When the show opened on the first night, Linda and I made our way to the back of the hall to start our journey through the 2023 International Quilt Festival. One of our first stops was at “The Traveling Artist” exhibit.

Denise Burkitt is an artist from Australia who designs fabric for Free Spirit. Listen to her talk about her quilts……

She told us that she started painting fabric as a child, using whatever supplies she could find in her home.

Her quilts reflect her love of color and especially Australia flora!! Since we lived in Australia for 6 years, I also have an affinity for these flowers!!

In each case, the quilting adds so much to the designs that Denise has drawn and painted….

One of my favorite flowers Down-Under was the Banksia….or Bottle Brush. This quilt is a wonderful, abstract rendition of those flower stems…..

The colors are quite different in this one…..

And, for a more realistic Banksia, have a look at this fun piece…..

We thoroughly enjoyed her quilts and speaking with her!!

Tomorrow we will visit the “Tactile Architecture Exhibition” so be sure you don’t miss it!!

.

…………………………………………..

If you don’t want to miss my personal tour of the International Quilt Festival in Houston, be sure to subscribe…….

Type your email…

Subscribe

Each year SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) has a large exhibit at the International Quilt Festival. In 2023 it concentrated on the color RED!!!

This first on is simple but the quilting made it very effective……

The next quilt was made from dozens of hand-dyed cottons…..

….and the quilting adds so much dimension….

The title of this next quilt is the French word for “BURN” This quilt of hundreds of triangles looks like the flame on a propane heater…

This one has lots of shades and tints of reds……

I am a sucker for a good sunrise or sunset so this Artist’s Statement says it all to me……\

“A shimmering line of bright reds amidst a vast spectrum of blue and grey hand-dyed colors evokes the horizon at dawn or dusk.”

I really like the design of this red quilt…..

This next one is another commercially printed photo that has been beautifully quilted…..

This next quilt was made from hand-bleached black fabrics. I LOVE the colors that come forth when the black meets bleach!!

This was my absolutely favorite in this category!! It is another professionally printed photo although Carol used digital painting to simplify the photo before printing…..

These red quilts made a striking exhibit at the festival and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring them!!!

Tomorrow I take you thru the “Women’s Encyclopedia” exhibit…..be sure to be here!!

.

…………………………………………..

If you don’t want to miss my personal tour of the International Quilt Festival in Houston, be sure to subscribe…….

Type your email…

Subscribe

Since piecing is one of my favorite parts of making a quilt, I always look forward to this category….

This quilt is an amazing example of a pineapple quilt……

It moves up the scale when you see it in perspective…..

It was TINY!!

Paula Nadelstern is well known for her piecing, but this quilt of hers blew my mind completely!!

As an example of the work, these are two of the blocks….each a “kaleidoscope” four-patch…..

There are over 14,000 pieces in the background of this next quilt…..

This is what the maker says about this next quilt…. “The design started with a geometric pattern of lines and shapes that were repeated over the surface. A perspective technique was then used to create a realistic illusion of depth and make the pattern pop out of the quilt surface. This portrays a more lifelike image and helps draw you into the quilt.”

I absolutely LOVE this design!!!

This quilt was awarded the Third-Place ribbon…..

This quilt won the Second-place Ribbon…..

….and this was the Blue-Ribbon winner…..

The fabrics in each block are the same. The color difference is achieved by using different colors of thread for the quilting. I have seen this technique before and it is SO effective!!

Speaking of colors….tomorrow we are celebrating the color RED!!!! Come back for more..

.

…………………………………………..

If you don’t want to miss my personal tour of the International Quilt Festival in Houston, be sure to subscribe…….

Type your email…

Subscribe

Today let’s take a look at the second part of the Large Pictorial Quilts from the International Quilt festival!!

We live with a bevy of deer in our neighborhood so this quilt appealed to my senses…..

I was intrigued with how Nancy used snippets in her trees…..

Michael and I have visited many places similar to this and I love how the scene has been depicted in fabric…..

This best descriptor of this next quilt is “STRIKING”.

There were so many details in this next piece…..

Look at some of them……

These chickens were so much fun……

When my friend Linda looked at this quilt, she said “that looks like Keukenhof Gardens”….and it was indeed!!

It was made from a photograph professionally printed on fabric and then quilted.

This final quilt was probably my favorite in the category……

These quilters have had similar quilts in past shows and I absolutely LOVE their work. It is always whimsical and realistic.

One of my readers made an interesting comment about professionally printed fabrics that have been quilted. She wondered if they shouldn’t be in a “Wholecloth” category. I hadn’t thought of them as such but it certainly makes sense.

What do you think??

Tomorrow we will have a look at the winners (and others) in the Pieced Category. Stay tuned…..

.

…………………………………………..

If you don’t want to miss my personal tour of the International Quilt Festival in Houston, be sure to subscribe…….

Type your email…

Subscribe