Month: October 2013

I spent the day at PIQF with Julie. I had a nice time. I looked at quilts. I looked at vendors. I examined stitching and patterns. I, generally, had a good time.

I found more Scrumptious mini-charms, another Sunnyside mini-charm, a few pieces of fabric, and some Cosmo embroidery floss. I did not buy the Splash Bali Pops or a Sew Steady Table for my Jem. As I said yesterday, there was a story behind the mini charms. After driving home Wednesday, it occurred to me that I could use the mini-charms to make a Midi bag. I knew had the pattern, but wasn’t sure where it was or if I could find it before I went back to the show. So I asked Katie on Twitter and she knew. 108, which meant that I needed to buy some more mini charms. Of course, I went back to the booth to buy more and they were out. I was sad, but it wasn’t the end of the world and I did find some more Sunnyside mini-charms and will probably make a Midi bag out of those as well. I was sad, but undaunted and was pleased to find more of the Scrumptious mini-charms at the Prairie Queens Quilt Shop booth! that is a relatively local shop but one with which I am not familiar. I’ll have to check it out.

6 hours is not enough time to see everything. I feel good about the number of quilts I saw. I am sad that I didn’t see all the vendors, though I know my wallet is happy. I thought the vendors stepped up their game a bit this year. It was nice to see some of the new products out for sale. The vendors were friendlier and their booths were very appealing.

I really liked the quilts. I saw so many that had fabulous design or details. Let’s Go Party! (above)has wonderful lines and those circles amaze me in the way they are made with tiny strips of fabric. The lines of the design are wonderful.

I also really liked the combination of hand embroidery and bright sashing. The combination is unexpected and pleasing. I always like hand embroidery, but I have thought that it needed to be freshened up a bit, in general. This piece has taken hand embroidery and incorporated into a really fresh quilt. It takes hand embroidery and gives it new life.

The San Jose Quilt Museum was there with a display of crazy quilts. I didn’t take photos of the entire quilts. A lot of crazy quilts don’t photograph (by me) well. They are full of detail. I did take photos of the stitches I was interested in.

I took photos of the stitches that I thought were different than the ones in normal stitch dictionaries.

There was a bag called a Pasadena bag that I thought was interesting, but didn’t end up buying. I reminded myself that I have plenty of bag patterns as yet unmade. This thought inspired me to dig through my pattern box and look at the bag patterns I have bought with good intentions.

The Mancusos have a preview night before the Pacific International Quilt Festival officially opens. It is held on Wednesday. I went this year, as I have for the past several years, but this time I drove down right after work. The drive down was ok. I didn’t encounter much traffic on the way down – just a bit as I got closer to Santa Clara. I consumed an odd dinner – GF cheese crackers, a bottle of water and a NuGo bar – and listened to an audiobook as I drove. Healthy, I know.

I arrived at 7pm, which gave me plenty of time to park, get the lay of the land and sit for awhile reading my [other] book before the doors opened. I like having plenty of time. Rushing around makes me forget things. People were already waiting in line when I got there, eager to be first. I always wonder what they want to be first for. I don’t wait in that line. I sit and wait for 2 extra minutes past the opening time, then stroll in without waiting. 😉

TFQ usually comes, though her company’s budget process has been so screwed up (my words, not hers!!!) the past couple of years that we have had to change our plans last minute. This year she couldn’t make it at all. It is ok as we are looking at other shows. The PIQF format is getting a little tired for me. They need to add a display of bags and small accessories. They should change the hanging drapes to white to brighten up the hall and they should look at local talent for some special exhibits and to make the show different from all the others they host. Still, it is a large show in the area and I couldn’t miss it. I definitely need to report back to TFQ on the quilts.

My intent was to wander relatively quickly through the entire hall and get an idea of what quilts and vendors were available. I didn’t want to try to look at all the quilts or take photos of everything in the hour and a half of the Preview. I just wanted to get a sense of the show. I planned to go back Saturday and a drive-by would help me plan that day.

My first impression of the quilts was light and air. Often, the quilts on the black drapes create a dark, oppressive feeling. This year there was more light. The quilts were lighter in color and feeling, which gave the space a lighter feeling. Some vendors were moved slightly – up a booth or two, to a corner where previously they had been in the middle of the aisle. Many of the vendor booths had lighter colored quilts hanging also, though there were plenty of the repro booths filled with beiges, browns, burgundies and black.

