A fun thing to do while I was there was to look for traditional quilts, or traditional patterns with interesting interpretations. My favorites of these were a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt, a 9-Patch wonder, and a Lone Star combo that was out of this world.
Here is the Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. This was also the cover of the festival program guide and was made by Janis Pearson of Portland, Oregon.
Techniques: Pieced, appliquéd, hand quilted
Design Source: Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Mosaic
“In the American Tradition, this quilt was made from fabrics salvaged from a vintage quilt top. When I brought the unfinished quilt home, it was obvious that it had not been completed because it would not lie flat to be quilted. I took the top apart, discarded the ill fitting pieces, hand pieced the flowers back together, added new white hexagons and then hand appliquéd the hexagon top to the borders. Then, I was able to finish it with hand quilting.”
Stunning. These pieces were very, very tiny and to think she took this all apart and re-made it, amazing. This pattern is one that I think I’ll just never have the patience to match-up the three sides coming together – All Over! Well done Janis, this is beautiful.
Next was this nine-patch quilt. Yes, you aren’t seeing things, it’s blurry because these squares were so tiny my camera just couldn’t focus! Plus I had to take several steps back to get the whole quilt into the frame. Even at that I don’t think I got the whole quilt in the picture. The title of this quilt is My Mini 9-Patch and was made by Lois Jarvis of Madison, Wisconsin.
Techniques: Machine pieced, machine quilted
Design Source: Nine Patch pattern and Postage Stamp quilts
“Antique Postage Stamp quilts inspired me to make this quilt. I love the way colors flicker across these quilts. Knowing I could never find a spectacular one in my price range, I decided I would make my own. I tried to capture the essence of an old time scrap quilt where the real goal was to get enough fabric sewn together to make a warm bed covering and the color placement was secondary.”
The close up of the nine-patches still look blurry. The pieces really were small. I’m just in awe at the amount of time that went into making this. You know, you just can’t put this up as a ‘Make-It-This-Weekend’ type of project. She did machine piece and machine quilt it though so I suppose there is some consolation there. Great job Lois! I love it.
Now for this beauty. This is a Lone Star patterned quilt titled Oh! The Places You’ll Go: Africa to Allentown and was made by Irene Berry of Arvada, Colorado.
Techniques: Hand and machine pieced, machine quilted
Design Source: Lone Star
“Lone Star quilts have always been favorites of mine. The pattern seemed perfect for showcasing a growing collection of fabrics including African and Japanese prints and a repro line from the Allentown Art Museum. During the time I was working on the quilt, my younger son graduated from high school. The graduates were given a copy of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh! The Places You’ll Go. The title seemed appropriate for my quilt as well. I was going places too (to wonderful quilt shows). And I have been to Allentown.”
This was a great blend of all her special fabrics from her collection and a great design to combine them. I appreciated her unique use of the colors. Most times when you see this pattern your eyes bug out from the pulsing colors, not so in this case. The blend was very pleasing and the African and Japanese prints really don’t look too African or Japanese. Mostly your eye is just seeing the colors all wonderfully arranged. Way to GO Irene, Amazing!
That’s about it for today’s post. I’ve got a few more entries that I’ll share with you yet. I haven’t even talked about all the vendors and mad dash shopping frenzy. Quilters are an interesting breed.
Sewing.for.Life! 
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