Quilts

Busy Quilty Weekend

September 10, 2014 Elizabeth E.11 Comments

This past Friday night was our little quilt group’s Quilt Night. We hold it the first Friday night of just about every month, taking off some here and there. Lisa (on the left) and I founded The Good Heart Quilters when she was pregnant with her daughter, who is will soon be 18. Hard to think we’ve been going that long! On the right is Charlotte, one of our newer members, and Lisa’s running/marathon buddy. Why are they smiling? I cleaned out my fabric stash this past month and brought all the leftovers for them to claim.

Speaking of pregnant ladies, Tiffiny, on the left, is waaaay pregnant and due this week. (So far, no news.) She is our bonafide Newest Member, but I’m guessing with a new baby, we won’t be seeing her for a while. She’s helping Lisa hem and sew buttons on band uniforms (Lisa is a parent volunteer). See? We don’t always do quilts. We want Tiffiny to come any time she wants to as she brought us all a yummy key lime pie. Treats are always a good thing at Quilt Night.

And still speaking of pregnant ladies, Caitlin (on the left) is due in January. Simone (on the right) and I rounded out the group and we are definitely NOT pregnant. A small gathering, but fun. And with great treats that everyone brought.

I kicked them all out 10 p.m. because the next day I had to leave at 7 a.m. to head to San Diego to the San Diego Quilt Show, where I was taking a Free Motion Quilting Class with Sue Rasmussen. She was great. The class started out with a comprehensive overview of needles and threads, but soon we launched into hands on FMQ. I had taken a class with another instructor about twelve years ago and a lot of what I know now I’ve gleaned through books, internet and Instagram. So I thought it was time to do something classroom-y again.

We learned about hand position, speed, foot control and the all important wild card of what to do when our brain kicks in with questions like “Should this be a feather?” or “You really messed up there.” She also taught us three methods for starting and stopping, and kept the class moving with good demos and good advice. I’m now totally intimidated on submitting anything to a show as she clued us in to some things she looks for in a show quilt (she’s often a judge). Thankfully she didn’t say “sparkles.”

I had an hour for lunch, see the show, and visit the vendors’ booths. I raced through it, so didn’t have time to grab names or titles of quilts (sorry) but here’s a few photos that I grabbed as we zipped by.

This French landscape is Sue Rasmussen’s. You can bet I looked closely at the quilting. (It was perfect.)

She actually had three of these trees, all in different color ways and different fabrics. It was fascinating to see how different they all were.

I loved this fun quilt, but it didn’t win the Modern Quilt category prize. (Inconceivable!)

Great quilting, eh?

This one won first prize in the Modern Quilt category. Hmmmm. I see “improv piecing” which seems to be a criteria (or at least according to Road to California’s blurb when I took a look at it this morning). That’s it? Improv piecing as the only qualifier for Modern? Oh, that and “significant negative space,” or something like that. I hate these seemingly artificial qualifiers and divisions. Like Leanne of She Can Quilt says, “I’ll know it when I see it.”

Back to class for another few hours. Here are some of Sue’s samples. I really enjoyed her class and was glad I made the effort.

On the long drive home, there is this elegant bridge spanning the wide freeway. When I see this, I know I’m halfway home. It was a good weekend, with good friends and experiences, but heading home is what I like to do most.

Quilts

A Grand Day Out: The Valley Quilters Quilt Show

February 24, 2014February 23, 2014 Elizabeth E.3 Comments

It was a beautiful day that the Valley Quilters held their quilt show, and I had a morning free, so I headed down to Hemet, about 40 minutes away from my house. I like going to this small show–it’s kind of the antidote to all the craziness and glitz and flash and overwhelmingness that is Road to California.

This is it. I think they had about 50 or so quilts. I was joking to one woman that it was the tonic that cured me of my exhaustion from Road. “Oh, Road!” she said. “Too much walking.”

This is what greets you, as you enter the community center gymnasium: Glacier Star, by Shirley Mykris and quilted by Diane Best. I meandered through their display, so these quilts are in no particular order.

This Is Me, by Beckie Stabile and quilted by Marvel Dorf. She said in her notes that these are her favorite quilting things.

All the helpers were wearing decorative tabards.

Here’s a detail of the quilt above.

The name of this is Kaleidoscope, but Dawn Guthrie-Clark and quilted by Debbie Blair. (Hey! I have a quilt named Kaleidoscope!)

