Festival of Quilts :: The Quilts

In looking at the photographs I took at the Festival Of Quilt exhibits, there are clearly three different topics that took my fancy: circular themes, detailed quilting and (of course) those that incorporated biology.  Clearly there were many other quilts at the festival that were incredibly beautiful...but not all of the pretties can fit in one blog post!

Circles
Oh, New York Beauty.  Boy, did you shine at the festival.  How have I not tried to make one yet?  The NYB quilts exhibited would inspire anyone to start piecing!

By the London Modern Quilt Quild (50x50 inches)

Traditional NYB by Amy of Crafty Shenanigans (20x20 inches)

I really loved this foundation pieced star, too!  Paper piecing and stars...they get me every time!

What a Gem by Jane Sully entered into the Miniature Quilts category.

 I liked how scrappy this quilt was, but that you could still clearly see several concentric circles in each block.  I wonder how this was pieced.  Has anyone tried one like this before?

I forgot to take a photo of the label!  I'm sorry, quilt maker!

Quilting

My oh my there were some very talented quilters showing off their skills!  Trudi's work was popping up all over - it always makes me smile.  Two of my other favorites are below: Big Bang and Stack.  Although I'm not gone on the fabric choices (a jelly roll and solids?) or the design in either quilt, the quilting draws my eye immediately.  

Big Bang by C.A. Sanchez and S.G. Medina in the Two Person Quilt category.
The background fabric is white/cream - the lighting in the exhibit was pretty awful.

Can you see how the background sections are each quilted uniquely?  Loops, swirls and clamshells really keep you interested, drawing you closer.

Detail of Big Bang.

Now, this concentric square design in Stacks gets my quilting juices flowing for a few of my current quilts.  I love how it take a solid background fabric and makes it incredibly interesting.

Stack by M. Munroe and R. Dorr, again in the Two Person Quilts category.

Each building block in the stack is then individually quilted again in loops and swirls.  That must have taken forever!

Detail of Stack.

Biology

Of course, anything with a bit of biology always catches my attention.  To my delight, there were a few quilts that incorporated orthopaedics!  It's funny.  This past spring my building at the university held an art exhibit where anyone could enter if your work had a scientific theme.  Nothing beyond those old ball and stick chemical structures came to mind, so I couldn't be bothered.  Now, something like these would have been lots of fun!

By Wendy Kennard called The Lost Synapse (Fragments of Memory).

 This quilt represents an x-ray of the quilter's daughter's spine, showing a clear curvature (scolosis).  The background fabric was hand dyed, then stencilled.  It was really beautifully quilted, too.

By Liz Smithbone called Scoliosis

 Ah, brown.  We are not best friends.  I don't know why you'd ever use brown here when you could use a funky funky color.  That said, I love the clarity of the bones in the piecing.  The background was screen printed and the rest appliquéd on top.  It was machine quilted giving the illusion of additional seams around the screen printed sections.

By Sonia Crabb called Them Bones.

All in all, the quilt exhibits had a little something for everyone.  Some quilts I wondered how they were ever accepted for exhibit, others blew my mind with detail.  There were modern ones, super traditional quilts, whole cloth quilts and even a quilted grandfather clock.  Yep - something for everyone.  In the end, we could each take away a bit of inspiration.  I see a NYB or two in my future!