Quilt Arizona! The 2022 Show (3)

We could hardly wait for the 2022 Arizona Quilters Guild show, where the theme was Kaleidoscope of Quilts.  And what a fantastic show it was!  Due to the pandemic, the show was cancelled last year - so there was high anticipation for this year's event. There were many amazing quilts on display... here are some of our favorites!

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Tumble-A-Round by Claire Victor

Claire Victor won a special award for Exemplary Non-Professional Machine Quilting, plus First Place (a blue ribbon) in the modern-solo category for her stunning quilt, titled Tumble-A-Round. She says, "My fascination with the tumbling block continues; this time my design takes the overall shape of a circle... This adds an additional challenge of a changing light source."

Notice how each cube is composed of a dark, medium, and light side, creating the optical illusion of blocks. Tumble-A-Round was English paper pieced and beautifully free motion quilted by Claire herself. The quilted swirls and spirals really stand out on the solid color fabrics.

Arizona Nights by Debbie Cole, quilted by Rose Maynes

Arizona Nights was intended to portray the desert nights in Arizona, with each block featuring a different creature - check out the javelina, coyote, bobcat, hummingbird, cardinal, oriole, and more!  We especially loved the handsome red cardinal, shown in the closeup photo below. Debbie Cole won Second Place (red ribbon) in the Applique, Small-Duet category for this outstanding wall quilt.

The design was a 2006 Block of the Month sponsored by the Quilt Basket shop in Tucson. The many elements were machine appliqued using blanket stitch, and additional details - such as the leaves in the above block - were embroidered.  Debbie says that this was her first attempt at machine applique, and that the quilt (which was a 2006-2007 BOM) did not get finished until 2021. All of her hard work definitely paid off!

Modern Honeycomb Hexie by Tori Benz-Hillstorm, quilted by Clara Borntreger

Modern Honeycomb Hexie utilizes modern print fabrics to form an intriguing honeycomb design.  Tori Benz-Hillstorm hand-stitched 1349 one-inch honeycomb hexies, using English Paper Piecing (EPP).  There are approximately 200,000 hand-piecing stitches in this quilt! The white and gray solids provide the perfect backdrop for all of the brightly colored prints.

Modern Honeycomb Hexie was quilted by a Mennonite quilter from Minnesota, and it won Third Place in the Hand Quilted category. We so admired the precise, tiny stitches done in straight lines to emphasize the diamond shapes of the quilt.

Vikki's Flutterby Flowers by Donna Moyer

This heirloom quilt was created by Donna Moyer, who won First Place in the Hand Quilted category.  Donna says, "When my daughter Vikki was little she said 'Flutterby' instead of 'Butterfly.'  This quilt will be hers someday... It will make her smile.  It has made me smile as I worked on it for many years." 

The applique designs were based on a class taught by Jeana Kimball.  Donna Moyers' many hours of effort and love truly show in the finished product, which features thousands of precise hand quilting stitches.

Haunted by Paducah by Barbara Polson, quilted by Laurie Tigner

Haunted by Paducah won a second place ribbon in the Mixed Technique Small-Duet category. Barbara Polston says she was haunted by this quilt pattern, first seen in Paducah, Kentucky in 2008. "I was finally able to make it when Nubin Jensen published her pattern" (Pickled Clams). The clams reflect the blue, pink and violet hues of Kaffe Fassett's 'Tree Fungi' border fabric.

The machine quilting (by Laurie Tigner) lend an art deco-style appearance to the clam shell shapes.  For even more elegance, the centers of the clams were quilted with gold thread in a filigree pattern.

Mountain Silhouettes by Christiane Ermke

We really enjoyed Mountain Silhouettes, an original design by Christiane Ermke, made with many different colorful Kaffe Fassett fabrics. This art quilt depicts the mountains in and around Scottsdale, Arizona: Tom's Thumb, Pinnacle Peak, Camelback Mountain, and Four Peaks. the center ring features the iconic saguaro cactus which reside throughout the Sonoran Desert. The spectacular piece was hand quilted by Christiane herself.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 Quilt Arizona show.