3 - QuiltCon 2022

If you haven't yet viewed QuiltCon 2022 award-winning quilts (I'm not posting pictures of them) check them out here.

Continuing to share my photos of QuiltCon quilts... 

"Positively Square" is a blue jean quilt made by Tara Glasonbury @stitchandyarn. I became acquainted with Tara (we haven't met IRL) when she bought my "L Cabin" quilt at QuiltCon 2020 in Austin. My quilt is hanging in her sewing room, in her home in Victoria, Australia! 

The addition of red bias tape is what makes this design successful, as well as her addition of hand quilting, which I understand wasn't easy to do through denim. 

"Along the Way" was made by Daisy Aschehoug of Norway. 

Daisy says she was determined to sew this only from her stash, and so pieced together various whites/neutrals for the background. 

Can I just say that I'm a big fan of quilts made by Sophie Zaugg @lunalovequilts of Switzerland? They are always identifiable by strong graphic design, and beautiful color combinations. "Spotlight" is one of five quilts Sophie had in the show. 

Sophie and her friend, (also) Sophie, stayed at the same hotel as me, so I encountered them often there, in lectures, and at the show. I follow Sophie's blog to keep tabs on what she's creating. 

Since taking two virtual workshops with Maria Shell during 2020, I have a deeper appreciation for improv quilts - specifically, "patterned improv," which is Maria's signature style. So when I saw this quilt, I was sure it was Maria's. Nope. "On the Fence" was made by Lenny Van Elk who learned patterned improv from Maria. Lenny is @modernstitchwitch on Instagram

Lenny and I actually met-up!

And even better... I remembered to take a picture.

"Everything All at Once" is a quilt made by Maria Shell! It was a winner in 2021 QuiltCon Together (virtual). Winning 2021 QuiltCon quilts were also displayed at the show. 

"Stovetop" was made by Linda Leake of California. I'm attracted to the colors, and the patterned improv. 

Since seeing quilts made by Jen Broemel @jen.broemel of Indiana at QuiltCon 2020, I've become fascinated by her work which features hand stitching. "Happy and Unabashedly" appears to be made according to a quilt-as-you-go technique. 

Hand quilting is dense! 

This is Jen's "Blue Gratitude."

The back was a riot of color and loose, dangling threads. 

It looks like Jen hand-stitched together these patches. It's also interesting to see how she used machine quilting lines as a guide for hand-stitches. If she had attended the show, I would have asked her about her process. 

I was surprised to see a Kawandi at the show, as I've never thought of Kawandi as a modern technique. However, this "Jubilation" quilt by Melinda Gross was, in fact, made after her Kawandi workshop with Sujata Shah. Melinda's planned layout is really effective with many tickli (Indian for "dot") scattered across the design. 

I didn't take photos of Community Outreach Quilts, except for this one, made by my friends in the Central Florida MQG @centralfloridamqg

Community Outreach Quilts were made by MQG chapters, according to this prescribed color palette: 

Quilts were either NFS (not for sale) or for sale for an indicated amount, with monies going to the Navajo Indian Craft project. Our quilt was NFS because it will be donated it to New Life Christian Church that hosts our monthly meetings. It will be raffled this fall to raise monies for a church mission. 

The Temperature Quilt Exhibit was great! So many different quilts with different ways (many I'd never even thought of!) for tracking and recording temperatures, precipitation, and even the quiltmaker's mood! My 2019 Temperature Quilt is on the far right.

This temperature quilt, called "A Year of Travel," was made by Audrey Butler @goiahawks. Believe it or not, she's a former Iowan who lives in Florida... just like me! It was a happy coincidence to get to meet her! 

Audrey kept track of her daughter's travels, and temperatures for a year. Her daughter globe-trots working for a mission relief program. For example, one drastic color change is when her daughter was in Florida, and the next day went to Iceland. The quilt was longarm quilted with a design that's a map of the world. In the right-hand picture you can see Florida. 

 

My temperature quilt was NFS.

My "Playin' Around" quilt was for sale, but it didn't sell. 

"Illusions of Victor" was for sale... and it sold! I'm thrilled about that, as the sale nearly covered the costs of going to QuiltCon! Best of all, I don't have another quilt to stuff into a pillow case for storage in the top of the closet. 

I took one workshop, "Piecing With Templates" with Melissa de Leon Mason @quiltallthethings I now have instructions for making the "Sonder" quilt that's behind Melissa in this photo.

 

I also attended seven lectures. The best one was "Minimal Design: Maximum Impact" by David Owen Hastings (an Iowan by birth) who struck a chord with me in his mastery of simple designs. His mantra is "less is more," and I want to adopt it.

His best slide was this because the last line encapsulates everything about QuiltCon 2022. 

Though I have more pictures, and thoughts about QuiltCon, it's time to move on to new ideas and new projects that are a result of attending QuiltCon. If nothing else, QuiltCon is an inspirational recharge. I'm already anticipating QuiltCon 2023, February 23-26, in Atlanta. Linda