Here we have a selection of the more modern quilts from Quilt 2017 put on by the San Francisco Quilter’s Guild. Many of the quilts are from the Bee Modern group within the guild, an active modern quilting group. This is part 1 of 3, enjoy!
Here we have a selection of the more modern quilts from Quilt 2017 put on by the San Francisco Quilter’s Guild. Many of the quilts are from the Bee Modern group within the guild, an active modern quilting group. This is part 1 of 3, enjoy!
Darci Alexis has been active in the East Bay Modern Quilters, teaches, and is a new (and amazing) long arm quilter. A graphic designer and art director by trade, she sews, she pieces and she quilts. You can also find her on her site Darci Sews.
We all saw Darci take to longarming so easily and are pretty excited to have another modern longarmer in our midst. Though truth be told Darci traverses through modern, traditional and just about ever style seamlessly. We’ll show some extra close-ups of her quilting along with sharing some of her quilts.
Enjoy!
Many of you have probably already seen her beautiful “Feminist Quilt”, which by the way, has a pattern now, here.
The December exhibition at Bay Quilts in Richmond, CA featured “Artwork from Five Years of Creative Expression” by “The 12×12 Challenge” alumnae. Â The premise: 12 Women commit to creating 12 works of art in 12 months each measuring 12’x12″. The 12×12 groups meet monthly at Textile Dream Studio in Berkeley.
Here we have a selection of the pieces in the show (there were a total of 150 works!), followed by a little look-see into Bay Quilts, so scroll down for that!
Enjoy!
For those of you who live anywhere near the San Francisco Bay Area or who travel here, there is a new fabric shop in town! I had heard about Bay Quilts, but didn’t really get it until I visited in person. Their huge selection of solids of so many varieties is a dream for the modern quilter.  Located right off Central Ave from either 80 or 580 in Richmond but on the edge of Albany, this new fabric store has an astounding selection of fabrics with lots of room to move, a gallery wall and Angie Woolman’s long arm services upstairs.
They have every single kona cotton color ($6.50 range/yd) color a variety of shots, peppered cotton, hand-dyed muslin, chambrays and yarn dyes. There is hand-dyed wool, hand-dyed silk-cotton, Azure Blue Textiles, Kasuri Dyeworks, Dyesmith Gradations. There are batiks, Japanese prints from Kokka, Echino, Lecien, Kona Bay and Daiwabo. There are organics from Mona Luna, Cloud 9, Birch and Art Gallery. And then prints from the usual suspects: Alexander Henry, Kaufman, Westminster, Riley Blake, Andover, In The Beginning, Art Gallery, Hoffman, Clothworks, Â etc etc etc.
Here is a partial visual tour–
There is a dedicated gallery space at the new Bay Quilts in Richmond, CA at which I was lucky enough to see Cathy Miranker‘s exhibition Modern/Minimal. A member of the San Francisco Quilters Guild, and Bee Modern (an SFQG sewing circle), Cathy is also an individual member of the Modern Quilt Guild and the Studio Art Quilt Associates.
I’ve run across Cathy Miranker’s quilts in other California shows and they always make it on the blog – they are modern, original, thoughtful and with an attention to detail that doesn’t compromise any improvisation. A wonderful body of work is represented in this show, and I hope to see more shows from modern quilters in this space!
Enjoy!
Several members of the East Bay Modern Quilters have gotten in on the modern letter action using Terri Carpenter‘s I Spy the Alphabet paper piecing pattern to make projects with her ultra modern letters. I did too. So versatile. Take a look!
I Spy The Alphabet bag by Kristen Takakuwa using the I Spy the Alphabet pattern by thequiltedfox.com
I Spy The Alphabet bag by Kristen Takakuwa using the I Spy the Alphabet pattern by thequiltedfox.com
Quilt by Margaret Glendening using I Spy The Alphabet pattern by thequiltedfox.com. This one was using 3/4 sized alphabet pieces.
close-up of I Spy The Alphabet pattern by Terri Carpenter in a banner format sewn by Carol Van Zandt
Today we are spotlighting Pati Fried, a California-based “Modern Traditionalist” quilter, quilt pattern designer, teacher and speaker. The Guest Artist at this year’s Vallejo Piecemakers show Sew Amazing, it was great to see so many of her quilts in one place.
Founder of the “Indie Modern Quilters” group that meets 1st Thursdays at Wooden Gate Quilts, she is also a member of the East Bay Modern Quilters. She and Laura Nownes produce the popular sewing blog Sew How We Sew and she sells her patterns in her Etsy shop, though you may be seeing her at a guild near you with her busy speaking schedule this coming year.
Let’s take a look!
Making Waves, piecing and pattern by Pati Fried, quilting by Kerry Reed, using Tidal Lace fabrics by Kim Andersson
Making Waves, piecing and pattern by Pati Fried, quilting by Kerry Reed, using Tidal Lace fabrics by Kim Andersson
I love this Yardstick Sewing Tote!
Known for her continuos braids, she designed a “Braid Trimmer” ruler that comes with simple instructions on how to make a braid.
Pam Rocco, whose work I have been admiring in numerous California quilt shows, came to Stitch Modern to teach a workshop “Quilting by the Seat of your Pants”. Enjoyed by all.
