Preview Night–quilts and special exhibits

I was glad to see a special display of The Tentmakers of Cairo right inside the entry to the quilt show. I was also glad to meet Jenny Bowker with the two gentlemen who make the work. She told me American Quilters Society had an exclusive with the tentmakers, but it’s expired. So they are now free to display their work, which is for sale, at other shows.

A side note–Many of the exhibits were “taped” off in such a way that I had great difficulty photographing quilts. Hence, odd angles.

Quilter Marilyn Badger had a special exhibit of her work. She is a many-time award winner, well-known for her complex piecing and quilting designs. Not too surprising, she won an award at this show.

The Hoffman Fabric Challenge was well represented with many entries, both quilts and wearables.

A number of fabric manufacturers were giving away fabrics, prizes, and assorted goodies on Preview Night. Northcott had a prize wheel. Of course, most won a stack of fabric chips, a new fabric size to me. I gave my stack to someone so she would have enough to make a small quilt.

Following are the first quilts I photographed that I liked. I have admired Kumiko Frydl’s work for a long time. She has often been a winner in the miniature category at Paducah, for good reason. This was 2nd place miniature at Road.

Here’s first place miniature category.

Darn. I forgot to note the maker’s name and quilt title below.

Bethanne Nemesh won Excellence in Longarm Quilting with the quilt below. One of her pieces, “October Sky”, was judged a Masterpiece quilt by the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges.

I absolutely loved this quilt. What a fresh way to use Hexies.

Very Cool. Quilted on the Babylock Sashiko machine.

Second place, Traditional Other. Great composition.

I really liked this peacock. One of several quilts that wasn’t an award winner but I liked better than some of those who were. Great title, too. Category is Traditional, Large, Pieced.

Another quilt I liked for its fresh, unique approach. Artist statement: I became familiar with the appliqué technique called tile done around 1900s. I saw it as an opportunity to utilize my Asian fabrics.

Traditional, Appliqué, Large, First Place.

Traditional, Wall Appliqué. Melon Patch design.

From a distance, the bursts of color look neon.

Liked the deep purple color palette.

Another holiday quilt by Aki Sakai. Traditional, Wall, Appliqué. Her niche is evident: great detail, miniature-size elements, complex.

More to come…