Here is a video of the Awards Ceremony in Paducah showing the first, second and third place in every category. What a wealth of the most beautiful quilts – for you and me to watch whenever we want to. Enjoy!
Category Archives: Quiltshow
Finally! A Quilt Show!
I was at a small quilt show yesterday. After the long Covid pause it was great to get in contact with other quilters again and to look at quilts and fabric.
Here are some of the quilts shown:
“Begegnungen” (“Encounters”) by Roswitha Schmit – a striking modern quilt.
“Und jeden Tag geht die Sonne auf” (“And each day the sun rises”) by Zuzana Cider.
This was a full size quilt but imagine that one as a baby quilt – it would be perfect.
“On such a Winter’s Day” by Roswitha Schmit.
Snow is not a common thing around here so when it fell Roswitha grabbed her camera and went for a walk. The pictures were printed on fabric and sewn into a quilt. Buttons, sequins and strips of organza add the shimmer and glitter of snow. A beautiful quilt!
Elisabeth Zechmeister did this 365blocks-quilt.
For a whole year she got a quilt block pattern each day but sewing them took her almost 4 years. What an effort – but well worth it.
Another eye-catching quilt by Roswitha Schmit.
“Let the Sunshine in” by Zuzana Cider.
Little fabric squares sewn into strips make a great impression. The colors of the fabric correspond perfectly with the fall colors outside.
And last but not least this is “Fireworks” by Roswitha Schmit.
She is a master in foundation piecing and this was one of a few mandalas exhibited, each one more stunning than the other.
All in all a small show but well worth the visit. Thank you to the Flic-Flac-Quilters for their efforts!
Winners of the Festival of Quilts
Last weekend was the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, Great Britain. A show I was attending for the last 12 years – each year very much looking forward to this event. This year I wasn’t able to attend. Thank you Covid (frantically waving my sarcasm sign).
But – at least – there is a video of the Awards Ceremony where you can marvel at all the third, second and first place winners. A big thank you to the organizers for this. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.
I would so have loved to see the quilts in person. But I’m really counting on next year – see you there!
Winners at Quilt National 2021
Grab a cup of coffee and have a look at this year’s winners at the presigious Quilt National 2021. Beautiful pieces of art and you even can be part when the happy news are brought to the artist.
And here’s a video by ‘Best of Show’ winner Kit Vincent form Canada presenting her piece ‘Fracas’.
The Tentmakers of Cairo
Today I have a really interesting topic for you: the Tentmakers of Cairo.
They do wonderful appliqué work on sturdy canvas which was originally used to decorate the interior of tents in the Middle East. This work is called Khayamiya. It is an original craft and since many generations the skills are passed along from father to son.You can read more about the history of Khayamiya here.
As with quilts this art form was not recognized by collectors and/or museums. The art and the artists were “discovered” by visitors to Egypt. The Australian quilt artist Jenny Bowker brought them into the quilting world where they can be found at major quilt shows for some years now. Jenny Bowker tries to promote their work, not only to show the world what a stunning craft this is but also to support the stitchers as their art is a dieing one in their home country. You can find more about the tentmakers at Jenny’s website.
So if you are lucky you can find the tentmakers’ booth at one of the major quilt shows. If you walk into it there is a firework of colors,
there are some signs that someone is working here (like snippets of fabric on the ground),
and sometimes you even can watch one of the tentmakers working.
The beautiful appliqué pieces are only made by men with fathers teaching their sons. A skilled stitcher works really fast and often without marking the appliqué pieces. And still it takes him one to six months (depending on the size) to finish one of these beautiful pieces.
If you want to know more about this craft and their makers I have some videos for you:
In this video by Bonnie McCaffery the tentmakers not only show their stunning pieces but also describe how they design and how they work.
And in this video Jenny Bowker introduces two tentmakers and their colorful pieces. But the really interesting part is what Jenny has to say about their way of life and work.
Here a tentmaker shows the whole process of making a pattern, transferring it to the canvas and stitching the appliqué. Every traditional quilter (in a certain age I should add) recognizes the whole process. It’s the same way we learned to make patterns and transfer them to the fabric. (This was the time before water soluble pens were on the market.)
And last but not least there is a whole documentary on this ancient craft.
If you get a chance to see one of the tentmakers’ exhibitions don’t miss it. You will see a lot of colors, patterns and beautiful work and you will meet really friendly people.
I’m linking this to Off the Wall Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop and to Brag about your Beauties.