You’d think that in the 20 years since brothers David and Peter Mancuso started the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California, I might have made the trek north from my L.A.-area home to worship the quilts.
Nope. Never did. Until last week, when I talked myself into a round of Shameless Promo-Hoing (we’re trademarking this term, BTW) and brought hundreds of GenQ postcards to the show to hand out and talk about our greatness. Well, maybe not my greatness specifically, but certainly Megan, Melissa and Cabana Boy’s greatness.
Anyways, I packed my bags and headed up Interstate 5 for the gorgeous green of the Bay Area, getting there late Wednesday night and crashing with a good friend who lives about 40 miles north of the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Thursday morning I dressed in comfy clothes and stuffed my orange/teal/gray quilted tote bag (a gift from Shortbread Sam which received tons and tons of awe and admiration from showgoers) with the Quilt Show Necessities: wallet, lipstick, hairbrush, notepads, pens, fabrics I’m trying to match, granola bar, water, and business cards. Then I grab my weapons of choice for this safari, the Bat Phone (my iPhone with a Mophie Juice Pack to keep it plenty charged throughout the day and night) and my Canon digital SLR with zoom.
Arriving at the Convention Center about an hour after I hit the road (doesn’t matter if it’s northern or southern, traffic sucks in California), I left real life behind and walked through the doors into Quilt Nirvana. Home at last, I thought.
Because I’ve got the pics to show what I saw, I’ll just hit a few highlights. There were tons of vendors. Tons. And many who never make it down to my area, so I was well entertained even though my buying capacity is greatly diminished these days. I saw a lot of brights, a good supply of wool and primitives and a drool-making assortment of hand dyed fabrics.
There were many happy visitors crammed in the aisles and more than a few I knew from So Cal, but I didn’t see many younger patrons and there were almost no modern-style quilts hanging in the vendor booths, which left me with a slightly empty feel in my tummy.
Cherrywood Fabrics
Spots of hope were found in a few booths. Cherrywood Fabrics offered my happy surprise of the day with their beautifully rendered yellow and gray modern quilt hanging front and center over their luscious fabrics. If you haven’t seen Cherrywood Fabrics, click here. They offer hand dyed solid fabrics that have a sueded look to them and Linda, the owner, said they were working a color line geared for modern quilters. Yep, I left with some of their pretties.
I pounced on a Kate Spain Terrain jellyroll—the only one I could find at Festival—faster than a starved rat on cheese. Picked up a few patterns from one of my friends, Cindy of Cindy’s Fabric Shack.
Then I offered my services to my home shop, Cotton & Chocolate Quilt Co. I’ve been teaching for Marilyn and Jerry for years and they came with a lean team to PIQF. Marilyn makes English Paper Pieced hexagons and demos them for the masses at shows. You wouldn’t believe just how many people lurk around her handwork as she put out tons of hexies. But, she needed a break and I was happy to lend my clumsy fingers to the cause.
Beyond the Reef is another home shop for me, even though Natalie only sells at shows. It’s here that I get my dose of girl-fun. Kenna, Natalie’s right hand gal, is infamous for carrying her heavy shears in her back pocket. Every time I see her, I get a butt flash of blade and I cringe at the thought of what will happen when she one day forgets that she’s got them packed behind her?
Marilyn from Cotton & Chocolate
So many other vendors who I considered friends were there and in time there really was no difference between hugging them in Santa Clara, or in Long Beach, or in Houston. It’s all great.
About the quilts: There seemed to be a lot of international entrants, which makes sense because that was one of the categories. I’m definitely seeing a shift in styles with the English and Aussie quilters. Their work is becoming more artistic, but simple. Not a lot of fussy embellishments, but instead there’s a lot of good workmanship and creative approaches to the designs. The quilts seeming to have the most ribbons were massive pictorial quilts with lots of bling and applique. The Best of Show winner, which I did not get a picture of because the crowds were four bodies deep in front of it, was a huge, traditional machine quilted affair covered completely with hot-fix crystals. The quilting was of the highest quality. It was stunning.
Cotton & Chocolate's booth
The few modern quilts I spied were usually part of the special exhibits. But their absence is no reason to avoid a show. I like to think that every quilt, even if it doesn’t reach our tastes, has something to offer either in technique, execution or even revulsion. There’s so much to learn from our favorite pastime and we’re lucky to have access to so much quilt mojo.
