Westside Modern Quilt Club July 2017

Our meetings are pretty casual, and Geri seems to have a never ending cache of Oli and Lena jokes to start us off with a cheeky smile.

She also showed off some gorgeous digitally printed fabrics from P&B which we'll be restocking in September, and 100% wool dryer balls which are new to the store and perfect for fluffing up all your laundry without using dryer sheets. Geri also demonstrated that folding your quilts on the bias will help prevent creases and prolong the life of your quilts, especially when stored.

Next month (August) will be our annual pot luck party at the park, where we get to unveil our challenge quilts and turn them in for our exhibit at Northwest Quilt Expo, so of course the details are top of everyone's mind. The image below has all the important dates and information on what to submit and when. If you are submitting a quilt for our Transitions challenge, pick up an Expo catalog at the shop to fill out the entry form, or download it here. Make a copy of it before you mail it in to Expo and turn that copy in with your quilt. We'll be displaying a 14"x 20" (portrait orientation) "poster" of your inspiration quilt, block, or other image, next to your challenge quilt, so be sure to note the picture information below. Because there is no charge for this special exhibit unless you want your quilt judged, we ask that you have your poster created at COSTCO yourself and turn it in with your quilt (this simplifies coordination for us as well). Click the image to see it larger:

Business taken care of, it was on to the fun part. This month we were honored to have Annette McFarlane from our local Studio Art Quilt Associates pod bring a trunk show of 50 small art quilts for us to enjoy. These were small pieces which reflected the huge range of aesthetics and techniques employed by members of SAQA.

We're pretty confident in saying that everyone really enjoyed looking at all the pieces in the trunk show and learning the stories and techniques behind them. More than a few were inspired to go home and try some new things.

Show and Tell was lots of fun and very varied as well. 

Darlene brought a beautiful quilt that was a study in light and shadow:

She also surprised Geri with an oldie but goodie quilt she made from a Pine Needle kit designed by our dear friend and teacher, Sandi Rae.

Elisa brought two quilts. The first is a bubbly Christmas Wreath created to showcase equally exuberant long arm quilting inspired by a class with Rob Apell.

The second quilt is a vintage quilt she beautifully long arm quilted for a customer.

Virginia brought another quilt from her book on the US money system. This one is based on the African proverb that a bundle of sticks is stronger than a single stick. To reinforce the concept (and because she's runing out of time to complete the quilts before exhibiting them at Expo), she plans to have the quilt in a frame at the show so that anyone who wants can help quilt it.

Linda made this smallish quilt as a test for a king sized version she's making for her daughter as a wedding present.

Molly recently went on a knitting tour of Estonia and brought some of her purchases to share. The intricately patterned knits also inspired her to make a quilt with lots of mitten blocks, which she brought, in progress:

Diane showed us her exquisite Fire Island Hosta quilt from a Judy Neimeier pattern. You may recognize it as Dianne and quilter Kazumi Peterson won the President's award at the NW Quilt Guild show last spring. 

Debbie showed off a striking black, white, and red wall hanging of her own design...

and a black, grey, and chartreuse work in progress, hoping to get a little feedback on what direction to take it. We think she got some excellent suggestions.

Patty shared a sweet and simple grand baby quilt she's working on with a friend. The pink and gold is a little outside of her comfort zone, but we all think it's fabulous!

Janet made a super cute Elf Hat quilt, complete with ricrac in the border!

The prolific Deslie brought a box of roomy fabric bags she made to donate to Outside In. These will be great for filling with toiletries and needed items for the kids, and also uses up a bunch of fabric so Deslie can replenish her stash with new patterns.

Deslie also shared two fun quilts. We are partial to the one on the right which makes fabulous use of one of our favorite Anthology batiks.

Pat brought a quirky dimensional quilt which will be inspiration for another quilt she's been commissioned to make, based on the upcoming eclipse, and using a vintage bedcover from the Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. We're curious to see where Pat's imagination takes her.

Remember that next month's meeting will be at Millennium Park, just down the street from The Pine Needle. If you've made one, bring your Transitions challenge quilts, the inspiration photo on poster board, and a copy of the entry form you will have already submitted to The Northwest Quilt Expo. See you then!

Westside Modern Quilt Club January 2017

Happy New Year! After too many snow days in December and early January, we enjoyed seeing so many smiling faces at our January meeting.

To start the new year off on a convivial note, Geri had everyone wear name tags and then she called on each person to introduce themselves and tell us a bit about their quilting story.

Geri brought us up to speed on our "Transitions" challenge to be exhibited at the Northwest Quilt Expo in the fall. The challenge is to take a traditional quilt or block that means something to you and create a modern interpretation of it. We want to have a poster sized image of your inspiration to hang next to your finished piece, so keep that in mind as you take photos or collect inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, our fabulous volunteers have organized a field trip to The Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook:

Date: Saturday, February 11, 2017 Time: 1:00 pm (in Tillamook) Place: 2105 Wilson River Loop Road Tillamook, Oregon 97141 Admission Fee: $4.00 (payable at door)

