Houston ’23: the Art Quilts

So… after years of attending and vending at quilt shows, It seems that its the “miniatures” that I find the most fascinating. In fact, I find EVERYTHING about this category interesting and profoundly inspiring!

As a matter of fact, I find them SO inspiring that as I contemplate the time of my life when I stop designing bag patterns and finally retire from the show circuit, I’d love to think that I could spend the rest of my life pouring my creative energy into projects like this! At any rate… I hope you’ll find these pieces as inspiring as I did!

First up, and in no particular order (except for the last one)

(which was in a class all by itself)

“Summer Shower” by Akiko Matsumura

On a summer morning, when she looked up during her walk, she saw a slight blue sky among many leaves. The sight was very pleasant to her & she made this quilt with this feeling in mind.

“Autumn Swag” by Linda Roy

Ms. Roy designed this piece of graph paper & was inspired by the Fall foliage in her home state of Masssachusetts as well as a newly constructed roundabout near her current home in Tennessee. When the “swags” were added, her husband named the quilt.

“Flowers in Full Bloom to Kirara” by Ayako Kawakami

Ms. Kawakami created this quilt for her daughter who loves flowers. There’s also a good deal of original embroidery in this piece which Ms. Kawakami embroidered as she thought of it.

“Bunny in Bloom” by Lorraine Turner

This adorable bunny visited her during meditation with an energy that felt as if she would scamper away lickety-split. Ms. Turner sketched & illustrated her using textiles to capture her delightful personality/

“Blue Wave” by Betty Busby

Ms Busby said she wanted to play with pure color & used a technique she developed especially for this project- using rubbing alcohol with fabric paint. Each painted piece was cut out individually & appliqued by machine, then created diagonal blue lines to tie the piece together.

“My Helper” by Pam Seaberg

Ms. Seaberg says that her dear kitty, Noel, used to sit with her for hours at her sewing machine, so she decided to create this quilt after she passed to help with the grief of losing her.

“Monkeys in My Hair (Evie)” by Deborah Hyde

This art is a celebration of her granddaughter, Evie, her portrait and her personality. But please DO check out the closeup where you’ll note that this quilted portrait is actually comprised of hundreds of tee-tiny little blocks. I can’t even imagine how hard this was to accomplish. This quilt was truly worthy of being designated as “Best of Show”!

And now, it’s YOUR turn!

Can you possibly choose a favorite from these beauties? And remember, we love reading your comments and answering your questions too, so please feel free to leave either or both in the space provided below.

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