Fun with Fabric! (part 3)

Today's featured quilts are from the 2022 QuiltCon show. The quilters made expert use of a wide range of fabrics; today's quilts all use solids.  We think they provide a great lead-in to our annual Modern Quilt Month. Join us in admiring these creations (part 3 of 3!)  

p.s. check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry!
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Modern Bullseye by Kathrin Brown (California)

"

Kathrin Brown says, "A fan of foundation paper piecing and modern aesthetics, I started this project immediately after I won and received the pattern book Bullseye Quilts by Becky Goldsmith from C&T Publishing in February of 2021. All fabrics are from my stash. The piecing of each ring was tricky, but registration marks helped."

Kathrin has done excellent piecing work, which is never easy when dealing with curved shapes. However, she has made this intricate bullseye pattern look like a beautiful work of art with dazzling contrasts.

Kathrin continues, "[At first] the center did not lay flat....Thus, I removed the two inner rings, printed paper templates out again, pieced them with different fabrics, and sewed them back into the center. Everything was flat then. I spent about 30 hours quilting this top on my Juki longarm. It was finished in July 2021."  

New Years Kiss Quilt by Taylor Krzeszowski

Taylor Krz notes, "This quilt quickly draws you in due to its medallion format, but keeps you there because of its asymmetrical composition and repeated shapes." 

Taylor's quilt is machine pieced and machine quilted on a regular stationary sewing machine. The softly muted pinks, peaches, and lavender hues of the left side and bottom borders provide a very eye-pleasing balance and contrast between the bolder tones and stripes of the upper and right hand side borders.

Striped Frenzy by Jennifer Haro (Illinois)

Jennifer Haro remarks, "Striped Frenzy is the first quilt I made as a take on the 'Roman Stripe' quilt pattern. I sewed long strips of colored fabric together and then sub-cut into horizontal and vertically striped triangles and reassembled with sashing."

This is a sparkling quilt with wonderful contrast and fantastically accurate piecing. We really admire the flawless workmanship in Jennifer's creation.

Temperature quilt 2020 by Nancy Goff (Nebraska)

Nancy Goff writes, "Making a temperature quilt sounded like a fun challenge. I chose to make a braid design, a column for each month, starting at the bottom, with high temps on the left and lows on the right for each day. "

We love this quilt, because it gives a 3 dimensional optical illusion of a folding fan or accordion look. It has a very dynamic appearance, because it seems to be bursting with energy. 

Nancy adds, "Choosing the color range to represent the temps was a big challenge. Nebraska temps can range from  minus 20 Fahrenheit to 110 Fahrenheit. But, as it turned out, 2020 was a fairly flat year. The highest high recorded was 97 F on September 5th. The lowest low was minus 5 F on December 31.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.

Fun with Fabric! (part 2)

We were delighted with the immense talent on display at the Spring quilt shows. The quilters made great use of a wide range of fabrics from batiks, to solids, to traditional and modern prints.  Join us in admiring these creations!

p.s. check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry!
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

My Adorably Dressed Girls by Caroline Ellermann

This outstanding quilt was made from recycled dresses! Caroline Ellermann says, "What an honor to have your daughter-in-law ask you to make a quilt from 30 of her favorite dresses worn by her daughters.  The beautiful and fun fabric designs were a challenge to combine, but the results were very rewarding."

 For her creation, Caroline modified the Garden Party quilt pattern by Laura Heine. The quilting was done by Gale Smith of Phoenix, Arizona.

Christmas Rose by Kathryn Wild

We really liked this quilt! Kathryn Wild made Christmas Rose with over 200 fabric scraps for her daughter’s birthday.  We were fascinated by all the different prints! The quilt was inspired by a 2003 Alexander Henry fabric, which you can see in the border. The scalloped edges of the quilt echo the various flower shapes.  It was quilted by Quality Quiltz using a poinsettia design as shown below.

