Quilt Market: Salt Lake City (2) • Giveaway

May 28, 2016May 30, 2016 Elizabeth E.39 Comments

First off, congratulations to Dorothy, who won the giveaway. I’ll be in touch with you, Dorothy, to get your mailing info and get that off to you next week. Thank you to all who participated, and especially to all who commented on my yank-out-the-carpet-from-under-me fall. I’m pretty much fine, and am going forward, but you can bet I’ll look twice before coming out of an aisle. That story also made it to Carrie Nelson’s MODA blog, as I had to tell a story to her to get one of her camping badges. For a great recap of her Moda Designers’ booths, head over there.

I’ll also have another little giveaway at the end of this post, to reward you for reading, AND in honor of my mother’s 88th birthday. This is a photo of her back in the day. They apparently used to take all their birthday pictures outside because the camera couldn’t really capture the light as well inside. I think of that when I tend to use my mobile phone everywhere because its light-capturing sensors are the best.

Quilt Market is about business–the business of selling, of buying, of hawking your wares, of displaying, of meeting your buyers, meeting the designers, meeting the authors. Sometimes I would get a book at these signings, and sometimes I just snapped photos on my way past. Some publishers were gracious, not knowing who their books were going home with, yet others were a bit cranky about the whole thing. Considering that I buy from all of them, I’ll never tell who was cheerful and who was cranky, but it taught me a lot about that aspect of this business.

This talented lady’s book is part of our giveaway today. Elea Lutz designs not only patterns, but also fabrics for Penny Rose (associated with Riley Blake Fabrics). It’s a book published by Fat Quarter Shop and has charming pieced patterns, as shown in the quilt behind her.

The other giveaway (I’ll divide them into two) is the Stashbusters Book, by Sarah Maxwell and Dolores Smith, a wonderful collection of scrappy reproduction-style quilts. I’ll choose two from the comments left below; let me know if you have a preference for which book you might win.

Once I left the cocoon of my Painter’s Palette booth and ventured out, I saw this young woman modeling the skirt found in Alison Glass’ LookBook. It was like — pinch me!–as I encountered Famous People and things I recognized from all the advertising I see when I read magazines, or attend quilt shows, or wander through the web. It was going to be a day of double takes as I walked among the Business of Quilting, the other side of the quilty looking glass.

Sassafras Lane Designs, in all their colorful glory.

Renegade salespeople in the lobby of the Salt Palace. Great carpet, right?

Quilt Soup. (That’s not Barbara Jones, but a “booth babysitter,” she said.

Don’t look now, but that woman in the Kokka booth is wearing a Wookie Backpack. I was in line behind her later on at the Lucky Spools book signing, and she shared with us all the trending video of the woman who’d just purchased a Chewbacca Mask for her birthday. I thought that was a neat coincidence.

These three pictures are from Katie Cupcake, by Amy Hamberlin. I love that Midtown bag.

Jillily Studio’s booth was a sweet shop, complete with little bagged chocolate truffles they gave out.

Hoffman Fabrics are in my neck of the woods in Southern California, and first started with Hawaiian print fabrics for the local surfers.

I don’t know if you can see it, but Latifah Saafir’s booth (Hoffman Fabrics) has a pair of tennis shoes slung over a wire–so LA. I loved it!

Fun also to see Hoffman’s newest line of fabrics from Thistlewood Farms. Those blues! (And yes, that’s KariAnne Wood holding her quilt.)

Heather Jones’ line of fabric is subtle, but I bought some at Sample Spree because I think it will work well in so many quilts. One of my favorite types of fabrics are those that bring a punch of something new to the existing stash, giving it more life. She has some great designs in her collection.

Here is a series of photos from the Clothworks/Frou-Frou booths, across the aisle from each other. Maybe because I was thinking about my trip to Geneva last week, and how I was missing the small prints from Europe, but I really fell in love with these fabrics (plus I love how they feel).

I love their cans of projects. Very clever.

