Green, green: Arizona Quilt Show 2012

Céad míle fáilte (in Gaelic: a hundred thousand welcomes)! This is Day 4 of The Best of the 2012 Arizona Quilt Show, and we've assembled a collection of some beautiful green quilts.  We always love your comments - so let us know your favorites!

Irish Spring by Carol Miller

Carol Miller says: "The quilt began with the monogram…. followed by 'I want to make it for Spring'. Then green swapped Churn Dash blocks came to mind and finally the name." The quilt won a third place ribbon in the Group Quilt category. Our photo was taken from the side due to the crowd of people nearby! We loved the celtic knot applique surrounding the initial 'M' (below).

Irish Spring, center medallion, by Carol Miller

Blue Birds of Happiness by Catherine Vaught

Folk art and wool applique have really taken off in the quilting world, and we were excited to see this lovely quilt! Catherine Vaught says:  "The pattern’s vibrant colors and folk art designs drew me in. Wool felt elements are hand appliqued (on a cotton background), embroidered, and embellished. All my favorite techniques." The design is by Gretchen Gibbons (info and link below). 

Blue Birds of Happiness - Center, by Catherine Vaught

This design is the subject of the book, Pennies from Heaven: Celebrated Quilt and Companion Projects by Gretchen Gibbons. At Gretchen's website, Celebration of Life Designs, you can obtain block-of-the-month kits, books and patterns.

Shannon, Irish chain, by Penny Dimick

Penny Dimick pieced and quilted this green-on-green Irish chain quilt as a high school graduation gift for her granddaughter; she used a cheerful shamrock fabric between the "chains". Penny says: "With an “Mc” last name, she had to have shamrocks and an Irish Chain."

Stars Within the Wonders by Caryl Spenny. Quilted by Janna Clark

Caryl Spenny writes that she really enjoys working with Stack-n-Whack and One Block Wonder techniques. Her stars and open cubes really stand out against the black space in this dazzling quilt!

Peek-A-Boo Monsters by Ann L. Petersen – First place, Mixed Techniques – Small

This is such an adorable quilt, and it won a blue ribbon too.  Ann Petersen says: “My daughter-in-law planned a nursery with cute monsters in black, white and green. This is the quilt I designed to hang on his wall”.  The top border reads: “Seventeen little green monsters” and the bottom border reads: “Waving, smiling, and saying ‘Boo!’” The detail photo below shows a toothless three-eyed monster in the shape of a saguaro cactus; he is carrying a flower in one "arm" and waving the other "arm" !

Arizona - My Fair Lady by Peggy Nehring - Second Place, Theme

To wrap up this post, here is a gorgeous ruffled Dresden done in the special Arizona Centennial Fabric. Peggy Nehring won a second place ribbon for the Theme category for this stunning quilt.  In the green areas of the quilt, you can see saguaro cacti which were quilted with copper thread.  The light blue areas surrounding the center Dresden plate were embellished with crystals.  The stack-n'-whack-style fans take full advantage of the Arizona Centennial "Southwest Beauties" fabric by Jason Yenter (shown below).  Can you see which motifs Peggy selected for the Dresden Plate?

Arizona-My Fair Lady, center plate by Peggy Nehring

Arizona Centennal Fabric, design by Jason Yenter, In The Beginning Fabrics