Yearly Archives: 2013

I spent several days in Portland, OR last week for the Spring International Quilt Market. I love the Portland area. Its so beautiful with the flowers and the green, green landscape everywhere. Inside the convention center, it was beautiful as well with the quilts and fabrics which were all quite colorful.

I will start my review of market with some of the spectacular quilts that were displayed in the exhibits. I don’t have them all, unfortunately, but am sure that you will love these.

This first quilt will knock your socks off if you could see it in person.  Its called “Dreamtime” and was created by Antonia Hering of  Noorn, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands. It won first place for the “Innovative Applique” category. It is based on Antonia’s love of  the country of Australia. It is telling a dreamtime Aboriginal story and the legend of the three sisters in the blue mountains and the beautiful colors of Australia. Below are some close-ups of the hand applique and hand quilting. The techniques used were hand quilted, hand appliqued and hand embroidered. The applique circles covering the quilt were approximately 1/2 inch wide.

The quilt below, “Make You Happy”, is by Brigit Aubeso Bell-Lloch of Girona, Catalunya, Spain. This was another winner, winning first place in the “Art-People, Portraits and Figures” category. You can see why it was a winner – its spectacular! The techniques used are machine pieced and appliqued, free motion machine embroidered and machine quilted. Brigit based the quilt on a photo of her mother found in a box of old family photos. Her mother was 20 years old in the picture. Brigit made the quilt as a present to her mother.

“Weezie’s Wildflowerd #17” won Honorable Mention in the “Arts-Miniature” category. Created by Laura Wasilowski of Elgin, IL, the quilt is based on a rare wildflower that is only found in Laura’s backyard and imagination. The techniques used are fused applique, hand embroidered, and machine quilted. I love the colors.

The colorful and whimsy “Tutti Frutti Village”, by Susan Bleiweiss of Upton, MA, won Honorable Mention in the “Art-Whimsical” category. Sue was inspired to create the quilt by a digital sketch that she did on her iPad. She used her hand-dyed sandwashed cotton fabrics in the quilt. The techniques used are fused, raw-edge appliqued with machine stitching, and machine quilted. Sue has also created more “Tutti Frutti” quilts in a series that you can see on her blog.

Susan Cane created “Mabel – 1952 REO” from a photo taken by her husband of the first antique truck they bought together. It won second place in the “Art-Pictorial” category. The techniques used are machine appliqued, machine quilted, and painted. I love the layout with the trucks superimposed on each other.

Lynn Czaban of Vancouver, WA, was inspired to create this quilt “Raven Blanet” (with permission) from a photograph by Edward Curtis, who devoted his life to documenting the traditional lifestyle of the American Indian. This 1910 photograph of the Nez Perce Chief, Raven Blanket is one of his many images in the Library of Congress. Techniques used are machine appliqued, fused, thread painted, and machine quilted. “Raven Blanket” won Honorable Mention in the “Art-People, Portraits and Figures” categories.

Betty New of Naples, FL created “A Luthier’s Dream” using the techniques of turned-edge appliqued and free-motion machine quilted. Betty’s husband and son both play guitar thus inspiring her to use guitar bodies as the basis of design, focusing the design on line and value. Another winner, this quilt won first place in the “Art-Abstract, Small” category.

A new slant on the Log Cabin block, “Around the Clock” by Karen Echmeier of Kent, CT, won Honorable Mention in the “Art-Whimsical” category. Karen substituted the center square of the Log Cabin block with a village, which was also used in the border, so that it would be like walking around the block of several different towns. The techniques used are fabric collaged under tulle, topstitched, and machine quilted.

“Fantasy Seedpods”, by Elizabeth Camping of McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia, won Honorable Mention in the “Art-Abstract, Small” category. The design process started with the words, then followed with drawings of imaginary seedpods. The background colorwash effect is shaded to enhance and draw the eye to the seedpods. The techniques used are needleturn hand appliqued, hand embroidered, and machine quilted.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts. Its always such a treat to walk the aisles of  The International Quilt Market. Please check back as I will post a Part 2 soon, featuring some of the photos I took of the show itself.

Phyllis