From Santa Cruz, she is the vice president  of the South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. Besides being a sought after teacher, she has had a monthly column, Words to Quilt By in the Quilter’s Newsletter magazine. Her improv style is easily recognizable with her use of bright, bold and ethnic fabrics.
Pam has been quilting for more than 40 years and received her formative training when she was in Appalachia with the Teacher Corps in 1969 and met women who inspired her to learn how to quilt.
Pam’s quilts have been heavily influenced by other cultures and she feels that her best work is often ad libbed – made up on the spur of the moment using whatever is at hand. She sees quilting as a salvage art, incorporating both new and used materials to play with form and color. In her world, almost anything can be incorporated into a quilt once you learn how to see design possibilities everywhere you look.
Take a look at her work!
Pam Rocco with Darci Read at her workshop “Quilting by the Seat of Your Pants” at the 2016 Stitch Modern Exhibition at The Piedmont Center for the Arts
Tinnie Dell’s Window by Pam Rocco, quilted by Linda Barbin, inspired by a photo on p. 12 of Gee Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt
Here is have the second half of the quilts from the 5th annual Stitch Modern show put on by the East Bay Modern Quilters. Though my photos leave something to be desired, The Piedmont Center for the Arts is a beautiful place to see the quilts in person.
Enjoy!
Microcosm, round robin quilt pieced by Carol Van Zandt, Kim Buteau, Fern Royce, Kristen Hosemann, Terri Carpenter; quilted by Terri Carpenter (thequiltedfox.com)
Finally we have the coverage of the 5th annual Stitch Modern exhibit at the Piedmont Center of the Arts. An uncurated group show by members of the East Bay Modern Quilters, the 4 week long exhibition also had a number of events and special guest speakers and teachers we will be spotlighting after we get through all the quilts.  Here is the first batch.
Enjoy!
Handcrafted Round Robin, pieced by Rita Nguyen, Anna Carloni, Terri Carpenter, Birgit Hottenrott, and Kristen Takakuwa, quilted by Terri Carpenter
Well, in winding up the coverage of the Quiltcon West 2016 exhibitions, here we have some of the award-winning quilts. The charity quilts are all that is left, but I am going to leave that for a bit so we can cover some other exhibitions and spotlight some quilters.
First up after this will be coverage of the fifth annual Stitch Modern put on by the East Bay Modern Quilters.
But enjoy these acclaimed quilts first!
BEST IN SHOW (Sponsored by Northcott): my brother’s jeans by Melissa AverinosÂ
“The denim in this quilt is from my brother Michael’s work jeans, which I rescued from the dumpster after his suicide in 2009. I improvisational pieced the crosses, which resemble a variation on the traditional nine patch. The pale ground includes subtle gold and white crosses. Grid quilting creates echoes of the cross motif, as well as references my brother’s work as a tile installer. Â I tucked vintage gold ribbon behind some of the tears in the denim. This quilt was a joy to work on, as I love worn materials and find beauty in forgotten and discarded things.”
FREESPIRIT QUILTING EXCELLENCE, sponsored by Free Spirit
The Other Side by Carson Converse
“I was thinking  lot about why we work so hard to get “somewhere” while making this quilt.  Life can feel like an uphill battle, yet we don’t always pause to think about what is on the other side. Is it worth the climb? I must have been optimistic at the time because a steep climb leads to a gentle slope with increased visual interest and hand-painted fabric. The children’s song “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” was stuck in my head for weeks as I worked on this quilt.”
BEST MACHINE QUILTING, frameless, needle moves,
sponsored by APQS-American Professional Quilting Systems
No Value Does Not Equal Free by Molli Sparkles, quilted by Jane Davidson with design direction by Molli Sparkles
Design Source: “The scrappy, Trip Around the World quilt block tutorial comes from Bonnie Hunter at http://www.quiltville.com. The intellectual concept is of my own design.”
“I specifically made this scrappy Trip Around the World quilt to track the entire cost of making a quilt in Australia. When I published my findings at MolliSparkles.com suggesting $2252.40 USD, it set the blogosphere on fire. The corresponding posts have generated nearly 50,000 page views, and are often widely linked when discussing the cost of quilting. Â The quilt has become one of my favorites because of how it has changed my blog readership, has made me think about the intellectual responsibility of quilting, and has given others a foundation to find and value their self-worth.”
BEST MACHINE QUILTING, frameless, needle stationary
Sponsored by Baby Lock
ABQMQG by Renee Hoffman
Quilted by Renee Hoffman, Pieced by Lois Warwick, Logo designed by Bob Lowe, appliqué by Sally Williams and Laurie Moodie
“This quilt is based off of the new Albuquerque Modern Quilt Guild logo. Â The quilting is inspired by things associated with Albuquerque, New Mexico: abundant sunshine, the international Balloon Fiesta, the Sandia mountains, the Sandia Peak Tramway (it is the longest tramway in North America and has the third largest span in the world). Hidden in the quilting are 10 tiny snails, see if you can find them all!
This may look familiar! This was the QuiltCon West 2016 Giveaway quilt, and was used in many of the promotional materials for QuiltCon West 2016.
Eidos, designed by Agatha June of Austin, Texas, pieced by Elizabeth Dackson of Tampa, Florida, quilted by Gina Pina of Austin, Texas. The pattern is available HERE.