International Quilt Festival Cincinnati 2012

I have been waiting for this day it seems like years!  Finally the day to breath in all that creativity and get my quilting juices flowing again.  The ladies in our SOS group were all taking about going.  But life happens and Betsy and I were the only ones that could make it.  It was my second show and Betsy's first...which was more than fun! 

I believe that I read somewhere that there were 500-700 quilts on display from all over the world.  And I know that we look, oooed and ahhhed over every single one of them!  There were some that we couldn't get pictures of (sign posted and it was so hard).   Plus they had little white-gloved, red-sashed ladies close by.  I would have loved to have come home with pics of each one but I figured the blog for that would be overwhelming for you all and me!  So you get a little smattering of some of the ones that we liked the best.

One of the many amazing things about the day...each quilt from each country had an information sheet close by.  We really enjoyed reading where the quilts came from, all the different techniques and the stories of inspiration behind each one.

by Elizabeth Bren

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia 

machine pieced and quilted

Design Source was squares and checkerboards

January in Australia is hot.  Christmas is over and it is the perfect time to retire to 'your happy place' and sew.  The quilt started as a pile of taupe scraps and doodles of overlaced chequerboard patterns.  All the sewing was done to the wonderful Soundtrack of Australia Summer-Cricket on the radio.

I guess because I so badly want to learn to hand quilt that I noticed every design and stitch all over the display hall..  I liked this because it is not the traditional stitch in the ditch that I tend to do.  Maybe now I will venture out and do some little curves to the corners.  And then may graduate to learning how to use the quilter that is covered in the basement.

This was one of our favorites for so, so many reasons!  Take the time to click the photo to make it bigger and check out all the spaces,  There are things everywhere that are worth the search.

Harumi Asada

Higashiura, Japan

machine pieced, hand appliqued, hand quilted, computer printed

Design Source was first granddaughter's birthday

My first granddaughter was born to my son.  I was glad,  for I brought up boys.  I drew a spoon pattern extending from the center to the outside, and put flowers, her growth chart, and photographs of her first year there.

We loved that it looks like God's hands are protecting the little church that is about to get hit with an Indiana storm.

Applique and then different tpyes of hand quilting patterns

Danielle Reddick

Picton, Ontario, Canada

appliqued and hand quilted

Design Source was inspired be the fields of rural Price Edward County, Canada

My grandmother and her sisters were all quilters: rendering clothing that was no longer fit to wear into works of art in the form of quilts.  I have been creating quilts for over 15 years in the tradition of these women.  This quilt, Sunflower Heart for Alice was made as a  21st birthday gift for our oldest daughter, Alice. I have used previously loved shirts and the applique technique.  The center surface is hand quilted with symbols of hearts drawn from our history together.  I encourage the viewer to examine the piece.

Those are actual shirt pickets, complete with buttons and logos.

 A little side note...My Dad and a few of his fishing buddies have a fishing camp in Picton, Ontario, Canada.  Next time I am there don't cha know I will be looking up Danielle.

Megumi Mizuno

Shiki City, Saitama, Japan

hand pieced, appliqued and embroidered, and quilted

Original Design

1st Place Innovative applique

The inspiration for this cheerful polka-dot quilt is from a lovely Matryoshka dolls design cover of a hot water bottle, a present from my daughter.  Each of the Matryoshka dolls is a representation of my friends and their names are embroidered over the dolls.  This quilt is a precious memory of my life.

And Dad, I took this one for you and Stitch.

Megumi Mizona

Shiki City, Saitama, Japan

hand pieced, appliqued, embroidered and quilted

Original design

3rd Place Handmade

This joyful quilt is a showcase of people I love, my precious family and friends in the image of animals.  The choice reflects the personality of the person.  It was such fun to create the piece.  As I made each block I remembered all the precious times I spent with them.  It was like stitching my love and memories into each block.  When I become very old it will be nice to look at this quilt as it is like a precious photo album to me.

Betsy ans I thought of our friend Donna when we say this one.

I am stunned and amazed at the time and talent that has gone into each of these incredible quilts.

Chrsity Meyer

Cincinnati, OH, USA

machine pieced and quilted

Design Source the traditional Ohio Star quilt block

Ardie Skjod

Murrieta, California

Half square triangles and Union blocks

Design Source came from a book by Betsy Chutchian, Go To Texas

I was inspired to make this quilt because of all the fabric possibilities.  I love putting lots of fabrics together, especially reproductions.

I took a picture of Go To Texas for my friend Jan, out in CA.  She lives in Murrieta.  Wonder if she and Ardie buy fabric at the same quilt shops?

