Best of the Road to California - Day 2

More than 39,000 visitors from all 50 U.S. states and several foreign countries come each January to visit the Road to California show in Ontario, California.. This quilt show features traditional, art and modern quilts. Here are some of the award winners and our own favorites from the 2018 show !

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Fifteen by Joyce L. Carrier (Bluemont, Virginia)

Joyce explains, "This photo, taken 8 years ago, was recognized by the zoo attendant on another recent visit. 'Oh, that's Fifteen !', she said. The birds were originally numbered, and Fifteen came to recognize his name, so he remains Fifteen."  Color and the pose of this Lorikeet inspired me to bring him to life in a quilt."

Close-up, Fifteen

Joyce continues, "I used collage, free motion embroidery, and thread painting, with a tiny bit of fabric inks."  It's easy to tell that this gorgeous bird has a lively and intelligent personality.

When My Spirit Is Set Free by Teri L. Cherne (Henniker, New Hampshire)

Third place winner in Mixed Techniques Wall Quilts, Teri comments about her original design,  "[This quilt] was designed so I could have fun with metallic threads. I also enjoyed using my beautiful heavy threads for hand couching and bobbin work."

Close-up, When My Spirit Is Set Free

Teri adds, "Wonderfil's metallic threads were a pleasure to work with on my Innova. A layer of  Hobbs Silk and  Hobbs wool were used for the battings, plus a layer of  Hobbs Polydown was used for trapunto."  Teri has made an excellent choice of metallic threads for this vibrantly colored contemporary work. 

Polish Pottery by Chieko Shiraishi (Saitama, Japan)

Chieko states,  "I got inspiration from Polish pottery and made it a quilt. The appliqued flowers are handcrafted crochet lace. I made a quilt that has a new sense [of technique] by combining quilting and crocheted lace."

Close-up, Polish Pottery

Look at these exquisitely crocheted flowers around the inner border,  which is also surrounded by more hand crochet work.  We admire the amount of time and patience it takes to produce this lovely needlework.

Rainbow Star by Elsie M. Campbell (Ponca City, Oklahoma)

Elsie notes, "The rainbow of colorful fabrics I used for this quilt make me happy. Inspired by a tree I passed on my daily walks, I plucked one of the very large sycamore leaves and used it as the pattern for the rainbow of appliqued leaves on this quilt."

Close-up, Rainbow Star

Elsie continues, "The machine quilting was done on a small domestic sewing machine ( Bernina 730), hand guided, with no aid of ruler or stitch regulator."  Elsie's elegant quilting motifs are perfect for embellishing the white space on this multi-hued work.

Spot On by Gail Stepanek, quilted by Jan Hutchison (Sedgwick, Kansas)

Third place winners in the Mixed Techniques category, Gail and Jan write of their original design,  "Gail hand appliqued the blocks and set them surrounded by a pieced background. Jan used colorful cotton thread and silver metallic thread to create the quilted design. "

Close-up, Spot On

We really admire the delicate intricacy of these snowflake-like designs, enhanced by excellent workmanship in hand applique. Jan's award-winning quilting is evident throughout this piece.

Stepping Out by Patsy Kittredge (Sedona, Arizona)

Patsy says, " As a first-time mother at 40 years old, I took a lot of photos of my twin daughters. With
my husband's gentle presence behind them, they took some of those first steps on a grassy lawn. There may be a lot of difficulties in being a parent, but watching them here was nothing but wonderful."

Close-up, Stepping Out

Patsy's has very realistically depicted the determined look on the faces of toddlers who are learning new skills every day. She has captured the bliss and innocence of childhood extremely well.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2018 Road to California quilt show.