Now, for a complete change of pace, this is the Free Spirit Booth. I noticed more and more of this type of booth design among the big names: a central section for the business of ordering, and small alcoves for the designers.

Amy Butler’s section. She also had a larger booth:

Tula Pink’s alcove.

Snow Leopard Designs by Phillip Jacobs (again, for Free Spirit Fabrics)

Elizabeth Hartman’s booth, with the lovely creator in attendance.

Cori Dantini, for Blend Fabrics. I loved their booth:

EdMar Company, a small vendor from Idaho was selling these gorgeous rayon Brazilian Embroidery Threads.

Benartex. I think you can see where all those beautiful quilts go that we see in “sneak peeks” on Instagram (and yes, I spelled “peeks” correctly). Every booth was awash in beautiful quilts, and I must admit I hadn’t even hit the Moda booths yet, and I was already in overload. So I thought I’d better head over and see Sherri’s booth, since I’d sewn a couple of items for her and had a sneak peek myself of some of her beautiful fabrics.

I could never get a photo that wasn’t blurry of these two women, so this will have to do. The Moda designers were in clusters at this show, which didn’t give them much space, but that made meeting them easier.

That’s enough for today’s post. More is coming.

Have a safe Memorial Day (or Decoration Day, as my mother calls it). ~~Leave a comment below to win a book in the giveaway. I’ll choose one and announce it in the next post.~~

UPDATE: Comments closed. Winner announced in next post. Thanks to you all for entering!

Classes · Quilt Shows · Quilts

Oh, yeah. My take on QuiltCon.

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 Elizabeth E.17 Comments

This popped up in my email one morning, and it about wraps it all up, as far as I’m concerned. No, I never met Claudia, but I did meet a few other fine quilters, including some from different countries than California. (That was a joke, people.)

Since it’s been over a month since QuiltCon, I thought I should get around to writing about my impressions. The show was held in Pasadena, California and the Registration Desk, Vendor Mall, part of the quilt show, and lecture room were in one building.

Across the courtyard was a large older room with high clerestory windows (building behind these banners) where the rest of the quilts were, and to the other side of that, was the building where the classes were held. While pretty close together, I did miss Austin’s intimacy, but the great part about being here was that the weather was unseasonably warm which made everyone except those Californians happy (we want rain).

Silliest moment for me:

Hollering Polo! to Eileen’s (@luckycharm93635) Marco! as we bumbled out of the restaurant after topping off our 50/50 burgers with a bacon-brownie. And yes, we did the Marco! Polo! thing all conference long, whenever we’d see each other.

Moment when I realized that none of us quilters ever charge enough for our quilts:

When, during our From Maker to Making a Living class, I glimpsed the majesty of Jacqueline Sava’s spreadsheets and listened to her funny and wonderful stories about making a living. She’s the SOAK lady, and to support her, I went down to the selling floor and bought a bottle of Flatter, in the Fig flavor. So so yummy-smelling and it works, too. A whiff of it and it brings back that class and the belief that I, too, can be as successful as she is. Kidding.

Moment when I realized that I’ve missed mucking around in paint all my whole life:

In Lizzy House’s block printing class. Even though I was beyond tired (and I’m pretty sure she was too), we had a great class of doodling, carving, printing, sharing. This was my last class of QuiltCon, and after this, I met up with Lisa and Simone and we drove the 90 minutes home. We’d stayed for two days and two nights, beginning with an early morning (up at 4:30 a.m.) on Thursday, and ending Saturday night.

Moment when I realized that my QuiltCon experience had shifted from taking classes, to hobnobbing with the Women of QuiltCon:

This is the only photo I have of me ( at the end of the table, nearly on Lorena’s lap) and Lisa (third down on the right, with glasses and blonde hair) and Simone (second down on the right, with brown hair). The rest of the time we passed like ships in the night, or sat next to each at lectures. I met several quilters I’d only followed on blogs or on IG, and deepened friendships with many of these fine women.

