Jane Davidson | The Plaid Portico

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 Averinos

“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. 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.”

my brother’s jeans by Melissa Averinos

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.”

The Other Side by Carson Converse

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. 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.”

No Value Does Not equal Free by Molli Sparkles, quilted by Jane Davidson

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. 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!

ABQMQG by Renee Hoffman, Lois Warwick, Bob Lowe, Sally Williams, Laurie Moodie

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.

Eidos, designed by Agatha June of Austin, Texas, Pieced by Elizabeth Dackson of Tampa, Florida, quilted by Gina Pina of Austin, Texas.

Here is the second installment of the Modern Traditionalism category of QuiltCon 2016 exhibition. Next up after this is the Negative Space category. Enjoy!