Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Highlights of the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival - part 5

The Houston International Quilt Festival is an awe-inspiring event, with more than 1,600 quilts on display, and over 60,000 visitors!! We're sharing some final highlights of this fantastic show, before we turn our attention to Christmas!

Note: We've listed quilt patterns and vintage fine jewelry at very low prices at Quilt Inspiration's E-Bay store !

I Choose Joy by Cheryl Olson (Utah)


"I Choose Joy" was inspired by the natural beauty of birch trees. It was featured in a special exhibit, Nine Voices from One, curated by Jane Dunnewold. The exhibit features works by graduates of The Art Cloth Mastery Program, showing some of the finest works created by surface design artists today. Beginning with a hand-dyed silk backdrop, other hand-dyed cut pieces were fused onto the surface, then machine quilted. 


We liked Cheryl Olson's explanation of her quilt title,  "I Choose Joy", so much that we turned it into an image:


APPreciation: Ineka by Helen Godden (Australia)


Helen Godden says, “My muse is my daughter, Ineka. This quilt is based on a holiday photo from the dry Lake Hart. The glare from the dry desert salt pan requires sunglasses, even for a photo.” Helen altered the image with the Dreamscope phone app, then painted it with acrylic paint on cotton fabric.


Diamond Effervescence by Beth Nufer (Oregon) and Clem Buzick


Machine piecing and hand applique was used to create this brilliant original design. Beth Nufer says, “My inspiration was the silk fabric. The background fabric is a gradated cotton sateen. I wanted to incorporate the two fabrics together.” Clem Buzick's award-winning quilting can be seen in every element of the quilt.


Wild, Wild Plum by Carolyn Skei (Texas)


Carolyn Skei created Wild, Wild Plum with apps on her iPad.  It was inspired by a Hosui pear photogarph by Susanne Kaspar from The Great Book of Pears. Carolyn says, "My iPad experimentations yielded the outline and coloration for this quilt; fabrics and threads from my stash took it to the next level."


Carolyn used machine applique; fusing; hand and machine embellishment; hand and machine embroidery; and fabric collage techniques with commercial and hand-dyed cottons.

Balancing Act, 56 x 40", by Bodil Gardner (Denmark)


The woman in this whimsical quilt balances precariously on a seesaw, with the world on one end of the seesaw and a baby carriage on the other; a book and teacup are perched on her head. Bodil says, "In 1985 I made a quilt called Woman’s Life, a Balancing Act. So many wishes to fulfill, so many dreams to pursue, so little time of your own, little has changed since then. This 2015 quilt is on the same theme."  These lines are stitched onto the borders:

I would give you all the stars in the sky 
I would catch the drops from threatening clouds 
I would plant thornless roses by your way 
But would life be worth living then my child? 


Elements #12: Blue River by Michele Hardy (Colorado)


Elements #12: Blue River was shown in the special SAQA: Textile Posters exhibit. It depicts the colorful annual cycle of snowfall in the mountains, spring melt, runoff that replenishes the rivers, and water that gives life, summarized in the words Snow - River - Life. The fabrics were hand dyed, screen printed, fused, machine appliqued, and stitched.


Kazenobon by Masako Sakagami (Japan)


Masako Sakagami says, "I live in Yatsuo-machi, Toyama prefecture. Here I depicted the folk dance of the [traditional] Kaze no Bon festival."   The festival occurs at night, therefore Masako set the whirling dancers against a black background.  She used kimono fabrics along with machine piecing, machine applique, machine embroidery, painting, and free-motion quilting to create this masterpiece.


Gold and silver metallic threads stand out beautifully against the black background.


Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, these quilts are just fantastic.It´s hard to pick only one favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I look at these treasures I can hardly believe the talent that is out there. It blows my mind! Your blog is always a joy to visit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think this quilt show must really be put on my bucket list.What an amazing variety. I am also interested to see how Japanese quilting has evolved since the days when the majority were copies of Baltimore Album quilts or other traditional designs. Those days one could hardly see any use of a machine. Of course this is a country where bed covers are never seen by even guests and houses are so small there is little wall space. The idea of a pictorial piece of wall art must be made for quilt shows alone.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've seen several posts of quilts from this year's IQF - none had these and these are awesome! I choose Joy, Diamond Efferfescence, and Wild, Wild Plum are outstanding. Thanks so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

We love reading each and every comment... thanks for visiting our blog!

Related Posts with Thumbnails