Next stop for GenQ is International Quilt Market in Houston, starting next Friday. Melissa and I will be there, looking at trends, drooling over fabrics, trying out new tools and scouting for design talent. This is where we really rise and talk about what we’re doing with GenQ. If any of you are planning to be there, let us know. We’d love to meet up with you if at all possible, though I will admit that this might finally be the year when I wear Wheelies to Market to cram more in. Lastly, I’m offering my fave quilts for you all to agree with or wonder what I was drinking at Festival. Please, please forgive some of the slightly fuzzy images. I was having flash issues.
Jake’s Quilt Votes:
Best W.T.F. Quilt
Jack
by Sandy Curran
Newport News, VA
Sandy said this quilt was made because she wanted to do a study of eyes and who’s better than Jack Nicholson’s? It’s so well done that I liked looking at it, but I also spent a lot of time shaking my head and saying, “Why would you want to look at this face on your wall? Why?” Machine appliqued-raw edge and machine quilted.
Best Use of Color
Orange Rhyme
Ellen Wong
Oakland, CA
This improvisational quilt is fun and modern and I love the way she’s worked the colors across the surface. It has a very masculine feel to it, but still manages to be soft. Machine pieced and quilted.
Most Amazing Transition from Photo to Quilt
Sierra Tiger Lily
Kimberly Buzolich
Yuba City, CA
The photo was taken at the Donner Summit and the image was transferred onto fabric. Then Kimberly quilted the heck out of it, and it’s her quilting (by machine) that really stands out, highlighting the image where needed with texture and depth. Machine pieced and quilted.
Best Optical Illusion
Green Stag
Daniel Rouse
Oakland, CA
All the label tells us is that this piece was improvisational pieced, using a stencil and reverse applique to create the stag. When you look at it, you don’t quite make out the stag at first glance. And then it hits you. And it’s powerful in its subtlety. Truly beautiful and clever. Machine pieced, appliqued and quilted.
Best Moment of Delight
The Island of Romance
Louise Allyn Beckman
Vancouver, WA
Louise adapted this design from a mural painted by her father-in-law, John Gabriel Beckman, in the California Casino on Avalon (Catalina Island). It’s beautiful colors and stylized monkeys made me almost clap my hands with delight. It’s hand appliqued and machine quilted. And it earned Judge’s Choice ribbon.
Shameless Favorite
The Squirrels Speech
Barbara Barrack McKie
Lyme, CT
I LOVE Barbara’s work! Always have and always will. She takes images from the animal world, transfers them to fabric and then quilts them and they are truly works of art. What I love about this is the humor and diligence you feel just looking at this garden creature. I feel like I’m looking out of my own window when I look at this quilt. Machine pieced, machine quilted.
Best Wall Flower
Seeing the World in Black & White #8
Connie C. Heller
Berkeley, CA
I almost missed this beauty. It was hanging on a black curtained backdrop and as it happens to be black it faded right in. But when I took a moment to really see it, I fell in love. It’s a wonderful interpretation of the U.S. flag. Primitive but still modern. And I love the quilting around the stars. Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted.
Jake’s Best of Show
Travels
Marlene King
Australia
It bowled me over! The concept of working her travel pictures into a giant filmstrip to make this quilt was genius and the detail found in each image incredible. Painted, appliqued, pieced, machine quilted, it deservedly won Viewers Choice and a Second Place ribbon. I didn’t want to leave it, there was so much to see here.
To see some more detailed shots of these quilts as well as the artists’ statements, check out our Flickr set here.
COMMENT #1
The squirrel quilt made me chuckle. Love it! I’m with you on Jack Nicholson. The stag quilt is cool. And I really, really liked that improv piece!
Cheer up buttercup, modern quilting will soon be the star of the shows…
COMMENT #2
I do understand your love of modern quilts, but you sound like an elitist. Some older quilters criticize modern quilts and they overlook the beauty. Seems like you are closed minded about classic quilts. Stay on the course you are on, and I love this blog, but please appreciate the quality.
COMMENT #
Kathy, saying
but I didn’t see many younger patrons and there were almost no modern-style quilts hanging in the vendor booths, which left me with a slightly empty feel in my tummy.
Is not saying the author doesn’t LIKE classic quilts. It’s saying that they felt lonely to not be as well represented at the show. Which is neither elitist, nor close-minded. It’s just expressing how someone feels, without judgment.
