I first heard about the International Quilt Festival last year, but never made it downtown since Emma was so little and I had just gone back to work after maternity leave. I was bummed, but fortunately it’s an annual even here in Houston — and this year I wasn’t going to miss it! Jose wouldn’t have been too interested and Emma wouldn’t have cared either way, so I ended up taking Friday afternoon off work and went by myself. I stayed at the convention center for about 3 hours and could have spent a couple more — there was so much to see!
Half of the convention center was full of vendor booths overflowing with fabric, patterns, tools, and more. This part was actually a bit overwhelming — I didn’t even know where to start or what to look for so I just wandered around until it was time to head home. I did end up buying two big items though — a new sewing machine to replace my first one (which broke last week and thus provided a convenient excuse to upgrade) and a neat portable design wall. I’d been planning to make one of these, but a DIY wall wouldn’t have been portable or storable. This one is stretched on a customized frame made out of tent poles, so I can take it down and store it in a small bag when it’s not in use. Perfect! Almost all of the booths had tons of beautiful fabric to buy, but I left without anything to add to my stash since I’d already spent plenty of money on my two big ticket items. Next year, I think it’d be nice to go to the festival with a few projects already in mind, and get fabric for those.
The other half of the festival was set up sort of like an art show — except with quilts, obviously. I spend about 1.5 hours admiring all the amazing work and feeling totally inadequate with my own quilting skills! (That’s a joke…sort of.) I took a bunch of photos of my favorites:
Shimmering Galaxies in the Night Sky by Sally Tullos
This was a combination of quilting and embroidery — the designs in the middle of each diamond were hand-stitched and really impressive.
Finding North by Beth Shibley; Uncharted by Catherine Baltgalvis; Gone by Laura Bisagna
One of my favorite sections had several quilts based on maps — a combination of two things I love! The one on the far right was and interpretation of an aerial photograph the quilter found that confirmed her house was destroyed in a wildfire, and the plaid house squares are made from pajama bottoms that she had packed for evacuation. Wow.
I’ve had an idea percolating in my head for months to make a quilt based on aerial and/or space photography and I’m even more inspired to make that happen now.
The Starry Night by Kye Sun Yoo
This was perhaps my favorite of the whole show, for obvious reasons. So amazing! I don’t even know how to go about laying out something like that but I’m so impressed.
Northern Lights 8 by Ann Bird; Spider Lilies by Enid Gjelten Weichselbaum; Tributary by Phyllis Cullen
There was a section of quilts inspired by nature that I also loved. The one on the left is one of a series the quilter has done based on the aurora borealis (which I assume she often sees from her home in Canada). The one on the right referenced something called the “stained glass technique” which is easily visible. I’m going to have to learn more about that!
Monterey at Dusk by Melinda Bula; Does He Make My Butt Look Big? by Kristen Bryson
Lincoln by Virginia Greaven; Chihuly’s Gondola by Melissa Sobotka
There were several hugely impressive photo-realistic quilts. Again, I don’t even know how you go about making something like this but WHOA. The one on the bottom left — Chihuly’s Gondola — actually won best in show and was made by a Texas woman who started quilting only 6 years ago. So hey, maybe I’ll be winning best of show in 2017??
Brown Planet by Norma Schlager & Kathy Loomis; African Collage by Kaffe Fassett & Liza Prior
Light of Rays by Michiyo Fukumoto; Fireworks Quilt by Tara Faughnan
When it comes to the type of quilt I think I could handle making myself, I’m always drawn to brightly colored and/or geometric patterns. I particularly liked the one on the upper left — a planet! yay! — and the one on the lower right based on a firework.
Under Construction by Marjorie Post
I loved this one too, inspired by the quilter’s husband’s work as a CAD specialist. I get excited every time I see something “soft” like quilting combined with something “hard” like engineering or other technical subjects.
Celestial Fantasy by Lynne Reamey; Venus in the Garden by Sheila Frampton-Cooper; Sketchbook: Greece by Kornelia Donnermann
These three were in different areas but all caught my eye as I walked through. The one on the left had a lot of additional embellishment — shiny threads, sequins, etc — that made it figuratively and literally sparkle. The one on the right is based on blue-domed churches in Greece.
Fear of Flying by Judy Coates Perez; Windmills – Now and Then by Vicky Conley; Aspen Walk by Holly Altman
And finally, there was a section of long, thin vertical quilts that I thought was neat. I’ve always thought of quilts as being square or rectangular, but when you start to think of them as art instead of just something functional, there are a million possibilities. I had a soft spot for the one on the left especially after reading the description — the quilter happened to sit next to an aerospace engineer on a flight, who calmed her down during some turbulence.
Lots of inspiring stuff, right? It made me simultaneously want to quit my job and sew all day…and just give up entirely, since I can’t imagine making stuff this cool. But I can try…right?
becca says
My Grandma used to take me to an Amish quilt festival in Kutztown Pa… let me say, these quilts are far more interesting than what I remember as a kid!
saroy says
Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the traditional style — I respect the amount of work that went into them (especially since many of those are sewn by hand) but they’re not my style. I really like the more modern stuff.
Jennifer says
Love starry night, and the boats.
What kind of sewing machine did you get?
saroy says
I got a Brother Innov-is 85e. I sewed the January Lucky Stars block on it last weekend and it’s got some nice features my old one didn’t have. The old one was a Brother also, and it made since to stick with them since I’d bought a couple extra presser feet already that are still compatible with the new one.
Christy (txrunnermom) says
Wow, such amazing quilts! Sarah, you are so talented that I have no doubt you will be making some amazing quilts that will be on display in the not too distant future!
saroy says
Aw, thanks Christy!
Jen de Jong says
Okay, so I will definitely need to make sure i have lots of free space on my camera when I go to Festival this year! Such gorgeous quilts! My eye is drawn to the photography quilts, too, I would love to try one of those, but haven’t yet figured out how to start! I’m sure it involves a lot of applique, which I’ve just started to do. As a Dutch-American family, we are big fans of Van Gogh, so I think the Starry Night quilt is my absolute favorite!