My mom and I were back at it again this weekend! We drove from Las Vegas to the costal city of Torrance California to be a vendor at the South Bay Quilters Guild quilt show. They had a great turnout with 160+ quilts on display, auction quilts, opportunity quilts, raffle baskets, and vendor booths but they also did something that I've never seen at a quilt show before - hand made don't touch signs! A few years back, they had a challenge for guild members to make these and they've used them year after year throughout their exhibits. They're all so creative! I tried to catch them all, if I missed one, please share it!
The theme of this year's show was "Garden Party". I spotted lots of applique, thread painting, and embellishments going on in this category. My mom's favorite quilt of the whole show was Serene Succulent Garden by Nadine Kirk. Did you notice the hand quilting of the background areas uses sashiko designs to look like a peaceful Japanese sand garden? When my mom comes to a show with me, she always notices the small details and talks about how skilled the quilters are! A big high five to everyone who entered quilts in the show! It takes a lot of time and energy to create a quilt and sometimes quite a bit of courage to share it! Good work!
*Click on any of the images to see them larger. You may have noticed that ribbons are not in the pictures. This show is a viewer's choice only, meaning no judges. The results and winners of each category are going to be announced at the next guild meeting! How fun!
Robyn Wilkes made Poppies which was inspired by Donna Greenwald. Moth on a Daisy was made by Lynn Abelson after going to a thread painting workshop by Joyce Hughes. The third quilt, Wishful Thinking, was made by Sue Glass and was also up for auction. The next two pictures are of the same quilt titled Variations in Applique by Mary Jane Jewell and I just loved the details on those big flowers.
The show also had a category called "Challenge Yourself" where guild members tried techniques or colors that they hadn't before and produced some amazing results! The first beauty here is called Past the Dripping Point by Dale Stuart. Dale used new techniques including appli-piecing using the Caryl Bryer Fallert method, yarn couching with nylon cord, hand applique, faux trapunto, quilting with multiple thread weights and types, and ornamental quilting patterns. Whew! Dale definitely met the requirement for this category!
The second quilt, Artful Improv, by Carollee Schuegraf was quilted by John Tsiaperas. The third quilt, Dancing with Neptune made by Nadine Kirk, was inspired by amazing photos of the rings of Neptune recently taken by the Webb Space Telescope. The portrait quilt is called My Friend and was made by Alexandra Tsubota. This is her first portrait quilt and is of her friend Donna, someone who inspires others to be better people because of her sincerity and kindness. She looks like she's a lot of fun to be around too! Rose's Windows by Rose Omoto is the first cathedral window quilt Rose has made and all the fabrics in the windows are different! Mosaic Kodiak Bear was made by Bernie Baird-Browning and quilted by Robin Keller. I love how the movement in the appliqued pieces of the bear are reflected in the quilting.
Then of course there were lots of quilts in other categories that my mom and I had to stop and enjoy and talk about. The halloween quilt, Candy Corn Sweet Shop made by Nancy Payne, combines machine piecing, machine applique, embellishments, and machine embroidery. The longer we looked at this quilt, the more details we noticed and the more we loved it! There Are Places I Remember in My Life was made by Pat Casassa, quilted by Matt Randall, and was made using a pattern by Wendy Williams. Boo made by Wendy Petri and quilted by Matt Randall certainly made me smile. The next quilt, Dawn Star, made by Diane Ross and quilted by Robin Keller, was inspired by the ombre quilts of Jennifer Sampou. The bright yellow, green, and red quilt was made from a kit called Citrus that the maker Donna Bowker found at the Long Beach Quilt Festival last summer. It was quilted by Megan and Alexandra Tsubota. Alexandra also made the next quilt, Engineering 101. The background fabrics were hand printed using a gelli-plate and the gear fabrics were hand painted then appliqued to the pieced background!
The final quilt I'm sharing was hung in memory of Susan Miller who joined the South Bay Quilters Guild in 1991. Susan was an active member of the guild and was unique in that she did not own a sewing machine! All her projects including this crane piece were hand stitched and hand quilted. The guild members noted how much she meant to them and that she was the heart and soul of their group.
I keep finding at quilt show after quilt show, that a lot of people in the community who are not quilters come to enjoy the shows. They tell me how they are inspired and their lives are enriched by all these incredible creations. Quilts really do make the world a better place!
Details:
South Bay Quilters Guild Quilt Show
February 18-19, 2023, 10am-4pm
Torrance Cultural Arts Center in Torrance, California
Website: southbayquiltersguild.org
Happy Quilting!
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