Highlights of the Road to California Quilt Show! part 3

Welcome to the Road to California Quilter's Conference and Showcase! The Road to California, as it is called, takes place in Ontario (Southern California), and features over 1,000 quilts by artists from all over the world. Around 40,000 people gather to see the show, take classes, and shop. Join us in admiring some of the stunning quilts from this year's show.

Also check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, books, and collectible items !
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

The Elephant in the Room by Sandra Mollon, California

Third place winner in the category of Animal Quilts, Sandra remarks, " With its commanding gaze, the photo of a young bull elephant was one I wanted to work from. I wanted to add color, in the ears, and concentrating on value to convey the depth and texture."

Sandra's intriguing work is raw edge fused and  machine quilted, with some mixed media.We really admire Sandra's wonderful quilting work which accentuates the many features and textures of the elephant's face.

Spring Thing by Claudia Scheja, Germany

Third place winner in the Applique Wall Quilts category, Claudia notes, "Every year in early spring, I look forward to the first green leaves and flower buds. This quilt with a combination of traditional shapes and modern fabrics brings color and light and this feeling of the spring the whole year."

Claudia did all the sewing and applique by hand, then quilted her work on a longarm machine. We really like her elegant, flawless workmanship; and her award is well deserved.

Pensive Pause by Linda Anderson, California

Second place winner in the category of Human Image Quilts, Linda writes, "Traveling in India, our senses were alive with color, tastes, sounds and smells. Women were wrapped in stunning colors everywhere we looked, whether doing hard work or relaxing. This woman seemed to take a break in her efforts to sweep the area, quietly drawing into herself amidst the busy congestion all around her."

Linda's original design contains cotton fabrics, raw edge applique,  and all hand painted pieces,  It is machine stitched with bamboo batting. Linda has done a very expressive job of showing the contrasts of light and shadow in her fascinating work.

Gilded Star by Amy Allen, Hawaii

Amy explains, "This quilt was made by enlarging the templates from the [free] Star Gazer pattern, adding applique, a pieced border, and finishing if off with prairie points."

Amy continues, " I really enjoyed working with the mirrored fabrics through the quilt and tying it all together with original mirrored quilting designs." We really like the red ribbon inner border and the prairie points outer border which causes the quilt to "pop" against the neutral background.

Train to Nowhere by Cheryl See, Virginia

First place winner in the category of Applique Wall Quilts, Cheryl says, "My goal was to make a Hawaiian style quilt that was less traditional and innovative in design. The town center is surrounded by buildings and then a circular train track and train stations."

Cheryl adds, "As I progressed, the North, South, East, and West of the quilt became my personal NSEW and I included signs of every city I have lived in and every house number as well as my workplace. The four larger houses represent houses I have lived in." This is a wonderful design idea for a Hawaiian quilt, and we especially like the tiny embroidered flowers around the train stations, which add a charming touch to Cheryl's quilt.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2020 Road to California show.