Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
|
I would say there were at least 30 quilts that incorporated leaves – full leafy leaves, colored Autumn leaves and thin, spiky leaves. I found most of the leaf (and by association, tree) quilts to be quite calming.
After breakfast and before we headed back to the show, we went to visit the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. They had three exhibits on. he major exhibit was a group of Radka Donnell quilts. Many of them were from the 1970s and had been used. They were all bed sized and I think it was hard for me to appreciate what she had accomplished, because there was nothing to compare them with. Many of them look like the backs of quilts I make now. They were all best viewed from far away and that is the good thing about the new-ish space. The galleries were large and enabled us to stand back. My favorite was So Bubbly and Clear. TFQ liked some elements of The Pool of Nazzissos. The other gallery had quilts from a variety of artists including Faith Ringgold (prints) and Laura Wasilowski. A log cabin quilt by Terrie Hancock Mangat kept our attention for a long time as there were lots and lots of interesting fabrics. Finally, the last gallery had 8 Double Wedding Ring or wedding quilts. Most were the normal DWRs, but one looked like a cross between the Winding Ways and the Flowering Snowball. I wasn’t able to find a reference for it yet, but will post it when I do.
Back at PIQF, another theme I noticed was that many quilts used a hexagon shape. I don’t remember any of the traditional Grandmother’s Flower Garden type layouts. I saw one that used the hexagon shape for the base of a Crazy quilt and one that used hexagons to make flowers.
It was really interesting to see themes pop out.
We visited the vendors. I did buy a few fabrics, but passed many of them up. Best vendor award goes to: Erica at In Between Stitches from Livermore. She was friendly, funny and willing to have someone bring us Moda swatch packs of the Fresh Squeeze fabrics from their store. I love vendors who don’t complain and have a great attitude about customer service.
Last year, after PIQF, I went home depressed. The quilts were so grim. Every year is a new year, however and I am really pleased with the quilts. They are much more cheerful and I am finding lots to look at in many of the quilts.
The quilt to the side is by Carol Stapleton of San Mateo. She did an amazing job! I talked with some people who know her near the quilt and they said that she does a lot of miniatures. This one is well designed/coordinated (e.g. does not suffer from the two quilt in one syndrome), but looks like it could be several miniature quilts on their own. The piecing is meticulous. Many kudos to Carol!
Yesterday was a nice day. We got up in a leisurely manner and went to a ‘difficult’ breakfast. The food was marginal. The difficult part was that the restaurant puts baking mix in their pre-made (!!!) omelette mixture!?! Apparently, the cooks didn’t know how to make an omelette from scratch either. Talk about stupid! I won’t be going there again.
We finally arrived at the show at about noon, right about the time people were going to lunch. We looked at all the quilts in the back of the hall and then took a chocolate break.
I felt much more organized and able to take in the quilts after photographing a bunch on Wednesday eve and not trying photograph right away on Thursday.
After our break, we went back to photograph the quilts in the back hall. There were still people around, but it wasn’t difficult to get in between groups of people enjoying the show to photograph. We ran into Linda and Terri and Maureen. Terri was signing her books at the Always Quilting booth. Her newest book, Old Maid’s Puzzle is available and she was signing those books as well.
We didn’t do much shopping. We visited some vendor booths looking for more background fabrics for the baskets we made last year. It is kind of a buttery yellow and we were finding mostly gold, lemon or banana yellow. There is (was??) a Moda Marble Mate Dot that we used for a couple of the blocks, but we didn’t see anymore of it.
We ended the day, exhausted, at 19 Market in downtown San Jose. It is a modern Vietnamese bistro and the food is excellent. This is our third visit and we really enjoyed the food. The waiter was also cute and just friendly enough to not be annoying. He had a good sense of humor as well.
TFQ and I went to the PIQF Preview tonight and it was wonderful. Apparently, most people who attend, attend to shop. I saw two ladies leaving with Jem Platinums! We have started to attend the preview in order to take photos. I barely looked at the quilts, but just shot photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/artquiltmaker/sets/72157608068541986/) so I wouldn’t have to worry about the crowds. It was great! And I know I will be much less cranky tomorrow when I can just look at quilts.
I am thrilled to say that people entered cheerful quilts. Not exclusively, but my overall impression is cheerful. I am so happy, because after EBHQ and APNQ, I was getting worried about the state of quiltmakers’ psyches. There are also a lot of quilts with a ton of details on them, so I think people have just been sititng in their studios for the past four years waiting for Nov.4. I didn’t look much at the vendors, but will work on that tomorrow as well.