I thought these ladies looked great in their coordinating quilted jackets and they agreed to let me photograph them.

This is a detail from one of the beginner quilts that was displayed in this show, and they are all basically the same with different details. I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked at these quilts, for these young quilters were working hard to master the craft that I love so well.

Some have thought that my choices of the Most Ugly Quilt at Road to California were a dagger to the heart of beginners, and some took me to task believing that we should never say anything bad about another creation. (I agree, up to a point.) But beginning quilts should be in this type of show: a guild show, which displays a wide range of skills and talents.

Beginner quilts do not really belong in a national juried show, unless they are working at a very high skill level, which my Most Ugly Quilts (MUQ) were not. And all of these beginner quilts shown here are heads and shoulders above some of the MUQuilts, as they are authentic. And charming. And well made with a central, balanced design.

And they make you smile, not cringe, especially when one young quilter noted that making a quilt is not as easy as it looks, and that “it was my first time using a sewing machine.”

Mary Myers just happened to walk by her quilt, Circle of Hope, when I was looking at it.

It’s quilted by Nancy Williams.

Wouldn’t you love to win this ribbon, with it’s tiny Sunbonnet Sue bonnet? And don’t you love the little decorated clothespins with their colorful yo-yos?

Green Tea and Sweet Beans was made by Susan Bailey and quilted by Laural Arestad, from a pattern by Jen Kingwell. This, or a version of this, is definitely in my future.

A lovely classic basket quilt.

I loved the cute snowman peeking out from different places on this quilt (sorry, didn’t get the name).

Thyme to Water was made by Alice Novak and quilted by Chuck Anderson. I loved the detail on her watering cans.

And check out those ribbons–TWO of them. It was well deserved.

I just couldn’t get a good photo of this quilt, titled Pioneer Braid, but it was vibrant and colorful, as shown by the detail below. Jenelle Pickett made this quilt, and it was quilted by Nancy Williams.

There is something so appealing about a scrappy quilt.

Japanese Quilt Shop is another quilt by the duo Alice Novak (maker) and Chuck Anderson (quilter). When I put this up on Instagram, I got a lot of questions about the pattern. She credits her design source as Piece by Piece Quilts by Joe Wood. But Barbara Brackman, on her blog, has a free pattern that may work for you, if you substitute in a quilt block or two in the houses.

There was obviously a lot of tender loving detail given to this small show, as witnessed by this antique stroller filled with dollies.

There were even a few vendors, and this great chair at one of their booths.

Bonny Tucker made and quilted this quilt, titled Alice’s QD Christmas 2012. She used a coloring technique, then embroidered them to make the blocks, but it wasn’t until the Christmas 2012 Quilter’s Dozen came along that she knew what to do with them. (I assume it was a guild program.)

Jan Dolan’s “A” is for Apple was a lovely gathering of alphabet representations. The story of the quilt is complicated: it was originally started as a block-of-the-month at one shop, but the shop was sold and the designer/teacher was injured in an auto accident. The pattern was still given out to finish on their own.

Mary Myers made Flourishes, and it was quilted by Jodie Krot. The design source was Piece O’ Cake Designs. She writes that this was a tribute for Edward Myers’ life: “I took the squares with me everywhere. Many doctor & hospital visits. I started it in October, 1999 but it was not completed until April 2007, six-and-a-half years after his death.” I don’t know if Edward was a son, or a husband, but it is a wonderful memory quilt.

Dancing Wonky Wildflowers was made by Jacquie Buchanan and quilted by Jami Doto, with the design source noted as “Wonky Wildflowers” by Sandra Workman.

I’m a sucker for a well-done Hunter’s Star quilt (sorry, no name on this one either).

I’ll close with two appliqué quilts. The quilts I’ve shown are only a sample of this show, so come on over next year! The quilt above, titled Critters, is by Billie Kercmar, quilted by Karen Gehring (from Woodland Creatures by Rosemary Makhan).

And this stunner is Ladies of the Sea, made by Deborah Morrione and quilted by Better Barney. (Design source was Sue Garman.)

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!

And that’s all folks–see you next year!!

Quilt Shows · Quilts

Road to California 2014, part I

February 3, 2014February 3, 2014 Elizabeth E.9 Comments

No matter how many times I go, I’m always excited to walk in the front door of the convention center, see these hanging quilts (this one is by Nancy Boyce Geese in the Fields) and know that the quilting game is ON, specifically that the Road to California show has opened for another year.