Sourdough by Sheila Arnold

The strong contrasts and varied prints in this scrap quilt really appealed to us! Sheila Arnold says that Sourdough was pieced about 30 years ago. Some tiny black squares rotted and she had to replace them before quilting. It was quilted on her embroidery machine during the pandemic, using Edge to Edge quilting by Amelie Scott Designs.  

Modern + Buttons: Walmart #5 by Karen G. Fisher

This fun modern art quilt was created with color blocks in an asymmetrical “modern” arrangement with gray background. If you look closely you can see that each little square is embellished with a large, colorful button!

Karen G. Fisher says, “This is my fifth quilt highlighting my favorite buttons from Walmart, plus my signature tucked technique, in an asymmetrical “modern” arrangement with gray background.”  The quilting was done by Karen herself.

 SueNami by Joyce Holley, quilted by Penny Boese

This quilt was beautifully made by Joyce Holley and quilted by Penny Boese. SueNami won a blue ribbon in its category* at the 2022 Tucson quilt festival.  It was based on the SueNami pattern by Studio 180 Design by Deb Tucker.  (*Two person, medium, pieced).

Joyce says, "This was a great way for me to use some of the colors in my stash. SueNami is my first Hunter’s Star quilt... I enjoyed the process and how the points are points." The quilting done in multicolored thread was also outstanding.

Image credits: Photos were taken at the 2022 Arizona Quilters Guild Quilt Arizona show (Modern + Buttons, Sourdough) and the 2022 Tucson Quilters Guild Quilt Fiesta (Christmas Rose, My Adorably Dressed Girls, SueNami.)

Fun with Fabric! (part 1)

We were delighted with the immense talent on display at the Spring quilt shows. The quilters made great use of a wide range of fabrics from batiks, to solids, to traditional and modern prints.  Join us in admiring these creations!

p.s. check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry!
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Winter Crystals by Karen Kelter

 We love this quilt! Karen Kelter made Winter Crystals using Ricky Tims' simple strip-piecing techniques from his book, Kool Kaleidoscopes. She used about 20 fabrics and combined them masterfully without buying any new fabric!  Her choice of complementary purples and yellows pull the whole design together. Karen says, "I was surprised how easy this was and how quickly it came together."

Starry Patchwork Sampler by Francie McMillan, quilted by Kim Votava

The stars positively dance across this joyful quilt! Francie McMillan, describes this as a "colorful 20 block sampler with red backing with white polka dots." The pattern source was a BOM from Quilt Mama. A closeup (below) reveals some really fun fabrics, such as the red lips and the fussy-cut house.

Scrap Pineapple by Jillane Ocano

Jillane Ocano says that Scrap Pineapple was an attempt to reduce the contents of her scrap bins. "It contains scraps from most of my projects from the beginning of my quilting journey 5 years ago." This dynamic creation was expertly quilted by Jillane herself. The kaleidoscope design fits the theme of the 2022 Quilt Arizona show, "Kaleidoscope of Quilts!"

My Herd by Kate Clark

Kate Clark created My Herd with a stunning array of jewel-tone fabrics. She says, "This quilt has been a series of errors... know that this happens to others. I still love elephants and this quilt keeps us warm." We enjoyed the many beautiful prints, including some Kaffe Fassett favorites. This wonderful quilt was based on the Cirque d' Elephant pattern from Sew Much Ado.

Rainbow Starlight by Nancy Duckworth

Nancy Duckworth created Rainbow Starlight using dozens of colorful fabrics grouped by hues. She says, "Since shopping was hard during the pandemic, I needed a project using what I had.  I was hoping a scrap quilt would use a lot of fabric.  It didn't make a dent in my scrap bin!"  We loved the quilted bubbles in the sashings. Nancy used the versatile Scrap Happy Star Quilt pattern by IzySewbuzy Creations on Etsy.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 Quilt Arizona show (Scrap Pineapple) and the 2022 Tucson Quilt Fiesta (Winter Crystals, My Herd, Rainbow Starlight, and Starry Patchwork Sampler).