Highlights of the 2014 River City Quilters' Guild Show - The Finale

The River City Quilters Guild is a prominent guild established in 1977 in Sacramento, the capital city of the state of California. We really enjoyed seeing the over 200 quilts in this year's show.  Here are the last of our show photos (well, not the last of the photos, but the last of the highlights!)

Two Red Poppies, 22 x 46", by Jan Soules

Jan notes, "Two Red Poppies began in a class with Donna Greenwald. I think her method of building a flower really lends life to the piece!"  This cheerful quilt would brighten up even the darkest winter day.

Close up, Two Red Poppies by Jan Soules

Pretty purple beads really add a glamorous three dimensional  embellishment to the center of the poppies. Jan's use of  split complementary colors gives a radiant quality to these eye-catching flowers.

Dragon Tale, 70 x 70", by Linda Bergmann, quilted by Lin Squires

Se

Second place winner in the Two Person Pieced Medium Size Quilts category, Linda writes, " This is a Judy Niemeyer design [Celtic Wave]; I thought the design that developed looked like a dragon.  I enjoy paper piecing and find it relaxing."

Close up, Dragon Tale by Linda Bergmann, quilted by Lin Squires

A background fabric of red-orange, gold, and smaller gray fans add to the vibrant Asian motif created by this intriguing design.

Blue Kaleidoscope, 57 x 72", made and quilted by Chrissie Reiswig

Chrissie is the blue ribbon winner in the Adult First Quilt category, which means that this as an adult quilter, this is her first creation. She writes, "I knew I wanted to learn quilting since I was in high school, but never found the right entry point. When I finally learned about a Kaleidoscope Quilt class for beginners taught by Carol Smith in 2010, I jumped at the chance."

Close up, Blue Kaleidoscope by Chrissie Reiswig

Chrissie adds, "This was my first finished quilt top, and I haven't stopped since!"  She quilted it herself, using a contemporary free-motion pattern which contrasts nicely with the bold geometric motif of the blocks.

Fiesta Stars, 36 x 42", made and quilted by Diane Ferrel

First place winner in the category of Medium Size Challenge Quilt,  Diane writes, " Like the lanterns at a fiesta, these stars are festive and shine bright. They actually sparkle!  No two star blocks are quilted the same." Diane has done a great job in constructing and quilting this dynamic pattern.

Close up, Fiesta Stars by Diane Ferrel

According to A Field Guide to Quilts, the basic block is "Texas Trellis".  It's a variation of the Whirligig design, published by the Kansas City Star newspaper in 1936 and updated in 1943. These blocks are six-sided hexagons, comprised of six triangles which fit together like slices of a pie.  One side of each triangle is comprised of the deeper colored fabric, and the black fabric comprises the base of the triangle. These blocks have an additional, lighter wedge that adds dimension to the stars.  Note added on January 31, 2015:  See the Bloom Bloom Pow quilt tutorial by Freshly Pieced Modern Quilts.

Stars and Flowers, 74 x 81.5", made and quilted by Jaime Watson

Jaime says, "This is a Piece O' Cake design.  It's mostly hand-quilted, except for the border." Jaime has used a variety of green fabrics for the twining inner border and lively striped fabric for the diamond, which provides visual interest energy to this large quilt. Extra charm is added by the two happy little blue birds at the bottom.

Close up, Stars and Flowers by Jaime Watson

A beautiful LeMoyne star center piece provides a striking focal point for this heartwarming traditional pattern.  You can see Jaime Watson's precise hand quilting inside the pink star.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Pieced Quilts! Highlights of the 2014 River City Quilters' Guild Show - Day 3

The River City Quilters Guild is a prominent guild established in 1977 in Sacramento, the capital city of the state of California. We really enjoyed seeing the over 200 quilts in this year's show, and we'd like to share some of the highlights with you.  Today's post exclusively features pieced quilts !

Colors of the East, 80 x 92", made by Laura L. Jones, hand quilted by Lydia Miller

First place winner for Two Person Large Pieced Quilts category, Laura says, "Colors of the East  began as a Block of the Month in 2009. A triangle was cut from the sides of each block to skew the block layout. The triangles were then sewn to the black sashing fabric and and trimmed to complete the chevron border. All the scraps and pieces left over from the block construction and the border were used to make the one inch diamond sashing borders. This original layout and design were a work in progress.'

