Here are just a few of the quilts that caught my eye at the Lowell Quilt Festival, IMAGES 2012 show.
I really appreciated that photos were allowed in much of the exhibit, provided we are careful to document the maker's name, etc. and when the photo was taken. Hence the long subtitles below:
I had to chuckle when I saw on the stage, front and center, this exquisite taste of Japan:
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Sakura I: Hanaogi Views the Cherry Blossoms, 98x60, by Megan Farkas, Sanbornton, NH. Hand pieced, appliqued and quilted; embroidery; permanent marker; "silk" flowers; beads.
Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
I loved the following quilt by Timna Tarr. It won Best Use of Color:
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| Catena by Timna Tarr, South Hadley, MA, Hand appliqued and quilted; machine pieced and quilted. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
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| Catena by Timna Tarr, South Hadley, MA, Hand appliqued and quilted; machine pieced and quilted. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
And another by the same quilter, Timna Tarr (Hey Timna, if you have a blog, I'd love to know about it!). This is another great color study. Makes me want to clear out room in my quilting room for a whole stash of solids - I have so few right now.
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| Yolk Magic, by Timna Tarr, South Hadley, MA, hand appliqued; machine pieced and quilted. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
I found myself drawn to some of the applique quilts, especially the brighter ones. The following one used Kaffe Fassett fabrics and the quilter wrote that she enjoyed the challenge of using red as a neutral. I love it!
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| Aunt Millie's Garden, by Maureen Braconi, Sharon MA. Hand appliqued; machine pieced and quilted. Pattern source: "Aunt Millie's Garden" from Piece O Cake Designs. Quilted by Dianna Annis. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
I really loved this next applique quilt too, by Elizabeth Hastings. I could have studied it for an hour!
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| Not Your Mother's Roseville Vases: Different Times, Different Sensibilities by Elizabeth Hastings, Georgetown MA. Hand appliqued and machine quilted. Pattern source: Kim McLean's Roseville Vases. Quilted by Julie Crossland. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
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| Detail from: Not Your Mother's Roseville Vases: Different Times, Different Sensibilities by Elizabeth Hastings, Georgetown MA. Hand appliqued and machine quilted. Pattern source: Kim McLean's Roseville Vases. Quilted by Julie Crossland. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
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| Detail from: Not Your Mother's Roseville Vases: Different Times, Different Sensibilities by Elizabeth Hastings, Georgetown MA. Hand appliqued and machine quilted. Pattern source: Kim McLean's Roseville Vases. Quilted by Julie Crossland. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
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| Detail from: Not Your Mother's Roseville Vases: Different Times, Different Sensibilities by Elizabeth Hastings, Georgetown MA. Hand appliqued and machine quilted. Pattern source: Kim McLean's Roseville Vases. Quilted by Julie Crossland. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
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And this one, from the Amoskeag Quilt Guild in Manchester, NH.
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| Kaffe Fassett Flower Pot Fun, Amoskeag Quilt Guild, Manchester NH, machine pieced; hand appliqued and quilted. Made by Donna McDowell. Pattern source: Kim McLean. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
Beautiful hand quilting, too:
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| Detail from: Kaffe Fassett Flower Pot Fun, Amoskeag Quilt Guild, Manchester NH, machine pieced; hand appliqued and quilted. Made by Donna McDowell. Pattern source: Kim McLean. Photo taken at Lowell Quilt Festival IMAGES 2012. |
Then.... back to the car for a little picnic dinner.... and then to a really fun slide show lecture - "Beyond the Binding" - by Fons and Fons, the very dynamic mother-daughter team behind Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, and Quilty.
Their slide show featured quilts by ordinary women who made extraordinary quilts in terms of:
engineering - Wow, without modern tools that we use today, quiltmakers designed and constructed amazing, complex quilts. Fun, fun math!
risk - Ordinary women took tremendous risks with their quilting. We saw some very "modern" looking quilts coming out of the 1800's.
personality - The elementary school teacher in me kept thinking about "Voice" from the Six Traits of Writing. These quilts had "voice" in spades. Even when the maker is unknown, the best quilts show personality. I think the takeaway here for me was... make quilts I love... without worrying about whether they "fit in" what's popular these days.
Afterwards, Marianne and Mary Fons graciously signed copies of their magazines. I had Mary sign mine to Grandma Mary Lou. Erin donated hers to Grandma too:). They will be fun to read on the plane on Saturday, on my way to Denver. The morning after we return to Mass, my son and I return to Japan!
