Dallas Quilt Show Part 3

Still more quilts!

This is Crow Water Dance Waist High in Lighting Seed by Naima Jones. I love her work and find it instantly recognizable for its hand stitching and repurposed fabrics.


I think her work is often overlooked at quilt shows but might be much more celebrated in a folk-art exhibit.  I spoke with Naima about another of her quilts. She's very thoughtful and intentional and richly tied to her community and history.



This is Kerri Green's stunning Murmuration.


You have to see a detail to see how the screen printed images are layered.


You see Kerri won 2nd place in the Art Quilt category for the quilt above. AND she won first place in the same category. I would guess that the judges had no clue that these quilts were made by the same artist. They are really quite different, but equally stunning.

The blue ribbon quilt is Hugs and Kisses. It really makes an impact! As you study it, you can see that the four sections are all the same composition in just two colors, then three colors, then in multiple colors.


Kerri had one more quilt in the show. It's called Fun House 1. I'm crazy about that red triangle.


Heather Pregger had one of her Tuning Fork Series in the show.  It's Tuning Fork @29: The Marsh at First Encounter Beach.  I really love the deconstructed, landscape feel of this work.


Here is an amazing hexie quilt. I wish I had taken a close up shot so you could see the piecing of the small shapes, but it's more impressive from far away. The circular, swirling image she created must have taken so much planning! It's called Almost Charming Circles by Fay Poe.



Here is the first place winner in Wall Quilts. It's Richard Larson's Tapestry. As I understand it, this is a computerized machine embroidery pattern. It really boggles the mind to think how this is stitched and pieced.

Here's a detail. There is no black fabric in this quilt. All the black you see (other than the border) is black thread. (I think.)

Frankly, I really don't understand the draw. Here is the same quilt in a vendor booth. 

There were other quilts that incorporated machine embroidery in various ways. Some more innovative and interesting than others.

I love Karen Stone's work. Years and years ago, I paper pieced a quilt using her New York Beauty pattern. She had at least two quilts in the show. Here is Must Love Linen. It's a relatively traditional quilt and a bit outside of what I'd expect from Karen, but I love it. 

And here is Spot On.

I'm going to wrap up with just one more quilt. I shouldn't have saved it for last because it was the stand out experience for me from the whole show. It's incredible. Innovative and original, but grounded in tradition and masterful technique. It won the Viewer's Choice. Deservedly!

It's Rebecca Prior's Extraneous Female: Escapement Mechanism. She says it was based on blocks she learned from Elly Sienkiewicz in the Baltimore Album style. She also was loosely inspired by patterns for two steampunked theme quilt blocks published in Wired magazine, but beyond that I believe this design is entirely her own creation! Bravo Rebecca!

There was so much to see and enjoy with this quilt.  Can you see the flaps that open to reveal the heart on the woman's chest? Inside is a bird in a cage.

The steampunk theme was really strong and fun!

Some of the blocks were a bit creepy and odd, but it all worked.

Notice the quilting? The lightbulb?! Genius!

The titles on the books here are all steampunk genre.

This corset/bird cage may be my favorite block. It feels like such a traditional Baltimore album style basket... and yet different!

I didn't even show you images from the special exhibits which were really excellent. The Quilters Guild of Dallas puts on an excellent show. I am so proud to be a member of the guild and I enjoy it every year. Second week in March, mark your calendar and come see us!

Interesting Sites from our LA Trip

I'll have one more post with pictures from the Quilters Guild of Dallas show, but let's take a break from that and look at some more pictures from our trip to LA.

We went through several airports and I snapped this picture of a lone yellow staircase. I wrote about it a little in the most recent issue of my newsletter, Three Bits of Inspiration. (You can subscribe here.)

I love the yellow steps contrasting with the red lines on the pavement.

My sister lives in a cute neighborhood in North Hollywood. One morning the kids and I took a walk through the neighborhood and out into the commercial areas to a walking and bike path converted from an old train track line.

The famous Circus Liquor is just around the corner.


Apparently someone spilled some paint.


There were beautiful trees in bloom.


Someone else left their couch on the sidewalk.


