Pacific International Quilt Festival Day 10

We saw so many excellent quilts at P.I.Q.F. 2012 , that on some days during this series of  blog posts, it's challenging to decide which photos to post.  Please be assured that if you see a PIQF quilt photo here, it means that we loved the colors, fabrics, design, theme, and needlework that went into that quilt ! In fact, we saw dozens of quilts that we didn't have a chance to photograph, and they were equally fabulous ! So many quilts, so little time.......

Ode to Joy, app. 24 x 24, by Linda W. Fisher, Port Hueneme, California

Linda says,  " Ode to Joy  is inspired by Gustav Klimt's 'Choir of Angels in Paradise' from his Beethoven Frieze in Vienna, Austria."  We can almost hear the choir singing one of many well-known church hymms based on the "Ode to Joy" music. 

Mixed Borders, 60 x 58, by Elisabeth Woodcock, South Africa

Elizabeth explains,  "I am a gardener as well as a quilter. I love flowers. Using scraps of my beautiful fabrics, I decided to make a flower quilt. I have looked at many pictures of  flower quilts in quilting books and magazines. All the flower patterns come from there. [This work is ] machine pieced, hand appliqued, and hand quilted."

Ponte Vecchio, Firenze, Italia, 25 x 63,  by Jeanie Ferguson, Grass Valley, California

 Second place winner for Best Wall Quilt, Jeanie writes, "Ponte Vecchio  (Old Bridge) is a bridge in Florence, Italy, built in 1345 over the Arno River. It has been preserved for seven centuries, escaping the bombs of  World War II. There used to be butcher shops and tanneries on it, stinky and nasty. Today, there are only gold and silver shops. This quilt was a year in the making, exclusively needle turned hand applique, hand embroidered, and hand quilted. Tsukineko inks have been applied for shading. Exactly 80 different fabrics were used."

146 Points !, app. 60 x72, by Kathy Miers, Rescue, California.  Quilted by Virginia Vogel

"I've always loved batiks, so with my vast collection of scraps, this was a perfect pattern !" says Kathy. It was fun making the 146 prairie points [around the outer border]. The most challenging part was turning under the 1/4 inch to slip stitch around the points, because it doesn't have the traditional binding." 

Wine Country, 47.5 x 48, by Jan Soules, Elk Grove, California

Jan notes, "This quilt is an original design started in a workshop with Ursula Kerns at the Empty Spools Seminars in Asilomar, California. 'Q' is the most powerful vitamin, and I am well supplied with it; no supplements needed !  [This creation] was inspired by California wine country. I used different colors and shapes to evoke the beautiful landscape ! Free form pieced on a muslin foundation, this work is machine pieced and machine quilted."