Close up, Colors of the East by Laura L. Jones, hand quilted by Lydia Miller

The "ribbon" border was made by placing two half-rectangle triangles side by side.
Laura adds, "Even when I wanted it to be finished, I knew it wasn't finished until the last diamond sashing border was added. Diamonds are a girl's best friend, and you can never have too many. [This was] hand quilted by Lydia Miller and finished in 2014." Although the hand quilting was done in white thread on black, the tiny stitches are actually hard to see!

Close up, Colors of the East by Laura L. Jones, hand quilted by Lydia Miller

The traditional blocks were given an entirely new look by the use of Asian fabric prints, and by placing the blocks on an angle.  A stylized fussy-cut flower was used for the center of the block shown above.

Clarissa c. 2013, 74 x 88", made and quilted by Inga Waegell

Quilter Inga Waegell notes that her quilt, shown above, is a reproduction of a quilt sewn by Clarissa White Alford about the year 1890 (the pattern is available at Hoopla Patterns.) Clarissa c. 2013 won 2nd place in the Pieced - Large Quilts category.  Each of the 42 large blocks has 36 hourglass blocks, for a total of 1512 hourglass blocks, which means there are 6048 pieces in this quilt!

Close up, Clarissa c. 2013 by Inga Waegell

In this close-up, you can see Inga's very precise piecing of softly colored vintage-inspired prints.  "Clarissa" was quilted with a Baptist Fans design; and we are sure that Inga's quilt will be considered a treasured heirloom by her friends and family.

Marie's Galaxy, 63 x 81", made by Nancy Causey, quilted by Michele Simes

Third place winner in the Two Person Pieced Medium Size Quilt category.  This pretty red, white, and slate blue quilt was made in honor of Nancy's friend, Marie, a fellow quilter who passed away suddenly.

Close up, Marie's Galaxy by Nancy Causey, quilted by Michele Simes

The Galaxy Quilt pattern is a straight piecing pattern that gives the illusion of curves.  It combines the 54-40 or flight block with an additional red star.  As of this writing, the Galaxy quilt pattern by Deb Tucker can be found at Studio 180 Design.

Batik North Wind, 68 x 78", by Alice Morgan, quilted by Janell Dobbs

Alice notes that this quilt was the result of a North Wind pattern challenge from a local Sacramento quilting group. You can see that Alice has an excellent eye for design here. She has cleverly used the fabrics with deeper values to create a very intriguing "barn raising" concentric diamond overall effect in this vividly colored quilt.

Close up, Batik North Wind by Alice Morgan

The versatile North Wind quilt block is based on triangles and half-square triangles; you can find free patterns for the block at Quilters Cache and at The Wooden Thimble.  A free pattern for the Corn and Beans variation can be found at Jinny Beyer.com.

Rings Rings Rings, 57 x 57", made and quilted by Winifred Fung

Honorable mention winner in the Quilt Show Challenge category, Winifred states, " This was the challenge quilt for 2014. The red print and the batik were used with only fabrics from my stash. I'm pleased that the challenge fabrics got lost in the quilt. I used Peggy Martin's method of foundation paper piecing.  Thanks to Nancy MacDonald for giving me fabric from her stash for the border. This was a challenge to make."

Close up, Rings rings rings by Winifred Fung

The Indian Wedding Ring quilt pattern by Cynthia Caroff can be found in Paper Piecing Picnic: Fun-Filled Projects for Every Quilter (Quilters Newsletter, 2002).

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Welcome to the 2014 River City Quilters' Guild Show: Day 2

The River City Quilters Guild is a prominent guild established in 1977 in Sacramento, the capital city of the state of California. We really enjoyed seeing the over 200 quilts in this year's show, and we'd like to share some of the highlights with you in these posts.