Along the walking path there were tons of great murals. I really love this one that is painted on the wall in the foreground and the building behind it.


At the end of the walking path is a used bookstore! So many books!


And categorized quite thoughtfully.


We walked through a garden decor market on the way back. There were lots of sales.


We were temped to get a psychic reading. Not really.


The next day we took the train into downtown LA hoping to visit the new Broad Museum. It's free, but you have to have timed tickets and the line was several blocks long. So I just took pictures of the building instead.



It's right next to the Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry.


They play off each other beautifully.


We explored the gardens on top of the Disney Concert Hall where I took this picture of Claire and Benjamin that just captures them beautifully!


There was a beautiful lotus sculpture fountain in the garden.


In my last post about our LA trip, you saw pictures from The Last Bookstore (not the same bookstore that was along the walking path). Here are a few installations from that amazing place!

Organized by color!


And check out this big tunnel formed from stacks of books. I love the exterior with the pages facing out.


Last weird site on the train riding back to Joanna's place.

We eavesdropped a little. I think this was a theater student who was learning to make masks. So, this would be the mold. A sad, creepy mold.

We had a great trip. Getting away and out of our little part of the world always makes me look at things with fresh eyes.

Dallas Quilt Show Part 2

Here are a few more quilts that caught my eye at the Dallas Quilt Show.

Now isn't this just fun and silly? Cats as vegetables! It's called Garden Path Cats by Dorothy Hamilton.


I love avocados, so I especially love this block.


This quilt really makes a spectacular impression. I think I've seen it pop up elsewhere. In fact, I think Amalia M shared a similar quilt from her local quilt show which was the same weekend as the event in Dallas. It may even be a kit. But, I think it shows some interesting potential development in the Modern Quilting genre. It's made by Loide Wasmund and is called Defying Gravity.



Here's a wide shot of some of the quilts in the Small Contemporary category. I had two quilts in this group.


Here is the first place winner from Small Contemporary. It's Almost Squared Away by Sharon Schlotzhauer. It's very elegant and zen.



And here is the second place winner from Small Contemporary. It's Southern Lady by Pam Hough.


And here is the third place winner! Ta Da! It's me! This is Green Bowl Gathering.


My quilt Growing Up Through the Cracks was also in this category and won an HM ribbon.


My friend Carolyn Skei also had a quilt in the category. This is Time Travel and was made in a workshop I taught. I just love it! Carolyn completely ran with my design guide concept and created something original and unique.



Here's another of Carolyn's pieces. It's called Last Look Back.



This section with the ethereal image transfer all the beautiful variegated French knots is wonderful.



A unique and wonderful portrait quilt. It's The Chemist by Karen Lambdin. As the mother of a daughter who loves science, I was really drawn to this quilt.



This quilt by Laura Ruiz titled Bluebirds was actually in last week's Studio Art Quilt Associates newsletter. And then there is was before my very eyes at the show! Fun!

 

I love Sherrie Tootle's quilt about growing up in New York City. 

Here's a close up of Central Park.


The masterful, award-winning, genius art quilter, Barbara Oliver Hartman had a few quilts in the show including this treasure, Out My Front Door.


All those teeny tiny pieces!


Another of Barbara's pieces. This is Road Trip.


I especially like the subtle pops of teal in the stitching and painted details.


I had one more quilt in the show. This is Haze and Hope.


 This applique quilt was so endearing. I really love it. It's called I Am The True Vine by Sun Mee Seen. She says the design was inspired by illustrations in a calendar. It's needle turn appliqué and hand quilted and won a ribbon for hand workmanship.



Here is a block representing the miracle of the five loaves and two fish.



Here is the wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. See the vessel with the water and wine and the bride and groom? So charming.


This quilt always had people around it. It's quite fabulous! bug:trixelated transportation by Martha Peterson


Beautifully organized and effective piecing.


Frieda Anderson was one of the three judges at the show this year. She gave an inspiring lecture on Saturday afternoon.



I leave you with this peppy quilt. As you know, I'm totally an art quilter... but I just love quilts of all kinds. This one really caught my eye. It's Aqua Overload by Jill Isakson.



I'll wrap up with one more post including more art quilt later this week.