrics and threads through Quiltfabrik (she has a booth at Festival, and sells on her website).


Another interesting aspect to Quilt Festival is the many worthy causes that raise money at Festival. Here, people gather around the small quilts up for sale to benefit the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

Debbie Chenail and Ami Simms have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for this national charity seeking to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's.


Here's the beautiful little quilt I purchased today to benefit the group. It is "Labyrinth" by Susan Bennett. Four famous quilters (Hollis Chatelain, John Flynn, Becky Goldsmith and Sue Nickels) are also having a competition called "World Quilt Federation Smackdown" to raise money for the organization. You can see their donated quilts, and read more about it here.


"Iguana" by Carol Morrisey. Carol designs beautiful art quilt patterns.


Tami Pfeil and Kim Kleine of Handbehg Felts had the cutest creations made with wool felted balls and sheets. I met them at Spring Market, and they had great new stuff this time. Isn't this a beautiful bouquet?


"Circles Collide" by Gloria Hansen won third place in the Digital Imagery category.


People were gathered around "Glass Beach" by Desiree Habicht, commenting on how realistically she portrayed stones in a glass canister. Look how beautifully she captured the reflections of light on the glass and on the surface around the canister.


This is an amazing applique quilt called "A New Look at a Grand Old Lady" by Suzanne Louth. It won Best of Show at the 2009 Vermont Quilt Show.

Quilt Festival, Part II

Here are a few more award-winning quilts:

Denise Havlan's "Shannon's Bantam" won the Fairfield Master Award for Contemporary Artistry.

Gina Perkes won The Future of Quilting Award sponsored by Tin Lizzie 18 for her quilt, "Tuscan Sun."

I had a blast in Judy Coates Perez's class, where we collaged paper images on fabric, then painted it. Judy's quilt "Moon Garden" won an honorable mention in the Art-Painted Surface category (I'll try to get a photo of it in the next few days). Here is Judy, with camera and tape in hand:

This is Faith Cleary of Houston (below). I'm so glad I picked a seat next to her; we had a wonderful time chatting and lunching together, and she is such a nice person. Faith's company is called Dolce Amico (sweet friend in Italian) and she makes the most amazing thread-painted pet portraits, and puts them on purses, totes, apparel and director's chairs.

She captures such expression in these little guys!


Here's part of the collaged fabric I created in the class:

This was a very fun technique, and Judy is a generous and fun teacher. Don't miss a chance to take a class with her if you can. What should I make with this half yard of fabric? Hmmm...

Quilt Festival, Part I

Caryl Bryer Fallert won the HandiQuilter Best of Show Award for her "On the Wings of a Dream."

Meticulously hand appliqued "Garden of Dream" by Fusalo Takido of Japan won the Founders Award.

"Hearts and Garlands" by Liz Jones (below)

"Once Upon a Christmas Night" by Sieglinde Schoen Smith.

"In Hiding" by Barbara Sharpel.

Ayako Kawakami won the Robert S. Cohan Master Award for Traditional Artistry for "Santa Clause Has Come to Kirara’s Hometown!" Look at the gorgeous embroidery and French knots in the border:

"Clam Session" by Karen Stone (below) won the Maywood Studio Master Award for Innovative Artistry.

"Protection" by Hollis Chatelain.

"Tribute to Tolkein" by Sue McCarty.

Judy Coates Perez at Open Studios/Make it University.

Judy Gula teaches participants at Make It University how to make a collaged mini-purse.

Pokey Bolton in the Quilting Arts booth.

Jane Davila and her husband Carlos (who is a marvelous painter) in her booth.

SAQA representatives for the state of Texas Mary Ann Littlejohn and Laurie Brainerd man the Studio Art Quilt Associates desk near the SAQA exhibits.

SAQA’s Portfolio 16 is hot off the presses. It contains work by SAQA's Professional Artist Members, and is beautifully produced. You can order it in the bookstore on the SAQA website.

"Midnight in the Garden" by Paula Byrd.

"Broken Dishes" by Maria Elkins.

View of the Convention Center from the Hilton.

Live oaks near the Museum District.

Quilt Market, Part III

Sculpture by duBuffet rises next to the Houston Convention Center. And fits right in with the building's red, white and blue color scheme!

Here’s a shot of the Convention Center floor during Market. (This shot doesn’t even show it all.) And today it is all gone, and the vendor booths for Quilt Festival are going up.

Janet Stauffacher of Vintage Vogue is teaching several beading classes during Quilt Festival. She was in the class I took on Sunday, so I got to see her elegant beaded scissors case with silk ribbon embroidery. And look at those wonderful beaded edges!

