QuiltCon 2013 Recap, Part 2: More Eye Candy from Austin

I’ve enjoyed reading the feedback on Part 1 of my post on QuiltCon 2013. My brain is still on overload from all the inspiration it managed to absorb during my time in Austin last month for the first major quilt show and conference sponsored by the Modern Quilt Guild. Ideas for creative expression in fabric were not just confined to the quilts either.

Look up . . .

Looking up: The stained-glass dome at Austin’s Driskill Hotel

. . . look down:

Looking down: I see some interesting border possiblilties in this marble floor, also at the Driskill

Inspiration was everywhere!

This cool blue building was right across the street from our downtown hotel.

Ah, but the quilts! Here are more of my favorites from QuiltCon 2013..

Broken Cogs, made by Jacquie Gering, machine quilted by Angela Walters (QuiltCon 2013, category: Applique, Large)

Oodalolly, made and machine quilted by Rachel Hauser (QuiltCon 2013, category: Improvisation, Large)

Pointless, made and machine quilted by Laura Bisagna (QuiltCon 2013, category: Applique, Large)

Cool Blue Kona Modern, made and machine quilted by Terry Aske (QuiltCon 2013, category: Improvisation, Small)

Broken Diamonds, made and machine quilted by Kati Spencer, QuiltCon 2013, 2nd Place (category: Use of Negative Space, Large)

This next quilt was inspired by fabric the quiltmaker had used to reupholster an antique chair.

4 Birds, made and machine quilted by Trisch Price (QuiltCon 2013, category: Improvisation, Small)

4 Birds, detail

Some quilters created their own fabric. Kathy York used batik, bleach-discharging, and overdying techniques to create the fabrics for her quilt, Fresh Plus.

Fresh Plus, made, machine quilted, and hand stitched by Kathy York, QuiltCon 2013, Honorable Mention (category: Modern Traditionalism, Small)

Fresh Plus, detail

Colleen Wootten designed her quilt on the computer, had the design printed onto cloth, and then quilted the piece as you would a wholecloth quilt.

2 + 2, made and machine quilted by Colleen Wootton, QuiltCon 2013, 2nd Place (category: Minimalist Design, Large)

Some quilts sent a message. Elizabeth Hartman’s piece offered a friendly invitation.

Touch This Quilt, made and machine quilted by Elizabeth Hartman, QuiltCon 2013, for exhibit only

Touch This Quilt, detail

Some quilts made a statement. In his quilt, In Defense of Handmade, Thomas Knauer imaginatively replicates the UPC code for a mass-produced Martha Stewart quilt sold at Macy’s.

In Defense of Handmade, made by Thomas Knauer, machine quilted by Lisa Sipes (QuiltCon 2013, category: Piecing, Large)

There were group quilts . . .

Off the B. O. W., made and machine quilted by members of the Anchorage Modern Quilt Guild, QuiltCon 2013, 1st Place (category: Group or Bee Quilts)

. . . and challenge quilts. Given my on-going interest in small pieces, collage techniques, and the work of Paul Klee, this entry in the “Modern in Miniature Challenge” really appealed to me.

Ode to Paul Klee, made and machine quilted by Serena Brooks (QuiltCon 2013, category: Modern in Miniature Challenge)

Ode to Paul Klee, detail

After two full days on the show floor viewing quilts, shopping the vendors, sitting in on some of the free hourly demos, PLUS taking in the sights and sounds of vibrant downtown Austin, it’s little surprise that my buddy Mary and I returned stimulated and footsore to our hotel each evening. Happily, our lodgings featured a spacious, relaxing 10th-floor atrium where we could kick back and recap the day’s adventures. But wait! Even there, inspiration beckoned.

The carpet in the atrium of our hotel in Austin. Do I see a quilt?

I think I see a new quilt in my future.

If you’d like to see more of what went on at QuiltCon 2013, you’re in luck.  Craftsy, QuiltCon’s media sponsor, is now offering a series of lectures recorded at the 2013 show, plus the awards ceremony for the QuiltCon 2013 juried modern quilt show FREE on the Craftsy site. Speakers include Heather Jones, Angela Walters, David and Amy Butler,  Jacquie Gering, and Mary Fons. Additional features include an interview with one of the show judges, Rashida Coleman-Hale, and reports from the show floor. Click here for the link to the free lectures and features.

And finally, I’d be very remiss if I neglected to mention that Saturday, March 16, is International Quilt Day! In honor of this special annual celebration,  The Quilt Show is celebrating International Quilt Weekend by offering 120 TQS shows FREE from Friday, March 15, through Sunday, March 17. Included you’ll find Episode 710: Conquering the Y-Seam Tumble with our own Laura Nownes, and Episode 805: Feedsacks, Fun, and Old Friends: Quilts of the 1930s, featuring me and my friend and co-author Chris Porter. That’s not all: there will be prizes galore, including the Grand Prize of a Bernina 550 QE!

Whew! That’s it. (And that’s a lot!) ‘Til next time, happy stitching!

#QuiltCon2013 #freeoffers #TheQuiltShow #ModernQuiltGuild #Craftsy #ModernQuilting