Houston International Quilt Festival Part 2

Let's take a trip to Houston, Texas, home of the biggest quilt show in the world. Hop in the patchwork car with us, and here we go !

Flowers for My Valentine, by Janet Henshaw, Boyertown, Pennsylvania

Janet writes, "I was inspired to make a quilt for Valentine's Day using beautiful flowers, lots of valentines, and my love of machine applique and machine quilting." This quilt uses all cotton fabric, with mostly solid shades of pink, red, and sage green.  There are so many cute hearts and flowers on this Baltimore Album quilt, that Cupid himself must have inspired this design.

Notice Janet's perfectly balanced symmetry which is both circular and geometric at the same time.  All of these blocks are the quilter's original patterns. 

Empire Star app, 36 x 36, by Anna Faustino at New Tech Quilts, Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania

Third place winner for Wall Size Innovative Quilts, Anna says, "I use a weaving technique in most of my quilts. This is a new, innovative way of weaving that gives the impression of traditional pieced work." Many hours of work and many different materials went into this quilt, including fabric paint, paper-backed fabric for printing, cotton sateen, holographic fabrics, fusible web, metallic yarn, crystals, cotton batting, and monofilament thread. Click on the photo to increase the size, and you will be able to see how Anna wove the fabric strips, which adds depth and texture to this lovely work.

In Love With Dots and Dolls by Megumi Mizuno, Shiki City, Saitama Prefect, Japan

First place winner for Hand Applique, Innovative Quilts, Megumi says, "The inspiration for this cheerful polka-dot quilt is from a lovely Matryoshka dolls  (Russian wooden nesting dolls) design on the cover of a hot water bottle, a present from my daughter. Each of the dolls is a representation of my friends, and their names are embroidered over the dolls. This quilt holds precious memories of my life."  

Close-up of In Love With Dots and Dolls by Megumi Mizuno

Megumi has used hand-pieced cotton fabrics, beads, sequins, and embroidery thread to create this storybook village scene. If you click on this image to expand it you will see the beadwork. Notice the darling onion-dome buildings that line the border of the quilt; the circular shape of their roofs complement the circular shape of  the flowers that dance in a row next to the dolls.

Spring Nouveau by Heidi Lund at Sewfiber Inspirations,  Bremerton, Washington

This vividly colored, raw-edge appliqued, free-motion quilted work is Heidi's original design. She writes, "When winter sets in to the northwest U.S.A., right about Christmastime, I start dreaming of spring. I can't wait for my bulbs to start popping their heads out of my garden soil, especially when I can't remember what colors I planted last fall or what type of flower will emerge."

Natsilane by Peggy Ann Bass, Ft. Scott, Kansas

Peggy started her quilt at Ricky Tims' retreat in 2009, where she took her vibrant designs from Ricky's totem pole photos from Alaska. She used batiks, hand-dyed fabrics, and Quilter's Dream batting.  Peggy has done a wonderful job of re-creating the dynamic and powerful art of the indigenous peoples of the northwest U.S.A and Canada. 

Close-up of Natsilane by Peggy Ann Bass

Look at all the different sets of eyes, noses, and mouths in this fascinating arrangement of faces in the center of the quilt.  This circular pattern of this vivid design is both enthralling and energizing.

We're attending the show again this afternoon (Friday) then flying home on Saturday. We will sort through dozens of photos en route. So....stay tuned for more amazing quilts on Monday !