quiltcon 2013 austin photo dump

i just spent 5 days in austin, texas attending quiltcon, the modern quilt guild's inaugural convention.  it was pretty epic.​  big props to the MQG for pulling off a kick ass, world class event in a damn fine city.

some favorite sights & quilts & finds are featured in my photo dump above.

a note on the photo with me and jay mc carroll: meeting him/taking a class taught by him (kitchen sink patchwork skirt) was a majorly big thing for me...i've been a fan since he was a contestant/winner of the very first project runway in 2005.  i was just happy to have had the chance just to be in his aura for the day.  :)  a sure highlight of my mostly mundane existence.  :)

​on the "fuck you cancer" and "fuck" bee quilts...go here for more explanation (particularly on the latter).  i snapped a photo of the cancer one for my mom.  she was diagnosed with breast cancer in december and is going through chemo right now.  DAMN RIGHT, CANCER SUCKS.  

as for the "fuck" bee quilt...i am not much of a bee person (to date, anyway) but i would have totally done something like that had i been aware of it at the time.  i love that it's provocative.  quilting isn't always what you think it is, and it shouldn't be.  not everything is "pretty".  big props to the MQG for putting it in the show with no apologies/warnings/shame.  it really says a lot about the general philosophy/ethos of the movement right from the outset.  make of that what you will, and move on accordingly.

anyhow, i am positive that other people could cover and recap the event more eloquently than i ever could...and i'm fairly certain no one's reading anyway.  if you were there, you know.  :)

woot, i'm in quilty!

the photo above is the only really decent shot of a 72" x 72" log cabin memory quilt i made last year for my MIL, diane royal, using shirts that belonged to peter royal, sr., my deceased FIL (he died in 2011 of lymphoma).  i tried and tried to get a photo of it before i gave it to my MIL but for whatever reason (there were several) it never worked out.

mary fons was visiting our guild (the chicago modern quilt guild) this past summer; she asked me if she could take a picture of my quilt after i presented it during our guild's show and tell.  of course i said yes!  i didn't expect to make it into the magazine but i am delighted that it did; it allows me to have a record of my work!

the shirts were all fishing themed, as pete sr. was an avid kayak and surf fisherman.  along with the shirts, i also tossed in a hearty helping of other print and solid fabrics, too, mostly in neutral tones & cotton and linen in content. the finished quilt kind of has a beachy feel, which i think is apropos considering his sport.

the back was pretty modern and killer, actually, it had a group of improv cross blocks in the center of what was basically another giant log cabin. binding was made of leftover bits of the shirts. and it was allover quilted with straight vertical lines, spaced about 1/2" apart.  one of these days when i am down visiting peter's family in jacksonville i'll manage to get a shot of the back of the quilt for posterity's sake.

january's works in progress

xmas has come and is long gone.  it's back to the grindstone time.  hello 2013.

seen here are some works in progress, proof that i am not dead (yet!) but merely just plugging away at various quilt projects like it's my damn job or something.  too bad i can't get paid to make quilts.  :P

top photo is the first block from the blonde redhead quilt that was in quilty magazine's free downloadable preview issue and first official issue (summer 2012) last year.  i'm doing it pretty much like it was shown in the magazine, with the same colorway, because i am really grooving on the red/white/blue/yellow.  i am not usually one for doing a project just like it's shown but hey, exceptions happen sometimes.  :)  i've made about 40+ of these blocks this month; just have to make a few more and it's time to put the top together.

bottom pic is stitch and flip triangles using vintage sheet scraps.  i made a pile of them during a workshop helmed by my friend jacquie back in august 2012.  i was putzing around my sewing studio trying to come up with some ideas to make quilts for our guild's next service project (project night night), and unearthed them.  i think i'll make another small pile and donate the finished quilt to the cause.