I was asked by C&T Publishing to be an “ambassador” for their new Liquitex® Surface Design Center. It is the wire stand on the right side of the photo, and includes Liquitex acrylic paints and inks for fabric, plus a great little book by Jane Davila that shows you how to use them in a zillion ways to make art quilts. I made two samples for this display. The rack of acrylic paints, inks and mediums will be available in January. It is designed to help quilt shops make surface design supplies available for quilters.

Marcia Derse with her "Gerta" collection for Troy fabrics. I really like this collection, which looks as if it is hand dyed, printed and discharged. These are some pillows made from her fabrics:

Judith Baker Montano and Philippa Naylor in the Dragon Threads booth. Judith’s book is “Fibreart Montage: Combining photography, embroidery, quilting with embellishments,” and Philippa’s is “Quilting in the Limelight: The life, art & techniques of an award-winning quilter.” Spectacular eye candy combined with a huge amount of practical how-to information in both books.

Here’s the carpet on the walkway between the Convention Center and the Hilton hotel, which features kaleidoscope designs by Paula Nadelstern taken without her permission, which resulted in a copyright lawsuit (they reached a settlement).

Ellen Medlock makes “uncommonly cute bags, sewing patterns and crafts.” I met Ellen on Facebook, and made sure to swing by her very pink booth to meet her in person.

I've loved Mary Sorensen’s appliqué designs since I started doing applique. Just beautiful work.

Lisa Wood (left) and Gail Pierce in the Woolylady booth. They make wonderful contemporary designs for wall hangings and pillows made from wool.

My friend Kathy Mack’s design for silk bags for wine bottles are available on little pattern cards through della Q. Della Q makes knitting and sewing bags, and silk taffeta. Kathy Mack is a sweetheart of a woman with a really great blog; she sells special fabrics and patterns through Pink Chalk Studio, an online shop.

I met Sarah Vedeler at the Quilting Arts TV taping in September. In this photo, she is demonstrating how to make her intricate digitized designs for silk quilts in the Brewer booth. Here is a detail of one of her amazing quilts, Heather Feather:

Rosie de Leon-McCrady (left) and Marilyn Boskey of Scarlet Today have great nostalgic-looking quilts that combine patchwork and embroidered redwork blocks.

I first saw Debra Gabel’s cute little “Citystamps” quilts for Zebra Patterns at Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. They feature cities and state symbols that look like stamps. Very fun.

Iris of Mistyfuse was demonstrating her new “Goddess Sheet,” a nonstick thermal sheet coated with Teflon. It puts a glossy sheen on fused surfaces, which can help reduce accidents because you can better see which side is up. Look at all the wonderful artists using Mistyfuse; Iris put their work on these little buttons!

Emily Cier of Carolina Patchworks is a bright new talent from my state of North Carolina. Quilt shop owners were snatching up her great patterns, which manage to look both contemporary and slightly retro at the same time. This was her first Market, and I thing she’s going places! Check out her blog, where she details her Market experience, for a taste of what it takes to set up a booth at Market.

Tommie Jane Lane makes beautiful thimbles; I’ve had mine for years and I cherish it.

For more Market news, and details on new tools and notions with a humorous twist, check out Kelly Jackson’s blog,

Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the special exhibits at Quilt Festival:

The Eye of the Quilter is an exhibit of photographs by quilters, demonstrating that a good eye is a good eye; the same design elements that make great quilts are also evident in these photos.

Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) has two wonderful exhibits of art quilts at Quilt Festival this year. The first, called SAQA@20, celebrates the group’s twentieth year. It was curated by Pokey Bolton, a SAQA board member and editor of Quilting Arts Magazine, and features work by some of the best fiber artists from around the world.

The second exhibit, curated by Patricia Gould and juried by Pam RuBert (who makes hysterically funny quilts), is called SAQA: A Sense of Humor. All the quilts “celebrate the laughable, amusing, comical and absurd aspects of humor.”

Nearby, you can walk through the Fabric Forest, patchwork trees suspended by wires to the ceiling made by a quilt group in Groebenzeller, Germany. Here is Scherer Heike’s “Alligator-tree”:

Indigos of China gives attendees a lesson in how indigo fabrics are produced in China, and includes old and new samples of the fabrics which have been an important part of Chinese culture for centuries.

The Antique Quilts exhibit included this absolutely huge (115” x 129”) hand pieced Princess Feather Star design (maker unknown).

I loved this quilt! (also maker unknown). Here's a detail shot: