Summer 2015 - International Quilt Association

J OURNAL
OF
T HE I NTERNATIONAL Q UILT A SSOCIATION
Photo by Mike McCormick
SUMMER 2015
H A R V E S T ( 85" x 86") by K IMMY B RUNNER . The 2015 IQA Raffle Quilt.
The 2014 IQA JUDGED SHOW
First Place – Art, Naturescapes
Gammill Quilting Systems
Photo by Mike McCormick
Category sponsored by
FUJI
AND
SAKURA (64"
X
80")
by M ASAKO S AKAGAMI of Toyama, Japan. Original design.
con
tents
J OURNAL OF T HE
I NTERNATIONAL
Q UILT A SSOCIATION
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letter from the president
Stevii Graves has a thing or two to say about
communication…and her 92-year-old dad!
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2015 judged show sponsors
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winners gallery:
art — people, portraits,
and figures
working by hand
What’s all this talk about the “slow stitching”
movement and a renewed look at hand
quilting? Everything old is new again in this
machine-free zone.
the 2015 iqa raffle quilt
Our talk with artist, teacher, and businesswoman
Kimmy Brunner about this year’s Raffle Quilt,
what it took to make it…and why her friends
offered her wine during the process!
winners gallery:
art — whimsical
Quilters certainly take their work seriously, but
most have a side of fun and frivolity in their
quilts. The winners in the category from last
year’s judged show have wonderfully creative
examples of this theory in action.
Our complete list of generous corporate donors
who, combined, will give away $94,250 in cash
prizes at this year’s Judged Show. And – best of
all – winners get to keep their quilts!
Some think that quilting is like “painting with
fabric.” The winners in this category from last
year’s judged show might agree. To borrow a
phrase from a popular advertising campaign…
you won’t believe these are quilts!
L E T T E R
BOARd OF
diRECTORS
vice president
finance
Brenda Groelz
vice president
membership
Michele Muska
vice president
public service
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
secretary
Sandra Leichner
treasurer
Linda Pumphrey
founders
Jewel Patterson (1910-2002)
Helen O’Bryant (1914-2005)
Karey Bresenhan
Nancy O’Bryant
jOURNAL
STAFF
editorial
director
Nancy O’Bryant
editor
Bob Ruggiero
T H E
P R E S i d E N T
Dear IQA members,
Recently my 92-year-old father told me he was so pleased that he
was still alive to see the technology we enjoy today.
president
Stevii Graves
vice president
education
Vicki Anderson
F R O M
He has been a communicator all his life, first as a journalist, then as
a public affairs specialist in the U.S. Navy. He stays in touch with an
amazing number of people using his computer. He says a computer is
easier than his old black Underwood typewriter!
Technology has influenced the quilt world also. Gone is the newsletter distribution
committee, who use to mimeograph, fold, stamp, and mail guild newsletters. Gone are the
telephone trees that alerted guild members to meeting changes.
It is fast and easy to communicate today. We are able to connect with people all over the
world. Quilters are great at forging relationships using social media. Unfortunately, with
speed comes the rush to respond, the lack of taking time to check facts, and the forgetting
of manners.
There are serious parts of quilting, but the best part of being a quilter is being associated
with people who share your passion and are anxious to take the cyber relationship to a
new level at fun activities like Quilt Festival.
My goal is to focus on the positive in people, in their quilts and in their words. It is a
happy time my friends!
And don’t forget…IQA has its own Facebook page! Connect with other members at
www.facebook.com/internationalquiltassociation!
Sincerely,
Stevii Graves
President
The International Quilt Association
writer
Deb Hensel
design and
production
Hunter-McMain, Inc.
/InternationalQuiltAssociation
ARE yOU AN iQA MEMBER ANd GOiNG TO
TM
in Portland, Oregon, August 13-15 at the Oregon Convention Center
Remember your membership gets you in one day for FREE. just present your card at the door.
just another perk of belonging to the international Quilt Association!
iNSTRUCTiONS FOR ViEwiNG THE iQA diGiTAL jOURNAL ON A TABLET OR SMARTPHONE:
For iPad/iPhone:
•Both devices can now read direct pdf files.
•Adobe Reader X is available in the app store for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader-mobile.html
•The pdf can be sent as an attachment on an e-mail.
•Once the recipient receives the e-mail, he/she can download the attachment, then click it to open in the iBooks app.
•iBooks is a free app for the iPad/iPhone that is available through the App Store for the iPad/iPhone.
•The pdf can be added to the library in the iBooks app, then viewed on either the iPad/iPhone.
For Android/Blackberry:
•There are several apps available for devices that use the Android operating system.
•Adobe Reader X is available in the app store for Android. http://www.adobe.com/products/reader-mobile.html
•Aldiko Book Reader can be used for an Android device, www.aldiko.com
•Kobo for Android, Sony Reader for Android, Amazon Kindle Reader for Android, Barnes and Noble Nook for
Android are also available.
