Houston International Quilt Festival 2014-The quilts

I’m including all my quilt photos in one post-I only had 40 minutes on the quilt floor! So I ran around like crazy snapping photos that I figured I’d look at later. I hope you have friends that went to Festival and took better photos than I! How do you approach your visit if you know you only have 40 minutes? I haphazardly wandered random aisles. As a result there are entire categories I did not see. There are still some fabulous quilts though:

It was the Ruby Jubilee (40th) year and they celebrated with this over-the-top display of red and white quilts. I didn’t even get a photo of THE red and white quilt by Barbara Black that was the symbol of Festival this year. This display was jaw dropping, almost jarring in its overwhelming presence and beauty.

Nancy Prince’s “On This Winter’s Day” won Best of Show. You really lose a lot in the photo and close ups were impossible, as the crowd never died down in front of it. Nancy said it took 75,000 yards of thread, 7 million stitches and 2,000 hours over seven years between her and her quilter Linda French. It was stunning. I chatted with her in the Teacher’s Room and she is the sweetest, most humble person and just overwhelmed by all the attention.

Margot fused, appliqued, painted and quilted to achieve this look inspired by a vintage photo. Don’t you just get a real sense of place and emotion from this?

All 3 of these portraiture quilts really captured personality. I love this quilt based on a photo Pauline’s oldest son took of her youngest son while on the swings at the local park. What sweetness!

Hiroko had a quilt last year in Houston and I recognize her joyful style. She sure captured youthful joy!

Laurie based her quilt on a photo of her and her sister with their Dad-I feel the love! Laurie took a class from Leni Weiner which helped her recreate that memory.

Laurie is a painter of traditional icons and wanted to make the transition to fabric. She found it difficult but rewarding to work on this fabric. It is stunning in person.

Ferret has used background fabric by Heide Stoll-Webber, raw edge applique and heavy quilting to achieve this look. Ferret has a unique voice and I love this piece, especially the thread-created reflection.

Rock Star and local resident Melinda Bula created Waratah based on the flowers she saw while in Australia. She added the dots which are typical in Aboriginal art. She says she has no idea how to pronounce the flower’s name, giggle!

Nancy lives in a windy area of Nevada and loves to watch how the wind bends the flower stems. I love the strong sense of movement she captures here.

This piece is based on an original painting by her neighbor. Vicki digitally scanned the painting and printed it on silk. Oh my you should see the beauty and luster of this in person!

I can’t read anything from my fuzzy photo of the card but I love the luminous quality of this piece.

There were lots of really cool modern quilts and this was one of my favorites. Angie used the pattern “Modern Log Cabin” and Jay McCarroll’s City Center fabric line as her starting point. She followed the pattern for awhile, then went off on her own.

Sandy aimed to create a quilt that is both simple and complex. I think the quilting and simple piecing are beautiful together.

Part of M. Bunte’s focus was to capture life in flux. I look at this and ponder, is it really cold or really hot? It is a stark but lovely scene.

Pat does the most amazing applique and her colors and motifs are so whimsical and happy. Again, my card photo was fuzzy so just enjoy the beauty of the quilt!

Bethanne used the influences of Oriental tapestries, botanical prints and whole cloth quilts to create this gorgeous silk quilt. She freehand marks the motifs before quilting. I have loved every piece of hers that I have seen.

Diane used trapunto and free motion quilting on a silk/cotton blend to create this luminous piece. She was influenced by the silvery moon’s reflection as she quilted.

What a beautiful quilt-I love how she used the ombre fabric so effectively and the glowing, colorful feel of it.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Paula at one of the lunches. This piece is embroidered! Paula works in abstract and I just loved this piece-the more you look the more you see. I never would have realized it was embroidered if I hadn’t spoken with her-it’s so hard to see details from far away.

And this amazing piece was appliqued! It was so colorful and mesmerizing. I wish I had more time to enjoy this.

George used 6522 pieces to create this mini which I’d guess at about 15″ square! He uses foundation piecing and really accurate sewing for these modified log cabin blocks. His work is jaw dropping. I love it when I can see it in person.

Gilbert wanted to capture the colors and brightness of a comic book-think he met his goal! He got the Best of Show-Garment. I love his work-it’s superbly crafted, well designed and he has a wide range of style.

These last two pieces were part of the fundraiser to cover medical expenses for the wonderful Libby Lehman. Susan Stewart was inspired by Libby’s exuberance and created this masterpiece by mainly using quilting and embroidery. I love the eye path through this piece and how happy and, well, exuberant it is.

This is such a beautiful, luminous piece. Sisters Pat Holly and Sue Nickels teamed up to create their take on one of Libby’s quilts.

Well are you tired now? I take a photo or two like this at every show. It just makes me smile. It really is hard work to visit a quilt show and hit every vendor and every quilt!