More QU Quilts

As usual, there were too many favorite quilts at the QU show for one blog post.  Here are some others that we liked.

A group of Vienna chapter quilters did a challenge especially for the Just Piece It theme of the show.  They each created a portrait divided into 3 sections (top of head, eyes to nose, mouth to neck).  They then swapped the top and bottom sections, keeping their own eyes to nose section, and assembled the 3 parts into a harmonious quilt. Click on the photo to enlarge for a closer view.  Participants include (left to right, top to bottom):  Lorraine Heady, Karla Vernon, Willa Downes, Anna Willard, Trudi Sommerfield, Joni Seidenstein, and Polly Dombroski.

I Love Batik is by Bonnie Anderson of the Haymarket chapter.  The pattern is Shimmering Triangles by Jenny Bowker.  The top was pieced by Jo Cotter and Marty Bush of the Annandale chapter (Bonnie purchased the top at their auction) and quilted by Bonnie.  We'd say the pattern is aptly named!

Patricia Price of Burke made Amazing Love as a wedding gift for her nephew.  The pattern is by Laurie Shifrin.  Pat pieced the top and it was quilted by Beth Flores; the quilting pattern is Curved Maze by Geometric Longarm.  The interesting thing about this design is that the semicircles are only visible from a distance (or through the lens of a camera).

This is one of Linda Cooper's (Burke) original kinetic quilt designs - When Quilts Party.  The inset pieces feature photos of other quilts Linda has made which are attached with fishing lure swivels.  The back sides show the same quilts in black and white, hence, the party (color) side and non-party side (black & white).  The machine piecing and quilting are all done by Linda.

Sue's favorite was this  completely original quilt by Bonnie Rhoby of Reston, called Sewing Seeds of Hope.  Techniques include hand painting and applique, machine piecing and  quilting.  The workmanship on this is amazing.  Enlarge for a close-up look at the micro-quilting.  Below is a detail shot.

Beverly Pontius of the Springfield chapter made Brix, a pattern by Amy Walsh.  It is machine pieced and quilted.

Finally, Lollipop Trees is made by Ann Collins of Springfield.  The pattern is by Kim McLean and is machine pieced and hand appliqued by Ann.  The quilting is by Margaret Solomon Gunn.  Ann says she began this quilt in 2010, and though it took a few years to complete, was worth the time and effort.

We hope you've enjoyed this mini quilt show, especially if you weren't able to attend in person. 

Elizabeth's Favorites at the QU Show

The Quilter’s Unlimited show in Chantilly VA is always an enjoyable weekend.  Close to home, it has nice vendors in addition to member quilts and usually a special exhibit.  This year was no exception with the super “Fly Me to the Moon” exhibit, curated by our friend Susanne Jones, and in which Sue has a quilt honoring a favorite song associated with the moon.  More about that later.

Here are Elizabeth’s favorite member quilts from the show.

This quilt by Martha B. (apologies, the last name on the sign is blurry in our photos) appealed to Elizabeth not just because of the purple and green color theme, but the use of the large print mixed with the smaller squares.  The proportions were so pleasing to the eye.

A second quilt in the purple and green color theme was this one with stunning coneflowers placed on a gradated background of green squares. This quilt is called “In the Garden” by Ann Clare of Fairfax, made from a pattern by Barbara Persing and Mary Hummer.

“My Twitter Feed” by Preeti Harris was made by paper piecing all these fun birds.  You can read about it on her blog at:  http://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/ She blogs about the show as well as the technique used in this quilt when she made the quilt in a post on February 28. http://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/2017/02/he-tweeted-she-tweeted.html

This quilt, “Morning Has Broken” by Nancy Firestone of Annandale simply glowed from all the way across the room.The pattern was designed by Patches Quilt Shop of Mt. Airy, MD, for the 2015 Quilters Quest Shop Hop.  Quilting is by Kathleen Sihrir.

In Tahitian Journey by Jeanne Coglainese of Fairfax, the blue and orange colors complimented each other very well. 

