Dallas Quilt Show Part 1

Wow! What a great show. I am eager to share pictures and thoughts about the wonderful quilts I saw. You can see a list of winners here. 

Let's start with the Show Chair theme. The Dallas Quilt Show has a super cool tradition of letting the show chair pick a theme for his or her very own category. It is judged and wins ribbons and prize money just like all the other categories. Past themes have included humorous quilts and two color quilts. Next year's show chair theme is charm quilts. This year's chair was my friend Judy Kriehn and she chose Words and Letters as her theme.

Here is Please Write by Susan Hogan. I am especially drawn to this little envelop shape, because it's the same as my beloved house shape.


Here is the first place winner from the theme. It's The Blue and Green Quilt by Shannon Page.


Can you see the words? It reads "Today was a good day."


Here's my entry in the Show Chair theme. It's called Multitudes. You can see more details on my blog post about it here. It was awarded an Honorable Mention ribbon.


I got lots of lovely compliments on this piece. Many people commented on the "sophisticated color palette." I'm having a bit of a moment with neutrals!

I really liked this piece by Lynn Jennings called Secret Messages. It's based on the machine created by Allen Turing to decode German messages.
 

In fact, Lynn included her own coded message in the quilt. It could be deciphered by noted the letters highlighted in each block. The tiny machine embroidered circular alphabet in each block is really effective.


Here is Tonya Littman's brilliant Art Does Not Have to Match Your Sofa with its Honorable Mention and Past Show Chairs Ribbon.


An Andy Warhol quote is stitched above the sofa.


Here's is the actual Show Chair's quilt in her own category! It's Judy Kriehn's Dingbats, Dammit! All those background triangles are fabrics with prints with words and letters. 

Just one more picture to share from the Show Chair theme. Here is Between the Lines by Wilma Moss. It reminds me of the three finger print quilts created for the Identity Theme in the 12x12 project.


Another cool category at the Dallas Quilt Show every year is the block challenge. The guild choses a theme and a selection of fabrics, members can buy a kit and create a 12x12 inch block on the theme. This category is judged and prizes are awarded. They even have their own custom small-sized ribbons. After the show, the blocks are put together in a quilt and added to the guild's collection. This year the theme was Day at the Zoo. Here are my two favorite blocks.





It was really fun to see some SAQA members at the show.


I also loved the giant smiling thimble with the googly eyes that made a great photo op at the show.


I'll wrap up this Part One blog post with the Best of Show winner. It's Jan Hutchison's Remembrance.



Here's a slightly closer shot. It was hard to get an extreme detail since it's roped off for viewing.


Would you believe it's a whole cloth quilt? Yes, all that color you see is thread. The cloth is green shot cotton which had a beautiful sheen and texture. The quilting is masterful, original and fresh -- in a traditional way.

I'll post more images in a couple of days. I took lots of pictures!