This is part two of the special exhibition from the Houston Quilt Festival that focused on traditional quilts. This group of quilts are pieced but made recently. Our mother is fond of saying, “why would anyone cut up fabric to sew it back together again?” (The secret is out, our mother is not a quilter!) The answer to her question is apparent when you see the works of art created by sewing the pieces back together again. “The Never Ending Project” by Barb Kissell and quilted by Meg Fasio is appropriately named. Because there are A LOT of pieces, more than 3,000. The Hunter Star block must have really inspired Barb, because she had only been quilting for two years when she decided to tackle this quilt. Clearly, she does not subscribe to my mother’s theory....

The Houston Quilt Show also featured an exhibition on traditional quilts. This week we’ll focus on appliqued quilts. I was curious to see how others defined “traditional.”  One website said, “any quilt with a repeated block.” Hub pages said, “a traditional quilt is probably the type of quilt most people think about when they think of the word quilt.” Another defining statement, “these quilts originated before 1970…when quilt stores did not exist.”  Yes, well…definitions are hard, instead simply enjoy these works of art. Two quilts were made by the master quilter, Cynthia Collier. You know the level of excellence when a quilter gets more than one quilt in the Houston quilt show in the same year.  A well-known and loved applique teacher, Cynthia has shared her talents and skills with many.  She recently retired, which would...

This year the International Quilt Festival – Houston introduced a new exhibition, “Rising Stars.” It is to be held annually, so people can submit to be considered. If you don’t think you are quite in the “rising star” category, encourage someone you know to submit for next year. This year two artists were selected and given a special showcase. Sarah Ann Smith, doesn’t consider herself a natural born artist. However, looking at her quilts it is hard for me to agree with that statement. Granted it may have taken years to learn the tools of the trade, but she is definitely an artist. Her artistic legacy is reflected in a couple of different ways. First showing and appreciating the beauty of nature. Second, a fun and quirky sense of humor in her story telling quilts. All...

  This is Thanksgiving Week, a time to give thanks for family, friends, and the many blessings in life.  So, as we continue to write about the Houston Quilt Festival Special Exhibitions, it seemed appropriate to write about Sue Garman, a “matriarch” in the quilting family.  Through her patterns and teaching, she was a blessing to many quilters! Although I never had the honor of meeting her, multiple readers, writers, and quilt aficionados, spoke of generous spirit, wonderful designs, and artistic legacy.  In classes, she shared lots of tips to go with those pattern sheets. She left many patterns and designs to add to our UFO lists and perhaps even finish. Sue Garman made over 300 quilts in her 40 years as a quilter, the majority of the quilts being original designs. The exhibition featured 100...

The Houston Quilt Festival Exhibition Hall is filled with a wide variety of special exhibitions. Although it is easy to be enticed to stay in the vendor portion of the quilt festival, the exhibit hall is the perfect place to see: different techniques, superb skill, and award winning quilts. The exhibition that caught my eye across the exhibit hall was entitled “Freehand Patchwork by Danny Amazona” and it was amazing. Besides appreciating his unique style of art quilts, this was a new technique to be observed. Danny does unorthodox freehand patchwork that is quite different from the traditional techniques. He uses no intricate sewing, but focuses on creating artwork with fabric. Danny states “since I’m using fabric to create my artwork, I want to maintain the original beauty of the textile designs on each piece of...