Pinecone Kristin told us a little about what she saw at the Houston Quilt Festival (big winners here). The Special exhibits were particularly interesting, including La Passacaglia quilts like the one in progress our own Virginia shared a few months ago, amazing collage quilts by Susan Carlson, and a wonderful range from traditional to artistic. Trends were harder to spot. Nothing really stood out that we haven't already embraced at The Pine Needle. Intense color, soft color, Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Forest quilt, the Quick Curve ruler, we're doing a pretty good job of staying on top of what's popular.
Geri gave us some inspiration for our then and now challenge, entitled "Transitions." Looking for the emotional element in our work, one idea is for participants to create a modern quilt inspired by a family heirloom. Of course, not everyone has a vintage quilt at hand, so we encourage people to consider alternatives such as inspiration from a book, or by using vintage blocks themselves. Geri shared a book Kristin brought from the Houston special exhibit "Twisted" in which quilter Mary Kerr incorporated vintage blocks into modern settings and had them quilted by some of today's most accomplished long arm quilters. It was fascinating inspiration. We are also planning a "field trip" to the Latimer Quilt and Textile center in Tillamook, OR. Please call the shop if you'd like to sign up to receive more info. We'll have more info at our January meeting as well.
Our main presentation was a fascinating slide show by Nancy Betts of her and her husband's 2011 and 2014 trips to Mongolia. The first trip combined teaching quilting techniques to local women with adventuresome tourism. The second trip was similar, plus added putting on an international quilt show in the main city of Ulaanbaatar. They shared stories of sleeping in tents and gers (yurts), eating unusual foods, traveling many, many miles on unimproved roads in an old Russian van. We marveled at the stark scenery, great open spaces, and conditions completely different than most of us are used to. Thank you to Nancy and her husband for sharing their adventure with us.
Show and Tell was was short but sweet.
Virginia shared her "Admit One" quilt which recently won a prize at the Machine Quilting Unlimited show for Coleen's fantastic quilting. These two ladies make a great creative pair!
Marlene shared two vintage quilts she hopes to use as inspiration for our challenge. This well loved Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam quilt belonged to her husband when he was a baby.
Deslie shared her reimagining of a pattern she found in a book. The original was much larger than she wanted, so Deslie adapted the pattern for a lap size.
Remember Susan B's Tribal Winds quilt with the silhouetted chief wrapped in a blanket? Check out what she made with her leftover blanket strips. We love the graphic punch of this!
Susan D shared a gorgeous purple quilt she recently finished.
Last but not least, Mardi shared a fantastic "fidget quilt" she made for a friend with dementia. She came up with all the fun, interactive blocks herself.
We won't be having a December meeting, so we wish everyone a happy, healthy, remainder of the holiday season and transition into the new year. We look forward to seeing everyone again in January.
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