Quilt Fiesta! The annual Tucson Quilters Guild show (2)

It's quilt show time!  The annual Quilt Fiesta, held last weekend by the Tucson Quilters Guild in Arizona, is an outstanding show. We're rolling out some of our favorite photos.

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Helen Hardin - Between Two Worlds by Karen G. Fisher

 This original art quilt by Karen G. Fisher was awarded First Place in the Art Pictorial category.  Karen explains, "Painter Helen Hardin (1943-1984) was half Pueblo, half Anglo. Her Pueblo roots inspired her imagery and color palette. I’ve included her face, and the motifs and colors she used throughout her works, which are in museums all across the U.S."

We enjoyed this amazing detail, from decorative stitches to turquoise buttons and silver feathers, in these closeup photos. 

The Guardian by Stephanie Nordlin

The Guardian was award First Place in the One Person Small Pieced Machine Quilted. The design is semi-original with 3 rows from “Simply Seminole” and block from “The Seminole Patchwork Book.” We love the colors and the design, which highlights the Gambel's quail that live in the Sonoran desert. A male quail is shown watching out for the female and her chicks.

Stephanie Nordlin explains, "The Guardian started as a row-by-row challenge, but I added extra sections of desert, night sky and original appliques." The quilt was beautifully embellished with beads.

A Cactus Garden by Manya Powell, quilted by Creative Lines Quilting, LLC

What a wonderful quilt! Manya Powell entered A Cactus Garden in the Two persons – primarily pieced - hand or machine quilted category.  She says that the multiple types of cactus were fun to make!  The finished quilt was quilted by Creative Lines quilting. (Note: The pattern source was not identified, but the blocks resemble the Greenhouse quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, which has 5 different cactus blocks.)

Heart & Soul in a Quilt by Athena Taylor

Winner of First Place in the One Person Large Pieced Machine Quilted category, here is a gorgeous double wedding ring quilt featuring 42 fabrics. Athena Taylor says, "The applique is needle turned, with some of the birds having more than 50 pieces! The machine quilting was done on my sit down Q20 using ruler work." The closeup photos help show Athena's expert piecing, applique, and quilting.

Celtic Horse, Sleipnir by Jeanne Deloria

Jeanne Deloria says, "Sleipnir is Odin’s eight-legged horse birthed by Loki. It was not the Norse mythology that led me to choose this design, it was the feeling of movement that it evoked and its suitability to reverse applique." The border design is a perfect complement to the crossed motifs in the quilt's center.

 Copper Mountain Springs by Melanie Harris, quilted by John Harris

The colors, precise piecing, and stunning machine quilting really drew our eyes to this quilt. The colors and shapes were chosen to represent the beautiful Huachuca Mountains and big sky in Cochise County, Arizona. Quiltworx (Judy &Bradley Niemeyer) was identified as the pattern source; we recognize this as the inner section of Quiltworx' Iceberg Ridge design.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2023 Tucson Quilters Guild show.