IQFOI 2013: Pieced Quilts

Pieced quilts are absolutely more my style than art quilts.  Walking around the IQFOI exhibits, I found saturated color to be a rarity but boy when you found it you really found it.  I love the bold use of solid fabric in these quilts, the quilting itself and the attention to detail.  With the exception of one, though, I have absolutely no urge to make something similar to these myself.  I was impressed, but not incredibly inspired to sew.  You'll get the idea, I think....

First up is Dragonfly Dance by Nancy Tracy of Loveland, Colorado.  The center flower is beaded and sparkly surrounded by bright bold solids and incredibly intricate quilting.  There's even a little 3-D dragonfly. Just super.

Next up is Fire and Ice by Claudia Pfeil.  At 235x235 cm it was a whopper, but every bit of it had intricate detail from beading to quilting.  The paper pieced snowflakes were stunning and the flying geese flames just mind boggling.

 

Also by Claudia Pfeil was this piece.  Sadly, there was no label next to the quilt with its name, but again the swirling flying geese stopped me in my tracks.  I also love in both pieces the black and white border and the simple use of bright bold solids.  These stars you or I could make paper piecing, but it's the quilting detail that sets this work apart from anything I could create.  This piece was heavily jewelled, too.  Again, that's not really my interest but I see it took ages and ages for Claudia to create.  Fabulous thought and detail in this quilt.
 

And finally Puzzle Me Not by Nicole Maroon of New York.  Now this makes me want to pull out my Kona stash and get to improv piecing.  Maybe you guys can tell me what it is that strikes me so in this quilt.  I love the stripy yellow space to "rest" your eyes, the tones used and the boldness overall.  Gorgeous make, Nicole.

So those are my favorite pieced quilts of IQFOI 2013.  I hope you found something here that inspires you as well!

IQFOI 2013: Art Quilts

As you may already know, I spent the majority of my weekend at the International Quilt Festival of Ireland held in Galway at NUIG.  I had very little time away from the shop to run around and check out the quilt exhibits, but I thought I would show you a few of my favorites.  Much to my surprise, I found several art quilts that were just amazing.  They're not my normal "thing", but I couldn't help but to stop and stare a while.  Hope you like them too!

First up a quilt by Denise Labadie from Co Clare.  This was just amazing and looked like a painting from afar.

Paulnabrone Dolmon (32x63 inches) by Denise Labadie from Co Clare

Up close you can see how she used both quilting and color to create texture.  It was simply incredible.

Next up, a quilt in the Tattoo and Graffiti exhibit by Korinna Schwerdt.  I was struck by the "cool" factor of this quilt. It's not your normal art quilt by any means.  Still, batiks make an appearance.  Interesting.

Fashion Kills Personality (150x120 cm) by Korinna Schwerdt from Bayern, Germany

She even had a little 3-D belly button ring!  Hilarious.

Possibly my favorite, a quilt by David Taylor of the bum of a bulldog in the snow.  Awesome.  Who would ever think to quilt a pup bum?  It works, doesn't it?  This piece really did highlight the skill of the quilter.

Maynard (81x54 inches) by David Taylor from Colorado, USA

Isn't it amazing the amount of quilting on this pup?  It gives a great texture to the fur as well as the fence post.

And finally a quilt by Lourdes Cruz of Mexico.  I'm so sorry I didn't get a great photo of the full quilt.

La Catrina en Michoacan (67x40 inches) by Lourdes Cruz of Nuevo Leon, Mexico

In the detail, though, you can see the variety of materials used and the time and attention that went into creating this beauty.  I just like how well this quilter was thinking outside of the box.

Even though I never envision myself making an art quilt, I do really enjoy seeing how these quilters use fabrics to create "paintings" and quilting to add texture and details.  It's clear the time and attention these quilters put into their work.  

Tomorrow I'll be back with a few of the pieced quilts that took my eye.  You can obviously expect a great splash of color...

Cutting...But Not Much Sewing

It has been a bit quiet here on the sewing front for the past two weeks.  You see, I get 99% of my sewing done on the weekends as I just can not find the time or energy in the evenings after work.  Most of what you see during the week on the blog, then, is a product of a happy Saturday or Sunday stitching away.  It works pretty well for me that way.  However, the system breaks down as soon as I need to focus on the shop in preparation for a show or festival.

To be in tip-top shape for the International Quilt Festival of Ireland on the 7-9 June, I have been cutting fat quarters of every print in the shop and am trying to find some pretty way to display them all.  I think I am going by rainbow order instead of by fabric line. It just looks prettier that way.  I have them all cut now and tucked away in little baskets ready to display.

I am also trying to make Kona Solid fat quarter bundles for the show.  I have eight colorways and I want to make several bundles each, so I have just been cutting and cutting and cutting.  This is what 220+ Kona fat quarters look like:

I just have 4 of Bone and lots of Tomato to cut yet, then I will be ready to start making bundles.  I like that part...with the ribbon and all.  

That is the news around here.  More fabric line bundles (Boho, 2wenty Thr3e and One for the Boys) tomorrow night and I am cutting a stash of Kona FQs for yet another basket.  I need another rotary blade ASAP....

International Quilt Festival Of Ireland

If the Fat Quarterly Retreat wasn't enough, I now have quilt OVERLOAD with the International Quilt Festival of Ireland being held in Galway this past weekend. Were you there?  Did you have fun?  See anything that made your heart flutter?

Spirits in general were high.  We had a gorgeous sunny weekend, so folks could stroll around with an ice cream and soak in the rays.  There were a gazillion different things to do ranging from chocolate tasting to lace making to long arm quilting demonstrations and antique quilt exhibits.  Anything your little heart desired.

I did have a good look around on Friday and found my favorite quilt of the exhibit....

The entire festival was very traditional in nature.  I wish they had a modern quilting exhibit, but no luck.  I also wish they had a exhibit that wasn't themed but instead featured the gorgeous quilts Irish quilters could make.  Again, no luck.  Still, there were quilts there that (if you searched hard enough) would make you stop and gasp.  You know I love color and this is the most colorful one I could find.  It was a mix of piecing and applique with fabulous quilting (that I wish I took a photo of!).  What really stole the show, though, is the Celtic knot that runs its way around the second outer most border.

It even stopped my other half in his tracks to inspect further.  Absolutely beautiful.

So, I spent a small bit of time walking around the exhibits and shopping.  I didn't take any classes as I was kind of classed-out after London.  But, I did spend a good bit of time hanging out at the Irish Patchwork Society booth with these lovely ladies.  We had a great laugh together.

And, of course, there was the Cu Na Mara exhibit (Irish for Sea Hound) hanging in the reception hall.  It was insanely difficult to get a photo of all 20 quilts together.  It was a shame, really, as they all intertwined in/out of one another.  I tried.  Now when I saw the design by the Irish Patchwork Society for this quilt I could easily imagine how spectacular they would be mixing with the panels on either side.  I imagined seeing the exhibit when walking to the building from the outside as the entire opposite wall is glass.  However, the festival put a false front onto the building covering up the glass with a plywood castle front.  There goes our fabulous exhibit.  So, you could kind of see it, but not take it in its full glory.  What to do.

When I was there, the sun was shining in from the roof, so there were shadows of the beams.  I, therefore, shamelessly steal this photo from Anneliese to show off my little part of the exhibit.  She got a much nicer photo!  There's little Cuchulainn getting his day out in the sun.

That's the news from Galway.  I'm heading off to make a few Granny Squares tonight.  Hope you're stitching too!