I’m trying something different this year. I noticed that the Road to California has put up good, high-resolution photos of the quilts that far surpass any of my snapshot renditions (largely because they are able to go around earlier, with a tripod and a good flash camera), plus they have many of the quilts that I may pass by. Click *here* to go to that listing and enjoy their show. What I’ll do below, is list some of the ones that interested me, make some commentary here and there (good and bad) and sum up the social aspect of the show.

This is the Big Kahuna of winners, and no surprise, it was won by Sharon Schamber. Titled Once Upon a Time, she started making it in 2000, then put it aside for over 10 years.

I’m interested in her quilting, for that it how she gained her fame.

Cheryl See’s quilt, Tatted Hearts had 20 yards of her great-grandmother’s hand-tatted lace and a doily. Never could locate the doily, so I assume it was used in the construction of this whimsical quilt, but the yards of tatting are evident.

Magic Carpet Ride reflects the childhood of maker Janet Wilson, when she noted that she grew up with Turkish carpets all over their floors. She set out to create a design that was a colorful quilted, version of these carpets.

This is a quilt that gets a thumbs up on the use of crystals (generally, I think it is WAY overdone in show quilts), as they were used to be a integral part of the design and only for accent. But using French knots would have been okay with me too, in those spaces where she put some bling.

How do you like that fringe? Wilson is a clever quilter, and skilled with her quilting (below is the back):

Zen Garden was made and quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn, and is based on the “Blooming Carpenter’s Star.” She noted that all the fabrics she used were from her stash (certainly noteworthy!) and she used a longarm machine to complete the quilting.

On this next quilt, first I’m going to show you some of the details before showing you the full quilt:

And here it is: Willow, by Debra Crine. She used hand-dyed fabrics over a silk background, and her technique was to fuse them, then appliqué them with a double blanket stitch. She also quilted it. This was not a large quilt, nor was the Magic Carpet Ride. Crine doesn’t say whether it was a domestic sewing machine (DSM) that she used to quilt it, or a long arm. Of course, my bias is to see people quilting on a domestic machine, as that’s what most of us have.

I love reading Linda’s blog, Flourishing Palms, as she is trying to adapt many of the longarm techniques to our DSM, applying some of their tricks and tips so that the resulting finish can have a similar technical excellence to them. I began to look for quilts that indicated that they’d used a DSM, chuckling a bit at the phrase “hand-guided longarm quilting,” although I know that this label is appropriate.

When I read in MaryPat Leger’s artist’s statement that her quilting was inspired by Leah Day’s free motion quilting class, I knew I was seeing a quilt that was done on a DSM. Leger tried out many different patterns on her Mariner’s Circles, and although the next picture is blurry (they have strips of plastic stretched across the quilts so it does make it hard to get good photos), you can see how many different stitches she tried on her quilt.

Debra Crine’s been busy. This is another quilt of hers, titled A Taste of Paradise. Taken from an illustration, she hand painted the fabric with acrylic paints and a used a variety of threads for the thread painting. She also quilted it, but no word on whether it was a DSM or a longarm.

Lenore Crawford came upon an art class of teenagers sketching in the streets while on a trip to northern France, then returned home to create her quilt Capturing Brittany from what she saw. She used raw edge fused appliqué, and quilted it herself. This was another quilt that we were prevented from seeing up close, due to the barriers. I just wanted to stand there all day, enjoying her scene and her skills at bringing this to us. Click on this quilt on the Road website to see it larger.

We interrupt this quilt show to bring you an advertisement for more sparkles.

This is the BACK of the quilt, a sign proudly proclaiming “over 22,000” crystals. Would it surprise you to know that this quilter had a booth, and was selling crystals? Certainly a masterpiece of quilting and technically perfect with applied crystals, it represents the high point (or low point, depending on your point of view) of the Crystal/Sparkle/Bling phenomena. (I don’t know who the maker was because I was not impressed with the front, and I don’t like to give out the names of quilts I diss.) We now return you to our regularly scheduled quilt show.

Lorraine Williams, who made this quilt titled All The Pretty Pieces, notes that it comes from a pattern, but doesn’t mention which one. (I’m guessing this one from Jen Kingwell Designs.) But it was lovely and refreshing and I’ve already participated in helping to make a variation of this pattern for one of our Mid-Century Modern Bee quilters. I like the look of this one, as if someone had been piecing blocks all along, and then it just came together naturally.

