Modern Quilt Month 2020 ! part 3

We're celebrating Modern Quilt Month at Q.I., and we couldn't be more excited about these quilts!  The characteristics of modern quilts may include the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and negative space.  Here are a few modern art quilts we admire.

P.S.  For continuous listings of free quilt patterns, please check us out on Twitter !
For low-cost quilt magazines and vintage collectibles, check us out on E-Bay - we're Top Rated Sellers !)

Hide and Seek by Barb Tatera

Third place winner in the Modern Quilts category, Barb notes, "As you look at 'Hide and Seek', I hope your eyes travel around the quilting finding something interesting in both the fabric and the quilting!"

This bright white background is perfect for highlighting the periwinkle, lavender, and pastel lemon tones of the foreground objects.  In this close-up, you can see the line of the triangular flying geese pattern that provides an excellent geometric contrast to the colorful, eye-catching circles.

Barb quilted her creation herself, and did a spectacular job. This beautiful, perfectly medallion is one of our favorite quilting motifs.

"Olive You!" by Maggie Nichols, quilted by Jessica Jones

First place winner in the category of Pieced Small Quilts, Maggie writes, " The olive green fabric and the name of this quilt,  'Olive You!' is in memory of my mom, Julia Songer. She taught her nurses, while [a patient] at Mercy Hospice-Johnston, how to prepare her martini each night. Cheers!"

"Olive You" is based on the Blue Onion quilt pattern by Karla Alexander at Saginaw Street Quilts. This is a delightful study in monochromatics, with intriguing lighter-hued fabrics providing background contrast. 

Opposites Attract by Betty Hahn

First place winner in the category of Art/Abstract Quilts, Betty says, "Black, white; curved, straight; short, long; near and farm move to integrate to become whole." Betty's quilt is a fascinating study in contrasts.

Betty painted her original design on her iPad, had it printed on silk, and quilted it herself. 

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2020 Quilt Arizona show.

Modern Quilt Month 2020 ! part 2

We're celebrating Modern Quilt Month at Q.I., and we couldn't be more excited about these quilts!  The characteristics of modern quilts may include the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and negative space.  Here are a few modern art quilts we admire.

P.S.  For continuous listings of free quilt patterns, please check us out on Twitter !
For low-cost quilt magazines and vintage collectibles, check us out on E-Bay - we're Top Rated Sellers !)

Event Horizon, 48 x 60", by Karen G. Fisher

There is so much to see in this stunning wall quilt, which comes alive with its high contrasts and intriguing textures !  Winner of Best of Show in 2011, Event Horizon was displayed in a special exhibit of past award winners at the 2020 Quilt Arizona show.  Karen G. Fisher says, "Event Horizon came together from two quilts.  The first quilt was a red, white, and black quilt that had gone terribly wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  The second quilt was from a workshop and never felt like "my own" work. I decided to cut them both into smaller sections and combine them together."

Karen continues, "I didn't want big bulky seams, so I bound them and overlapped the edges.  Yet even combined, there was a hole in the middle, which I purposely trimmed to be round, and the idea of an Event Horizon took shape... The interior of the hole became black, but also dimensional (the center is very thick, with a shaped piece of firm foam, not just batting.) I used everything I could think of to add texture to this quilt: foil, paint, tulle, yarn, stamping, and lots more quilting than it originally had."

Paper Cuts by Claire Victor

Paper Cuts, a striking original design by Claire Victor,  won the second place award in the Modern-Solo quilts category at the 2020 Quilt Arizona show. Claire envisioned this as pieces of colored paper, suspended, and some intersecting.  The strong geometric shapes, solid colors, and thoughtful use of negative space create a truly modern quilt.

Claire Victor created Paper Cuts using English paper piecing, and she quilted it on a domestic Bernina sewing machine.  We admired her creative, modern quilting designs!

Reflections, 58 x 67", by Karen Foster, Stephanie Ruyle, Leanne Chahley, Debbie Jeske, Hillary Goodwin, Felicity Ronaghan, Marci Debetaz, Kari Voitechovsky, Melissa Richie, and Diane Stanley (California)

Reflections won a blue ribbon for the Best Mid Century Mod quilt at the 2019 Pacific International Quilt Festival.  Using a palette inspired by the picturesque Venetians of Capitola Village and an '80's surf contest poster, members of the BeeSewcial quilting group in Capitola (California) created improvisational blocks in solids. Karen Foster puzzled the blocks together to create "Reflections".  It all came together beautifully!  This original design quilt was machine pieced and longarm quilted.

Witches Brew by Karen McCarty

Entered in the Art/Abstract category, this dynamic quilt was a crowd favorite at the 2020 Quilt Arizona show. Karen McCarty says, "I wanted to make something bright and cheery, using appli-piecing and paper piecing to make shapes in curved spaces.  My husband saw something different and came up with the name." The original quilt was designed, pieced, and beautifully quilted by Karen McCarty.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2020 Quilt Arizona show (Witches Brew, Paper Cuts, Event Horizon) and the 2019 Pacific International Quilt Festival (Reflections).

Modern Quilt Month 2020 ! part 1

We're celebrating Modern Quilt Month at Q.I., and we couldn't be more excited about these quilts!  The characteristics of modern quilts may include the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and negative space.  Here are a few modern art quilts we admire.

P.S.  For continuous listings of free quilt patterns, please check us out on Twitter !
For low-cost quilt magazines and vintage collectibles, check us out on E-Bay - we're Top Rated Sellers !)

Bliss by Kathy McNeil (Washington)

Kathy's modern quilt was inspired by a quote from mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell. He said, "Follow your bliss, and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls........Wherever you are- if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."  Kathy explains that her bliss is quilting, and her husband's bliss is mountain climbing.

To us, this enthralling design looks like the photo of the planet Earth as seen from outer space: a big blue marble, lit by the sun. The ombre quality of the fabrics, as they move from deeper shades to lighter shades, gives a wonderful sense of depth and dimension.

Desert Oasis by Wendy Lopez (Arizona).  Quilted by Eunice Hill

This quilt pattern is In A Nutshell by Karla Alexander. Wendy notes, " The colors used reminded me of Sedona Arizona's red rocks and monsoon rains. Blocks were made by stacking five contrasting fabrics, then cutting freehand curves."

Wendy adds, "Different centers and rays were added for interest." Wendy's intriguing and distinctive quilt contains lots of texture and clearly defined edges, much as a rock formation might exhibit rugged texture. 

Antelope Canyon Mosaic by Kimberly Lacy (Colorado)

Third Place winner in the Abstract Quilts category at the 2020 Road to California show, Kimberly notes, "This quilt was inspired by the dramatic colors of the undulating sandstone formations in Antelope Canyon, Arizona." In addition to her website, Kimberly's work is also featured at Jacquard Products.

Antelope Canyon is an example of a "slot canyon", which is a long, narrow deep channel, with steep vertical walls that are eroded into sandstone or other sedimentary rock. Some canyons like this are only 3 feet across at the top, so the sun's rays enter at all different angles, then bounce off the walls and are reflected on opposite surfaces.  By quilting these small geometric patterns into the quilt top, Kimberly has succeeded in creating a luminous, glowing effect. She adds, " The colors of the canyon wall change at different times of day."

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2020 Road to California show (Antelope Canyon Mosaic, Bliss) and the 2020 Arizona Quilters Guild show (Desert Oasis).