Moment when I realized that quilting connections could be made from other subjects:

Lecture Notes — Simone’s notes from Victoria Findlay-Wolfe’s lecture

One of the highlights for me at QuiltCon this year were the lectures, and Bill Kerr’s lecture in particular. I filled pages of notes of him talking about the branching connections we make from the choices that come into our creative lives, and he used Frank Lloyd Wright’s homes around Chicago as an example. Victoria’s lecture was also good, as were Luke Haynes (I wish I could have gone out to see his exhibit of fifty log cabin quilts) and others. Usually I hit the vending floor’s mix of lectures, but hardly made it to any this year, and the ones I did, I thought sounded like commercials.

And in other ways (witness my badge collection):

Some QuiltCon eye candy is this tote bag and the signature quilt (hanging below).

Moment when I learned I should have left class at noon, like my buddy Martie did:

This was in our third conference/discussion of the day in a class where I found I was more interested in learning about how to make a panorama photo on my iPhone, than in listening to the adroit conference/discussion by our very well-learned teacher. When you know you are just done with a technique, it should be okay to go. The teacher was fabulous. I wasn’t, obviously. If I’d left, maybe I would have seen more of the quilts.

Moment when I realized that creativity was all around me, and I was slightly besotted by it all:

(That’s besotted using the archaic definition) Glimpsing the fabulous booth from our Los Angeles shop, Sew Modern. That camper!

Moment when I found my personal Best of Show quilt, and wanted to grow up and be Yvonne Fuch (@quiltingjetgirl):

Happy Moment:

Lots and lots of them, but especially when I turned the corner and saw my quilt Focus in Paintbrush Studio’s booth. Thank you Paintbrush! It’s made from Paintbrush Studio’s line of solids, Painter’s Palette Solids, and I used the leftovers from making them a quilt for their booth at market, which will remain under wraps until then. (Well, okay. Maybe just one sneak peek…)

Another set of happy moments was finding quilts in the show from people I knew, and also when Cindy Wiens showed me the quilt she’d made for Lucien fabrics, using another design of mine, Semaphore:

Yes, I couldn’t find the photo I’d snapped one late night in her room, so I borrowed this one from her website. And here’s another of hers, hanging in the show:

Moment when I realized that I should skip going to Savannah-QuiltCon-East2017 and just stay home and sew:

When breezing through my Instagram feed, where I’d posted most of the quilts, and realized if I was ever to get a quilt in this show, I’d better stay home and get busy. So next year, I’ll be at QuiltNon, home and grateful for the chance I had to go this year, and looking forward to QuiltConWest in 2018!

Final Thoughts:

Most of the quilts I found fascinating are on my Instagram feed, to the right. Scroll back through the feed to see them, or follow me on Instagram (@occasionalpiecequilt) and see them that way. Take screen shots of the ones you love, compile your own QuiltCon collection and use them to inspire you further!

Quilt Shows · Quilts · Tutorial

Lanyard Tutorial for Quilt Shows

February 15, 2016February 12, 2016 Elizabeth E.6 Comments

I didn’t have a lanyard last year at QuiltCon, and my pins slipped and slid everywhere, beside the fact that I jingle-jangled as I walked. I wanted one of those spiffy ones, where I could pin on my pins.

I patchworked up a strip 3 3/4″ wide and 37″ long, took it to my ironing board and pressed it in half, lengthwise.

Open it up, and to one side of the center fold, lay down a 1″ wide by length-of-lanyard strip of fusible interfacing; iron that into place.

Fold both raw edges in, almost to the center, but not quite. The side with the interfacing should be folded over that interfacing, and the side without interfacing should match when all folded up. With the interfacing UP (not to the feed dogs), stitch first along one long side about 1/4″ away from the fold, then the other. Make sure you’ve caught all the folded edges when you stitch it down. Then stitch down the center.

Arrange the strips so that it will hang around your neck (see top photo), then mis-align the lower raw edges, setting the top one 1/4″ beyond the bottom strip. Slip on the lanyard clasp.

Zigzag the extended top strip over the bottom strip, to hold it in place.