•Mobipocket Reader 5 is available for Blackberry users. www.mobipocket.com
www.goodereader.com contains many of these apps that can be downloaded for devices other than the iPad/iPhone.
3
working
by hand
b y
d e b o r a h
q u i n n
h e n s e l
Hand stitching—the slow and steady
movement of a needle piercing fabric to
join quilt squares, tuck under the
edges of an appliquéd design, or
artfully embroidering an intricate
design on a Crazy Quilt—is a skill
with a long history that predates the
modern sewing machine.
Carolyn Friedlander wants
quilters to Savor Each Stitch.
Free from the mechanical whir and
hum, the hand stitcher is able to enjoy
the solitude, to listen to musical
accompaniment, or to carry on a
conversation with other hand stitchers
in a group setting.
The end product may not emerge as
rapidly as if done by machine, but
that’s the point—having the
opportunity to slow down and
appreciate the process, to be
unhurried, and to devote a little
more care and personal attention
to the workmanship.
Hand work somehow “just feels good,”
says Florida quilter and designer
Carolyn Friedlander.
Carolyn Friedlander’s Collection quilt.
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“Making things with my hands has
always had a big pull on me, and it
wasn’t until I’d really gotten into
handwork that I was able to identify
some of the reasons why,” she says.
In 2013, Friedlander wanted to draw
more attention to the art of handwork,
so she launched the Slow Sewing
Studio division of her quilting patterns.
Her first book, Savor Each Stitch,
focuses on eight patterns that lend
themselves to the enjoyment of sewing
slowly. She says she hoped to start a
discussion, as well as connect with
other quiltmakers and hand stitchers
who appreciate a slower pace.
“There’s something about working with
your hands that just feels real,” she
adds. “Unlike past generations, the
world we live in today is increasingly
being delivered to us on some type of
screen. A lot of us spend a good chunk
of our day at the computer, and I think
that many of us come to quilting and
sewing because it gives us a muchneeded break from all of that. It gives
us a non-tech, real opportunity to work
with our hands.
“Slow sewing certainly isn’t a new
idea, but the world we live in gives it
a new context and meaning,” she
continues. “Mindfulness is a big factor
when I think about taking anything
slow. I won’t say that you can’t
achieve mindfulness at a machine,
but I do think that working a needle
by hand lends itself more naturally to
that connection of hand and mind,
which is probably what it all boils
down to for me.”
Mindfulness in creation is exactly
the effect that New Jersey quilting
personality Mark Lipinski was
seeking when he launched his Slow
Stitching Movement. The movement
encompasses not only quilting, but
also knitting, crochet, tatting,
embroidery, rug hooking, weaving,
needlepoint, cross stitch, and other
forms of hand work.
“Slow Stitching isn’t just about hand
work. Slow Stitching is really a
philosophy, as opposed to a ‘how to’—
although I add my own ‘how-to’ to it,”
he says.
Lipinski is spreading this philosophy
around via a retreat on the Delaware
River (this past April), a blog and now
a Slow Stitching magazine is in its
planning stages.
“Slow stitching is really getting
back to the basics—back to why we
decided to quilt or work with fiber in
the first place. Nobody ever said, ‘I
need something fast and easy and
simple to do; that’s why I want to
start quilting.’”
The Slow Stitching Movement
encourages stitchers to take their
time, and in doing so, reap more
creative, spiritual, and health benefits,
Lipinski says. It’s about the journey,
not the destination. Like life, it’s a
process, he adds.
Mark Lipinski touts the creative,
spiritual and health benefits of
Slow Stitching.
“I’m asking people to slow down and
become one with what they’re working
on,” Lipinski says. “Pay attention.
Turn off the television for 20 minutes
and envelop yourself in your handwork.
Allow it to become a meditation or a
prayer of sorts.”
It’s also about using the best
materials you can find and making
something that lasts, he adds. He
predicts we’re on the cusp of an era
when significantly more people will
want things that are handmade
“because they have meaning and
soul—they’re made with intention.”
5
working by Hand
Caron Mosey launched the
popular Facebook group,
Celebrate Hand Quilting.
The former executive editor of Quilter’s
Home magazine admits he used to
focus on doing things the quick and
easy way. Then, after major surgery, he
had an epiphany. Looking around at
all the work he had created on
deadline—for the magazine, for books,
for his fabric line—he realized none of
it was important to him anymore. And
he actually hadn’t even taken time to
really perfect some of the techniques
he’d been teaching for 20 years.
Slowing down during his recuperation
gave him an opportunity to learn new
techniques, and take the time to
perfect them. And as a result, he
says, he became more fearless in his
fiber art.
“Now I’m trying to figure out how
Slow Stitching can make me lose
weight!” he jokes.
Megan Farkas produces awardwinning quilts solely by hand.
Close-up of the handwork in Megan
Farkas’ Rainbow Sherbet quilt.
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More than 10,000 hand quilters share
their art, questions, and advice in the
Facebook Group, Celebrate Hand
Quilting, moderated by Michigan
quilter Caron Mosey, who also owns
HandQuiltingSupplies.com.
“Though machine quilting is quite
popular right now, we have to
remember that there are still many
people in the world who hand quilt for
the pleasure it provides them, but also
because some quilters do not own a
sewing machine,” Mosey says.
“Our Facebook group is fortunate to
have quilters from just about every
continent, quilters who speak different
languages, and quilters who are
fourth- and fifth-generation stitchers in
their families.”
New Hampshire quilter Megan
Farkas also knows the value, the
pleasure, and the rewards of working
solely by hand. To date, none of her
award-winning art quilts with intricate
appliquéd scenes have emerged from
under a sewing machine needle. She
does own a machine, but has never
learned to use it.
“I like the direct engagement with
the materials. There’s very little
between me and the work product,
and I feel like I can figure out what is
needed and do it without also having
to manipulate more than needle,
thread, and scissors,” she says. “The
repeated gestures of working with
iQA FiLES
needle and thread are calming and
meditative. I find that, if I am unable
to work on a project for a few days,
my stress level rises.”
There are at least 30 methods of
appliquéing designs onto a fabric
background, and Virginia Elliott is
probably familiar with all of them.
“There’s machine appliqué, there’s
needle-turned appliqué, and then
there’s wool, etc. It doesn’t matter
what kind of appliqué as long as it’s
sewing one piece of fabric on top of
another. That’s what appliqué is.”
From her home in Washington
State, Elliott oversees The Appliqué
Society as its national president.
The organization’s mission is to
encourage, promote, and teach all
forms of appliqué—the vast majority
of which is done by hand. The Society
has 80 chapters worldwide, and its
members meet in quilt stores or in
homes to learn new techniques or
just sit, and stitch together, and talk
“girl talk.”
“Women in particular need that
release,” she says, “And then there’s
the fact that we’re creating something
we can use—a quilt or a wallhanging—
and it fulfills that creative side of us
and causes us to relax.
“I think we need to teach the
upcoming generations to slow down
and do something that’s not instant,”
she adds. It’s important for these skills
to be passed down, and quilters can
go into girls’ and boys’ clubs and get
children involved, or teach hand-work
to children, grandchildren, nieces,
and nephews.
Virginia Elliott heads The Appliqué
Society as the national president.
Handwork is a portable art form that
you can take with you to the dentist’s
waiting room, says Elliott, who has
also done embroidery, cross-stitching,
knitting, crocheting, and tatting.
“It becomes your passion. It’s an
addiction,” she says. “Having that
needle in my hand immediately calms
me down.
“Any handwork is better than
nothing,” she concludes. “What we
can create only has to please us.
If it makes you happy, that’s all it
has to do.”
Virginia Elliott’s hand-appliquéd
Celtic Knot tablerunner.
7
the 2015 iqa
raffle quilt
kimmy brunner hopes her quilt will “harvest” funds for iqa!
Kimmy Brunner is an accomplished
quilter, teacher, business woman, and
a two-time winner of the Machine
Quilting Exposition’s “Machine
Quilting Teacher of the Year” award.
So it was something of a coup to have
her design and create the 2015 IQA
Raffle Quilt, Harvest (seen on the cover
of this issue).
Raffle tickets for the quilt will be
available at the special exhibits desk
at the upcoming Quilt! Knit! Stitch!TM
show August 13-15 in Portland,
Oregon, as well as at the IQA desk at
International Quilt Festival/Houston,
October 29-November 1. They are $1
each, 6 for $5, or 25 for $20. You can
also purchase them from the IQA office
by emailing [email protected]. The
winner will be drawn on November 1.
have come to me through quilting have
enriched my life in countless ways.
skies, browns, oranges, purples, and
rusts for the beautiful fall foliage.
For several years, I have been actively
seeking ways to give back, to repay
some of what’s been given to me. When
I was asked to create the Raffle Quilt,
another piece of the puzzle just fell
magically into place. This was a great
chance to pay back some of the
generosity that has been shown to me
year after year by the terrific folks
in Houston!
IQA Journal: Tell us about the
design process.
IQA Journal: What did you want
to do with it originally in terms of
design? Did that change as you
were working on it?
IQA Journal: Why did you want to
get involved with making the
Raffle Quilt?
Brunner: I wanted this quilt to reflect
the richness and abundance of
blessings that have been extended to
me by my peers. I knew almost
immediately how I wanted it to look,
and I stuck to that vision throughout.
Brunner: For almost 20 years, the
quilting industry has consistently been
far more generous to me than I could
ever have possibly hoped. The open
doors, the great opportunities and—
most of all—the strong friendships that
With the harvest season in mind, I
chose fabrics from Sew Batik that
reflect the lush, gorgeous colors and
feeling of plenty that sums up harvest
time in Minnesota; golds and tans for
the cornfields, blue for the lakes and
8
Brunner: I used EQ7 to design the
quilt. This is a super great program
that has only one catch. The software
makes it so simple to design your quilt
that you can easily get completely
carried away with the number of
pieces that you decide to put in one
block. For example; there are over
1100 pieces, just in the border! This
seemed like such a great idea at
the time.
Once I finished the design work, I
printed the patterns out on soft tear
away foundation paper and got to
work. I am away from home quite a
bit, as I am a traveling teacher, so
the piecing took about 18 months
to complete.
IQA Journal: Any funny or
interesting anecdotes about
its creation?
Brunner: There came a point at
which I realized just exactly how much
work was going to be involved in
piecing the border blocks. I also
realized that there was a good chance
that I was going to have to do a lot of
hand piecing to get the curved bands to
lie flat.
Naturally, like any good quilter would,
I called my quilty friends to complain
dramatically. Naturally, like any good
quilty friends would, they all pointed
and laughed at me and offered to
bring wine.
Knowing that the wine would only lead
to ripping, I declined their generous
offer, but it comforted me to know that
my goofy friends were there for me
when I needed them. It’s important to
have friends when you’re paper piecing!
IQA Journal: How did you want it
to stand apart from anything else
you’ve done before?
Brunner: I wanted it to be really
hard, and I wanted it to challenge me
more than anything else I’ve ever
made. I wanted long, thin, pointy
points and smooth curves that would
make me tear my hair out, and lots of
room for quilting so I could really have
fun with my Handi Quilter Infinity.
I wanted to size it specifically so that
the central medallion portion will lie
perfectly on the top of a queen size
mattress and the sides will fall
perfectly right where the pieced
borders join the medallion, so you can
see the entire pieced border as it hangs
on the side of your mattress.
Basically, I wanted it to be everything I
wish I could find in a quilt pattern, and
I wanted it to be as good as possible
even though it made me cry. Like
Karen McTavish says, it’s the quilts
that make you cry that make you a
better quilter. This quilt made me cry a
lot, so I hope I’m better.
IQA Journal: Who would be your
“fantasy” ideal winner in terms of
what they would do with the quilt?
Brunner: Great question! I really
hope that the person who wins this
quilt is just beginning his or her
quilting journey. I hope that this quilt
serves to remind them that they are
going to be blessed by the quilting
community in ways they never
imagined and that their life will be so
much fuller because of those blessings.
I hope it also serves to remind them
that someday it will be their turn to
pay back what they have received, and
it will be their duty to pay it forward to
the next person. Above all, I hope they
use this quilt to death. It was not made
to be looked at, it was made to be used.
If I go to their house and see it hanging
on a wall, I am going to be forced to
use my “Mom voice” on them.
IQA Journal: Any other comments?
Brunner: My deepest thanks to
Brenda Groelz and the members of the
IQA Board for putting their faith in me
and entrusting me with this task. It
was one of the greatest honors of my
quilting career to be asked to make
this quilt and I will be forever grateful.
Thank you, IQA, for everything you do
for the quilting community!
For more on Kimmy Brunner and her
work, visit kimmyquilt.com
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winners
gallery
Photo by Mike McCormick
Art—whimsical
FiRST PLACE
ELOISE JOINS
THE
CIRCUS (81" x 77")
by J ANET F OGG of Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA.
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CATEGORy SPONSOREd By QUILTMAKER
Artist’s Statement: “I began with a subject in mind: an elephant. A friend had
challenged me to design a quilt reminiscent of a vintage French circus poster. It was a fun
coincidence that I began drawing this design the very same week a well-loved pachyderm
from the Portland Zoo was celebrating his 50th birthday.” Original design.
E
loise Joins the Circus is one of a
series of Janet Fogg’s quilts
called Unexpected Combinations.
“These quilts display surreal imagery
that could not exist in reality, because
of the use of scale or the particular
combination of subjects,” she says.
“Eloise is, however, one of the first
large animals to be presented in one
of these quilts.”
Another series from Fogg includes
Innovative Traditionals, which
combines traditional quilt blocks
with pictorial elements. Her pattern
line, Janet Fogg Quilts
(janetfoggquilts.com) features many
designs of animals interconnected
with traditional blocks.
“I quickly determined that Eloise the
elephant would make a terrific circus
clown. Her elaborate ruffle would
provide wonderful visual interest,”
she says.
Fogg says that starting a design
entails auditioning ideas the same way
she would consider fabric choices and
construction techniques. From photos
and sketches, she creates a composite
design, and a full-size pattern by
projecting line drawings onto a design
wall with an overhead projector.
“Next, I puzzled over what her hat
should be. By analyzing shapes and
images from Paris, it became clear to
me that the Eiffel Tower juxtaposed
on the elephant’s head could do
double duty, as the clown hat and
iconic scenic element of the city. All
that was left to do was to create the
surrounding evening sky and circus
tent backdrop.”
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Art—whimsical
SECONd PLACE
TUTTI FRUTTI CITY SKYLINE (72" x 33")
by S UE B LEIWEISS of Pepperell, Massachusetts, USA.
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CATEGORy SPONSOREd By QUILTMAKER
Artist’s Statement: “City Skyline is one of the largest quilts I’ve made, and it’s the first
one with buildings that I’ve done where the doors are not visible on the quilt. It also has something
that none of the other quilts I’ve made before it had, and that’s the addition of the billboard made
from a sketch that I did on my iPad. I used the Paper app to make a sketch and then printed it
onto a cotton inkjet fabric sheet, which was then fused to the quilt.” Original design.
S
ue Bleiweiss says her
introduction to quilting came
from watching Alex Anderson’s
“Simply Quilts” show. Bleiweiss had
always been a seamstress, focusing on
wearables and home décor, but her
first couple of quilts did not live up to
her expectations.
“I spent several years dabbling in all
sorts of surface design techniques
from fabric painting, screenprinting,
and shibori to altering surfaces with
metal, paper, fusible web, foils, and
stitching. Nothing was off limits, and
I experimented with every technique
that came across.”
It wasn’t until she saw a video of
quilter Marci Tilton working with
painted fusible web that the lightbulb
came on for her.
Bleiweiss first made 3-D fiber items
like vases, boxes, vessels, books, and
journals before happily landing on
art quilts.
“I was drawn to the work of Jan
Beaney, Jean Littlejohn, Jane
Dunnewold, Maggie Grey, Janet
Edmonds, and Cas Holmes,” she says.
“Art quilting gave me a way to continue
exploring surface design techniques like
fabric dyeing and painting with the
added challenge of adding stitching to
the surface,” she says.
Now, she’s not only winning awards
for her art quilts, but she’s sharing
her knowledge with others through
her book, Colorful Fabric Collage:
Sketch Fuse Quilt! and a DVD,
Coloring Book Fabric Collage with
Sue Bleiweiss.
“I really enjoy dyeing my own fabrics
to work with,” she says. “It’s a very
satisfying full-circle process for me to
start with pieces of plain white cloth
and finish with something that
vibrates with color.”
13
Art—whimsical
THiRd PLACE
PRINCE CHARMING’S SHOE SALE (84" x 58")
by PAM R U B ERT of Springfield, Missouri, USA.
14
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By QUILTMAKER
Artist’s Statement: “I had the idea for this quilt several years ago, when I was in a shoe
store during a sale and was amused by shoe boxes everywhere. I started thinking about Cinderella
and the story of her prince who found her by fitting a glass slipper on her foot. As I dreamed up the
quilt, at first the prince was wearing a knight’s armor. Then later, I imagined he was like a salesman
I saw in a men’s shop wearing really loud prints, and who was sort of goofy.” Original design.
A
lthough her grandmother
made traditional quilts that
Pam RuBert admired, she
knew she was an artist who wanted
to do something a little different.
Having worked in many different
types of media—painting, drawing,
design, and animation—RuBert says
she was attracted to the idea of
creating large, colorful works of art
that she could hang on the wall.
“Quiltmaking to create art seemed
like a great idea,” she says. Books,
magazines, and a few workshops gave
her insight into the techniques she
would utilize. And then she began to
draw her own designs.
“As I imagine each part of the story, I
do sketches with pen and ink. As I
sketch, I make up and ‘audition’
characters, almost like choosing
characters for a movie,” RuBert says.
“Finally, when I get the characters
right, I look for fabrics that will be
right for their clothes. Then I scan my
sketches and combine them in the
computer into a big pattern for the
quilt. Also, at the same time, I’m
trying to find a color scheme for the
quilt so everything will work together,
and the colors will emphasize the
parts of the story in the right way.
“As I cut and work, I try to keep the
funkiness of my original drawings in
the design. I like doing funny or bizarre
stitching on faces and sometimes stitch
symbolic motifs into the backgrounds,”
she says. “I think of my work as a
thread of thought. Quilting is a linear
process, like drawing.
“As I draw, I think of jokes or small
humorous details to add, and it makes
me laugh while I work,” she adds. “For
instance, when I thought of showing
Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage through
the shop window—then realized she’s
a modern woman and would drive her
own pumpkin—it really tickled me. So
I made a pumpkin Volkswagen bug,
an SUV, and a minivan so her
stepsisters could drive.”
RuBert says it’s always interesting to
hear others’ interpretations of her art
quilts. For instance, a man from Africa
who had never heard the story of
Cinderella told her he thought her
quilt was about “a nice man who came
to a village and gave everyone shoes.”
15
Art—whimsical
HONORABLE MENTiON
T H E Q U I LT
WITH
T H E D R A G O N TAT T O O (74" x 55")
by N ANCY A RSENEAULT of Tucson, Arizona, USA.
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CATEGORy SPONSOREd By QUILTMAKER
Artist’s Statement: “A collaboration with tattoo artist Stephanie Noell Davis yielded a
wonderful image of a Chinese dragon containing my favorite quilt motifs: feathers, spirals, and dots.
I adapted her line drawing, adding lots of color. The interior border, sashiko stitching, and quilting
designs are all from traditional Japanese stitchery.” Design inspired by a drawing by Davis.
