QuiltCon 2015

Sewing, crafting, and modern quilts all in one place. That would describe QuiltCon 2015.

What is QuiltCon? It is a quilt show that focuses on Modern Quilts. Like most quilt shows, quilters send in their best work and then these pieces are judged by a panel of experts. There are several categories within the modern quilting genre and prizes are awarded.

Modern quilters tend to see things from an entirely different perspective and tend to create unique designs. I think that is what draws me the most. Here’s a great example of a modern quilt. This one is called Gaggle of Geese by Janice Ryan. The quilt’s creator has taken the traditional Flying Geese quilt pattern and applied it in a different way. Like quilters who have come before her, the designer used traditional paper piecing to create her quilt. But, there is nothing traditional about this quilt.

That’s modern quilting.

A little about QuiltCon. The first QuiltCon took place two years ago right here in Austin. You can read my blog post about QuiltCon 2013 here. My, my how a couple of years make a huge difference.

This year there were women from everywhere. I mean everywhere. Like a group of 30 ladies who came from Australia to attended the show. Or the expectant mom from Maine.  There was nothing convenient about their attending the show.

Why, because it’s all about the classes and they were incredible. Bestie and I took an all day class on Color Value with Cheryl Arkison.

Here’s Cheryl’s demonstration quilt. Can you see how she used different color values in order to create her design. She taught us to use our cell phone’s black and white camera feature in order to determine the color value. If you step back you can really see the design.

Cheryl had us create half square triangles and then lay them out in a pattern. Because I had no idea what I was doing, I chose fabrics that didn’t have a high contrast. It still worked. If you step back, you can see my subtle stripe design. I think I want to finish this quilt because I really love the colors.

Bestie and I were only able to get into the one class, however, we did manage to attend several lectures. My favorite lecture was on Large Scale Piecing with Heather Jones. Here’s a perfect example of large scale piecing. Heather Jones took the traditional Ohio Star pattern and super-sized it. A nod to traditional with a whole lot of modern mixed in. I am in love with this idea. You can get the pattern in her shop.

If you read my newsletter then you know I mentioned the future of sewing and quilting. Well, if QuiltCon is any indication then sewing and quilting will be alive and well in the future. The place was packed with young women.

And then there was my haul. You know you can’t attend a quilt show and not visit the vendors. Considering I live here, I thought I would be tempted to over-spend. Not the case. I got some rulers, a trio of serrated scissors, a little fabric, and a few odds and ends. Some of the haul came from this super amazing swag bag that I got.

Of course, the purpose of the show is the quilts. And they were spectacular. You can read all about the winners here.

Because there were so many unbelievable quilts, I’m going to show you a few of my favorites.

This small quilt is called, “What’s the Frequency, Love?” It’s not too difficult to see why this won first prize in the Small Quilts Category. The designer, Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill, used the frequency waves for the word ‘love’ to create her design. Those teeny-tiny little strips were all pieced. Ah-maz-ing. It’s my favorite.

This quilt is called Barn-Remnant by Kim Eichler-Messmer and it pays tribute to the broken down barns found in the Midwest.

This is a photo from a larger quilt. I wanted to show you how the quilting can make the design, too. This quilt is called Modern Mojo 2 by Linda Thielfoldt.

I really love this type of modern quilt where the designer takes a photo and then turns it into a quilt. This one is called 33 and is by Gabriela Kirst. Compared to the quilt above, notice that the quilting itself is not really important to the design.

One of my take-aways from QuiltCon 2105 is this: The Sky’s the Limit. Yep, you can dream it up (like the frequency for Love) and put it on a quilt.

I think that’s pretty amazing.