International Quilt Festival/Chicago 2008

Well, almost a month ago I went to the International Quilt Festival/Chicago that was held at the convention center in Rosemont, IL. This was my second year except I didn't take any classes this year. Instead, I went one day with my friend Susie and one day with my daughter (who loved the shopping part the best - see picture) and I still didn't get around to seeing everything. There were many, many quilts that were just beyond superb. Quilting just keeps getting better and better. I can't even imagine getting close to the level of many of the artists out there today.


There were just too many pieces at the show to even begin to give details of even just some of the works I admired. I love collecting pictures of techniques I would like to try. Here are some of those details:

This first picture is a close up from one of the Journal Quilts 2007 - Journal Quilt Project. These were small quilts that meant to be pages of a journal. This one is titled Forgotten Flowers by Francis Holliday Alford. I love all the dimension in this and the wonderful use of beads.

This detail is from a large quilt by Carol Taylor called Tiptoe Through the Tulips. The base is squares and rectangles and then it's embellished with multiple threads and stitching. I love the swirls.

Here is just a small portion of a very large quilt with a technique of string piecing. It is called Prairie Dawn by Ann Brauer. This gives me an idea of how to use up the loads of fabric I inherited from my mom.


Now, unfortunately, I cannot find my notes on this next quilt but this detail photo is a very small area of the piece. I was amazed at the wave of buttons - all stars - that spread out through the middle of this quilt. Can you imagine sewing on each of the hundreds of buttons?



Here is an example of another technique that I would love to try - bleach discharging. This quilt named Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire! by Cynthia St. Charles shows the technique, I think, at its best. I also like the beads that have been added to enhance the starburst design.


This is a huge dahlia design and I've lost my notes on this one as well. It was just an amazing piece of an even more amazing quilt. If anyone knows who did this I would love to know. If I'm lucky I will be able to come across this one again and fully credit it. This also is one piece I cannot really tell what the technique was but it seems so geometrically perfect I just love its power.



I'm showing this detail of Open Up! Your Dream Flower by Harumi Asada from Japan. I love paisley patterns as well as the colors of this piece. I couldn't find a site for Harumi but I did find this picture of a quilt using a similar paisley.



The next two pictures are more traditional patterns but are a couple of my favorites. This is a feathered star which was the center part of the quilt Autumn Sky by Gretchen Neal Jackson. This shows 3 feathered stars inside of each other. I have done a feathered star but have not completed it in a quilt yet.



Mariner's compass is another one of my favorites. You might have noticed that a lot of the pieces I have shown has curves in it somewhere . I also like angles which explains the feathered star but the compass pattern has both elements. I really like the triangles (reminds me of distorted flying geese) that circle this compass. The full quilt is called Follow Me by Margaret Curley.

I hope you enjoy these little details from just a few of the pieces I admired and I hope they inspire you to try a new technique.

Flea Market Fun

Last month the Chicago Craft Collective went on a little field trip to the Kane County Flea Market and I couldn't go. Luckily, this month I was there. I took along my hubby and my 6 year old. When I almost decided not to go my daughter begged and begged. So, since I didn't really need much encouragement I said "ok". And, although we warned her there would be lots of walking involved she still was excited until we actually got there. Then it was all about the feet hurting after just getting through one booth until we found Barbie dolls, new in the box for only $5. She picked out a cool cheerleader representing Texas. Later she found a used but good condition Cinderella Barbie for another mere $2 then 2 rings for $1. She definitely made out especially when we found swimsuits for $5 and I even got one. They were brand new with tags still on. The vendor says they got them in a lot at an auction from an out of business water park.

Okay, now we had lots of good bargains but not exactly what I intended to be on the lookout for at the flea market. Then I found a pile of old banners of mostly vacation destinations. In the pile I got this Kentucky - Birthplace of Lincoln which is going to go great for a scrapbook section using photos from a trip to the actual birthplace of Lincoln in Hodgenville, KY. I also picked up one for Brown County Indiana which I also have photos from a visit. It is a great place to view fall foliage by the way and not quite as expensive as New England.

Then I found my last purchases of the day. A 2 yard piece of this sweet vintage fabric and a handkerchief in great shape. It was a great day and I could have spent a lot more money without trying too hard.