N
ancy Arseneault comes from a
family of quilters. Both her
mother and grandmother were
avid quilters who taught her to sew
early, so she was making her own
clothes throughout her teens and
college years.
When her son was born, she made
her first quilt for him—a puffy quilt
made from little stuffed “biscuits”
zigzagged together.
Hundreds of quilts followed during the
next 45 years at the rate of about 20 a
year, with the prolific quilter learning
something new from every one.
“At first, I was a purist. I made only
traditional designs that were handquilted,” Arseneault says. “About 20
years ago, my ideas began to outrun
my ability to produce. Now, I do
almost everything by machine.
“In the past 10 years, my quilts were
always pretty good, but never really
great. It seemed that I was always
rushing to finish them for a baby
shower, or a wedding, or a quilt show
deadline,” she says.
“A friend asked if I knew the feeling of
doing your best work on a quilt and
then sending it out into the world to
have its own life. That was when I
realized that I had never done my best
work on any quilt I had made. I vowed
to take my time with a quilt, and give
it my best effort.”
Arseneault’s husband had been
reading the trilogy of novels by
Swedish author, Stieg Larsson,
starting with The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo, and decided he, also,
needed a tattoo.
“I thought it was a terrible idea. To
get me on board with it, he asked me
to collaborate with the tattoo artist,
Stephanie Noell Davis, to create a
dragon image that I would be
comfortable looking at for the rest of
my life,” Arseneault says.
“Although her medium is quite
different than mine, we worked
together to make a dragon with a
distinct head, body, and tail. The line
drawing she created includes some of
my favorite quilting motifs: feathers,
spirals, and dots.”
“My husband wound up with a dragon
tattoo, and I wound up with a great
illustration for an appliquéd quilt.
I put a lot of energy into the background quilting including spirals,
feathers, and traditional sashiko
patterns,” Arseneault says.
17
Art—whimsical
HONORABLE MENTiON
FURREALISM…DALI HAS GONE
TO THE
DOGS (43" x 39.5")
by PAULINE S ALZMAN of Treasure Island, Florida, USA.
18
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By QUILTMAKER
Artist’s Statement: “The inspiration for this quilt is a painting by Salvador Dali, The
Weaning of Furniture-Nutrition. I tried to use some of the symbolism. Instead of a dripping clock,
I made a dripping dog dish. The stairway to the sky exists in the museum. There is also a shark
in the water.” Original design.
i
n exchange for a free class at a
local quilt shop, Pauline Salzman
signed up to create a king-size Log
Cabin quilt for an in-store sample.
But after that, didn’t think she’d be
making very many more bed quilts.
She only had one child, so she couldn’t
imagine the need for multiple quilts.
However, she learned to love the
process, and found it very relaxing.
“I had taken classes in men’s
tailoring, so I understood construction
and how to make things fit,” Salzman
says. Now, instead of bed quilts, she
focuses on making art.
In the past, her method was to turn all
appliquéd edges under and blindstitch them in place. But now she
fuses and turns under some of
the edges.
In Furrealism, Salzman admits there
is a lot going on.
“I want the quilt to look smooth,” she
adds. “It is important to me that the
quilt lies flat, and the binding is filled.
While it is a piece of art, it is still
a quilt.
“It is not a simple quilt. I am always
trying techniques that are new to
me,” she adds. “This time, it was
no different.”
“I like the quilt to tell a story,” Salzman
says. “I hope to make you smile!”
19
The 2015 Quilts: A world Of Beauty judged Show Sponsors
$94,250 in non-purchase cash awards
Note: Click on a company’s logo to visit their website
The Handi Quilter® Best of Show Award
$10,000*
The Founders Award
International Quilt Festival
The World of Beauty Award
Baby Lock
$7,500*
$7,500*
The Robert S. Cohan Master
Award for Traditional Artistry
The Gammill Master Award for
Contemporary Artistry
$5,000*
$5,000*
The Pfaff Master Award
for Machine Artistry
The Koala Studios Master
Award for Innovative Artistry
$5,000*
$5,000*
The Superior Threads
Master Award
for Thread Artistry
$5,000*
20
*These prizes also include airfare to and hotel accommodations for Quilt Festival.
Each Category Award Totals $2,000
($1,000 for first place, $700 for second, and $300 for third)
!
EW or
N ns
o
Sp
Art-Abstract, Large
Art-Abstract, Small
Art-Miniature
Art-Naturescapes
Art-Painted Surface
Art-People, Portraits, and Figures
Art-Pictorial
Art-Whimsical
r!
EW o
N ns
o
Sp
Digital Imagery
Embellished Quilts
Group Quilts
Handmade Quilts
Innovative Appliqué
Innovative Pieced
Merit Quilting-Hand
Merit Quilting, MachineFrame
Merit Quilting, MachineStationary
Miniature
Mixed Technique
Traditional Appliqué
From Marti Michell
Traditional Pieced
Judge’s Choice $250 each
!
EW or
N ns
o
Sp
MamasLogHouseQuiltShop.com
Viewers’ Choice $500
Honerable Mentions $50 ea.