We still have a few spots left in a carpooling van (fee is $15 which covers fuel and admission). Please call to see if there is room (503-635-1353). Those going in van will meet at The Pine Needle at 9:30 am - van leaves at 10:00 am! Otherwise, bring a friend and meet us in Tillamook for this special tour! Leave early and grab lunch at Tillamook Cheese Factory! PLEASE RSVP by phone (503-635-1353) so that we can let Latimer know how many people to expect! At the meeting, Geri also announced another challenge, Aboriginality! Our Pine Needle customers have been buying lots of the aboriginal design fabrics, and we want to see what you are making with it! Bring in your creations (anything made with 70% or more of the aboriginal fabrics, and up to 42" wide) by April 14th and we'll display them from April 15th until June 15th. We'll have prizes based on viewer's choice so bring in friends and family to vote on their favorite pieces. After filling us in on the challenges, we were treated to round robin style demonstrations of several clever log cabin and curved rulers, plus some fun coloring products. Of course, no Westside meeting would be complete without Show and Tell. Linda R started us off with one of her quilts made using the curved ruler she demonstrated. Check out that pop of green too -- it's pretty close to Pantone's color of the year, Greenery, which Geri introduced us to earlier in the meeting. Marlene brought the gorgeous quilt she made at last summer's retreat.  Alicia shared her cheery black and pink creation. Deslie designed this lap quilt herself which shows off the rich fall colors in her inspiration fabric. As always, she's incorporated her leftovers into a handsome tote bag! Michelle found these low volume squares at a great price so she sewed them together into this sweet little quilt and excellent showcase for her machine quilting. Marilyn showed off her Robert Burns inspired appliqué and embroidered Thistle quilt which she also designed herself.  Susan B wowed us with this baby quilt she made for her niece. She liked it so much, she decided not to give it away (don't worry, she made another quilt for her niece). Susan B also made this ebullient hexie medallion. Sisters Carol and Barbara brought a family heirloom made by their great grandmother. This lovingly preserved crazy quilt has been in their family for generations. Linda D brought a fun baby quilt too. Her's highlights colorful elephant artwork by her cousin. More green and black and white! Linda D designed this bold quilt, and... this one is the same design, just made up in completely different fabrics. It's amazing how much fabric choices change the look of a quilt and make each one unique to it's maker. Kathy W shared her happy quilt, made using our Illumination pattern, which she'll donate to CARES. She pieced the backing using a formula she found in Bernina's downloadable newsletter, Through the Needle. Thanks to everyone who came out for the meeting. We look forward to seeing you all on February 22nd, the last wednesday of the month, if we don't see you on the 11th for the Latimer field trip.

2016 Quilt Festival Houston

Last week our Pinecone Kristin went to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. This annual show is the largest quilt show in the world and a pilgrimage for many a quilt maker and enthusiast. Here's a few things that caught Kristin's eye:

The venue: the George R Brown Convention Center. With it's exhibits, vendors, dining area, classrooms and lecture halls, IQF actually fills this entire, enormous, building.

Looking down onto the vendor side of the floor. This is maybe a quarter of the booths!

A typical vendor booth. This one is Modern Quilter.

And here's the Sew Kind of Wonderful/Quick Curve Ruler booth. 

The vendor booths are a great place to find inspiration, and to shop hundreds of different quilt shops in the same place.

In addition to the vendors, a huge part of the festival is the World of Beauty judged show and about a dozen additional special exhibits. Here, a visitor takes a closer look at the Millefiori Quilt special exhibit.

The Millefiori exhibit was built around this quilt, La Passacaglia, by Tula Pink, which inspired a renewed interest in English Paper Piecing and the original book by Willyene Hammerstein.

Another special exhibit was the collage quilts by Susan Carlson. Above is a detail of Dixie Dingo Dreaming, one of Kristin's favorites because of the Australian fabric used in it.

Susan's life sized alligator, Stevie, is impressive on so many levels. Note the people for scale.

Kristin's flag quilt, 'Murica was part of the Quilt National 15 special exhibit.

Another friend of The Pine Needle, Coleen Barnhardt's Color Me Quilted, was accepted into the World of Beauty Show.

Speaking of the World of Beauty show, that's the main draw of the show. It's the largest, most varied exhibit and is where the big prize winners are.

Kristin's favorite winner was this silk stunner, October Sky, by Bethanne Nemesh. You can see all the winning quilts here on IQA's website.

In the Traditional Pieced category, this grouping was dynamic and fresh. From left to right, Flight Path by Mary Menzer, Amsterdam View by Carolina Asmussen, and Wall of Sound by Maria Shell (also below).

The quilt show is a great place to look for trends, patterns, and inspiration.

How about super skinny lines:

Fire in the Stone by Kimberly Lacy.

Summer Solstice by Leah Gravells.

String Theory by Heather Pregger.

Kristin's friend Deborah, suspects that custom digitized embroidery will be the next big thing. We'll be seeing more and more of it incorporated into quilts in sophisticated ways.

This prize winner, Old Denim Square by Noriko Nozawa, cleverly pairs piecing, custom embroidery, and unconventional materials.

Old Denim Square, detail.

It was unclear if the quilting on this "whole cloth quilt" was digitized or not, but regardless, it's a beautiful modernization of a classic idea.

Detail of You've Got To Start Somewhere by Karl Burkett.

Our Westside Modern Quilt Club's challenge theme is Then and Now, and the above quilt is an interesting take. There was also a special exhibit titled "Twisted," which was also inspirational in it's use of vintage blocks in modern settings.

Stirring the Coffee from the Twisted exhibit.

Homespun from the Twisted exhibit.

Victoria Findlay Wolfe is a master of removing sections of traditional blocks (by making the same as adjacent blocks or background) and thus transforming the look. Can you find the basic block in this quilt? It's a variation on Arabic Lattice.

More inspiration found in the exhibit of quilts by Laverne Matthews. The Lincoln Quilt uses postage stamp blocks in an effective way.

Other inspirations seen:

How about the colors in Autumn Wedding by Rita Schormann.

Bargello made easy with ombre fabrics, as seen in the Joy's Quilts booth.

Subtle but beautiful use of shirt and suit style prints in Winter Garden by Jennifer Emry.