View of Arles With Irises, 80 x 65”, made and quilted by The Fab 5 Group (Carole Pirruccello, Cathy Brorby, Phyllis McCalla, Jan Bawart and Jan Soules.) First Place, Group Quilt-Large

These five panels represent five different views of the flowers in the fields of Arles, France. The artists say about themselves, " The Fab 5 art group took on the daunting task of trying to render, artistically, in fabric, [Impressionist painting] Vincent Van Gogh's  "View of Arles With Irises". Each artist worked independently on her slice [of the total panel shown here]. The resulting interplay of colors, techniques, and embellishments convey a "joie de vivre" ( a joy of life) to this amazing landscape.

Closeup photo, View of Arles with Irises by The Fab 5 Group

An amazing sense of movement is created here with with the circular quilting pattern, and the fabric appliqued in three dimensional rounded pieces. You can almost feel the wind blowing through the trees.

Closeup photo, View of Arles with Irises

These lovely three dimensional origami flowers in shades of purple remind us of little Dutch windmills. Tiny patchwork pieces provide a  dappled sunlight effect to the field behind the blossoms.  We're posting  more closeup photos of "View of Arles" at Quilt Inspiration on Pinterest.

Lava Lamp, 97 x 91.5”, made by Laurel Anderson, quilted by Lin Squires. 2nd place, 2-person quilt - Pieced and Applique

This quilt was inspired by designs of the 1960's and the Shimmer fabric line from Northcott. The fabric colors move from dark to light in 9 shades with shimmers of gold or silver.

close up, Lava Lamp by Laurel Anderson

The ovals are machine appliqued and all the other curves are pieced. A pattern is available at Laurel Anderson's website, Whisper Color.

Twilight Star of Indonesia, 37 x 37”, made and quilted by Susan Kooiman

Susan notes, "I chose this pattern to challenge myself and my paper piecing skills. It was the perfect opportunity to use my beloved batiks."  We love the vibrant split complementary color scheme of orange, red, and gold, combined with a deep blue violet. The circular flying geese border provides an especially innovative and creative effect. This quilt was based on a pattern by Judy Mathieson.

Close up, Twilight Star of Indonesia by Susan Kooiman

In the center of the pastel chartreuse star is a pretty gold brooch with a gleaming purple jewel. Circular gold stitching around the purple background ties the components of this center medallion all together.

Cats Rule, 65 x 80”, made by Kathy Mack, quilted by Shannon Freeman

We love cat quilts, and this one is a beauty!  This quilt was completed by Kathy Mack as a block-of-the-month quilt taught by Anelie Belden, using the Folk Art Cats design by John Simpkins for The Stitchin' Post.  Kathy says: “This is my first attempt at needle-turn applique.” The quilt won Honorable Mention for a Two-Person Pieced and Applique quilt. Each of the cats has button eyes and other embellishments. We couldn't resist taking lots of close-up photos!

Close up photos, Cats Rule by Kathy Mack

The cat jumped over the moon...

This cat has button eyes, embroidered whiskers, and an inscrutable expression...

Here is a cat with a beach ball and a daisy collar:

This cat is totally happy with his mouse... check out the halo over his head!

The stylized bushes are decorated with buttons shaped as gears...

Here is a sunny yellow cat...

This cat is chasing a dragonfly:

"Santa Claws" is comin' to town on his little green cat feet that look as if he is walking on stilts. He look all ready for Christmas Eve with his jaunty hat and belt with star round his belly.

 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Welcome to the 2014 River City Quilters' Guild Show !

The River City Quilters Guild is a prominent guild established in 1977 and based in Sacramento, the capital city of the state of California. We really enjoyed seeing the over 200 quilts in this year's show, and we'd like to share some of the highlights with you in the next few posts.

Geraniums,  32 x 44", by Laurel Anderson

Laurel Anderson is an award winning textile artist and an accomplished appliqué quilt designer.  This incredibly realistic still-life was one of the much-admired quilts at the show.  Second place winner for Appliqued Large Quilt, Laurel writes,  "The quilt Geraniums was created with a variety of fabrics from Northcott. Their new ombre fabrics comprise the pot and leaves." 

