Quilt Arizona 2017! day 2

We're back after a short spring break! For us, springtime in the desert means three things: spring flowers, spring training (baseball), and Quilt Arizona!  This is our 8th year blogging about this fun show, which draws visitors from many parts of North America. Here are some of our favorites from this year's show.

Please note: We're continuously posting free patterns on Twitter ! Check us out here !   

Lulu by Ann E. Hall, quilted by Marilyn Haskovec

Ann E. Hall selected from her beloved collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics to create this magnificant creature.  She was inspired by the Lulu Elephant quilt pattern by Laura Heine at Fiberworks.  The geometric quilting by Marilyn Haskovec, along with the neutral background, provide a contemporary setting for the bright floral fabrics.

The elephant's ear was created with fussy-cut leaves, and his eye was depicted by a big daisy, as shown above.

Glorious Tweets by Merci Apodaca, quilted by Cecilia Hosford

The colors really stood out in this beautiful applique quilt! Merci Apodaca says she was inspired by the use of Kaffe Fassett fabrics on the Glorious Applique blog, and the pattern My Tweets by Erin Russek.  Thus, this quilt is titled Glorious Tweets.  The applique shapes were outlined with embroidery stitches, providing extra definition for the birds and flowers.

Mirror Image Clam Shells by Patricia Bliss

This hand-pieced clamshell quilt was entered in the scrap quilt category.  Patricia Bliss selected Asian themed fabrics for a pattern by Kaffe Fassett. The clamshell sashing was done in red with pretty gold accents. She machine quilted each individual clamshell with a branching design that emphasized the clamshell shapes.  We can't imagine the amount of work that went into this perfectly pieced quilt.

Almost Like The Blues by Joan McNamara, quilted by Jessica Gamez

Almost Like The Blues was awarded First Place - Pieced Large. This is an original design by Joan McNamara who wanted to create an equal focus on intricate piecing and quilting.  The intricate piecing reminded us of Burgoyne Surrounded.  Joan says she was inspired by Godwin Weaving.  The quilting by Jessica Gamez was outstanding.

Butterfly by Judith Salb, quilted by Jessica Gamez

This stunning Butterfly won two major awards: Exemplary Professional Machine Quilting (turquoise ribbon)  and First Place - Pieced X-Large (blue ribbon).  This rather famous butterfly pattern is by Tula Pink; this is the first one we've seen in person, and it was stunning. Judith Salb says, "The butterfly counts not months but moments." (Rabindranath Tagore)  "My butterfly is forever!"

Here is more beautiful longarm quilting by Jessica Gamez.  Can you find the quilted butterflies in the closeup photo, below?

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.