Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Scale and AHIQ 31

It's going to be a hard year again for our family with many decisions to make. After a month of non-stop sorting I realized everyone needs a weekend. Like any full-time employee Monday through Friday will now be spent clearing out the house and estate. Weekends are free to sleep in, read, quilt, visit, recharge. Putting this plan into practice, I attended the Dallas Quilt Show followed by dinner with my favorite nieces. When I lived in the area I was a member of this guild {and also a program chair - my perennial office.}

As a large show that offers cash prizes (winner's list here) it draws out-of-town and even out-of state artists. Several were prizewinners at other venues. For example, Cynthia England's Reflections of Cape Town was the Best of Show at 2016 IQA in Houston but was much easier to see here since we could spend more time up close {and frankly, in better light.}

Reflections of Cape Town by Cynthia England

There were many beautiful quilts - both purchased patterns and original designs - but these attracted my attention for their use of scale.

Carol Morrissey abstracted a photo of her grandson with circles in a variety of colors and sizes. After spending a while here I believe the background is one solid grey fabric (with perhaps  a bit of texture painted on it). Carol created his face pointalist fashion by identifying the major portions of light and shadow. As always the beauty is in the details such as his chin, both ears, and the white highlight in his eyes.

Jake by Carol Morrissey

Using Carolyn Friedlander's Envelopes pattern, Rachel Kent incorporated letters to her father in Happy 60th, Mr. Postman to celebrate his milestone birthday. I assume she mailed prepared fabric to people who wrote a message on it. Did she mail special pens, too? Then it looks like she fitted their responses to different sized envelopes. Again, did she outline various boxes for people to stay within? All the replies are fairly "square." I'd have expected a few people to create long rectangles if they didn't understand the intended use.

Happy 60th, Mr. Postman
by Rachel Bryan Kent

Terry Mosher used varied the size of bars to create his Hippy Trippy Christmas based on a Kaffe Fassett design. Of course I see another Chinese Coin variation in this two-color medallion. {I see them everywhere now.}

Have a Hippy Trippy Christmas
by Terry Mosher

Red and green always make lovely quilts. Most of them are definitely seasonal. I think this one could be used year-round. It reminded me of my Watermelon quilt - a red, green, and black quilt that evokes hot summer days.

Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

20 comments:

patty a. said...

I know the effort and time to clear out a house as some of my family did that in 2015 when our father died. Siblings traveled from all over to come and help. With four or five of us working together we managed to make quicker work of it, but it took several trips from the out of towners to get the job done. I am glad you gave yourselves a break! The quilts you showed are all so different! I do like that green and red quilt too!

Julierose said...

thanks for sharing those beautiful quilts--Cynthia england's work is amazing...i especially like those watery reflections...hugs, Julierose

Quiltdivajulie said...

I think you are VERY wise to call for weekends off !! And I'm quite taken with that circular pixelated face quilt - very different and intriguing.

Robin said...

That boat quilt is absolutely amazing. I just shake my head in awe when I see something like that. Giving everyone a weekend is a good idea. I think I'll take that to heart and use it around here.

Ann said...

Thanks for the pointers, Patty. I'm so grateful to my family for driving here repeatedly to help. It will still take a while. We've found the silver lining though because we have time to really think about what we want, what will fit in our homes, how we can share.

Ann said...

She is an amazing quilter and designer, Julie Rose. Each one is a masterpiece.

Ann said...

Thanks, Julie. Carol teaches classes. I'd love to take one of hers again.

Ann said...

Cynthia is such an amazing artist - both drafting and color/value selections. It's always a joy to see her work.
Women are too hard on ourselves. We need that time off, too. Everyone needs a bit of time to rest and recharge.

Mystic Quilter said...

Ann, I'm sorry to hear that your year is once again going to be a difficult time for you and your family. Your idea of keeping the weekends free is a good idea and a necessary break. Thank you for sharing some of the quilts in the show and happy you were able to get along there.

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Glad that your weekend was good for the soul :)

That Reflections of Cape Town just blew me away!! It looks like a painting.

Cathy said...

What a variety of quilts.

I have to say if I was inspired to make any of them it would be the one with envelopes.

You are wise to take time off. To every thing there is a season.

Ann said...

It does, Deb. Cynthia is such an artist. Thanks for writing.

Ann said...

So kind of you to write, Maureen. I'm doing better since I've decided to look at it like a day job. Taking hours off to recharge is helping; I was becoming useless with sorrow.
The Dallas show came along at a good time for me. The perfect break. Fun to look at with eyes towards Kaja's invitation.

Ann said...

This guild always has a wide range of quilting styles and many beautiful quilts. I enjoyed the day. The envelopes interested me, too. I like the different way to set a friendship blocks.
Thanks for the verse. Especially in sorrow, it helps to change things up. Taking walks, seeing exhibits, visiting are helping me cope with this time. Thanks, Cathy.

Kaja said...

I agree with everybody else: building in some down time seems very wise. What an interesting selection of quilting styles - always food for thought at this sort of event.

audrey said...

How interesting to go to this show with something front and center in your mind applicable to the current project. I always enjoy when that happens. This particular project really has a lot of roads that can be traveled and I'm already getting the feeling that I may not end up where I thought. lol It's good that you're giving yourself permission to recharge. As women, we often neglect ourselves in the pursuit of need-to's.

Janie said...

Best wishes getting everything sorted out.
I'm glad you got a little break in. Thanks for sharing you photos.
Thanks for hosting AHIQ #31.

Ann said...

I'm feeling better and thinking more effectively by setting hours. You're right; seeing a wide range of styles is a benefit of a quilt show. It was intriguing to find so many different ways of interpreting scale from very traditional to artistic to improvisational. Food for thought indeed, Kaja.

Ann said...

When tragedy strikes I find it very hard to be creative so I had no ideas going into the show. It was interesting to find many different examples of scale encompassing such a variety of styles.
We women are often the worst about taking care of ourselves. Even giving ourselves permission to purchase sewing supplies can be difficult. It's going much better since I'm making it a "day job." Just the little bit of time off helps me recharge.

Ann said...

Thanks, Janie. AHIQ is a joy because all the quilters share so much about their process and show such interesting work.