21
winners
gallery
Photo by Mike McCormick
Art—People, Portraits, Figures
FiRST PLACE
PA N N I N G
FOR
GOLD (31" x 39")
by L EA M C C OMAS of Superior, Colorado, USA.
22
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By THE GRACE COMPANy, FiNE QUiLTiNG FRAMES
Artist’s Statement: “The subject of this piece seems to really resonate with people. For
me, this seems like such a Colorado history image. But anytime it is on exhibit, people come and
share family stories about panning for gold. These stories are from all over the country, all over
the world.” Original design, inspired by a photo from the archives of the Colorado History Museum.
A
few years before the invention
of the rotary cutter in 1979,
Lea McComas—then a teenager—had already learned to quilt
from her great aunt.
Her mother and sister joined in on the
lessons and, together, they each made
a 12-block sampler quilt.
“We drew the pattern pieces on thin
cardboard, and then traced around
them onto the fabric. Each piece was
cut out individually, sewn together,
and quilted by hand,” she says.
Since then, McComas has branched
out into making quilts for art’s sake.
McComas explains that her process
has changed greatly over the years.
Starting from a high-resolution photo
of the scan, she uses Photoshop to edit
and create value areas. She then
prints it and draws a pattern on
freezer paper.
After creating a fused, raw-edge
appliqué base of the quilt image, she
begins thread painting.
“I find it so intriguing that simple
lines of stitching can come together to
create depth and realism,” she adds.
“My goal is to create pieces of art that
look like paintings. Of course, the
catch is, that once I reach a certain
level of realism, people think that I’ve
simply printed the photo to fabric!
McComas feels that pictoral quilting is
really growing in its appeal. “The
great thing is that there are a variety
of techniques that can be employed,
including printing, painting, appliqué,
stitching,” she says.
“We all come to quilting with different
skill levels, resources, goals, and
visions. But there is still something
for everyone.”
23
Art—People, Portraits, Figures
SECONd PLACE
CHASING BUBBLES (56" x 66")
by H IROKO M IYAMA and M ASANOBU M IYAMA of Chofu City, Tokyo, Japan.
24
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By THE GRACE COMPANy, FiNE QUiLTiNG FRAMES
Artist’s Statement: “I find that soap bubbles are so colorful. It is rainbow color—not
white nor transparent.” Original design.
T
he award-winning quilt, Chasing
Bubbles, was created by the
husband/wife team of Masanobu
and Hiroko Miyama after a day of
watching their granddaughters
playing with bubbles and the family
dogs down by a river.
“I decided to create a quilt with soap
bubbles after realizing that the
bubbles were colorful like a rainbow,”
Hiroko Miyama says.
“We took a lot of photos of the
granddaughters chasing bubbles that
their father made. We thought the
background should be dark to make
bubbles more beautiful. And finally,
we decided to use a watermill located
near our cottage in Nagano.”
“It is quite challenging to stitch the
watermill. The girls, dog, and bubbles
are all appliquéd by using an original
precision appliqué technique,” she
says. “There is only one dog in this
quilt, though we have two dogs.
We made a quilt where another dog
wandered among bubbles beside the
mill. It was auctioned at the show
in Houston.”
Miyama describes herself as a “born
handicraft maker,” who has been
addicted to machine quilting for years.
She uses a HandiQuilter Avante, as
well as a Bernina 710.
“When my younger son entered
elementary school, I thought it was a
good time to start something new,”
she says. “At that time, hand
quilting was getting popular in
Japan. I thought this was it! I quit
everything— knitting, dressmaking,
and embroidering—after I started
hand quilting.”
Masanobu Miyama also learned to
quilt from his wife’s appliqué
technique. He says he likes to work
in miniature because he’s not quite
as fond of stitching.
25
Art—People, Portraits, Figures
THiRd PLACE
WORRY (31.5" x 40.5")
by V IRGINIA G REAVES of Roswell, Georgia, USA.
26
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By THE GRACE COMPANy, FiNE QUiLTiNG FRAMES
Artist’s Statement: “As I worked on the piece, I came to understand that this woman
signifies the worry of all women, struggling to care for their children, and holding that burden
hidden on their shoulders.” Design inspired by a photograph taken by Dorothea Lange.
Q
uilt artist Virginia Greaves
says this portrait of a
California pea picker and
her three hungry children represents
the largest number of people she’s
ever included in one quilt.
“It is, therefore, much more complex
as all of the color families had to work
harmoniously with the others, but it’s
the challenge of the puzzle that I find
most fascinating,” she explains.
“Even working from my own drawn
pattern, I often change details,
especially in the eyes. After I begin to
cut out the fabrics, I refine the details
until they read correctly.
Worry was inspired by the iconic
Migrant Mother photograph taken
by Dorothea Lange during her
employment as a government field
photographer tasked with recording
events of The Great Depression.
“Using the photograph as a starting
point, I drew her and the children,
realizing only after I began to really
study the photograph that she was
actually holding a small infant in her
arms who is almost obscured by the
older children,” Greaves says.
