The Quilts of Cotton Patch…..

Here are a few more quilts from my guild’s latest show.

This first one was one of my favorites…..

I love the fabrics that she chose…especially the gradation in the background.

She also made this quilt as part of a “deconstructed” challenge…..

I love how she used the chains to connect all of the pieces.

Another of our quilt designers is Christina Dickerson. This is one of her designs……

You might want to check out her website….. CMarieQuilts

I also enjoyed the geometric lines in this quilt…..

and, have a look at the quilting on this improv pieced quilt….

We showed a number of collage quilts and this one was a favorite…..

Finally, I love this quilt that was part of our “Bear With Me” challenge…..

There are so many things that I like about this quilt…… the alternate colorway, the look on the bear’s face, the bird in the corner, and the tree trunk!!

So….there are a few more quilts from the amazing quilters of the Cotton Patch Quilters Guild in Athens, GA.

Now I can’t wait for our next show in 2025!!

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

Click HERE for more information

More from the show….

You have waited for a week, so let’s look at a few more quilts from the Cotton Patch Quilters Show in Athens, Georgia.

This first one was a favorite quilt……

In particular, I love the shape and design of the houses. They look EXACTLY like pictures that I have seen from Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I haven’t been there myself but hopefully, sometime I will get to experience them.

It was made even more enjoyable when I realized that Mary Beth had actually designed the quilt herself and that the pattern was for sale. Check out this ETSY site for more

This next one is a piece of quilted art…..

“Time & Relative Dimensions in Space” by Charles Nicolossi

Charles joined the guild 10+ years ago, starting out as a traditional quilter but quickly moving his talent into other, more non-traditional work. His designs are quilted onto canvas and then stretched over a wooden frame. As you can see, he makes good use of his machine’s decorative stitches!!

And HOW can you not like a quilt that has a Dr. Who Tardis on it???

This quilt was a work of great patience…..

It is made of 2-inch squares….2,000 of them to be exact!!!

I especially love the way it sparkles!!

Speaking of sparkle, have a look at this one……

Personally, I would LOVE to take a walk in the rain if it was in these colors!!

Finally for today are two quilts by the same artist. Sharon took an online class during COVID and has gone to town with these…..

Don’t you love the dimension and colors in both of these pieces??

As you can see there is SO much talent in our little group of 100 quilters. Come back tomorrow for more!!

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

Thank you…….

More from my local guild show…

Yesterday I showed a few of my favorite quilts from our local guild show. Today let’s see a few more from some of our newer members…..

Laura Leiden has been a locally known artist for many years. When our kids were in school together, she was known for her much sought-after calligraphy. In March of 2021, she decided to make a quilt for her new grandson and things took off from there!!

In her newest quilt series, she has started combining two of her loves…..alcohol inks and quilting.

I am actually the proud owner of TWO of her alcohol ink designs……

But, alcohol ink doesn’t translate well on fabric!! One of her friends sent a photo of her design to Spoonflower and had it printed on fabric. Laura then added lots of free-motion quilting and came up with this great quilt…..

What a great way to merge two loves!!

I particularly like this piece…..

Just look at the faces…..

Oh my….. I would have NEVER seen that in the design!!

Another of our newer members is Rosie Crockett. She brings so much creativity to all of her quilts and they are such fun to see!!

For our “Animal Portrait” challenge, she presented this Steam-punk bird…..

“Maggie Vern Bird Steampunk Magpie” by Rosell Crockett

Just look at the zipper in the tail and the scissors for the beak…..

This is one of those cases where “my mind doesn’t think that way!!”

She made this quilt for our “Silhouette” challenge….

“Walking in the Shadows” by Rosell Crockett

Then there is this portrait of her 14-year-old grandson…..

Her desire was to make a portrait quilt in the “Modern” aesthetic. She definitely accomplished that!!

Rosie is so versatile in her work. This quilt design was based on the “Franciscan Desert Rose” china pattern and was appliqued on vintage hotel napkins…..

“Aunt Mary’s Desert Rose” by Rosell Crockett

This was one of the first quilts that she showed to our guild and my first indication that she was someone to watch!!!

Finally, I will show her “Bear With Me” challenge quilt…..

There are SO many fun elements in this quilt…..from the bear in his den, the salmon in the stream and the bee hive in the top corner.

These are just TWO of the amazing artists in my guild…..don’t you want to join us???

I will be showing more show photos over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!!!

If you subscribe to my mailing list, you can receive this free pattern for “Dancing Squares”…..

You can sign up HERE……

Local Guild Show

Last month our guild held its biennial show. Our last one was held in 2019 and we elected to skip the 2021 show due to…..never mind….you know why!!

It was with great joy that we opened the doors to show the public the amazing work that our members can do…..

The quilt that was selected as the Best of Show is this beauty…..

She used the pattern, “Unusual Lone Star” by Karen Stone. It was paper pieced, and Terri brought her excellent color sense to the design. It was an outstanding quilt.

