Daily Blog

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We continue our selection of quilts exhibited in 2019 at the Houston International Quilt Festival as part of their 45th Anniversary, the Sapphire Anniversary. The Sapphire Celebration exhibit is described as:

"Quilters have long used the color blue to symbolize trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Sapphire is also the chosen gem to celebrate 45th anniversaries—which International Quilt Festival is doing this year (2019)! These new and antique blue and white quilts will be suspended from the ceiling in a spectacular and unforgettable display."

To be a part of the exhibit, quilts had to fit the following criteria:

• Entries may be Traditional, Modern or Art.
• Entries must have been made between 1974 and 2019.
• The minimum size is 50” x 50”

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With a stunning view of some oak trees from Charleston, South Carolina as her inspiration, Ann Harwell (Show 1802) created her quilt, St. Philip's Through a Live Oak. Featuring machine quilting and machine piecing, the majesty of the quilted tree makes it difficult to tell where the tree ends and the sky begins.

St. Philip's Through a Live Oak by Ann Harwell of Wendell, North Carolina was featured in the People, Portraits, & Figures category at Houston 2018.

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Alex is passing along tips from her process of learning straight line quilting. She demonstrates on her BERNINA Q20, but this applies to all machines. The ruler she is using is the Quilters Select 2" x 8" Machine Quilting Ruler with a deeper edge to guide the quilting. She shows how to line up your quilting for straight lines, how to start and stop for sharp points, and how to change directions.

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If your quilt basket block has a handle, it is important to get that beautiful arch. Alex has tips for how to make your basket handles look great. This quilt tutorial comes with a PDF pattern for the Handles for the Basket Puzzle Quilt.

Get The Pattern HERE. (Scroll to Bottom of Page)

Alex is LIVE on Wednesday, October 14, 2020, at 10am PDT, 1pm EDT, and 6 pm London. All classes are recorded so they can be viewed later.

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In Preparation for Duck Hunting Season

By Marian Ann J. Montgomery, Ph.D.,
Curator of Clothing and Textiles, the Museum of Texas Tech University

While looking at the Wild Duck Quilt based on the Mountain Mist Pattern from one of their batting wrappers, it brought to mind that duck hunting season will soon be upon us in many areas of the country.  It makes one wonder if this block was designed by someone who hunted, had hunter's in their family, or it was designed for bird lovers to proclaim their love of nature. Following are two images from the Internet of how the block was made by two different quilters. It is fun to see how different colors work in the same quilt pattern.

Two versions of the Wild Duck quilt pattern published by Mountain Mist.
Accessed from the Internet Oct. 7, 2020 from Quiltingdaily.com

Below is the version that has come into the collection of the Museum of Texas Tech University, which we are excited about but haven’t had the opportunity to professionally photograph yet. This quiltmaker appliquéd white motifs on a blue background but otherwise made the quilt with pink tree blossoms as in the examples above. 

Wild Duck pattern Mountain Mist Quilt. Detail. Gift of Marcia R. Kaylakie, TTU-H2020-016-006.

Wild Duck pattern Mountain Mist Quilt. Detail. Gift of Marcia R. Kaylakie,
TTU-H2020-016-006.

The block (in the uppper right corner) as illustrated in the 1930s Mountain Mist Blue Book of Quilts was constructed a bit differently, as seen below. Wild Duck pattern number 45 shows the block made using two shades of blue and white. The blossoms on the tree in the book are white. As there are several examples of the quilt featuring pink tree blossoms it may be that the batting wrapper encouraged this change from the original picture. It is fun to see how quilt patterns morph. What a beautiful tribute to wild ducks.

Learn more about the Museum of Texas Tech University Textile Collections.

Click here for related articles from the Museum of Texas Tech University Textile Collections.

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Here's a colorful quilt from The Quilt Show favorite Helen Godden of Australia. Rainbow Lorikeet was hand-painted and then free-motion quilted in a variety of colors.

You will want to see all the different quilting designs in the white area. WOW!

Helen says:

"The Rainbow Lorikeet soars swiftly and with grace through the tree tops like a colorful dart.  The bright primary colors of this Australian parrot are captured in detail, painted on the stunning white silk sateen, and surround by a burst of rainbow graded stitching celebrating his beautiful colors."

Helen's quilt won Honorable Mention, Art-Painted Surface at Houston 2012.

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Update March 2020:

Janet's quilt, "Garden Variety Sampler," won Best of Show at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show 2020.

Update January 2019:

Janet's quilt, "Garden Variety Sampler," won Best of Show at Road to California.

Update August 2018:

Janet's quilt," Garden Variety Sampler," won Best of Show AQS Quilt Week Grand Rapids 2018.

Click here to see the promised close-ups.

Click here to watch Alex interview Janet when she won BOS Houston 2017.

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The Houston Quilt Show began with Awards Night. It is always exciting to see the quilts presented under the lights. The walls are black and the curtains rise as each quilt is awarded. Finally there was only one award left and Best of Show was received by Janet Stone and her quilt Garden Variety Sampler. We will get you ultra close ups for Friday because Janet has been awarded "Master Quilter" status. Congratulations to Janet our artist from Show 1401: From ABC to BOM - Tips and Techniques Just for "Ewe".

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For Roxanne Nelson and her Technicolor Dream Parrot, which is a Red-lored Amazon parrot, every color in her fabric stash was in play to make "a quilter's technicolor dream." Roxanne was able to build amazing dimension and color depth in her quilt "using a fabric collage technique."

Technicolor Dream Parrot by Roxanne Nelson of Calgary, Alberta, Canada was featured in the Animal Kingdom category at Houston 2018.

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Lisa Walton, textile artist and past President of SAQA, talks to Birgit Schüeller about her award winning quilt, The Sprinter, and the amazing detail and work that went into making this fantastic quilt. Learn all about her great quilt in another installment of Quilt Stories.

You can watch Lisa here at TQS in Show 2503.

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Cathy says of Western Roundup:

"With this piece, I wanted to bring the look of the traditional pieced quilt into the world of quilted leather. Beginning with one-colour cowhide, I created the illusion of pieced blocks with leather dyes. I wanted to use all portions of the hide so I layered the scraps to create the irregular shape at the bottom. No part of the hide was wasted. I then went in search of the perfect western-styled conchos to embellish the design." - punchwithjudy.blogspot.com

Watch Cathy in Show 1909: Taking Leather to a Whole New Level.

Original Photo: Mary Kay Davis