Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Highlights of the 2015 Pacific International Quilt Festival - part 1

We had a fabulous time at the 2015 Pacific International Quilt Festival, the largest quilt show on the Pacific coast of the U.S.  Beautiful quilts were displayed from around the world. All the quilts were designed and constructed at a very high level of talent. We are showing some prize winners, but we also will be showing you some real gems that did not win prizes. For a complete list of prize winners in the World Quilt category, please click here.
Today, we're featuring Part I  of our highlights !

The Globe -Hayabusa Shot, 105 x105", by Kimiko Ukai, Japan


Kimiko explains, ...."In 2003, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launched a planet probe, Hayabusa 1. Hayabusa 1's destination is to the asteroid Itokawa. The journey took two years. On the way there, Hayabusa 1 came close to Earth. From that point, Hayabusa 1 took some photos of  Earth. One of the photos inspired my quilt." Therefore, this spectacular quilt depicts Planet Earth as seen from outer space. We were fascinated by this quilt and in awe of all the interesting new information we learn about the world at quilt shows.

Close-up, The Globe-Hayabusa Shot, by Kimiko Ukai


Kimiko continues, "I worked with the cathedral windows method." Kimiko's original design is all done in small cathedral windows blocks, sometimes embellished with lace overlays, as shown here. This huge quilt is completely quilted by hand. We were very impressed with Kimiko's most significant creation.

Frame of Mind, 35 x 32", by Flora Joy, Tennessee


Frame of Mind won Honorable Mention for wall quilts. Flora explains about her original design, "My attempt to make a three-in-one quilt that clearly showed the images of three different women definitely left me on pins and needles! I'm hoping that viewers will also be on pins and needles as they walk by and see the images magically change from Jackie Kennedy to Oprah Winfrey (shown here) to Mother Teresa!"

Close-up, Frame of Mind by Flora Joy


In this amazing quilt, the photo in the frame changes from one person to another, depending upon where you stand in front of the photo.  In this close-up above, we are standing on the left hand side, so the photo shows First Lady Jackie Kennedy (wife of U.S. President John F. Kennedy).

Close-up Frame of Mind by Flora Joy


If you stand on the right side of Flora Joy's quilt, the louvered strips of fabric will display the visage of Mother Teresa.  We were really intrigued with this quilt, as were a large group of admiring viewers standing around it. The technique is described in Flora Joy's October 2015 book, Trispective: The 3-N-1 Quilt, published by AQS.

Blue Hawaii, 99 x 74", by Sue Green, California


Sue states, "The inspiration for this quilt was one pillow-size traditional Hawaiian leaf pattern. I kept gathering patterns and ended up drawing 4 block patterns myself. Using the same (white) batik fabric for the block and sashing gives it a sparkle. It took my small quilt group to help me decide on the 'on point' layout."

Close-up, Blue Hawaii by Sue Green


Sue notes, " This quilt hangs in my bedroom, and every morning it reminds me of my wonderful vacation in Hawaii." These gorgeous blue batik Hawaiian motifs were all appliqued by hand, then Sue's lovely work was long arm machine quilted. Winner of a Judge's Choice award, "Blue Hawaii" was one of the prettiest quilts we saw at this year's P.I.Q.F.

The Color of Honey, 25 x 29", by Valerie Sauban, California


Valerie notes, "I like to work on challenge quilts because it forces me to work outside my comfort zone. My Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County issued a challenge for our 2015 show to combine black and white fabrics with one other colorway.... I also volunteer at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum and was asked to do a program on bees for kids. I became fascinated with bees and wanted to combine what I learned about them with the quilt challenge. So, I chose the color of honey as my third colorway, and made 'Beatrice' [above] as the queen bee of the...hive. " We love Beatrice's expressive little face, the wonderful background fabric, and the hexagon shape of a beehive cell that Valerie has chosen for this delightful quilt, which is hand appliqued.

Close-up, The Color of Honey by Valerie Sauban


Valerie adds, " I realize that I [humanized] Beatrice, but it was my way of trying to soften the stinging images of bees for kids..... This is an original design that came to me in a flash when I saw the  [tiny silver] metal crown and scepter at a hobby store."

Autumn  Baltimore, 71 x 71", by Sue Green, California


Sue writes, " A friend and I purchased this Baltimore Autumn pattern by Pearl Pereira together at PIQF in October 2013 from one of the many wonderful vendors. I love needle-turn applique and prefer working with batiks, as they don't fray when trimming and clipping."

Close-up, Autumn Baltimore by Sue Green


Sue continues, "This was my first ever Baltimore album style quilt and a real challenge to get it completed for this year. It hangs in my dining room from September through Thanksgiving. " We can only imagine the hours of loving work that went into this stunning quilt, a true heirloom. Color saturated batiks fabrics work perfectly to convey the intensity of autumn hues.  Just like her "Blue Hawaii" quilt shown above, Sue's work here is hand-appliqued, machine pieced, and long arm machine quilted.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration

5 comments:

  1. Those are all so original and stunning. It would be hard to pick a favourite. I have made a cathedral window quilt ... one of my first big quilts ... but seeing how she made those blocks look round must have been a challenge. The machine quilting makes an interesting addition to the Hawaiian blocks which are traditionally done in echo quilting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for all your good words about Sue Green. She was our Featured Quilter at this month's Sierra Gold Quilt Guild quilt show. We are all very proud of her and her beautiful appliqué work here in Amador County. Glad she is getting the recognition she deserves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really enjoy this blog and follow it faithfully. Love all the posts, but the ones recapping the best of shows are of particular interest - I no longer attend shows - and miss that activity. Please keep up this worthy work.
    Regards, Neame

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, thank you for showing us Sue Green's beautiful quilts in this years show of our PIQF. They're an inspiration to all of us in our Sierra's Gold Quilt Guild. She does us proud! ~ Also for the unbelievable quilts by Flora Joy! I've never seen this site before but will continue to follow it now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for showing all these exhibitions!
    Hélène.

    ReplyDelete

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

Related Posts with Thumbnails