QuiltCon Use of Negative Space and More

In this my fifth installment of 2023 QuiltCon quilts seen at AmericasMart in Atlanta. In this post, I'm sharing quilts from the Use of Negative Space category, and several others - challenges, piecing, and handwork.

It wasn't until I perused the QuiltCon app that I found this change to the description of Use of Negative Space. The word "expansive" was replaced with "creative." No doubt this change will be addressed in April, when The Modern Quilt Guild is expected to shares changes and additions to the definition of a modern quilt.

Reverb, in the Use of Negative Space category, was foundation paper-pieced by Amy Friend @duringquiettime, and is a study in her method of improv paper piecing. I took Amy's Improv Paper Piecing workshop, virtually in 2022, and admire the designs she achieves. I'm still working on mine! I was also privileged to enjoy dinner with her during QuiltCon. She's a lovely lady. 

Amy most often walking foot quilts on a domestic machine. 

Structures #1 was made by Bill Keller @billkellermaker of Illinois and appeared in the Use of Negative Space category. 

It was machine and hand pieced, and longarm and hand quilted. 

This Use of Negative Space entry was All Are Welcome by Charles Cameron @feltlikesweets of North Carolina, who says he wants "to live in a world where all are welcome - where Xs and Os are seen, no matter their shade of gray." 

It was longarm quilted by Cara Cansler.

Strokes appeared in the Use of Negative Space category. It was made by Augusto Garcia @capaquilts of Spain. It was English paper pieced.

Domestic machine quilting was done on a Bernina, and I'd guess he changed directions each time he quilted across the surface.

Moving Parts, in the Use of Negative Space category, was made by Claire Victor @cvquilts of Arizona. It was designed in Procreate and English paper pieced.

Claire free motion quilted on her Bernina domestic machine. 

The Goose Drank Wine by Jenny Haynes @pappersaxsten of the UK was in the Use of Negative Space category. It was machine pieced with skinny inset strips. 

Longarm quilting is by Christine Perrigo @ccpquilts. 

This Small Quilt is Morning at the Lake, by Joanne Jellison of Florida, who was inspired by the colors of Gull Lake, Michigan. 

The quilt is the result of a QuiltCon 2022 workshop with David Owen Hastings. It is improv-pieced, and domestic machine and hand quilted.

Leaves of Grass, in the Minimalism category, was made by Heather Pregger @heapregger of Texas.

She used hand-dyed fabrics to recreate the September colors of Massachusetts salt marches. The piece was longarm quilted. 

Carolina Oneto @carolina_oneto of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the maker of One in Every Four in the Improvisation category. The quilt represents the poverty and marginalization of people in South American countries.

Carolina improv cut and pieced, and domestic machine quilted.

Fiona Johnstone @spunstraw of the UK made Tiny Snakes that appeared in the Small Quilts category. Inspired by the Snake Trail pattern by Denyse Schmidt, Fiona used more than 800 pieces to create her design.

All the curved arcs were hand-pieced. Blocks were machine-pieced together and quilted on her domestic machine. 

Wavelengths was an entry into the Windham Fabric Ruby + Bee Challenge. It was made by Linda Branting of California.

For those of us who have taken Mel Beach's Interleaves workshop, this design will be familiar. It's constructed as quilt-as-you-go on a domestic machine. 

Another Windham Fabric Ruby + Bee Challenge entry is Rising Tides, made by my Jacksonville, Florida friend, Candi Lennox @candipursuits. You saw her in an earlier QuiltCon post, HERE, holding the travel tray I gifted to her. 

Though Candi tells me that this is her least favorite of quilts she entered in QuiltCon, it's certainly creative. She machine-pieced all those checkerboards, and spent much time quilting on a domestic, and by hand. 

Hyperspace by Sam Hunter @huntersds of Oregon was in the Group or Bee Quilts category. It was foundation paper pieced with credit to another piecer Chris Batten.

The longarm quilter was Nancy Stovall. 

Prairie Light: Dusk was in the Piecing category and made by Scott Murkin @quiltdoc16 of North Carolina. It's one of the few quilts I saw at QuiltCon that included prints - these prints are by Jane Sassaman.

Scott domestic machine quilted. 

Also in the Piecing category was Paint Chip Love, made by Emily Parson @emilyquilts of Illinois. Who doesn't love the colors of paint chips?!

Emily domestic machine quilted. 

This one grabbed my attention, also in the Piecing category. It's Up Cake Down Cake by Ann Feitelson @feitelsonann of Massachusetts. 

Her colors are a delicious combination of striped, polka-dot, and solid fabrics. She machine quilted on a domestic.

In the Handwork category is this lovely quilt made by my South Florida MQG friend, Maureen Drudi @maydecember quilts. My Boro was begun in a Blair Stocker workshop and uses "found" fabrics - a vintage sugar sack, homespun, antique quilt blocks, and old fabric pieces.

Maureen used many techniques to create this quilt - machine and hand piecing; appliqué; embroidery and domestic machine and hand stitching. There was a lot to look at in this quilt!

Pieces of flannel are in the backing and binding. 

In the AP&Q (American Patchwork and Quilting) Log Cabin Quilting Challenge category was this quilt - Thirteen by Deborah Krajkowski @deborahkrajkowski of Florida. She named it this because when she was 13 years old, she chose "glaring technicolor flowers" wallpaper for her bedroom walls. 

Deborah longarm quilted it. 

I thought Thirteen bore some resemblance to my own AP&Q Log Cabin Quilting Challenge entry Log Jam that is 68" X 70". If I'm looking a bit sad here, it's because Log Jam sold at QuiltCon.

Though I'm pleased that someone else will enjoy it, I put a lot of effort into this quilt - so many tiny inset strips! - and will miss it.

A blog post about my QuiltCon entries is here. 

See all 2023 QuiltCon winning quilts here.

An update on the continuing unavailability of spice drop candies!

My local friend, Jody; has a sister, Putz; who has a friend, Linda; who "imported" spice drops from Virginia! Yesterday I collected a large gift bag containing 10 correction! 11 - 10 oz bags of Coastal brand spice drops from Dollar Tree. I accidentally left one bag of spice drops in the gift bag! 😲

Yay! Don't I have great friends?! I think I'm good for a couple weeks. 😂 Linda