Having once taken the workshop “Happy Villages” by Karen Eckmeier, this little quilt “Cinqua Terra Village” by Rosemary Ryan of Centreville was fun to see.  It is always interesting to note how someone else interprets the class.

I couldn’t resist liking this leaf quilt which is from a pattern designed by Quiltworx.com.  It is not crooked, that is just poor cell phone photography.  It is called “Cruisin’ Leaf” by Dena Brannen of Reston.  Made in a class while on a quilting cruise to Alaska, she bought all the fabric while on the trip.

This quilt, made from a tie collection, was part of a recycling challenge.  It was one of the nicest tie quilts I have even seen.  Called “Retired Ties” by Sharon Gookley of Vienna.

Near the end of the quilt show, I spotted this take on the Wizard of Oz called “My Sister” by Susan Smith.  Having only a sister, it did make me giggle.

While I missed going to the show with Sue, I am glad I got to go and being by myself meant that I saw the show and visited with the vendors at my own pace.  A nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Quilters Unlimited Annual Show

You may have noticed that we have not been blogging very much lately.  May was a difficult month for Sue with the passing of her father-in-law and both mother and mother-in-law first hospitalized and then in rehab.  Both still continue with recovery but are improving.  Now that summer is rapidly approaching we will try to get ourselves back on track to blog more consistently.

Last weekend was the annual Quilters Unlimited show in Northern Virginia.   Both of us were able to attend, but on separate days, so you will get our individual viewpoints on this show.  By far, Sue's favorite part of the event was the Fly Me to the Moon exhibit, but she'll save that for a separate post.  First, today's post covers the main part of the show, which consists of quilts made by members of this guild.  QU has 11 chapters and over 1,000 members; members are able to submit up to 4 quilts for the show.  This is a non-judged event.  As well, each chapter has their own small display area that can include group challenges.  Along with the show, vendors, demos, and classes round out the event. 

These are Sue's favorites from the main show.

"My Small World" is a Jen Kingwell pattern pieced by Kay Lettau and quilted by Beth Shafer.

 "Pastorale" is an original design by Jennifer Emry who both pieced and quilted it.

Above is another original improvisational quilt by Jennifer Emry, "Strip Tease". 

"Everyday Best" made by Ann Littleton added some bright, happy color.  It is a Piece O'Cake design and is quilted by Cindy Luby.

"License to Shop" by Zebra Patterns  was made by Cheryl Miller and quilted by Mary Tims.  What a great way to use those Row By Row license plates!

Judy Ballance created "Fade to Black".  Using a traditional block and techniques by Louise Smith in her book, New Twist on Strips and Curves, Judy created an original layout.  Quilting is by Lisa Marshall.

"Zinnias by Yim 3" is the creation of Linda Cooper.  Based on a photo, she used Susan Carlson's collage technique to create this original quilt.  Lovely!

Of course, these are just a few of the many quilts on display.  There are many exceptional quilters in Northern Virginia and it is always a show worth seeing.  Stay tuned to see what Elizabeth highlights from her visit.

Favorites from QU Show

There were many wonderful quilts exhibited at the Quilters Unlimited show last weekend.  Here are some favorites.

Above is Striped Squares by Martha Bush of Annandale chapter of QU.  This is a Kaffe Fassett quilt designed by Liza Prior Lucy, a simple quilt that looks more complex because of the striped fabric.

This Hunter's Star quilt called Aldebaran is by Sandy Kretzer of Burke QU.  The quilting is by Wanda Hlavka.

Calico Twist is by Francine York of Springfield QU, quilting by Diane Henry.

Karen Cook of Vienna QU made this Batik Farmer's Wife as a block of the month.

The theme exhibit for the show was "Virginia's Beautiful Waters".  This view of Lake Barcroft is by Susan Bynum of Burke QU.

Winter Garden is by Jennifer Emry of McLean QU.  This is an original design by Jennifer using stripes, plaids, chambray and flannel.

