Houston , Part 2

I know, I know, I said that I would post sooner, but I've been busy and it takes me so long to slog through my pictures, decide which ones I want to show and then prepare them for the blog.  It is very labor intensive.  I didn't take as many pictures as usual and I hardly took any pictures of the big winners because you can see them here on the official website for Quilts, a World of Beauty.  You can click each picture for a bigger view.  As usual the workmanship and creativity was truly awesome.

So....I will show you some that caught my eye for some reason or other.  Maybe it was the color, or the machine quilting or the simplicity or that I just liked it.  In no particular order, here they are:

Home on the Reef by Betty Busby.  This won a big award in one of the special exhibits and it was a very big quilt.  I got to meet Betty, who was utterly charming and shared many of the techniques in this quilt.  I have long admired her work and was so happy that I finally got to meet her.  Some details below.

There's No Nest Like Home  by Helen Godden and Pat Godden.  What appealed to me about this was that the surface was covered with couched threads and yarns on a pieced background. Detail below.

Uprooted by Deborah Boschert. I particularly liked the painted surface design on this.  Detail below.

Chasing Bubbles by Hiroko Miyamo

I met the maker of this joyous quilt, a cute little Japanese man, about 5 feet tall, who spoke very little English.  He won one of the very big awards last year for the appliqué portrait of his Golden Retriever.  He had three quilts in the show this year and the dog was in all of them. This won a Second Place in his category.

Dotting Inside the Box by Sandi Snow

This quilt called to me from across the room for its brilliant color and spectacular quilting.  When I read her artist's statement, I saw that what I thought was a whole cloth quilt was actually intensely pieced.  See the detail below. This did win a First in Art Quilts Small, the category that I am usually in.  Don't be fooled by the word "small".  It is what I would call a big quilt.

Eight Branchlets by Janet Steadman

I am so sorry that I didn't get the maker's name on this one, but I liked the simplicity and the intense straight line quilting shown in the detail below.

Shake the Tree by Sue Dennis.  The surface design on this appealed to me.  See detail below.

Again, I forgot to photograph the sign, so I don't know the maker, but I loved the color and design and the quilting.

Saffron in the Park by Cindy Cooksey

 I had seen The Gates in NYC back in 2005, so this excellent rendering brought back some fond memories.  There was a little swatch of that fabric.  I had made a small journal quilt about it and also used some of the gates actual fabric.

In Still Water by Sherry Davis Kleinman

Detail

This was the 40th or Ruby Anniversary of the show. This spectacular display was breathtaking.  There were antique quilts and contemporary quilts reminiscent of that show that was in the Armory in NYC a few years ago.  I missed that one, so I was glad that I got to see this. Red and white quilts all around that tall ring hung from the ceiling, inside and out and many, many quilts large and small hung on panels below.

 I spotted this quilt from across the room because of the colors.  It was the exact same palette that I had used last year for my Brown Planet.  I must admit that I thought it was stunning.  Again, shame on me for not getting the name.

Fern Risng by Claudia Pfeil

I admired the colors and movement in this quilt and the fabulous quilting shown the detail below.

Remember the Ladies by Connie Fraiser Harris

Connie was in my small local quilt group several years ago.  I'm not sure where she lives now and I think she has a new last name due to a new marriage.  She always makes incredible quilts about women, often humorous as this one was.

The Dogs by Shannon Connoley

Shannon is one of my blog buddies and I was glad to see her work up close and in person.  It was a great rendition of three of her dogs. 

Dazzling Dahlia by Andrea Brokenshire

 I would have sworn that this was a photograph, but it was hand painted fused appliqué on a pieced background.  It truly was dazzling! One of my friends at the show grows prize-winning dahlias and I made sure that she saw this.

Mary Cannazaro (this time I forgot to get the title of the quit)

As I walked toward this quilt I thought that there is always something about a Log Cabin quilt that I love.  When I got closer to read the label I was pleased to see that it was made by Mary, a member of our local quilt guild.  It was done with her usual impeccable piecing and machine quilting and use of color.  Mary had two quilts juried into the show.

Willow Meditation by Jane Davila

It's always fun to see quilts by someone that you know.  This quilt by Jane Davila and the one below by Natalya Atkins are both in my FANE group that meets monthly. They were part of a special SAQA exhibit, Reflections.

Spectacular Reflection by Natalya Atkins

That's it for now. I may or may not show you some more, but I have a lot of sewing to do in the next few days to get some small pieces ready for the holiday sale at the Brookfield Craft Center. 

 Please click on any picture to see bigger views of then all.