Pine Tree Quilt Guild Show

The Pine Tree Quilt Guild’s show, “Springtime in the Pines” was just spectacular! It’s about an hour’s drive for me but it was so worth it. It had to be one of their best shows-it seems like I took a hundred photos. They have a vibrant nest of art quilters and there was even a nice selection of tasteful garments.This was the nicest touch: they had a quartet playing both days I was there.Yesterday there was a  flute quartet and the day before, a woodwind quintet. I can’t tell you how lovely it was to be viewing the show with their music in the background!The show included a theme around “The Year of the Dragon” and they created this huge dragon out of fabric. Jeanette “Jay” Pohl created “Circle Pizzaz-Transparency” which was quilted by Barbara Ceresa. I liked how she masterfully combined Judy Sisneros’ “Circle Pizzazz” class with Christine Barnes’ “Transparency” class. I loved the colors and her clever choice of background fabric. Her “bubbles” seem to float on the quilt-great use of value over color.“Out on a Limb” by Lorna Straka has to get the “Best Resurrection of a Quilt” award! Lorna made a Drunkard’s Path quilt and was unhappy with the results-not enough value contrast. It reminded her of autumn leaves though, so she added the tree to create this quilt. She said it was her first time to collage and to free motion quilt! This stunning piece by Jeanie Ferguson, “Ponte Vecchio, Ferenze, Italia” depicts a bridge in Florence Italy. The bridge has been preserved for seven centuries, even surviving the bombings of WWII. Jeanie says this quilt was a year in the making-she needle turn appliqued, hand embroidered and hand quilted this beauty. She used 80 fabrics and added Tsukineko inks for shading. The photo does not do it justice. “Trellis Garden” by Myrna Raglin and quilted by Judy Hooper was just so beautifully executed and colorful that I had to include it here. The card only said that the pattern was by Nancy Davis Murty. This piece, “Promise of Spring” was also made by Myrna Raglin, quilted by Veronica Nurmi. Myrna credits her friends for helping her create this original design. The colors are just so vibrant and again, it is beautifully made! Sandra Bruce made “Big Buddha” as a whole cloth piece that she designed and had printed up by Spoonflower-a custom fabric printing company. She used a combination of her long arm and her Bernina to quilt it. “My Imaginary Garden” was also made and quilted by Sandra Bruce using her design printed by Spoonflower. These two quilts really inspire me! I am familiar with the concept of designing my own fabric and having it printed up by Spoonflower, but I had never seen whole cloth quilts using this process. Just imagine the possibilities… “Fruit of the Vine” by Darlynn Evans used Katie Pasquini Masopust’s techniques for fracturing the image. Darlynn used her own vibrant hand dyed fabrics in this beautiful piece. “Monterey” by Rita Stevens was stunning! Someday when I grow up, I want to understand color and abstract design like Rita does. The colors of the quilt incorporate all the visions that Rita has of Monterey. Heidi Emmett describes “Fun Flowers” as a piece that just makes her happy. It started out as a piece that was made to be cut up and incorporated into a garment. She just couldn’t bear to cut it up and left it as “Fun Flowers”-good move! Jan Reed’s “Painted Ladies” was stunning! She hand painted the image onto batik and then hand beaded the central image and borders. Every bit of this piece was beautifully done.This detail shot shows her wonderful border treatment. I have thought about doing something like this with beads but I wondered how it would hang-I see my answer! I’ll bet it took a lot of finese to make this work so perfectly.There were a number of fabulous garments at the show. Among them was “Koi Pond” by Carolyn Woods. Carolyn used a pattern by Lois Ericson for her base and used the “broderie purse” technique to add the motifs. I thought it was a beautiful, wearable, edited garment. “Scraps of Carter Smith” by Vicky Augenstein caught my eye. Vicky used scraps of silk, hand dyed silk and some Carter Smith silks to construct the vest. She embellished with beads, applique and thread play. I loved this vest! Vicky added this artful label to her piece and you can see the fabulous silk lining-nice touch!

NOTE: Yes, my photos are less than great. I’m sure it’s operator error, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

Ironically enough, I left my camera on a bench outside of the show and didn’t discover that until I got home. I drove up again today and it hadn’t been turned in. I left my phone number with them just in case someone found it. As I started to leave, my phone rang and sure enough, it had just been turned in! It sat out overnight even. Just shows how nice people there are up there!

Dang, I had already decided on what my new, better camera would be…