Williams also quilted her blocks differently, letting each stand out. I thought she used varying backgrounds quite successfully, and her color palate was harmonious and brought the quilt together.

One of the odd (and maddening) things about the way they hang their quilts at Road, is this unfortunate habit of grouping all like things together (p.s. have they ever heard of “habituation?”). The downside is that a viewer’s eyes begin to glaze over. . .oh, another flower. . . oh, another animal. . . oh, another whatever. . . after seeing 10 of the same subject in a row. The upside is that you can always find them again if you want to find them again “It’s in the flower section,” like we are at a garden show and all the lilies are grouped together or all the orchids. It’s been this way for quite a few years, and nothing I ever say will change that–it’s just one of Road’s idiosyncrasies. But since I’m trying to bring you the essence of Road, that’s just part of it.

Sue Turnquist started her quilt Even the Sunflowers Wept shortly after her mother passed away in 2009, and she referred to it as her “mourning quilt.” I’ve seen a few of these in quilt shows over the years, and I like the idea that a quilt was made to help process grief and in remembrance. She writes “Even though the sunflowers weep, one cannot remain sad in their presence.”

Rainbow Nouveau is by Margaret Solomon Gunn, using batiks, hand-dyes, and gold acrylic paint for accents. She quilted it herself: “quilting is hand-guided,” meaning longarm machine. Her original and whimsical appliqué kept my eye moving over the quilt. It was fun to look at.

I apologize for not having the maker’s name, nor the title, but I found it on my camera. Something about it caught my eye. If anyone has any information about this, please let me know. I really liked the use of those four small squares set on point to act as a type of sashing.

Always fun to have a Halloween Quilt! Debra Elenbaas pieced the top and Diane Beauchamp quilted Happy Hauntings. It’s taken from a pattern by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool, and has lots of appliqué.

I thought the spiderwebs in the borders were classic!

Kay Laboda made and quilted Stars to Light Your Way, a black and white quilt where each block is different from the others. She says she “loves paper piecing” and gave this to her son and new daughter-in-law.

Now I’ve seen everything. Yep–the title of this is The Real Quilted Northern. Maker and quilter Jerry Kay writes “The TV commercial showed little old ladies with knitting needles making quilted northern. I wanted to show the ‘REAL’ thing!”

I’m going to close out this post (there’s more coming–stay tuned) showing one reason why there are fewer and fewer judged quilts at Road. It is because these collections of quilts — sponsored (read:$$) by a shop owner or a store or a corporation — have become numerous. I counted about five different ones, but here’s two.

This one was huge (I’m only showing half of it) and had mounds of white fluffy batting to denote “clouds” as this show was about angels. Some of the quilts were interesting, but many were not. Wasted space.

Because I’m involved in an on-line art group, I took time to look at this gallery of “art quilts,” also 12″ square. I thought some were interesting, but many were not (sound familiar?). Some wasted space.

I’m guessing that the economies of sponsorship outweigh the showing of quilt-show quilts, but am saddened by the shrinking number of quilts, and wish, somehow, we could have more individual quilts, fewer galleries of quilts. The category of wearable art seems to have disappeared this year, and the doll exhibit was substantially reduced. Here’s a couple:

And one doll from my favorite doll maker: Elinor Peace Bailey. She’s the best.

This traditional Dresden Plate design is updated in a pink and green setting with central blocks to allow for fabulous quilting. Quilting designs are “hand-guided.” Margaret Solomon Gunn titled this Big Bertha, and it was a stand out quilt, as you can tell by that fancy ribbon hanging on the side.

At the front of the hall, just behind the harpist selling his CDs, was this exhibit which was a communal effort of many quilters.

And the Sacramento River ran through it all.

China Gardens by Roblee Irvine

Table Mountain in the Bend Area, by Alice Burris, Violet Skeeters and Beula Alioto

Sims Flat by Patty Schuler. She says the three women about ready to head into the river “represent my sisters and me.”

Headwaters Along the South Fork of the Sacramento River, by Jacque White

Part II of Road to California 2014 will follow, which will include my favorite quilt and my nominees for the Most Ugly Quilt (I actually have several this year). I just found out that the Quilt Inspiration blog has also liked some of the same ones I have. Click *here* to see their first post, then follow the links to their second post.