Common Threads part II

In the first Common Threads post I showed pictures of a few of the 140 quilts entered into the judged show. In this post are quilts entered for display only: there were a total of 600 quilts hanging in the show.  Many of these quilts could have won ribbons in the judged show but their makers choose not to enter them.

Merilyn Austin made this ambitious appliqued Princess Feathers quilt by designer Kim McLean.  It is a large quilt and was hung at the end of a row facing the entrance to the show where it attracted a lot of attention.  Siriporn Hollar did a beautiful job on the quilting.

I don't especially like the Downton Abby line of fabric, but Leslie Snodgrass made a pretty quilt from it.  The pattern is Emerald Forest by Leanne Clair.  Another beautiful job on the quilting by Siriporn.

 

I like the bold colors in Lee Miescher's quilt.  This is a design by Heide Stoll-Weber.

This is such a clever design by quiltmaker Cathy Klusman.  She made it for her 3 year old great niece that loves Minnie Mouse and calls it For the Love of Minnie.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Webert made Stars and Strips by Brendalou Scott and Liz Scott Adams.  Evelyn Gernaat did a very nice job on the quilting.

This is Moroccan Gem, made and quilted by JoAnn Blackmore from a pattern by Toby Lischko.  Great way to use that patterned fabric.

Charlotte Wolfe designed this for her shop for the 2013 Kansas Shop Hop and I really like the way she used the bold black and white chevron print in this quilt.

Lucky Gail Hand found this vintage beauty in an antique mall in Ohio. 

 

 

 

 

 

Such gorgeous hand quilting!


The next Common Threads post will be in two years - at our next show!

Common Threads - part I

I have been busy getting ready for the big quilt show my guild puts on every two years; Common Threads.  We hang over 600 quilts and have a large vendor mall.  This year I was in charge of the judged portion of the show so it has been a busy week or two!

NQA certified judge Cindy Erickson did the judging for us and did a great job.  She was very thorough when examining the quilts, gave many helpful comments and remained friendly and cheerful throughout the long days of judging. 

 

 

 

The number of judged quilts was down from previous years but the quality was high.  Here are a few judged quilts that caught my eye.




Mayleen Vinson won Best of Show for her amazing quilt The Cotheals at Home (pattern by Di Ford). I posted about quilting this quilt here.

Here you can see the ribbons that my judging committee made for the top awards - I think they turned out beautifully!  We used the same type of bright fabrics used in our Opportunity quilt this year.  

 

 

 

 

This is the Prairie Quilt Guild Opportunity quilt Wildflowers, from a Kim McLean pattern, made by a group of talented guild members and quilted by Kim Hull.

Donna Harrison won Best Machine Quilting for her quilt, "A Walk in the Park" (Blackbird Designs).  I'm so proud of her, I sold her the Innova longarm she quilted this on just a few years ago and here she has won a top award in our show!




 

Sara Farley designed A Switch in Time herself. She says " Inspired by my son's challenge to make a quilt of baseball proverbs, this quilt celebrates the jewel box stadiums and baseball lore."  Her quilt won Judge's Choice.

 

 

Jenny Hutson won the Best Solo Quilt award for Sunflowers in the Storm (Of One Mind designs).  She had four quilts in the show and was up all night until 6 am on the day of judging finishing the binding.  I've done that too!

You may remember this Wedding Star (Judy Niemeyer) I quilted for Betty Enright.  It won Best Collaborative Quilt.  It's so big I couldn't back up far enough to fit it all in the frame.

 

 

 

 

 

Gypsy Rose by Patty Johnson, a gorgeous wool and silk quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Irish Sue by Shirley Crawford, quilted by Siriporn Hollar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siriporn always does such a beautiful job on the quilting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gail Hand put together an exhibit of all the President's quilts, made by board members each year for the President of the guild.  Here is the quilt made  for me after my year as President.  I do love this quilt!  It was quilted by Carla Anderson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our quilt show always includes quilts by the guild members that have died in the two years since the previous show.  This was the exhibit for my husband Peter.  He wasn't a quilter, so the quilt is one I made that he used as his cape when he dressed up as Captain Quilt, along with the shirt we made as part of his costume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sara Farley was in charge of this exhibit and she did a wonderful job on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evie's quilt

This pretty quilt was made by Evie and she wanted it quilted in a traditional style.

