QuiltCon in Review: 7

These are some of the Community Outreach Challenge quilts displayed at QuiltCon. Though I don't know exactly how many were shown, the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) originally stated that the first 80 quilts submitted would be accepted. Each MQG chapter had the option of offering their quilt for sale at QuiltCon, with proceeds benefitting Young Arts Arizona. 

Again, these quilts have a color palette and theme. Fabrics used were to be at least four of these eight Moda Bella solids. Similarly-colored prints could also be used. The theme was "Lines and Bars." Size constraints were 60" to 65" X 80" to 85".  

The Oklahoma City MQG @okcmqg made Inspiration Found at Home! Skydance Bridge, Oklahoma City.

Members of the North East Ohio MQG @neomqg made Cleveland: The Roads that Bind.

Collective Madness was made by the Corvallis (Oregon) MQG @corvallismodernqg

Eye of the Tiger was made by members of the Orlando MQG @orlandomqg

The Central Oregon MQG @comqg made Diversitrees.

Rail Lines of Ft. Worth Texas: 1873 was made by members of the Ft. Worth MQG @fortworthmqg.

At the right is our Central Florida MQG @centralfloridamqg quilt called A Pathway Through. 

While numerous members made this quilt, these six members attended QuiltCon.

(L-R) Jennifer G; Sandi K; Lynette K; Anne G; me; and Dawne L.

Our chapter always keeps our quilt to donate to New Life Christian Church in Wildwood, Florida, where we meet, at no charge, for monthly general meeting. The church then sells the quilt to raise monies for their annual contribution to Rapha International.

Previous QuiltCon Review Links

• QuiltCon Review: 1
• QuiltCon Review: 2
• QuiltCon Review: 3
• QuiltCon Review: 4
• QuiltCon Review: 5
• QuiltCon Review: 6

Linda

QuiltCon in Review: 6

Browsing through QuiltCon photos, I see that I have hundreds more pictures! However, I can't begin to share all of them. So today's post is a perusal of some of a whopping 59 quilts in the Windham Ruby & Bee Challenge quilts.

For quilts in this category, a specific palette of colors was selected by QuiltCon keynote speaker, Tara Faughnan. 

Again, a variety of styles and techniques were evident - improv, straight and curved piecing, appliqué, foundation paper piecing, and bias tape.

Also obvious was an abundance of walking foot/straight line quilting!

My friend and Saturday night QuiltCon dinner companion Susan Braverman @wildpoppyprints of San Antonio, Texas made Big Stitch.  

Her recognizable style - always, clean design - is evident in this 63" X 63" quilt. Susan is a longarm quilter. 

Also with a distinctive, clean style is maker Sophie Thomas @softnquilt of Switzerland. This is Seventies.

The quilt is 50" X 70" and is domestic machine and big stitch quilted. 

Marionette was made by Patricia Heath @mysterypoppy of Colorado. 

It's 48" X 47", was improv-pieced, and longarm quilted.

Holly Gatto @hdgatto of California designed Paper Pieced Plaid (Plaid No. 4), a 44" X 44" quilt that was... foundation paper pieced.

I'm impressed that a maker could figure out how to create this beautiful plaid! Perhaps she used the interleave technique?

Blink, a 60" X 60" quilt, was made by Jo Wollschlaeger @jowoquilts. 

It's machine pieced and domestic machine quilted.

Diane Paquin Provost @dianepaquinprovost of the Chicago MQG made Reaching for the Podium. 

This 36" X 37" quilt was inspired by the Paris Olympics, and was created in two sections. 

Christina Arnold @quiltsbychristina made Balance #2, a 55" X 67" quilt.

This is domestic machine quilting. 

Prove It, Chalkboard was made by Christopher Fisher @cfisher110 of Ohio saying that the gray color reminded him of chalkboards used early in his teaching career. 

He must be a math teacher because he described applying the Pythagorean Theorem to this design. It was domestic machine quilted and hand quilted. 

Elaine Cawadias @emcawadias of Canada is the (somewhat crazy :-) maker of Normal is an Illusion, a 55" X 42" quilt that's composed of hundreds of tiny machine-appliquéd blocks. 