Elizabeth's Working in a Series

In her Working in a Series class, Jane asked that we work on three pieces simultaneously this day and keep them fairly small in size.  I enjoyed working on multiple pieces at once because when you started to feel tired or overwhelmed about one you could go on to another.  They seemed to gain energy and ideas between each other too.  My 3 pieces met Jane’s working in a series qualifications in several ways.  They all used thermofax screens, fish was the subject, and they all used a hand dyed background fabric.  These are some of the elements I started with.

Jane does most of the quilting prior to adding the design elements of the quilt and then if she needs to add additional machine or hand quilting as embellishment, she does not hesitate to do that either.  These are my 3 mini quilts that I worked on in class.

Of course, when the week of the class arrived I realized that my travel/take to class sewing machine had already “traveled” to New Hampshire for the summer so my neighbor, Kathleen, said I could borrow a small Brother machine she had bought at Costco.  This little machine was a trooper.  It has a self- threading option and enough decorative stitches to last through the day.  It quilted well, was lightweight to carry and was a pleasure to use.  Something to consider when you don’t want to or can’t haul a machine like “Super Baby” in and out of hotel conference rooms.  

 All things considered, this class was a great opportunity.  I practiced some design techniques, got further in the creative process than usual (starting with background quilting is a cool option!), tried out a different machine, and had a "mental health" day off from work.  Not to mention learning from a respected teacher.  Well worth the price of admission!

Working in a Series with Jane Davila

Elizabeth was excited to see Jane Davila amongst the teachers offering classes connected with the Quilters Unlimited Show at the Dulles Expo Center.  What a great opportunity to take a class from a nationally known teacher and so close to home!  All the classes sounded wonderful but the Thursday option “Working in a Series” was the one Elizabeth attended.  Here is her take away from the class.

Jane is a wonderful teacher who is extremely generous with her assistance and her knowledge.  She started with a short talk about what working in a series means to her and showed samples of some series quilts she has done.  All were inspiring.

During the day, Jane gave two more short talks/demos.  One was about using Distress Inks to tone down areas of a piece of fabric or the entire piece and the other was about borders and finishing ideas.  She also mentioned using gel medium to create a fusible piece if you forget and cut the fabric out prior to applying your fusible.  That tip alone was worth the cost of admission!  But the other strong message was to get good, you have to let go of the idea that you are meticulously creating a perfect piece of work and instead should work on creating quantity of work.  Yes, some will flop but only by creating quantity will you get better.  Let’s face it, quantity is just another word for practice!  A great message to hear from someone whose work I admire.

Next post, photos of Elizabeth's series from the class.

Inspired by the Beatles Exhibit

One of the highlights of the QU quilt show was the exhibit of the complete collection of Beatles challenge quilts.  In 2013, Donna DeSoto of Fairfax issued a challenge to her art quilt group to make a quilt to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first visit to the US.   The challenge quickly spread to other quilters throughout the states and a few foreign countries.  150 quilters answered the challenge to make a 24" square quilt based on the title or lyrics of a Beatles song.  No songs could be duplicated.  In addition to the exhibit, a book, "Inspired by the Beatles, An Art Quilt Challenge"  was published containing photos of all the quilts and a personal narrative from each artist.  It is available at Amazon, and also at Artistic Artifacts if you are local to Northern Virginia.  The exhibit will continue to tour, in some cases the entire collection, in other cases smaller groupings of the quilts will be shown.  Here is a look at a few of the 150 quilts.

Left to right:  A Day in the Life by Eileen Doughty; A Hard Day's Night by Laura Brown; A Shot of Rhythm and Blues by Meggan Czapiga.

Top left, Honey Don't;  top center, Honey Pie by Cathy Tyler; top right, I Am the Walrus; bottom left, I Me Mine; bottom center, I Saw Her Standing There by Lesly-Claire Greenberg; bottom right, I Want to Hold Your Hand by Tina Lewis.

Blue Jay Way by Frieda Anderson.

Cayenne by Stacie Northrup.

Glass Onion by Sue Bynum.

Tomorrow Never Knows by Diane Herbort.

Let It Be by Cyndi Souder.

Memphis, Tennessee by Debra Gabel.

This is just a small sampling of the quilts.  If you get a chance to see them in person, don't miss it!