Let’s Innovate Some More

Today we will continue with yesterday’s Improvisational (I said Innovate in the heading) category quilts from Quilt Con 2023…..

This first one has lots more curves for me to be enthralled by……

“Currents” by Rebecca Swank

This one is inspired by NASA animations depicting ocean surface currents!!! I am CONSTANTLY amazed at were we get all of our inspiration!!

I saw this next quilt as a cute quilt but then read the statement and found out that is about death…..

“Memento Mori” by Emily Watts

I still like it!!!

I am not normally a fan of piecing that has no real definition to it but this quilt ticked my fancy…..

“Piece by Piece” by Jane Grant

Jane said that her design idea was to have one or more focal points and to somehow “explode” the center of each outwards to create a sense of motion. I would say that she definitely accomplished that!!

I think that the thing I like about it is the background with the “dots” of greys and blacks among the whites!!

I love the rich colors in this piece…..

“The Weight” by Deborah Ryan

This was probably my favorite quilt in this category…..

“Green Screen Green” by Emille Trahan

It makes me feel like I am sitting in the middle of a greenhouse, smelling the mulch and enjoying the warmth.

I especially love how the quilting amplifies the shapes…..

I will leave it there for today and tomorrow we will finish up this category. There is LOTS more to see!!!


…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

If you have an interest in ruler quilting, check out this online course…..

Click HERE for more information

Let’s improvise!!

As I have said previously, I am NOT good at improvisational piecing, so I was excited to see the quilts in this division.

The first quilt was one that I saw at Houston and I loved it just as much this time…..

“One In Every Four” by Carolina Onet0

The colors are so intense and the black squares just accent them.

The story on this next quilt was interesting…..

“98.7 Degrees” by Juli Smith

I love how she incorporated thread into the design……

This next quilt reminded me of my desire to piece circles but I love how she sliced them up……

“More Whole Than Broken” by Kathy Cook

And then there are the Big-Stitch circles that tie it all together…..

Karen Stone made this next quilt and it was awarded a 2nd-place ribbon…..

“Gotcha” by Karen Stone

It is a very similar style to her quilt from the Pieced division (see yesterday’s post) and, once again, I love the colors, the design, and the quilting….what else is there!!

The last quilt for today won the 1st-place ribbon…..

“Turnip” by Susan Lapham

Susan says that she works intuitively, moving back and forth between the design wall and the sewing machine as she ponders, designs, and engineers each piece…..doesn’t that sound wonderful!!

Come tomorrow for a few more in this category!!!

If you enjoy this blog, please share it with your friends!!!

Thank you…….

More Quilt Con Piecing Specialties

Yesterday I started posting some of the quilts from the Piecing Division of QuiltCon 2023. Today I want to finish going thru my favorites…..

This one is a bit wild and crazy but won a Second Place ribbon…..

“Raspberry Sherbet” by Susan Lapham

I am NOT good at improv piecing and really do admire those that can do it!!

This quilt won Third Place…..

“Sunshine Daydream” by Karen Stone

I really like the bright fabrics against the dark purples.

Have a look at the quilting…..

I adore the daisies with lots of additional lines in the petals. I need to play with that some!

The curved piecing in this next quilt was PERFECT……

“Ottoman Rings No 6” by Tighe Flanagan

In her artist statement, she says that the fabrics include both solids and gradations which gives it more depth. I hadn’t noticed the color changes but not it is all that I can see.

Here is “Raspberry Lime Rickey”….sounds refreshing…..

“Raspberry Lime Rickey” by Ann Feitelson

She said that she wanted to focus on color interactions in these kaleidoscope blocks rather than the strong graphic contrast that you find with most kaleidoscopes. I think that she definitely accomplished that.

The next quilt is really groovy……

“Lava Lamps” by Molli Sparkles

This makes a fun quilt!!

When I saw this next quilt, I thought that it was applique and wondered why it was in the piecing division…..

“Mask #3 – The stoic” by Scott Culley

If you use a color filter, you can apparently see all three of the expressions on the man’s face. What I enjoyed about it was getting up-close and personal with the piecing…..

That is a LOT of little bitty pieces!!

The last quilt won the NACQA (National Assn. of Certified Quilt Judges) “Award of Merit”…….

“Joan of Arc” by Veruschka Zarate

It is foundation pieced using 20 colors and 1,453 fabric shapes!!

I particularly like the light reflected in the quilt!!


Well, that is it for Piecing. tomorrow we tackle the “Improvisation” category…..it is a biggie!!!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

If you have an interest in ruler quilting, check out this online course…..

Click HERE for more information

Innovative Piecing at Quilt Con-2023

Today we are starting to look at my FAVORITE category….PIECING.

The definition for QuiltCon was this…..

And believe me….they did!!!

I LOVE the fabrics in this quilt…..

“My Alhambra No. 2” by Tighe Flanagan

She paired Shot Cottons and Grey linen to achieve this effect….and LOOK at all of the sides in each of those pieces!!

In the artist statement for this next quilt, she encourages you to take a “Second Glance” to see the 8 circles looking back at you…..

“Second Glance” by Tania Tanti

I am not exactly sure I see the circles, but I like the quilt!!!

The next one was definitely a favorite…..wait….do I say that about everyone I show????

“Skye” by Julia Wachs

Just look at the intricacy of the piecing…..

And of course, the machine quilting certainly “floats my boat”!!

Next, we have “366 Kites”…..

“366 Kites” by Tighe Flanagan

You MUST read the artist’s statement…..

JUST……WOW!!!!

I found the next one interesting because of the circles that I played with back in September…..

“Three Ring Circus” by Kelly Spell

I really want to study this one some more to see if I can figure out exactly how she pieced it!!

Okay….this next one enthralls me…..

“Up Cake Down Cake” by Ann Feitelson

She made such good use of her striped fabrics and I absolutely love the way that some “cakes” are right side up, some are right side down and some can’t seem to make up their mind.

OKAY…..I will stop there for today.

Come back tomorrow and we will finish up the piecing division!!


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In this blog, I post stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.

More Modern Log Cabins

Yesterday, I posted several quilts from QuiltCon-2023, each in the “Log Cabin” category. Here are a few more…..

This first quilt took the 1st place ribbon in the Log Cabin Challenge……

“Concentric” by Betsy Vinegrad

It is an amazing example of geometry in quilting…..

And, adding the concentric circle quilting just tops it off perfectly!!

This next quilt was made in the same style as one of the minimalist quilts. This entire piece is cut from one fabric, but layered with black batting. So, the value changes are where the batting is shining thru the single layers of fabric…..

“It’s Not What it Seams” by Marah Light

Have a closer look…..

This one reminds me of the old TV test patterns!!!

“Ultimo” by Roberta Sperandio

A closer looks shows that she construted black and white strip sets and then used those strips to build her log cabin…..

Simply AMAZING!!

The last one is a portrait of Maya Angelou….and yes….it is made out of log cabin blocks…..

It is a huge quilt and you have to back away from it for it to look really good. YOU may like it better if you squint just a bit at the picture!!

In his viewer statement he said that this is the second portrait that he has made. The first one was squares and triangles without the log cabin portion. He made this one, challenging himself to use log cabins. He answered the question that we always ask….it took about 100 hours to create and there are approximatley 2500 pieces in it!!!

Okay….that wraps up the Log Cabin Challenge!!!

Tomorrow, we will take a stab at the piecing division…..please come back for more.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

If you have an interest in ruler quilting, check out this online course…..

Click HERE for more information