It is Quilt Festival Time and I know an Artist!

It is once again time for the Houston International Quilt Festival. I have gone for the past several years, though I do not quilt, I go to be awed by the wonderful creations. This year I am happy to say I know an artist with two modern quilts on exhibition! I apologize for the quality of the photos, they were taken on my phone. The subjects are so wonderful, I hope you will be able to appreciate them nonetheless. 

Let's start with the quilts I came to see. Hillary of Entropy Always Wins has made this bit of wonderfulness with her Life in the ER Quilt

   

and this 5/325 Quilt.

The links above will take you to her posts about these profound and meaningful quilts. I cannot do her meaning justice. I was hoping to meet Hillary in person at the festival this year. Life interrupted and she was unable to attend. In absence of her, I promised to "meet her quilts" instead. Her I am with one of them and my little quilt show buddy.

While were we posing for this photo, I overhead other attendees discussing Hillary's quilt. I was so pleased to hear good words on her work I did the unthinkable, I introduced myself.  I said "I know the artist and she is great." The response was, "I know Hillary too!" Turns out, I was chatting with Stephanie of Spontaneous Threads, and Kathryn of Upitis Quilts. These are people I am familiar with through Instagram posts involving Hillary. Recognizing the serendipity of the moment, we immediately decided to take a photo to commemorate our meeting.

Here we are in front of Stephanie's (next to me) quilt. The quilt is made with a photo reflective fabric that illuminates when exposed to the light of the flash. It is pretty amazing to look at the quilt in real life then see the lit areas exposed. 

After those thrills, Little Miss and I  took advantage of the light crowds of the preview night to see more quilts. We did not get through all of them, but we had a good time. Did you know a quilt show is an awesome place to play "I Spy"? Little Miss was the only child I saw and she got really excited about the shapes, colors and textures of the quilts.

 

 Here she is amazed at all of the piecework that went into that and this one:

I love that she wanted to come to her conclusions about the quilt, then she would read the artists' thoughts. The quilt she is reading about is made with many circles of fabric. It wasn't until I looked at the photo at home did I see the word "dot" in the design. 

I feel so bad that I could not capture the real beauty of these pieces.  I plan to return this weekend with my better camera to do these quilts justice. I also wished I was better at crediting the artists; my apologies to the artists. 

 The quilt above is made using fabric yo-yos!

 Look at the scale of that quilted mural!

 This quilt makes me rethink my stack of old denim! 

If you get a chance to go to one of these shows consider going. Years ago, I assumed it was just for quilters and would not appeal to me as an apparel sewist. This however, is an art gallery of fabric and inspiration. This year I have even signed up to take a couple of classes. I am skeptical of my ability, but we will see...

Happy Sewing,
Bianca 

Drape Drape Drool. One-Piece Boat-neck Tunic

You may remember that I was generously gifted the Drape Drape Collection from my friend Hillary at Entropy Always Wins. There are so many fabulous garments to admire and make. I made the one-piece side drape dress three times and wrote about two here.

Immediately after making those, I got to work on Drape Drape 3, No. 13 One-Piece Boat-neck Tunic. I cut it and made it, and then I entered the pattern stash contest and this got pushed aside.  To make matters worse, I hurt my knee and was strapped in a supportive brace. The brace is off and I can now show off my delightful tunic with skinny jeans.

I cut cream colored ponte knit in the size small based on my measurements.  As you can see from the photos, there is tremendous ease in this pattern.  I love the easy drape of this tunic. It feels cozy and comfy like I am wearing a blanket.

The neckline on this top is really wide. It works style-wise, but I will make the neckline narrower in the future. I have to wear a strapless bra with this and prefer not to with future tunics. 

I generally do not like tracing and cutting patterns. I love so many projects in this book, it was a joy to cut what will be a fall wardrobe staple for me. As there are just four steps to construction, the tunic came together easily and quickly. 

Pattern Sheet

Layout

Despite the volume of the fabric, this was surprisingly cool. Because it is not close fitting, it allows great airflow and was comfortable even in the Texas heat. I cannot wait for it to get colder here. This will be great with a pair of leggings and knee high boots.  It is awesome for those jeans and tee days with added umph.

I plan to make many more of these now that the pattern is cut. I have a few heavier sweater knits in mind.

Thanks again dear friend,

Bianca