I went to find Swoon pretty soon after I arrived. I did, after awhile, find it near the PENWAG booth and the Wearables. It is actually in quite a prime location except for the tools and supplies pushed behind it and poking out underneath the curtain. Hmpf.

As I said, I only intended to look at the quilts quickly and not take photos. I couldn’t help myself, though, and took a few. I plan to write some posts about the ones I liked later.

I also went and talked to Colleen for awhile. Her booth was filled with fun and cheerful fabrics. She also has a new technique that she will be launching tomorrow at Quilt Market. If you are reading this from Quilt Market, make sure you visit her Schoolhouse. I’d love to see a Modern Quiltmaker make an Instant Quilt from Tula Pink’s octopus fabric from the Saltwater line.

I was pleased to see that Sylvia Gregorian won one of the big prizes for her quilt. Sylvia used to be a member of CQFA and I have watched her work through what she has entered and the quilt that won definitely deserved to win.

I loved the border. I have been looking at tree quilts, especially for the width and shape of the trunk in relation to the branches.

The quilting in the border echoes the shape of the tree. The quilting is amazing all over the quilt. It looks like anyone could do it with enough patience. This quilt really inspired me. I have enjoyed watching Sylvia enter and enter every year, gradually winning bigger and better prizes. Congrats!

My overall impression was of much lighter quilts. My overall impression of a trend among the quilts was birds and squids. No joke.

 
Yes, I visited some of the vendors. Quiltin’ Cousins was there. they have a great booth and great fabric. I also saw some Scrumptious mini charms and bought them on spec. Later, it occurred to me that they would be perfect for the Midi bag, so I got more when I went back, but that is a whole story of its own. Stay tuned.

Remember to take a look at parts 1, 2 and 3.

I hope you don’t think that I made you suffer through all the other posts to get to the part in which you were really interested? I loved everything about the show and thought there was so much to post.  It finally occurred to me to post some more quilts. Hmmm…

There were a lot of great quilts at the show. I was very impressed with the quality of the quilts selected. The workmanship on many of them was outstanding. I have to admit, though, that the little devil voice in my head reminds me that I couldn’t stick my nose up to the quilts since they were hanging in trees. I am going to move through the voice and tell you that it doesn’t matter.

I don’t know anything about the judging or selection process for the quilts, but I thought, in general, from what I could see, the quilts were well selected, interesting and diverse.

Becky Parry’s Concrete Jungle is one of my favorites. I love the design, which I consider to be a modified Chinese Coins pattern. It might have another name or be a new, modern pattern. I also love the fabric. This pattern would work very well with the Philip Jacobs prints I own. Of course, I would add in others. Mrs. K and I put our cameras on super telephoto, because we wanted to see how it was made. I will study the construction a little more before I pass judgment. I love how much interest and movement there is in this piece.

I am also always, as you know, looking for interesting uses for large scale print fabrics. This is a pattern called To Natalie with Love from Quilt Bug Patterns. I wasn’t able to easily find a link to buy the pattern, but the quilt was hanging outside the In Between Stitches booth and you might contact them to find it, if you nee a pattern to make it.

What I think makes the quilt interesting is the sashing. Yes, the fabrics are, of course, interesting. No matter how interesting the fabrics are, the quilt is boring to me if it is just a bunch of big squares (or rectangles) of fabric. This quilt would be a great leaders and enders project, because you could sew the four patches using the leaders and enders method. Chunking the sashing to the blocks would also help keep the piece straight. Again, I wonder how this would look with Philip Jacobs fabric?

This sample is well pieced. The corners aren’t cut off and I like that. I mentioned chunking above, because I think sewing smaller pieces of the sashing to the ‘blocks’ would facilitate that high level of piecing. My only concern would be that chunking might add extra, possibly unattractive, seam lines. Choice of background could hide such a ‘problem.’

I notice that the fabrics chosen for the four patches do not help to distinguish the pieces as four patches. I think that is fine, as long as it was a conscious decision. Some of the darker fabrics help move the eyes around the quilt, which is great and was, perhaps, planned.