Part 2 of Handwork at QuiltCon 2024

Yesterday we started looking at some of the quilts from the Handwork division at QuiltCon 2024. Here are a few more for your viewing pleasure!!

This quilt was designed to bring both day and night into one quilt….

“Walking After Midnight” by Baylee Crawford

It contains some wonderful hand quilting!!

This quilt explores the paths of the Neuostheim Railway Junction in Germany…..

“Rails II” by Michelle Wilkie

She used cross stitches to continue the railway theme representing the universal road sign of a railway…..

This next quilt uses a myriad of techniques, including hand embroidery and net overlays….

“Beginning to See” by Jennifer Broemel

I particularly love the way the light moves subtly to the center of the quilt!!

The maker of this quilt sees it as a imaginary field of flowers…..

“Shine on Me” by Julie Reuben

She said that there were many miss-steps in making the quilt but she loved how it turned out. I can see the flowers now, can’t you?

I have seen this type of work at previous shows and always appreciate what the artist can achieve with simple changes of color….

“Borrowed Blue” by Jennifer Broemel

Her layers of netting and cross-stitch create a subtle color pattern….

I bet it weighs a TON!!

This quilt was a reproduction of an original work by the Canadian artist, Ray Dal Lam. He agreed on a collaboration to translate his digital pieces into analog textile art…..

“Trienta grados” by Pachy Sarmiento

The quilting was PERFECTION….

Finally……

“Handwoven” by Charan Sachar

I appreciated the woven pieces that were intertwined in the quilt….

Well….that does it for the Handwork division.

Next Monday we will move to an exhibit of the quilts of Jacquie Gering.

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Doing Handwork at QuiltCon 2024….

The MQG definition of Handwork says “Quilts in this category include at least one element of handwork, not including binding.”.

So….let’s go!!

The first prize ribbon went to …..

“Coral Quilt” Stitched and Tied” by Amanda Nadig

From the Artist’s statement…..”If I was going to try tying a quilt, I wanted to be very “over the top” about it!! The yarn was bought from an estate sale and the quilt is very heavy!!

Second place was awarded to…..

“Ghana Batik Study” by Lauren Klementz-Harte

The inspiration for this quilt started with the batik fabric that a family member brought back from Ghana. Interest was added with thick cotton quilting and embroidery…..

Third place was given to…..

“Summer Lovin'” by Rebeka Lambert

She made it entirely by hand, and took it everywhere she went one summer. She said that when she looks at it, it brings back memories of late nights, long days and summer activities.

HOW FUN!!

This quilt was healing to the maker….

“Return to me….” by Robert Bosscher

….helping him to return to the enjoyment of the process…. the joy of transforming a thought or idea into a physical object. The celebration of making!!

It was hand quilted with heavy thread and the knots added an interesting texture….

This quilt was an exercise in using Essex Linen fabric….

“U-Turn” by Debbie Shives

The initial wavy lines were quilted on her longarm and then echoed with hand quilted lines from a variety of wool threads….

This next one was awarded a “Judge’s Choice” award…..

“Scrappy Manhattan” by Clara Stoikow

From reading the artist’s statement, this quilt is basically a map of Manhattan…. with elastic band motorways and tunnels, and appliqued cords representing the main roads….

Unfortunately, I failed to get the maker’s information on this next quilt…..if you know, please tell me so that I can give proper credit!!…..

I particularly love the scrappy background that the shapes float on!!

Finally for today, I give you…..

“Most Noble Sorceress” by Melanie Tuazon

Melanie sees herself as a quilter who makes soft portals to imagined realms!! Obviously that realm includes LOTS of ties…..

There are a few more quilts in this category….come back tomorrow.

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Is Sashiko for me???

I have talked in previous posts about wanting (needing) some handwork to do at night in front of the TV. If I grab my computer, it becomes the ONLY thing that I can concentrate on so I might as well be in my office. OR, if I don’t have anything to work on, I fall asleep!!

I tried hand applique, and honestly, I don’t enjoy it….but more about that in a future post!!

While at Houston, I passed a booth that sold fabrics for doing Sashiko……

HMMMMM……could this be my handwork??

They had gorgeous fabrics that were stamped with the sewing design and I bought one…..