COMMENT #3
It’s always great to be able to see the quilts from a big show…and not have my feet hurt! lol
I even like the “Jack” quilt – even if I wouldn’t want him staring at me all day long! The ones I keep going back to are ‘The Island of Romance’ and ‘Seeing the World in Black & White #8’. There’s something about the monkeys with their curvy tails & the leaves dripping down…OK, I want to go to Catalina now to see the actual mural.
Thanks for taking us along Jake!
COMMENT #4
Thanks Jake! I, too, have never been to PIQF. Love your slides and the detail of the sewing you shared. Amazing.
Now I have to go (someday).
COMMENT #
Thanks Marcy! Maybe next year we’ll go together? Road Trip-sounds fun and dangerous.
COMMENT #5
WOW!!! Looks like there was plenty of inspiration there for everyone. Thanks for the quilt show – the film strip quilt is stunning and I’d love a close up view. Best W.T.F. quilt got a snort from me.
COMMENT #6
Heh, laughing at Jack too, no, no idea why you’d want to stare at him!
I attended my first quilt show recently, and once I’d recovered from being trampled by little old ladies trying to beat me to the stalls, I also had a rather heart sinking moment. The work was stunning, hours and hours of amazingly beautiful work, but not one single thing I’d have wanted to have on my wall/bed/couch. My grandmothers would have been in heaven, and in fact their numerous compatriots age wise were, but I found it rather depressing that I was a good 20 years younger than anyone else I saw, barring a few stall holders. I know there are other bloggers in my area that are of a similar age to me, I’m wondering seriously if I should try and do something about it…
COMMENT #7
Amazing – thanks for the peek!
COMMENT #8
Great post about PIQF. I was there too and had similar feelings, but I agree with your statement “I like to think that every quilt, even if it doesn’t reach our tastes, has something to offer either in technique, execution or even revulsion. ” which shows in the over 1,000 photos I took at the festival. I also feel that those of us who slant towards modern or artistic quilts enter our quilts into these shows to cover the broad range of quilting that’s going on these days. There were WAY more modern and art quilts there this year than in years past. I did my part by having a modern quilt (from the MQG’s RK Kona solids challenge) hanging in the exhibit and so did quite a few other MQG members. We’re getting there, but in the meantime, these are some gorgeous quilts to learn from. This is, for me, a not to miss show each year. Thanks for the great post!
COMMENT #9
You can read more about the green stag quilt on Dan’s blog, here: http://pieceandpress.blogspot.com/2011/05/milestones.html
I would have loved to see it in person!
COMMENT #10
I love Mancuso Shows since I was able to go to their Williamsburg Show years ago at 7 months pregnant. I am am finally going back to one after a 10 famine. November in West Palm beach and a Mancuso show!
COMMENT #11
I LOVE going to PIQF (have even had two quilts there before) . It’s been too long since I have been there, though. Thanks for the quilt show!
COMMENT #12
Have you decided yet if you’ll attend the MQG meetup?
If not, I’ll hopefully bump into you in my wanders or at the party!
COMMENT #13
I was at PIQF on Thursday. Tried to meet up with Jake but my phone gave me big problem and it didn’t work out. I’ve loaded a few dozen of my favorites to my blog. Come on over and take a peek:
http://travelingquilter.blogspot.com/2011/10/pacific-international-quilt-festival.html
COMMENT #
Sorry, I meant Friday.
COMMENT #14
Jake, I love the quilts you’ve featured in this post. Such diversity!
I spent a fair amount of time at the Cotton & Chocolate booth at Long Beach. Picked up a pattern for a hexagon table runner that is my current project. Having lots of fun with it. Think I need to make the 2-hour trip from Bakersfield to visit them soon!
COMMENT #15
Thank you including my tiger lily quilt among your favorites! Barbara McKie was my inspiration to start making photo quilts. You can see others I’ve made at http://buzolove.smugmug.com/Hobbies
COMMENT #16
Hi Jake, just wanted to say thanks for the kind comments on my quilt “America, Let It Shine” the Best of Show winner. I take great pride in my work, and believe that workmanship is equally as important as the quilting/embellishment of a quilt. i’m not one to “bling” a quilt, but in the case of “America, Let it Shine” the crystals were very much an important part of the quilt. 5121 crystals stood for: 4543 words of original constitution, 312 for the star spangled banner, 31 for the pledge of allegiance and 235 for the age of america. it was my hope to create a quilt that reached out and touched people, reminding us of how beautiful america should be. the overwhelming response has touched me deeply. anyways, thanks again!
sherry reynolds