A Few Pics From the Quilt Show

Here's a few pics from the NCW Quilt and Fiber Arts Festival. As always, I tend to go up and down aisles, taking in every single quilt. From there I kind of wander around to get that second long look at all my favorites. There were many, very nice looking quilts, even some in the Blackbird Design style that so thrilled me 5-8 years ago, and of course lots and lots of machine quilting efforts.

Made by the guest quilter, probably her darkest quilt there

Honestly I have very mixed feelings about this show. Very fun to walk in knowing a few quilts were my own. I was a bit incredulous actually, as this was one of those shows I attended way back when and sort of cowered from awe and intimidation. 'I'll never be able to quilt like this!' and yet, here I was, funnily enough, with a pickle dish quilt {of all complicated patterns to choose from} hanging in the very same show year later! Who would have ever thunk it?

A fun looking quilt

There is {still} so very, very much to learn about fabric, color and design. I know and relish that thought and want to continue to push to learn and grow! The quilt above had a very enjoyable color and fabric usage. It was so nicely done! Very eye-catching and yes, playful, viewed from across the room. While not especially a lover of foxes, I do much appreciate whimsy in quilting.

So yeah, it's a great feeling, being part of this particular show that scared the socks off of me and made me positively yearn to learn how to be a better quilter. And yet, I don't feel like my quilts really 'belong' here. Maybe at the Buggy Barn quilt show if it was still a happening thing! Not that I was treated badly. Don't think that. In fact, the few guild members I talked to were very friendly and welcoming. But my quilts? They looked a little out of place to me--the odd ones out. I felt sorry for how drab they looked in comparison. Sort of soft, naive and hillbilly instead of bright, shiny and modern like the strawberry quilt pictured below. Honestly, my quilts would have probably looked better at a flea mart, a thought that just makes me laugh!

So ironic since that soft, cozy, almost vintage look is the self same style I've been working toward for like, years? What am I whining about? But no, the whole point of putting them in this show was so I could clearly see my efforts hanging up there on the wall, mixed in with all different styles. Be able to look at them from a distance and maybe understand a little more about my own quilting voice and style. Am I able to convey the things that I want my quilts to represent? Maybe yes, maybe no. It's still an ongoing work in progress.

My quilts fit in just fine with this style of quilt!

One of my favorite quotes is 'Comparison is the thief of joy'. It's one I think about a lot because we are somewhat conditioned to be herd-like, from grade school clear through to adults, learning to garner the easy approval as children and then following along with marketing and trends in later years. I've never been especially afraid of being different {growing up in very large family well prepared me for always being different}, but I do understand the caution of picking and choosing the environment in which we deliberately choose to 'stand out'. If there wasn't the occasional prim., cottage style applique or vintage quilt in this particular show, I'd probably never enter another quilt here. No reason to deliberately poke myself in the eye!

The colors in this quilt make me happy!

I really appreciated this particular interpretation of an antique quilt. So inspiring! It was positively cheerful and happy looking in these colors, and the Liberty prints{used in the blocks} have a vintage-look connection that I adore. Trying for an interpretation of a vintage or antique quilt is something I need to remember to do on occasion as it seems to ground me a little and wake me up to the value of personal choice.

And as always, I'm intrigued by piecing play with stripes. Wouldn't this look fabulous in recycled shirtings? I would have been drooling instead of merely admiring it and yes, it was very well done in beautiful fabrics. It's so interesting how our tastes change throughout the years and where our new interests are leading us to! I know a lot of us can thank Kaja for continually showcasing the interesting effects of using upcycled fabrics!

The butterfly sample quilt was a very fun, interesting example of playing with sampler blocks, something I've always enjoyed.  Any young woman would probably love having this quilt! I considered what it would look like pieced in a more improv. style. How hard would it be to end up with a definite butterfly shape and would that ruin the feel of the quilt or would it make it even more interesting looking. Sort of a wild butterfly?

That's probably the main thing that caught me off guard this year. I spent more time wondering what a quilt would look like if it was done a little differently, in color, piecing or fabric choice. Isn't it great to be a quilter in today's world of abundance and access to inspiration? I'll try and post my quilt pics in the next post, though you've already seen them here on the blog before!