(View from the underside)

Again, for ease in wearing, slightly splay the two strips apart, then stitch along the finished ends (refer to photos).

(View from the top side)

Yes, I’m headed to QuiltCon West 2016 this week (held in Pasadena, California), along with some friends from the Good Heart Quilters, the small monthly sewing group I belong to here (which is why there is heart fabric on our lanyards).

That Friday night class is taught by Jacqueline Sava. I hope to meet a lot of my online friends, trying to make “real” the digital friendships I’ve enjoyed. There should be ~~more than a few~~ a whole mess of photos on my Instagram feed (button is to the right). If you are going, find me and swap me a button!

Quilt Shows · Quilts

Road to California 2014, part II

February 4, 2014February 5, 2014 Elizabeth E.18 Comments

There was a great exhibit of quilts from the book I was lucky enough to be in: Amish Quilts, The Adventure Continues. As always, seeing them in person, beats a flat picture or a digital photograph any day. (How has that changed what we esteem as “good” quilts? Just something to think about.) That’s why quilt shows are so valuable as they allow a viewer to fall in love with quilts again.

Suzanne Keeney Lucy’s Ocean Waves

Two views of Michelle Webber’s It’s Hip to Be Square

Two views (one to show the quilting) of Reflection of the Times, made by Angela Yosten and quilted by Natalia Bonner

Likewise there were some quilts from QuiltCon.

I took a shot of this one because I love Carolyn Friedlander’s fabrics, but it is true that this quilt is lacking some contrast. It’s not just the photography. The title of this one is The Local Quilt.

Deconstructed Nine Patch by Jacquie Gering

Honey in Space, by Elizabeth Hartman

Log Pyramids, by Liz Harvatine

You Rule, by Brigitte Heitland

and lastly, A Very Long Conversation, by Rossie Hutchinson. I was pretty sure I had a photo from Christa Watson’s String of Pearls (using Lizzy House’s fabric–a great design) but it’s too blurry to post, so go *here* to see that fun quilt. . . and her (more on that later). There were a couple of quilts I was sure I had a photo of, but when I looked at them, I must have been taking them on a fast run past. Maybe it was because I had too many bags around my shoulders?

At this point, don’t you think we need a little retail therapy? This is the little quilt in the charm booth–a way to display those little pins we all love. This group had figured out how to make earrings out of them, so they had a lot of people crowded around.

Fabricworm’s first time at Road. Judging from the crowd at their booth, I think they’ll be back.

Loved the chair AND the floor mat. The floor “rug” looked like just patches with some sort of matte finish brushed over it.

And LUNCH! From left, Leisa, Lisa, Lisa’s sister-in-law Betty (who came from another state just for Road), me and Simone. Get your scrolling fingers ready, here come more quilts!

Janet Dorsey Hirth used lots of different piecing styles in her sampler quilt, titled Loose Leaf Earl Grey.

Random snapshot of free-motion quilting

This is a terrible picture of a fabulous quilt, by Ann Feitelson, titled Music of the Spheres. Google it and you should find a better photo. It’s really amazing.

Here’s another Ann Feitelson. I think she never sleeps. This one is titled Basket Weave II: See Saw. There was a lot of math that went into this quilt, judging from her description. She writes “The titled also refers to seeing and have seen, the way vision shifts in every blink.”

Kim Bruny’s Blast from the Past is so named because all the bright designs and paisley prints remind her of her childhood. Well, now we know how old she is! (Kidding, Kim. It was a terrific quilt.) I have several photos, showing details.

She used the “tiling” method of creating her top: appliquéing her patches to a single piece of fabric, keeping the pieces an even distance away, so it looks like tiles have been laid down.

And in the borders–broderie perse, a technique of using specific cuts of the printed fabric to create the design.

I liked this quilting because it wasn’t so dense. Lately quilters have been quilting their quilts so densely, they could stand up as a room screen by themselves. This is a nice change.

Sandi Delman’s Kartwheels was started in 2009, and took several raids of her fabric stash to make the rings, arcs, borders and stars. Kerry Marksbury quilted it.

