Fun in the Sun : Day 6 of the Arizona Quilters' Guild Show

Join us for Day 6 in the desert at the Arizona Quilters' Guild 2013 show. We have some eye-catching quilts to show you, whose colors and patterns embody the spirit of the American Southwest !

Delightful Arizona Centennial Challenge by CJ Fuhrmann

C.J. writes, "Delightful Quilters Centennial Challenge - my version. The applique motifs came from Fat Cat Patterns, and I designed the pieced blocks.  If you can't tell,  I LOVE copper!"

Close-up, Delightful Arizona Centennial Challenge by CJ Fuhrmann

The phrase "Centennial Challenge" comes from the Arizona Centennial celebration of 2012, in which Arizona celebrated 100 years of statehood. In the copper setting triangles, you can see the sunburst pattern, which replicates the sunburst on Arizona's state flag.

Jezebel by Monika Hancock, quilted by Debbie Stanton

Jezebel impressed us as having very lifelike, striking features. Blue ribbon winner for Best Pictorial Small Quilt, Monika says, "I enjoyed doing this pattern, which I enlarged by 50 percent." We recognize this as a pattern designed by Toni Whitney.

Close-up, Jezebel by Monika Hancock, quilted by Debbie Stanton

 Longarm quilter Debbie Stanton won an aqua ribbon award for Best in Show - Exemplary Machine Quilting for Jezebel.  Notice the careful rows of curved, parallel quilting on the horse's white mane, which gives texture and dimensionality to this pattern. 

Rusty Blues New York Beauty by Leslie Milde, quilted by Jessica Jones Gamez

Rusty Blues won the 2013 Arizona Quilters Hall of Fame Award for a quilt deserving of special recognition.  Leslie Milde writes, "This is my first New York Beauty [pattern], paper pieced using batiks.  It is machine quilted and embellished with crystals and thread. "

Close-up, Rusty Blues New York Beauty by Leslie Milde

 In this close-up, you can see the careful placement of many crystals along the seam lines of the blocks and the detailed quilting of each segment by longarm quilter Jessica Jones Gamez.

5 Seasons by Sue Rathjen

Sue writes,  "A tree evolving through five seasons  (two winters) in unison with earth and sky background changes. Machine pieced and quilted." Sue has done an excellent job of choosing the background colors, especially the right and left backgrounds next to the border, which symbolize the pale, icy, almost luminous skies with the high thin clouds of winter.  

Infused with Turquoise by Magdalena Castillo-Cockrum

Magdalena notes, "[This quilt was part of ] the Endless Possibilities Round Robin Challenge." In a round robin challenge, the quilt is started by one person, then a second , third, and fourth person adds more fabric and patterns, until the quilt reaches its desired size.  Infused with Turquoise starts as a traditional Dresden Plate block in black and white, then alternating borders of turquoise and black and white prints are added. The flowers you see on the white background at the top and bottom borders of the quilt are appliqued on the fabric in broderie perse style.  They are cut from the same fabric that comprises the black and white setting triangles on the right and left sides of the quilt.  

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration