Quilt Show - Part 1

Last week there was a quilt show in town. Here in Utah, we only have one big one per year, and it’s always in May. It’s called the Utah Sewing and Quilt Marketplace. A couple years ago Cousin Kim and I went to check out the quilts and listen to the keynote speaker, Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Company. We had our picture taken with her too (although I didn’t publish the picture). This year Jenny Doan was in town again, but she was down in Utah County (Lehi) at some other shindig.

Anyway, Kim and I needed a Girls Day Out, and this was just the ticket. We spent about 3 hours there walking and walking (and yet my Fitbit was not impressed. Fitbit should give you bonus steps when the floor is concrete, don’t you think?) But I digress....

So this post is Part One (of Two) of some of the quilts I snapped. And it really brings home the point that I need a new phone/camera SOON. Yeah, the operator could probably use some lessons, too.

This triptych really caught my eye - and apparently lots of others’ too, for there were lots of people milling around it. It was called “Fountain Green, 1906”.  Fountain Green is a small town in Utah, and the quilt information included a picture from that date.

Here is the three-part, 3-D quilt.

Hopefully you can see from the (blurry, sorry) detail shot below that the picket fence opened and closed and the quilts were handmade. The kite string and tail were 3-D too. It’s called stump work, and in needlework refers to work done off the piece and then added. Those tiny quilt blocks on the quilts were varying sizes, just like the eye would see them if they were actually blowing in the breeze. 

As usual for a quilt show, there were lots of sponsored exhibition themes. One that I really enjoyed were the mini-quilts (wall hangings) that were inspired by U.S. National Parks. There were three categories - Flora, Fauna and Landscapes. Here are my favorites (with information tags for each):

Landscape:

Flora:

Fauna:

The sea foam around the whale was tulle and organza.

And then there was the quilt awarded Best of Show. When I took the picture of the information card and ribbon, it was before it was awarded Viewer’s Choice as well. I hope you can click on the picture and read the information. The quilt contained over 15,000 pieces and was four years in the making.

Here is a two picture detail collage:

Not overly impressed?  Well, those are just pictures OF THE BACK!!!

Shall we look at the front?

There are no words to describe this quilt (except crazy maybe?) Definitely someone’s lifetime masterpiece.

Moving along, I LOVED this quilt:

On a final note, Kim and I wore our good walking shoes and dressed comfortably (jeans). I also had on a Missouri Star Quilting Company t-shirt that I picked up there a couple years ago. Well, it was surprising (to me, anyway) how many times I was stopped by people asking me if I worked there. No, I don’t, but I’ve been there; they sell these t-shirts there.  The kicker was a vendor who stopped me and said “We have one of your quilts hanging in our booth!”  I was puzzled and said that she must have me confused with someone else. Then she pointed to my t-shirt and a quilt that was made from one of MSQC tutorials. (really?) Anyway, we got a chuckle out of that after I explained it to her. I’m just really glad I didn’t wear my old Grateful Dead t-shirt.

In the next post, I’ll try to finish up the rest of my favorites from the show and show you some of the goodies I bought.

But I’ll leave you with one last quilt picture. Look familiar? This was hanging in the Handi-Quilter display area where the concession vendors and dining tables and  chairs were. There was no attribution; I believe it was just to show off their machines’ abilities. Anyway, we know this is the free Geese Migration pattern by our dear Cynthia Brunz of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.