In addition to being beautifully pieced and appliqued, Evie sent her quilt to me perfectly prepared for quilting.  I mention this because it is unfortunately a rare occurrence: The top was pressed and square with stay stitching around the edge and the backing was ample and also square.  I almost always have to square up the backings which makes me cranky. 

I used Invisifil thread and a wool batt.

More cat pictures - this time a kitty love triangle.  The black cat is a stray that I have cleverly named Black Kitty and he is madly in love with Rosie (the tortoise shell cat) despite the fact that Rosie is neutered and totally uninterested in men.  Rosie's son is the black and white cat - he is a Mama's boy and follows Rosie around too.  Rosie is a Greta Garbo type cat - she just wants to be alone!

Jan Z. quilts up a storm

Jan Z. made this bright quilt.  It looks a bit wobbly in the photo because it is huge and I had a hard time getting it level on the design wall.  Actually it is very straight and square - Jan Z. is an excellent piecer.

Quilting on black is painful when using black thread, but with bright purple and orange Omni thread it wasn't a problem.  This also has black batting and backing.

Jan Z. has just started entering her quilts in shows and is off to a great start.  This quilt that I quilted for her has won ribbons at the Dallas Quilt Celebration, OKC Winter Quilt Show and a BOS at the Denver National Quilt Show.

This quilt, also quilted by me, has also won awards at those shows including at least two Viewer's Choice awards.

I'm always encouraging the many talented quilters in my guild to enter shows and it is nice to see them do so well.



I'm not the only one enjoying the beautiful spring weather - here are two of my cats; Rosie and her son Rorschach. The building in the background is my studio.

Tammy's flower patch

This is Tammy's cute flowery quilt.  She said she got real tired of appliqueing little circles in the center of each flower, but I would say it was worth it.

Tammy's workmanship is excellent, which makes my job a lot easier.  This was quilted with Invisifil thread, which I am growing quite fond of.

 

 

This will be entered in our guild show at the end of June.

 

 

Nearly finished with my pile of quilts for our guild show.

Basketmania

Ann found this pattern for a full sized quilt in Quiltmania and decided to make a wallhanging version of it.  Partly because she has made many bed sized quilts and doesn't actually need anymore, but she also confessed that those pieced borders just about did her in and she did not want to face another one.

Her piecing is excellent as always, and all that off white background inspired me to do lots of quilting! 

 

 

I used Hobbs wool and Invisifil thread.

Joni sent me this pretty wallhanging, also very well pieced, and told me she wanted it quilted very traditionally. 

I'm nearly caught up with the quilts I need to finish before my guild show at the end of June - 2 1/2 more to go not counting one of my own.  Prairie Quilt Guild puts on a BIG show in Wichita, June 26 -28, you can check it out here.

Selvage Star of Bethlehem

Here is another of Mayleen's amazing quilts.  This is her Selvage Star of Bethlehem inspired by an antique quilt.  You can see a picture of the inspiration quilt on her blog.  This is her third of fourth selvage quilt that I know of.  She asked our guild for help collecting selvages and now has a seemingly unending supply of them.  I know she is working on another one now.

 

 

She always moans about how bad she thinks she did on the piecing but honestly, it looks good up close.  And I do see it up close and personal when I quilt it!

I've been told these little curly things I quilted look like Cheeto trees! 

I like how this curly border turned out.

You might remember me posting some cute rainbow-hued booties crocheted by my friend Virginia, who is in my little Sedgwick sewing group.  She came up with another cute pair for a new little cowboy!