Another of Terri’s quilts won the coveted Viewer’s Choice award……

This quilt had such a 3-D quality to it. My friend with Vertigo couldn’t look at it straight on!! The best comment that I heard was from one gentleman saying that he was just standing there, watching the quilt fold and unfold!!

It was a truly amazing quilt!!

But, there were lots of other amazing quilts too……

I love the colors in this one…..

And this quilt from modern quilter “Sylvia Schafer” is a favorite…..

Isn’t her quilting astounding!!

This mix of applique and embellishment produced a fun quilt……

She said that adding the tablecloth at the bottom was a last-minute inspiration but I think that it was a GREAT one!!

This next one was a commission quilt made by Long-arm quilter, Sheila Shepherd…..

The owner was thrilled to see a 1st place ribbon attached at the show!!

Mary Colley used her wool applique skills to great success with this quilt……

She added some FUN things to the corners…..

I love what Sue did with her Selvages…..

Sue also made this very soothing blue wave quilt…..

Suzanne used a Kaleidoscope design to make this fluid quilt…..

I would love to see the fabric that she started out with!!

As I have written about this quilt, I realized that most Kaleidoscope quilts accentuate the details and the strong design elements of a fabric but this one speaks to the colors and the softness of that fabric. I REALLY like it!!

That’s all for today….come back tomorrow for more of my favorites from “A Journey In Quilts – 2023″…..

In this blog, I post DAILY 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.

You also might also be interested in the free pattern that you receive when you subscribe to my email newsletter.

Both of these sign-up forms are in the right column….scroll ALL the way up if you are on a desktop and ALL the way down if you are on your phone!! And, please share this post with someone who might enjoy it!!

What happens at Quilt Judging…..

Last week I linked to an article about the jury process for a big show like QuiltCon…..

How do you get juried into QuiltCon??

In comments on this post, several people mentioned that they were intrigued by the actual judging process so I thought that I would walk you thru this process for a smaller (guild) show.

I have been fortunate to be involved in judging for our guild show for a number of years. Please note that these photos range from way back in 2011 so if we start looking older really fast, you will understand why! Also, you will see several different judges during this walk-thru!!

There are a few rules for everyone who helps with judging…..

FIRST is confidentiality!!! The things that are said in the judging room must NEVER leave there!!

Secondly, is QUIET. Everybody must do their jobs as quietly as possible to not bother the actual judging process. Honestly, it is the ONLY time that I have been around quiet quilters!!!

So let’s get started…..

When the judge arrives. quilts are laid out on tables by category and, after giving instructions…..

….she dives into the first category.

The quilts are initially folded in half so that the backs are showing.

Once the judge has read the description for the category, the quilts are “fanned” by unfolding each one quickly back onto the table……

This gives the judge a quick view of all of the pieces that she will be judging in that category.

Then the hard work begins…..

She looks at each quilt individually, starting by looking at the quilt as a whole…..

……commenting on the design, including fabric selection, color coordination, etc.

Then, she studies the quilt up close and comments on the technical aspects of each quilt, including the quality of piecing, applique, quilting, etc.

As she studies the quilt……

….she is verbally giving comments that are written down by one of the scribes…..

These critique sheets are given to the quilter at the end of the show.

Sometimes she asks for the quilt to be held up so that she can better see the design…..

After she finishes with a quilt, she will do one of three things…..

Release the quilt which means that it is not in the running for a ribbon

HOLD the quilt for the category which means that it “might” get a ribbon

HOLD the quilt for one of the special awards (Best Quilting, Judge’s Choice etc).

When all of the quilts in the category have been judged the FUN part starts…..

All of the quilts that were held for the category are returned to the table, and as you can see, EVERYBODY in the room gathers around to hear the results…..

At this point, she may re-examine the “held” quilts……

….and she will release additional quilts until she has narrowed it down to the number of ribbons for the category.

Sometimes she asks that all of the possible winners be held side-by-side so that she can see all of them at once…..

It is always an exciting time as she names the ribbon winners.

At this point, there is a lot of scurrying around to make sure that everything has been recorded correctly……

And the quilts are returned to storage….except for the ones that have been held for a special ribbon. Those are kept separate for now……

And, all of the 1st place quilts are kept in a special area until it is time to pick the “BEST OF SHOW”!!

After all of the categories have been judged, the quilts that were held for the various special ribbons are brought out and the judge makes her choice from those.

NOW it is time for the coveted “Best of Show”!!

All of the 1st place ribbon winners are placed on the tables and the judge names one of them her “BEST OF SHOW”!!!

So that’s it…..the process from beginning to end!!

Our show normally has around 225 quilts and it takes the better part of two days to complete the judging.

It is always a fun two days, with food…..

….and fellowship…..

….and viewing LOTS of amazing quilts!!

So, if you are ever given the opportunity to be part of a show judging….say YES immediately and be ready for a wonderful experience.

In this blog, I post DAILY 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.

You also might also be interested in the free pattern that you receive when you subscribe to my email newsletter.

Both of these sign-up forms are in the right column….scroll ALL the way up if you are on a desktop and ALL the way down if you are on your phone!! And, please share this post with someone who might enjoy it!!