It isn't until you view the quilt through a camera lens that you can read "Normal is an Illusion" in the placement of dots. Here I've edited the photo to black and white, so you can see it. 

It's domestic machine quilted.

Compass Star was made by Debbie Schultz of Arizona.

She used multiple techniques to create this 36" X 36" quilt that she domestic machine quilted with 50-weight and 12-weight threads. 

Folk Bloom 2 was made by Canadian Jenn McMillan @jenmcmillan.

This 44" X 53" quilt is domestic machine quilted, and trapuntoed. 

Whispers of the Acacia is 54" X 40" and was made by Tzitzi Bejarano of Mexico. 

After domestic machine quilting, she hand-stitched bias tape.

I think this is my favorite design for its simplicity, and very effective use of bias tape.

Quilts' View is 40" X 35" and was made by Sharon Henderson who explained that this is the diverse crowd of people who shuffle past a quilt displayed at a quilt show. She asks, "Are they enjoying the show?" 

This quilt just made me smile. Linda

QuiltCon in Review: 5

Today's QuiltCon review is a look at quilts in the Small Quilts category. According to the QuiltCon app, 43 quilts were displayed in that category. 

Whenever possible, when I ran into a quilter whose quilt was hanging, I invited them to show me their quilt so I could take a picture. One of the first people I saw was Sarah Muslim Lefebve, a member of South Florida MQG.

Sarah's quilt is delightful, colorful, and well-suited to its name: Goodie Bag. Using a fabric charm pack from last year's QuiltCon swag bag/goodie bag, she made this 16" X 20" quilt. Love it!

Another maker I rounded-up for a quilt picture was Pip Porter @mizrini from Adelaide, Australia. Pip made this 60" X 60" Red and White Study 1 that was in the Use of Negative Space category.

From leftover bits, she then made 4 X 10 = 40 a 16" X 16" quilt in the small quilts category. Didn't she get lots of mileage from red and white improv piecing? 

Rachel Singh made The Chaos in My Head, a 28" X 26" quilt that demonstrates a great use of bias tape. I noticed a lot more quilts this year included use of bias tape. This one was domestic machine quilted.

Is Neon a Neutral? was made by Jessica Easterly @jesasterly

It's 29" X 20" and was improv pieced, domestic machine quilted, and hand embroidered and hand quilted. 

My friend, and a contributor to our Pot Luck group quilt, Patty Dudek @elmstreetquilts made this two-color quilt, Island in the Sky, using Irene Roderick's improv book as a guide. 

The quilt is 22" X 23" and was domestic machine and big stitch hand quilted. 

The Karman Line was made by Sue Erdreich, is 12" X 22", and was entirely machine pieced and domestic machine quilted.  

Such little pieces! Size-wise, these tiny triangles remind me of Jen Carlton-Bailey @bettycrockerass 's curvelets. 

I've never been one to use botanicals in my quilts, but this one could change my mind. Love the colors Rosell Crockett of Georgia used to make Boho Fiscus Elastica.

It's 25" X 34" and was machine pieced, and freezer paper appliquéd. Quilting is by domestic machine, and hand embroidery. 

A simple shape, but engaging with repetitive color, Liz Kuny made this 22" X 26" quilt named Back and Forth.

Its machine pieced and domestic machine quilted. 

Square Peg in a Round Hole was made by Dawn Johnson @positivedawn. It's 25" X 25" and was machine pieced and domestic machine quilted. I always marvel that a quilter can figure out how to hang a round quilt.

It's been quite a while since I've seen a pixelated quilt at QuiltCon. This is Paradise in a Can by Erynn Truex @true.threads.quilting. 

At 20" X 35", that's a lot of tiny pieces in a small quilt! Machine pieced and longarm quilted.

Small quilts is a category I've never entered, mostly because I don't make small quilts, unless it's necessary.

Over the years, I've found that wall-sized quilts are difficult to give away. No one wants them because the colors aren't right, or don't coordinate with their decor, or there's no place to hang them.

On the other hand, lap-sized or bed-sized quilts are always accepted with open arms. Colors don't matter. Looks don't matter! In the end, it can be used. Have you discovered that too? 

Linda