More QuiltCon Quilts

We posted a number of quilts from QuiltCon while in Nashville on both our Instagram and Facebook pages.  We will attempt to add some in this blog post that weren't shown before; hopefully that will give you a better overall idea of the show.  Several we are sharing today are prize winners.

Random Hexagons by the Block is by Catherine Redford of Naperville, Illinois and won 1st place in the Small Quilts category.  The hexagons are done with English Paper Piecing, hand stitched and appliqued, and finished with both machine quilting and hand stitching.

Double Sens is the 2nd place winner in the Small Quilts category.  It is by Sophie Zaugg from Le Sentier, Switzerland.  It is an improv work with the theme of triangles and plays with scale, direction and interaction between the triangles and background.

The 3rd place Small Quilt winner is You Are Here by Christine Yi of Portland, Oregon.  This quilt was made for an Alison Glass fabric challenge and is an improvisational design.

Double Crossed by Paige Alexander of Easley, South Carolina, won 1st place in the Quilting Challenge category (a challenge issued by the Modern Quilt Guild).  The inspiration for this quilt came from an eye chart.  Enlarge to see the very tiny crosses in the intersections of the lines.  No, they are not pieced, they are fussy cut from fabric by Anne Kelle for Robert Kauffman.

Hunt Harriot Quilt is the name of this quilt by Carolyn Friedlander of Lake Wales, Florida which won 1st place in the Applique category.  Carolyn is known for her handwork and says she enjoyed playing with values against the background which makes some blend in and others stand out.

The 1st place quilt in the Improvisation category is called Pathways by Tanya Munro from Dubna in the Moscow region of Russia.  The theme is support and came from an incident in which her husband fell off a ladder when there was no one there to support it. Making an analogy to life, who will be there to support you as you climb the ladders of life?

Prickly Path is by Sarah Sharp of Carmel, Indiana.  It is based on the Grandma's Fan block which is repeated on point with spikes added.  Be sure to enlarge to see the spectacular quilting by Angela Walters.

The 3rd place winner in the Use of Negative Space category is Lucy in the Sky by Alane Davis of Duluth, Minnesota.  Her inspiration was the 1960's Op Art of M.C. Escher, Victor Vasarely and Peter Max.  Her goal was to create a repeat pattern that became an optical illusion.

In the Piecing category was this entry called Sophisticate by Amy Friend of West Newbury, Massachusetts.  It was inspired by antlers,  and is constructed with improv paper piecing.

Log Lunacy in the Small Quilts category is by Laurie Sheldon of Washburn, North Dakota, and won a Judge's Choice award. If you think these blocks are small, your are right!  The quilt is composed of 1 5/8 inch improv courthouse step and log cabin blocks that are arranged in a larger courthouse step pattern.

QuiltCon 2019

If you follow us on Facebook, you already know that we attended QuiltCon last week in Nashville, TN and have shared many pictures of the quilts.  QuiltCon is the annual quilt convention of The Modern Quilt Guild. We attended our first QuiltCon in 2017 in Savannah, GA; this was our first visit to Nashville. The winter storms brought significant rain so the weather wasn't great, but it finally stopped and the sun came out on Sunday which we saved for sightseeing.

This was a welcome sign in the airport.  We took an Uber to our downtown hotel which was just a couple of blocks from the convention center and Country Music Hall of Fame.

The front side of Music City Center was designed to resemble a guitar - you can kind of see that here.  (Apologies for the thumb blocking the corner.)  In this post we'll try to give you a feel for a mix a quilts and some of the sights around Nashville.

The Best in Show quilt above is called Smile by Leanne Chahley of Alberta, Canada.  The blocks were made by members of her international quilting bee, who she asked to make colorful improv blocks.  She quilted it herself on a longarm, and says it never fails to make her smile.

Burst, by Marge Tucker of Norwell, Massachusetts, is the winner of Best Machine Quilting done on a frameless, needle stationary machine (domestic or mid-arm).  She challenged herself to improvisationally piece Dresden plate blocks.  The half Dresdens are completed by the quilting in the border. The mosaic look is the result of using the gray background in the center and layering it over navy blue which makes the seams stand out.

The Modern Drunk is by Jodi Robinson of Enon Valley, Pennsylvania.  It is the winner of Best Machine Quilting done on a framed machine where the needle moves (longarm).  This is her modern interpretation of the traditional Drunkard's Path block.  She wanted to create quilting that creates movement, in this case radiating from the center.

On Thursday evening we met friends for dinner at BB King's Blues Club, which was a great recommendation and one of the highlights of the trip.  We were treated to live music by the Mike Hayes Band and they were fantastic!  If you want a sampling, Google "Mike Hayes musician" and give a listen. Have you ever seen anyone play guitar behind their back?

The AT&T building is the tallest in Nashville and it's twin peaks can be seen from anywhere.  It is fondly referred to as the bat building.

One of the corner bars contains a very large mural of Legends of Country Music - here is just a portion of it.  How many legends do you recognize?

On our Sunday tour, we visited the former Marathon Motor Works building that now houses various shops, among them the Nashville location of Antique Archaeology.  If you're not familiar with them, this is one of the shops of American Pickers (Mike & Frank) whose TV show airs on the History channel.  Their original shop is in LeClaire, Iowa. Check out their show if you haven't seen it.

We hope this gives you a taste of our Nashville experience, and will share more in the coming days.