Eva Birch’s Tequila Sunrise was a more modern quilt with lots of interesting quilting in the negatives spaces. Even though the photo above looks washed out, the background fabric was deep-toned. Two more detail shots:

I spent the better part of Friday afternoon tearing back and forth between the Superior Thread Booth and the booth where my quilter Cathy Kreter was working, talking about threads, designs, colors, etc. I was successful in choosing a thread, and on the way back, I stopped by Nancy Rink’s booth to show her my quilt (she designed this quilt). She obliged me with a photo. Yes, I carried that king-sized quilt top around all afternoon (which may account for some of the blurry photos).

After a long day (as both Leisa and I woke up too early that morning and couldn’t go back to sleep) my little gang, The Good Heart Quilters, took ourselves to the local El Torito, where ten of us gathered round the table, including Cindy of Live A Colorful Life and Deborah of Simply Miss Luella. (They’ve adopted us Good Heart Quilters.)

A few went back home to our town, and those of us who were staying the night gathered together in mine and Leisa’s room, did Show and Tell and talked shop. I’m not letting those others go home next year, and think we ought to order in some chocolate cake and ice cream for fun.

You’ll hear us Southern Californians complain about our drought (those mountains ought to have WHITE tops, not brown), but you can’t beat waking up to this on a January morning. We’re in for a doozy this summer in terms of water rationing. Expect me to come and see you for a shower this summer. Okay, last batch of quilts. Here we go.

Pat Adair’s Joyful Giddiness used a few of Kim McClean’s patterns to create the appliqué in this quilt.

A lovely quilt, as evidenced by the use of color, piecing and quilting (and that blue ribbon!).

Almost Symmetry, by Nicki Allen (quilted by Kathy Gray).

This was made for the EZ Dresden Quilt Challenge, an online challenge sponsored by the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild.

Marilyn Belford used all varieties of fabrics and techniques to create this masterpiece titled Perseus Saving Andromeda.

That rough water is raw-edge appliquéd, as is most of the quilt.

Fractured Star was made by Linda Bergmann and quilted by Debbie Lopez, and is a Karen Stone design.

So is Susan Bianchi’s Graffiti Heart a quilt? Since she created her design out of beads and buttons on whole cloth? I remember that controversy came up with Hollis Chatelein first debuted at Houston, with her whole-cloth painted quilts. (She earned a blue ribbon that year.) Whatever, this was one of two of these button/bead quilts in the show, fascinating collages utilizing hard surface design.

And now it’s time for the Ugly Quilt Award. Every year I try to pick the ugliest quilt. It could miss on overall composition, surface design treatment, overreaching in the skill department (think: Peter Principle), or by the fact that somehow, it was just plain. And ugly. A very subjective category, but in walking around with some of my quilter friends, a number of them pointed out candidates for this award, so I know it wasn’t just me. All of these are nameless, maker-less. And in full-disclosure, any one of us could in any given year qualify, so no hubris intended.

From the plastic doll, to the overly busy background to the tassels, andthat 3D hair, this is a sure qualifier.

Another angel candidate, with her strangely proportioned torso to that gift-wrapped bow on the corner. Hmmm.

Meant to evoke a haunting response from the viewer, of the souls of lost native Americans now inhabiting the abandoned-dwellings-now-a-National-Park (I suppose) instead this just came off as creepy-looking, kind of like a cartoonish dead baby head filling a sacred space.

Update: While I originally noted the fine quality of the quilting and the good design and composition of space, I panned this quilt for the drawings, as they looked extremely juvenile. My sister, the historian, called me tonight to tell me that she thinks they were based on well-known (to historians) primitive drawings done by Native Americans at some of the critical battles. She’ll let me know the source, and then I’ll add it here.

If it is true that this quilt was based on those historical drawings, it obviously needs to be moved from this category. (However, I still stand on the unfortunate quilted swirls on the men’s faces.)