Eddie’s Quilting Bee is about 2 miles away. We went there before the show opened and looked around. I bought an 8.5″x4.5″ Creative Grid ruler and a pattern for a tote bag from Gail Abeloe for Tracey Brookshier Design Studio. It is similar to the Eco Market tote, but has a square bottom and no side panels. It will be interesting to try it out.
The tree quilt above is called Leaves on a Tree and it is, coincidentally, by Gail Abeloe. Gail is the owner of Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove. Nice work!
Bottles seem to be popular items to wrap in gift bags. he shape definitely lends itself to wrapping in fabric. Weed whackers: not so much.
The one pictured is beautiful. It seems to be fairly complex as well – too complex for me to make by the dozens, but I may expand my theme to actually trying these patterns. Let me know if you make one.
|
Page 10 of the Dear Baby Jane pool (http://www.flickr.com/groups/dearbabyjane/pool/page10/) blew me away. The blocks on that page all looked like they were made out of batiks and hand-dyes. They were almost all brightly colored and caught my attention. I guess I am like a bird – attracted to brightly colored and shiny patchwork.
I have posted a few of the blocks, but go take a look at the page.
|
|
One of the things I notice as I go through the DJ blocks people have made is how the white stands out. TFQ and I have discussions about white all the time and how it can really detract from the rest of the block – or not allow a person to see the rest of the block. In the case of the DJ blocks, I think the white, in many of the blocks, really makes you see the design. I think the block patterns are so detailed that they need something to show off the intricate piecing. In the case of this block, the white does the trick.
I am really impressed by he great fabric combinations that the makers are using.
There are thousands of Dear Jane blocks posted on the two Flickr groups I have found. I think the choice of fabric and artistry of these blocks is amazing. Not to mention the dedication!
This one, initially, caught my attention because of the dots (of course!). After I got over the dots I noticed how what interesting patches the block has. Notice how the rectangles are not quite rectangles? They seem to be trapezoids. As a result, there is a lot of movement in this block.
The problem comes in the actual execution. Sigh. I know that if I take these fabrics out of the closet and jumble them, I will most certainly have to refold and put at least half of them away.
I know I have to do something like this (make visual decisions visually), but I seem to have a brain block. Perhaps I need a studio assistant? HAH! Or just continue to work on cultivating enjoyment of the entire process.
|
My mother once told me, when asked how old she was, that she was 29 . I don’t know if she actually was 29 at that time. Ever since then, when asked, I start to tell people she is 29 and then I have to remember that I am older than 29 so she can’t possibly be 29! The 29 effect means that I always have to do the math to figure out how old she is.
Today is her birthday and she is once again, 29. In honor of her birthday, I thought I would show some of the quilts she is working on.
This is a quilt for a friend who took care of the dog when my mom was running back and forth to hospitals and the nursing home earlier this year. The print is a dog print and, as you can see, she is clearly influenced by my dot habit.
This is the back and I think the way she highlighted the Very Hungry Caterpillar motifs is a good use of the Eric Carle fabric.
This quilt also uses pet fabric as the background for the hearts. The hearts are a pack from Keepsake Quilting and are raw edge applique’d to the background. I like way the placement of the hearts creates movement.
My mother is quite prolific and willing to try anything. As a result, she is a great inspiration to me.
|
|
Borders have been on my mind lately,especially as I work through my Crazy Test quilt. I think about the value of borders when the self bordering technique does not work.
Here is another Ferry Building mosaic. The thing that struck me about this mosaic was the two different (large) borders. They are distinctly separate, but close enough in value to go together and look like they were planned. I don’t actually like the peachy hue, but it works on this mosaic. I think a couple of aquas or an aqua and turquoise would look great on a watery quilt.
I love going to see quilts at the various county fairs in our state. I have been to a number of them, but I would still, someday, like to say that I have been to all the county fairs in the state. One thing I like about visiting county fairs is that I am reminded of how much creativity is going on nearby.
Not only do I enjoy the quilts, but I also enjoy seeing the tatting, the crochet, the tole painting, etc. I am really inspired by seeing the preserves, artistic cakes and the table setting displays.
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Los Angeles County Fair. As I have mentioned previously, I dislike the way they display the needlework. They are all behind glass cases and they often have dress dummies placed right in front of the quilts, which makes the work really hard to photograph. Most of the photos I took are more fragments of quilts rather than the entire thing. Enjoy anyway!