“The mother is truly cornered on
every side, and the hand drawn up to
her face shows her apprehension.”
27
Art—People, Portraits, Figures
HONORABLE MENTiON
SOURCE
OF
LIFE (58" x 58")
by H OLLIS C HATELAIN of Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA.
28
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By THE GRACE COMPANy, FiNE QUiLTiNG FRAMES
Artist’s Statement: “Water is the source of life. It quenches our thirst, grows our food,
washes us, and gives us a means of play and relaxation. As our world becomes more crowded
and our resources diminish, we will cherish water more and more.” Original design drawn
from a photo.
w
hen Hollis Chatelain lived
in Africa, she requested
leftover fabric from the
tailors who sewed garments for her.
“This started a beautiful collection of
fabrics that I didn’t know what to do
with, and I eventually started using
those fabrics to make quilts,” she says.
“Source of Life goes back to the
tradition of what patchwork was all
about. It is taking a piece of worn
clothing, deconstructing it, and
creating a beautiful object from those
scraps of cloth. It is similar to the
indigenous perspective that ‘what was
old is new again.’ ”
This quilt started as a drawing
Chatelain made from a photo.
“From there, I enlarged the drawing
and made a pattern from it. Then I
created the top using blue jeans that
I deconstructed,” she says, explaining
her process. “Once I had the top
made, I dye-painted the same
enlarged image of the child on cotton.”
After the painted image was washed
out, she created a four-layer sandwich
(backing, batting, painting, and blue
jean top) and pinned it together. Once
it was pinned together, she quilted it,
matching threads to the painting, and
cutting out the seams of the blue jean
top so the painting would show through.
“I’m always interested in seeing the
new and the innovative. I guess I
embrace the challenge of taking
creative risks,” Chatelain adds.
“This is a such a dynamic time in the
field of textiles, with so many options
to explore, that I always look forward
to seeing something fresh and unique.”
29
Art—People, Portraits, Figures
HONORABLE MENTiON
SAKURA II: PICNIC
AT
NARUKO (97" x 60")
by M EGAN FARKAS of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, USA.
30
CATEGORy SPONSOREd By THE GRACE COMPANy, FiNE QUiLTiNG FRAMES
Artist’s Statement: “I hadn’t planned to make another group of Japanese women under
a cherry tree (Sakura I was awarded an IQA Future of Quilting prize in 2011), but I fell in love
with these, too.” Quilt inspired by wood block prints by the Japanese artist, Kikukawa Eizan.
T
here’s hardly ever been a time
when Megan Farkas didn’t have
some kind of needle in her hand.
Her grandmother taught her to knit,
crochet, and latch hook when she was
very young. In her late teens and 20s,
she took on the challenge of some
large and elaborate needlepoint
tapestries—including a 4' by 5'
tapestry panel of medieval unicorns.
Then in 2002, a friend predicted she
would soon take up quilting.
“I didn’t believe her; as many people
say, ‘Why cut up fabric just to put it
together again?’” Farkas says. A year
later, a coworker asked for her help
making donation quilts with students
—someone who could teach them to
make a simple running stitch.
“I made my own quilt to donate. And
later that year, when a friend was
expecting a baby, a baby quilt seemed
the perfect gift,” she adds.
“And then another friend got
pregnant, and another. I was hooked!
And it wasn’t long before I started
making other types of quilts, too.”
For Sakura II, she started with a fullsize photo of the inspirational wood
block print, and examined it carefully
to plan the construction process.
Some areas of the original print were
unclear and had to be corrected. For
instance, the bench was shown on two
different panels, drawn from two
different perspectives. Farkas said she
had to figure out what was going on
before she could proceed.
“Compared with Sakura I, which also
depicts a group of women under a
cherry tree, the figures in Sakura II
are very dynamic, turning and looking
and seeming to interact with each
other,” Farkas explains.
“For instance, I think the woman with
the baby is tired of carrying him and
trying to hand him off, and her
neighbors are coming up with excuses
about why they can’t take him.”
31
IQA Panama Canal Cruise
April 8-18, 2016
with the
International
Quilt Association
Join the International Quilt Association as we sail through the amazing azure blue waters of
the Caribbean on our quilters journey to the Panama Canal. Along with teachers Stevii
Graves, Marti Michell, Linda Pumphrey and Karen Sievert, the IQA board has planned an
extraordinary quilting event at sea featuring a fantastic itinerary and incredible scenery
as well as a variety of classes designed for every ability level. Throughout our journey
we will be enjoying amazing inspiration through the engineering marvel of the Panama
Canal as well as ports in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Price from $1499 per person.
For full itinerary and further pricing see:
WorldofQuiltsTravel.com/IQACruise.htm
The 2014 IQA JUDGED SHOW
First Place – Handmade
The Colonial Needle Company
Photo by Mike McCormick
Category sponsored by
IMAGINE (71"
X
71")
by Y UMIKO TAKAMI of Kanagawa, Japan. Original design inspired by Noriko Masui.