Okay, Ugly Quilt Contest over. Later on I’ll show you my favorite quilt, and I’ll tell you why. (The ones I love usually never win at this show. But I was happy to see this week that one of my favorites from last year went on to Win Big at other national contests.) Okay, back to the quilts.

Modern Alphabet, made and quilted by Gerrie Thompson.

Yep, I’m pretty much fixated on DSM quilting this year. My apologies.

Patricia Wolfe titled her innovation of a traditional Bear Paw block KABOOM! Bear Paws Gone Wild. She also quilted it herself.

Titled Mishief Maker, Sue Wilson both made and quilted this octopus quilt, hand-painting the design on linen. I walked around with my friend Simone and she gave me a lesson on borders, and why are quilters so attached to their borders? As a trained graphic artist, she showed me several quilts that would have benefitted from “breaking the borders,” as the traditional use of that space enclosing a design cramped the artistry of the quilt. This was a successful breaking of the border, she noted. We both loved it.

LUNCH! (Day Two) with Cindy, Deborah, me, Leisa and Christa of ChristaQuilts. It was a great conversation about quilting, the industry, design, breaking news and old news, one of the advantages of getting together at a quilt show.

Okay, last gasp of quilts, then my favorite.

One of a trio of quilts, Linzi Upton’s quilts were tucked away at the back of the hall. Another quilt, Silver Madonna won big last year, and these look like they follow in the same trend of using metallic fabric, then painting it, then quilting it to achieve the texture.

The title of the three together is Odin’s Triology, and Upton made and quilted them all.

Another strong black and white quilt, ChrisTaylor’s I have felt lonely in a crowded room brought in architectural features of doors, windows and line to portray that feeling of being “alone” yet feeling “comforted by memories.”

Inspired by the Holyoke Range and the Connecticut rivers near her home, Timna Tarr created Valley Snapshots, a rich mix of shape and color. This was almost my most favorite.

Timna Tarr was busy this year, getting two quilts into Road. This one, titled Request and Dedication, started out as a Wheel of Fortune block, but “after ten years of marriage [to a musician], he finally rubbed off on me and I unintentionally made a record quilt.”

I had to show you close-ups of the quilting.

Spilling Over was made and quilted by Sharon Schlotzhauer, her inspiration coming from the loss of a treasured quilt, and from the “faith. . . [and] loving thoughts and prayers from friends and the quilting community.”

Citrus Slices by Marie O’Kelley was dear to my heart, as we live near the Citrus Experimental Station of the University of California–Riverside. She writes “This quilt commemorates my brother’s career at UCR hybridizing new citrus varieties. Included are the names of his hybrids and those of more common citrus types.” By the way, if you like the little easy-to-peel Cutie (brand) tangerines, you have the scientists at UCR to thank.

Autumn Whirlpool, by Bobbie Moon.

Banderitas, by Victoria Murphy

Daisy Dance, by Susan Meyers, from a pattern by Kathy Munkelwitz

And now my favorite quilt of the show. It’s not flashy, overly huge, stylized with 300 pounds of crystals and bling, but it’s a perfectly executed gem of a quilt. Titled, Did You Wash Your Beak, it comes from a nature photograph of Eastern Bluebirds by Steve Byland.

The quilting appeared to be in a heavier weight variegated thread, which shows every flaw. I couldn’t find any. Taylor had put more leaves in the background of his quilting, surrounding those with small stippling stitches. The branch had more texture added by the quilting.

The white-gloved lady held it up to show me the back. Exquisite. Taylor writes “I believe this is my most accomplished quilt to date. The technique I have been trying to master for the past 12 years. . . was to create an appliquéd quilt that appears to be a photograph or painting at first glance.” I’d say he succeeded.

All of these feathers, the claw, all pieces really, are needle-turned appliqué, with the quilting enhancing the shading and structure. A masterpiece of a quilt. While some might aspire to be the big old blue ribbon winner at the front of the hall, by the CD-selling harpist, I aspire to create quiet quilts of detail and story like this one. I loved it!