Eye Candy at IQF Long Beach

Many quilters enjoy visiting quilt shows and enjoying the "Eye Candy".  It might be the beautiful quilts, even a particular style of quilting, the colors, the fun items that the Vendors have on display, or even seeing some special bag or clothing item that an attendee has made.  What is your favorite Quilter's Eye Candy when you attend a quilt show?

The IQF Long Beach Quilt Show has plenty of eye candy for all types of quilters.  Today, I'm delighted to share some quilts that caught my eye at the 2012 Long Beach Show.  They are beautiful quilts, but if you take time to look closely, you'll see some spectacular free-motion quilting.  Definitely yummy eye candy!

Judy Coates Perez created "Black and Bloom All Over".  Insights shared by Judy:

Techniques:  Wholecloth, painted, hand carved stamped, stenciled with Shiva paint stiks, printed tea bags adhered with gel medium, free-motion quilted.

The year following the end of my marriage had some dark and difficult times (represented by black thorny weeds) but also in the space between there was growth blossoming, renewal, light and life.

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“Butterfly’s Delight”, by Sally Licocci was part of the Hoffman Challenge Exhibit.  She shared the following insights about this quilt:

Original Design

My garden always inspires me.  I took a photo of a butterfly when it landed on a purple cone flower.  This is my adaptation of that photo with the challenge fabric.  I like to use fusible applique’ and enjoy free motion quilting on my home machine.

“enignma, eh!” by Thelma Robbins, quilted by Grace Whiting (Ottawa, Ontario Canada).  They shared the following insights about this quilt:

Techniques:  Paper pieced, foundation pieced, trapuntoed, longarm quilted.

Design Source:  Computer fractal images, maple leaves.

The design goal was to marry curves and colour.  The contoured shape and colour flow reflect the life cycle of a maple leaf.  The center section uses subtle variations in meridian thickness, spacing and quilting background to create the illusion of a sphere frame surrounding the leaf.

 “Feathers”, by Robyn Fahy (Drumquin, Northern Ireland).  She shared the following insights about this quilt:

Techniques:  Machine pieced, longarm machine quilted

Design Source:  A bolt of beautiful cotton silk and a collection of red fabrics.

This quilt was designed on my computer, using traditional blocks.  Three different blocks were used, including the Ohion Star.  The fabric in the background is a cotton silk, used with the many reds to create a quilt with a very traditional look.  Quilting continues this traditional theme, with feathers being the main design used.

“Happiness is the Journey”, by 2007 Elly Sienkiewicz Applique’ Academy and others; machine quilted by Susan Mallett with Sue Nickels.  The following insights were shared about this quilt:

For a complete list of the needleartists, please see “Beloved Baltimore Album Quilts by Elly Sienkiewicz (2010).

 “Hollyhocks” by Joann Hoffman and Shirley Hobbs (Hill City, South Dakota).  The following insights were shared about this quilt:

Techniques:  Hand-painted, freehand and computer guided longarm quilted.

Design Source:  Designed by JoAnn Hoffman and Shirley Hobbs,

First Place, Merit Quilting Computer Guided

I have always loved the children’s magazine Highlights, where they have objects in the picture and you try to find them.  I have done that in this quilt.  See how many you can find—frog, grasshopper, gecko, etc.

“Magical Mauve” by Mariya Waters (Doncaster, Melbourne, Victoria Australia).  The following insights were shared about this quilt:

Available for Purchase

Techniques:  Machine appliquéd, machine trapuntoed, machine quilted, hand couched.

Design Source:  Inspired by ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman art.

Second Place, Innovative Applique’

The magical element has been the development of the same mauve fabric, used in the center of each fan shape, into different shades of purple.  I have used classical fan shapes from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman art.  The gold outlining thread has been couched.

International Quilt Association 2011 Raffle Quilt “A Touch of Texas”, by Sharon Schamber and Janet Sturdevant Stuart.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of quilt quilts that were on exhibit at the 2011 IQF Long Beach show.  And, that you also enjoyed how beautiful free-motion quilting makes for spectacular eye candy on a quilt.

I also hope you have a chance to attend the 2012 IQF Long beach Show and take time to admire the beautiful quilts, as well as take time to look at the detail of design and range of detail in the amazing workmanship of the quilts on exhibit.   This is an amazing show, held near the waterfront in Long Beach, Ca. and those lucky enough to be able to attend, will certainly see some amazing eye candy for quilters!  

International Quilt Festival/Long Beach

July 27-29, 2011

Long Beach, California

Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center

While several classes are sold out, there are still quite a few classes that have openings.  As pre-registration has closed, you can sign up for a class and/or presentation in the lobby.

You may want to reada recent post about this show, as I shared information on classes and local hotels.