My favorite special exhibit at the APWQ Show was a display of 32 beautiful star quilts all featured in Cheryl Malkowski’s book, Blocks to Diamonds, C & T Publishing, 2010. Cheryl transforms traditional quilt blocks into diamond shapes which are then set into Radiant Lone Stars. She uses a variety of starting blocks in her designs and the quilts are colorful and absolutely stunning. Here’s a sampling from this inspiring exhibit, Kaleidoscope Star Quilts from Traditional Blocks.

My Whirlwind Romance by Cheryl, is made from elongated Flying Geese units within the diamonds of the star. This quilt has such motion and the light limy green background is the perfect setting for this striking purple star.

Flamenco Dancer, also by Cheryl, utilizes skewed striped Flying Geese blocks in a Carpenter’s Wheel setting. The vibrant fabrics are cotton/silk blends and the use of variegated thread adds a nice touch.

On the left, Crystalline Entity, made in softer colors by Louise Kindig and quilted by Cheryl, has skewed Storm at Sea blocks in a Carpenter’s Wheel setting. Louise chose a smaller block and added a New York Beauty variation for the inner square blocks. On the right, Maltese Cross, by Amy Vetter has New York Beauty blocks skewed into the diamonds. Amy placed her blocks in the Carpenter’s Wheel setting to achieve this lovely design.

Both of these quilts skew the Storm at Sea block into the diamond. On the left, Prairie Storm, by Cheryl Meredith and quilted by Richard Weckerle, has the small diamond in the rectangle oriented towards the center of the star. On the right, Tuscan Star, by Lois Flevelling has the star diamond turned so that the larger diamond in the rectangle is in the center of the star. Lois’ wreath and feather quilting is gorgeous and really enhances this quilt.

Cheryl Malkowski is from Roseburg, OR. She is a traveling quilt teacher and the author of four quilting books. These stars were all made using her simple paperless freezer-paper piecing technique. Check out her website: www.cherylmalkowski.com.

Whenever I go to a quilt show, there are always many quilts that I enjoy, but a few that stay with me, standing out as special for a variety of reasons. You can learn a great deal by studying the quilts that you particularly like and that inspire you. What is it that initially draws you to a quilt? Is the design balanced and coherent? Is the color and fabric choice particularly pleasing? Is the workmanship precise and tidy? When you see the quilt close-up, are there additional details that surprise and delight you?

Blue is my favourite color and I love the classic look of blue and white quilts. “Ole Blue” made by Opal Myers of Lacey, WA, won Honorable Mention in the Traditional Applique category. Opal used a nice selection of blues ranging from very dark to light and they look crisp on the white background. The combination of appliqued flowers and Celtic knot work is beautiful and I love the way she has scalloped the edge of the white against the the dark blue framing border. Up close you can see her lovely hand quilting.

This quilt “New York Beauty” by Sharon Bakke, Redmond, WA,  in the Traditional Pieced category, was hanging at the end of an aisle and I first saw it from a distance. What a striking pattern created from the orientation of the Log Cabin blocks. I love it.The label said, “Replica of vintage quilt made in Hornsby area of New York State, date unknown, unique design, maker unknown.” From a distance the dark reads as a dark red, but as you can see from the close-up, it is actually alternating black and red. There is a wonderful variety of fabrics used in the narrow Log Cabin strips.

“Ms. MacDonald Had a Farm”, made by Hanging by a Thread Group, Chehalis, WA,  won third place in the Pictorial Large category. This quilt was great fun and what really appealed to me was the creativity of the fabric choices on the animals. Who would think to use Kaffe Fassett fabrics on a goat! This is a happy quilt and it made me smile. The label said ” The topic is appropriate for these ladies whose lives are rooted in the colorful farming community in the Boistfort Valley in Washington.” Here are a couple more detailed shots.

The recent Association of Pacific West Quilters Show at the Tacoma Convention Center was, as always, a feast for the eyes. For the judged show, the entries are juried and only about half of those submitted are accepted. It’s a national level show with many outstanding quilts. I’d like to share my Viewers Choice pick, “Spirit” by Georgia Pierce of Seattle which won third place in the Innovative Large category. Georgia’s quilt was absolutely stunning and her execution of the beautiful Native American Indian designs was impeccable.

The quilt is her interpretation and inspiration from the designs illustrated in a two volume set of books, Learning by Design, by Karen Clark and Jim Gilbert. The label read, “The black sashing represents the formline essential to the art form. The white background provided an inviting canvas for quilting.” Look at the detailed pictures of these gorgeous creatures and notice the intricate quilting designs in the white background.

The quilted Native American Indian designs and background textures really enhance this piece. It is not simply stipple quilted to death, but carefully thought out, the designs blending beautifully with the applique. I was excited when a white-glove lady came along to show us part of the red back of the quilt where the white stitches stand out even more. Georgia definitely made the most of the “inviting canvas for quilting”.

The trend over the last few years in quilt shows is for the heavily quilted glitzy quilts to win the major awards. While I can admire the amazing workmanship exhibited on these quilts, I find the overuse of metallic threads, stipple quilting and the multitude of tacky-looking shiny “crystals” distracting and detrimental to the quilts. I know there are many who disagree with me….. I’d welcome your comments and thoughts on this topic.

The most popular quilt with the viewers at the quilt show was “Bush Fire”, 185 cm x 123 cm, by Tilly de Harde, which received the Viewers Choice award. It was easy to see why. This quilt is an extraordinary work of art, displaying a design with a powerful impact and incorporating many quilting techniques. The quilt won first place in the “Free Style” category which encompassed a large variety of quilts.

Here’s what the label said: “Silhouette of trees and plants against a backdrop of fire. A Round Robin with a difference; monthly instruction from Mayflowers over a period of a year. Design credit: inspired by the work of Gloria Loughman.” Check out these detailed pictures. I love the way Tilly pieced traditional quilt patterns into the tree trunks and branches. Look at the wonderful background which is pieced from diamonds in many shades of red, orange and yellow. There is also thread painting to add detail to the shading on the trees and the veins on the leaves. This was a well deserved winning quilt.

Tilly entered another stunning quilt into the “Free Style” category. I was surprised this one didn’t receive an award, but the competition was steep and the judges had a difficult job. “In Tatters”, 150 cm x 102 cm, illustrates the world in tatters and is a protest about the way humans are destroying the earth.

The foundation of the quilt is the earth as it should be and the embellishments symbolize the destruction taking place. The straggly tatters are made from bandages that were dyed using rust and the red stitches visible on the detailed picture of South America are for the blood that has been shed. In the embellished oceans there are plastic bottles and garbage. The quilt makes a powerful statement which is hard for some of us to stomach. Once again, Tilly’s workmanship is amazing, and this is a fantastic quilt. Tilly also made “Senseless”, a quilt protesting the senseless killing of rhinoceros for their horns, featured in my Festival blog #3 about the challenge quilts. She is a talented artist and I’m in awe of her work.