Quilt Con (episode 3) THE WINNERS

These are the big winners. Let's start with "Best in Show," which is followed by a collage of close-ups. 

Quilt Con (episode 2)

More eye-candy from QuiltCon! 

My apologies that I don't remember which of these are the winners or in which order. However, I am sure that I have the correct titles attached to the quilts. 

So which is your favorite thus far? Oh, there are more pictures coming. I just need some time to work on them.

Quilt Con (episode 1)

There are more photos on my Instagram or #theMQG on Instagram if you'd like to see other pictures. For now, though, I'm adding some of the winners to this post. And check it out, I figured a short cut to keying in all the information on each quilt! Remember that you can click on each picture to get a close-up view. 

To help you make sense of these, I posted the  pictures in winning order. (It's difficult to see the place number on the ribbons.) I'll post more on Monday or Tuesday, depending on when we get home. What do you think? Want a few more?

Pin It Weekly #269

Happy Weekly! Here are some recent quilt pins that I found. All modern, because you know, QuiltCon is happening right now!

Flying Geese anyone?

All of these are on my "heart, quilts" board. It's getting oh, so close to 9,000 quilt pins. Isn't that something else?

Hand-quilted art pieces ~~ a beginning

Having finished "Sunset in Utah" and needing some handwork for our trip to Nashville for QuiltCon, I've already pulled together another little quilt. Another sunset, this one is quite different from the last. 

I thought you might be interested in what these look like before I start quilting. I make up a quilt sandwich, starting with the backing and batting. The size depends on nothing, really. I just make it whatever size I want or need for the project.  

I begin laying the strips of fabric down overlapping edges so that I can stitch both at the same time and keep the batting inside the piece. When the batting is completely covered, I pin the strips down with lots of quilting straight pins. Then it's off to the machine to baste everything together. 

I just put in a few lines of big stitches perpendicular to the strips and try to catch each strip at least twice. Anything that can move needs to be controlled, so I either put in a few hand stitches or go back to the machine. 

I like the raw edges that ravel while I'm working on the pieces, so I rarely sew strips together and never turn the edges. And it's ready for quilting.

Sunset in Utah ~~ finished!

I have been enjoying working on some small hand-quilted pieces lately. They take as much time as they take. There's no pressure to get anything a certain way because I just quilt it the way I put it together: improvisationally and intuitively what might be a straight line of stitching today, could be a curve tomorrow. Everything depends on the mood and moment of having the needle in hand.

While we were traipsing around the Midwest, we visited Salt Lake City, Utah, then moseyed down Hwy. 191, mostly homeward, with day breaks at Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Lots of beautiful scenery in those wild places, along with sand and cacti and sunsets. When I think of Utah, I fondly remember the pink and purple sunsets and wanted to capture that in a small quilt. Still drawing on my memories, this is my rendition. 

After I framed this piece, I hung it on the thread board (upside-down!) where I could see it and remember to take photos at some point. I liked the way it contrasts with the thread and decided to grab one picture here. It turns out that getting close-ups while it was hanging here was quite easy, so I clicked away.

The lines of stitching are meant to help move the eye and also to suggest the floating clouds and sky. Some lines follow the shapes defined by the colors. Others move in organic waves.

While I kept the thread colors true to the fabric colors--purple on purple, pink on pink--I didn't match the fabrics exactly. In fact, dark and light thread mingle and shift to mimic the movement of clouds.

I remember the colors starting out with the darkest pinks gliding above my head and gradually getting lighter as they turn into lavender purples. Streaks of rich, deep purple breaking through.

Of course, this is my sense of the natural beauty of the sky. If you were to look at a photograph of this precise moment, you would probably see something different. Although I took a photo, I can't find it. 

What do you think? Honestly, of course. Does this rendering feel like a desert sunset?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: graphic lines

In just a few days many of us will be traveling to Nashville, TN, for QuiltCon, which begins on Thursday. I pray that you all have safe travels and that you enjoy the show. If you're planning to attend QuiltCon on Friday, let me know. (Leave a note here or email me at mary.marcotte@gmail.com.) I'd love to meet you, perhaps for lunch, and to have a chance to get to know you in person. It's almost always better, don't you think?

Enjoy these quilts and over 8,000 others on my "heart, quilts" board.