I also purchased threads and needles…..

If you look closer, the individual stitches are printed so you have a guide to keep them even…..

My first thought was that I could just stab-stitch it. Apparently another customer had the same idea because I heard the clerk say….”Yes ma’am, you CAN stab-stitch it, but it won’t be Sashiko if you do”!!

Okay…..AXE the stab-stitch idea!!

So, I sat down one night and started stitching and it was SO relaxing and SO much fun!!

HURRAY…..I found my TV stitching!!

The only problem that I had was needing to turn the piece so often to stitch different directions. As I turned it again and again, I noticed that the unfinished edges were started to ravel….

So, I took it up to the studio and cut 4 narrow strips of fabric……

….folded and ironed them in half…..

….and basted one to each side of the fabric…..

So, now the edges were protected….

The other problem that I had was the sheer volume of fabric that I had to hold while stitching. So, I decided to temporarily shorten the piece by folding the long edges in and basting them down…..

When I finish the interior section, I will take out the basting and work on each edge.

Finally, to remove even more of the excess fabric, I folded the other edges in and used magnets to keep them in place.

These are “SewTites”, and this is one of their mini versions…..

They can be bought HERE on Amazon.

They are designed to hold applique pieces in place while you stitch, removing the need for pins that your threads get caught on, but I decided that they would work well here too.

I folded over the fabric that I wanted out of my way and placed the metal backing on the back…..

I moved to the front of the fold and clipped on the front piece….

My Sashiko looks like this right now…..

…and I am excited that I can easily grip the fabric when I resume sewing….

Since taking these photos, I have finished the first block…..

…and am already thinking of other things that I could do with this technique. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of books on my Christmas Wish List!!

I will keep you updated on how it is coming along!!

Have you tried Sashiko?? And, more importantly, what did you do with the pieces once they were finished???

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Handwork at QuiltCon

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am NOT known for my handwork!!! So, when I walked into the handwork area, I wasn’t expecting much!!

But, as usual, I was surprised!!

First of all, I had to change my definition of what a “handwork” quilt was!! You see, I think of something completely pieced and quilted by hand. But, the QuiltCon definition was this….

The first quilt that caught my eye was this one…..

“Confetti” by Diana Fox

It took me a while to figure out what the handwork was, but I finally got close enough to see the seed stitches…..

….that made up the shadows.

The really interesting thing about this was the fact that it was quilted in 1/8-inch lines BEFORE the seed stitches were added. But, the stitches didn’t show thru to the back!!

That meant that she had to run the stitches thru the batting rather than “stab-stitching” them thru the entire quilt sandwich. That would have been SO hard to do!!! Well done Diana!!

Next was this piece……

“The Sun Goes Down Alone” by Jennifer Broemel

This is a great exercise in how threads can change fabrics. Have a closer look…..

That is a LOT of cross-stitches!!

It was interesting to take a peek at the back of the quilt…..

…..where you can see that tulle was also used. this gives a great view of ALL of the machine stitching that went into the quilt!!

This next one was simple, but SO effective……

In 2021, I attempted something like this but fused the fabrics and wasn’t happy with the fraying that occurred along the edges. You can read more about the attempt HERE.

It looks as if these are pieced together which would solve that problem and I REALLY like the idea of adding movement with the stitching. Maybe THIS will be my new “slow stitching” project???

Finally, I was drawn to this quilt…..

“Crowned With Care” by Uzoma Samuel Anyanwu

lt reminded me greatly of a photo that I took when we were in Mozambique……

If you want to read more about our lunchtime with Zak’s family, check out this post…..

Portrait of a Mozambique bush family

But I have digressed……

Back to the quilt….. I loved the machine work on this quilt but couldn’t figure out why it was in the handwork category. Then I noticed the headscarf on this one woman…..

It is a magnificent beaded piece and DEFINITELY belongs in the handwork arena!!

Once again, these quilts were great examples of a new way to think about handwork.

Maybe I can try some soon!!!

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

Thank you…….

No machines allowed….

Today we are looking at the “Hand-Made” category at the International Quilt Festival….again…a category that I would NEVER be able to enter. But I can enjoy the quilts anyway!!

Zena Thorpe entered this fun quilt……