Close up, Geraniums by Laurel Anderson

Laurel continues, "The petals are shaped with Terial Magic and dried over marbles."  When drying fabric by placing it over marbles, or other rounded objects, the fabric then retains its rounded shape when it is completely dry. These petals are sewn together in large groups which gives a lush, full, appearance to the plant. Note that Laurel has cleverly appliquéd a shadow at the base of the plant to enhance the realistic effect of this image.

Close-up, Geraniums by Laurel Anderson

The doily was cut out of fused fabrics with with a Silhouette Cameo. Laurel says, "It is fun to create wonderful things with my new toys." We especially enjoyed Laurel's elegant quilting of her gorgeous creation. You can purchase a pattern for this quilt, called Geraniums in Copper Bowl, at Whisper Color.  The alternative colorway is called Geraniums in Blue.

Mediterranean Sunset,  60 x 83", by Phyllis McCalla, quilted by Laura Jansen

Phyllis McCalla was this year's featured artist at the the River City Quilters' Guild show. Prior to Phyllis' professional quilting life she worked for the University of California, Davis for thirty-four years.  She retired in 2004 as a Program Manager for the Cancer Research Program. Phyllis began teaching quilting classes in 2006.  She is a member of the Pins and Needles Art Quilting group.

Mediterranean Sunset by Phyllis McCalla

Phyllis says, "Completed in September 2011, more than 24 fabrics were selected to make this bright quilt. The block is a Sylvia Einstein design." Longarm quilt artist Laura Jansen has done a magnificent job of quilting feathers and leaves into this stunning display of tropical color.

Hawaii in Bloom, 66,5 x 78, by Cathy Brorby, quilted by Annette Blandin

First place winner for Two Person Applique Quilts, Cathy Brorby says, "I designed this quilt to give myself a portable applique project. Hawaiian applique and the background fabric were both important sources of inspiration."

Close up , Hawaii in Bloom by Cathy Brorby

Here you can see an example of Kathy's lovely needle-turn applique. She has done a brilliant job of selecting fabrics with a split complementary color scheme of greens, blues, and oranges.

Multi-Fassetted Starburst,  44 x 44", by Peggy Sahmaunt

This fantastic quilt was made entirely with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Peggy says, "Each point is the apex of a triangle, first attached by basting, then by a bead."  As shown in the closeup photo below, only the points of these raw edge triangles are sewn down.

Close up, Multi-Fassetted Starburst by Peggy Sahmaunt

This starburst pattern, with its radiating circles of triangle points, reminded us of the pine burr block from the American South, even though the construction is very different.

Kimonos in Paris, Or Is That Pairs? size 70 x 67",  by Phyllis Leavitt McCalla, quilted by Cheryl Thompson

Phyllis notes, "After enlarging an 8 inch kimono to VERY LARGE, who could resist embellishing with origami flowers?" These two delicately colored kimonos are suspended in a garden of wildflowers, in a classic Japanese design which is simple, yet elegant.

Close up, Kimonos in Paris by Phyllis Leavitt McCalla

We loved the background fabric for this quilt, which reminded us of a gentle snowfall of early winter. Phyllis has done a wonderful job experimenting with different fabric folds to create a variety of fun origami three-dimensional flowers.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Quilted in Honor : Veterans Day

Veterans Day is observed on November 11 in the USA.  Here is a quilt to honor all those who have served in the military.   Thank you for your courageous service.

New Glory, 60 x 60", by Scott Hansen (Washington, USA)

The artist writes, "This quilt is dedicated to the brave men and women who so valiantly live and breathe to protect our county. I wanted to create something based on our American flag, but which also had a modern edge to it. There are fifty stars, all different and unique, just like our fifty states. There are multiple red and white stripes holding the design together. I kept the traditional colors to give homage to our current flag. I think that if Betsy Ross (the seamstress who sewed one of the first American flags in the year  1776)  were a modern quilter, she would be pleased."

Closeup, New Glory by Scott Hansen

Scott Hansen says, "New Glory was originally created as part of Island Batiks’ Quilted in Honor Traveling Quilt show to honor and bless our US veterans." The New Glory quilt pattern can be purchased at Blue Nickel Studios on Etsy.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.