Ardie Skjod

Murrieta, California

quilted by Dorothy Burnett

peiced

Design Source came from a magazine, Australia Patchwork and Quilting Volume 11,Number 7 

designed by Dale Ritson

This quilt really caught my eye because I love detailed piecework and putting fabric together.  I love it so much that I keep it on my bed.

Cathy Sperry

West Chester, Ohio

www.hoffmanchallenge.com

We took this one for our friend Louann Bartholomew because she loves to collect beach glass.  And the quilt maker is from right up the road in West Chester.  How exciting!

All hand done! Amazing!

Kathy Augur Smith

quilted by Wilma Gogliantry

New Haven, Connecticut

pieced applique, photo transfer, embroidered

Design Source was found while looking through a book of old outhouse pictures.

In Colonial times most people could not read, so symbols were used on the front door depicting which house was for the men and which house was for the women.  The sun or stars were the masculine signs and the crescent moon was the sign for the women.  I designed the original quilt as an attempt to preserve a piece of our past that is slowly disappearing.  Around the perimeter of the quilt is a segment pf a poem by James Whitcomb Riley which makes reference to this simple time in our history.

Mary Ann Vaca-LAmbert 

Austin, Texas

raw edge applique, thread painted, fused, beaded, faced

Design Source was nature

As I drive to work each day I pass several patches of Black-eyed Susans and Mexican hats.  These bright yellow, gold, orange, and brown beauties are some of the most beautiful wildflowers in Texas.  Their beautiful yellow color is always so cheerful.  Most Mexican hats in our area have shot.

Charlotte A Hickman

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

pieced, appliqued, stitched, embellished

Design Source was taken from personal sunflower photos

Winner of the Most Innovative Art  Quilt in the 2012 QSC Expo Winter Quilt Show

Personal photos of sunflowers inspired my quilt design.  Ann Fahl encouraged me to complete the sunflower composition as it was presented in her class.  Both commercial and my hand dyed and hand painted fabrics were used in the sunflower design.

 That one was for my cheesehead friends in WI...you know who you are Ms Yvonne, Joy and Lisa! And I could never forget all the ladies at Calico Corners that helped me on my quilting journey every Tuesday.

Carole L Colder

Kettle Falls, Washington

hand and machine pieces, needle turn applique and hand quilted

Design Source was her grandmother's quilts

My grandmother's traditional quilts were the inspiration for the small quilts: the overall imaginary scene was inspired by quilts produced in the 1980's.  Many of my grandmother's quilts are still cherished by our family.  I even incorporated bits of my paternal grandmother's fabrics in some of my interpretations as well-known, old fashioned patterns.  I also found inspiration in fanciful folk art techniques also popular in the 1980's.  Traditional techniques combined with some whimsy of folk art to create a piece that appeals to a wide audience and well as me.

Helen Remick

Seattle.Wshington

machine pieces, paper pieced, hand pieced, hand appliqued, hand couched, machine quilted

Design Source  Rose of Sharon

Five and ten pointed Rose of Sharon motifs nestled into an Islamic inspired decagon.

Cynthia Collier

League City, Texas

hand appliqued, hand quilted

Design Source was books and patterns by Elly Sienkiewicz and patterns by Lisa Shiller

I love making quilts in the Baltimore Album style.  When I read that the first person to die in Texas's War of Independence from Mexico was from Baltimore I though it would make a nice tribute to bring the two together again in Texas Album.

Dorothy Bell

Elephant Butte, New Mexico

machine pieced and quilted

Design Source was an adaptation from a Windham Fabrics free project, Worn and Loved II, designed by Carolyn Goins.

As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew I had to make it.  I already had perfect fabrics that I had leftover from another favorite quilt.  Pattern was free and I used up all the scraps--what's not to love?

 Since we had worked up an appetite looking at all the quilts and falling in love with almost all of them, we decided it was time to break for lunch.  There were food vendors on the third floor which was really nice.  We choose the shortest line which was LaRos'a and that was fine with us.  We go to pa for lunch and my wallet is not in the bag.  OH NO, I left it in the car when I paid for gas.  So Betsy paid for our lunch.  Thank heavens for friends with money!  Not only that but she picked us the best seat in the house.  One of the presenters/class instructors/quilt judges was sitting at our table.  The other people were asking her all kinds of questions and Betsy and I were soaking up all of her knowledge.  That was fun!  After lunch we walked to the car to get my wallet so we could spend time in the vendors.    We looked at maybe 10 booths and being very picky about our purchases didn't buy too much, although we saw lots of good buying stuff.  Then there was a raffle happening at 4:30.  It was 4:25.  Betsy filled out two papers.  And then look what happened!

This was the sweetest lady.  She was so excited for Betsy.

She spent a good 45 minutes explaining the machine and giving us tips.  It was so exciting that instead of going on thru the vendors we decide to go home an look at all our treasures.