Quilt Show: Amelia Island "Quilts By The Sea"

Last Friday it was time to jump in the van and head up to Fernandina for the 12th triennial  quilt show of the Amelia Island Quilt Guild! That's right...this guild has their show every three years. From the look of things, those were three very busy years! Let's take a look at just some of the wonderful work...(as always, I will be glad to remove a picture if you have a problem about it being here...just let me know)(likewise I'd be happy to add the titles of any published patterns!).

"Halloween Delight" by Deborah Dunman

Setting the categories for a quilt show is challenging...you want to have the quilts that best go together, but you can't have everything. This quilt was in the Holiday category, which was almost all Halloween or Christmas. What I liked about this one was the "redwork" (did you know blackwork is actually another style of embroidery?) done in black thread. The illustrations must have come from old Halloween greeting cards.

An interesting category was Quilts for Children. What a great idea! We love to show and share these kinds of quilts, even though they were never intended for being Best of Show... but maybe Best Loved!

"Camouflage" by Charlie Russ

This quilt features at least two fabrics with a Marines theme print. The other fabrics came from the uniforms that belonged to the owner's father.

"Happy Pineapples" by Janet Sebastian

Happy indeed! This quilt had everyone smiling and snapping pictures.

There were also quilts made by Young Quiltmakers. There was a great challenge, where the guild members had to do a self-portrait...as a flamingo! And there were the miniatures, and a category for Miscellaneous, so jackets, table runners and bags could be shown.

There was even a Non-judged category that had this fun quilt:

"9-Patch Gone Wild" by Frances Barnett

There are many wonderful stories that go with quilts. The string pieced one below was sewn as a memorial from clothing that belonged to the maker's aunt.

"I'll Fly Away" by Dell Dunman

  When Dell found she had sewn some blocks turned the wrong way, she took the quilt apart and carefully laid them all out again to be sure. After the quilt was finished, there was one block turned around...surely her aunt had done it!The title is from the aunt's favorite hymn.



Untitled by Emma Sanders

This pretty red & white quilt has a cross-stitch motto about how a woman has to be twice as good as a man.....you know the rest! I like to see redwork mixed with piecing.

"Along Dorothy's Road" by Mike Polese

Poppies! Poppies! But these won't put you to sleep! They were in the Art Quilt category, along with this small quilt:

"Whine Not" by Gail Niedernhofer

The embellishments are wine corks. This was a favorite of several people I talked with, and surely had some reds we'd like to try!

The Amelia Island guild has a number of members doing real quilt art, and it's always a pleasure to see.

"Celebration" by Sandi Neal

I'm a sucker for anything lime green! This really does look like a celebration.

"Julia's Garden" by Sally Winston

 This is an inspirational quilt. Does it make you want to do a collection of little appliques?

I am guessing that Julia likes pink!

"Purple Passion" by Faye Justice

 It's not how complex or time consuming a quilt is to make, it's all about what you want to make! With just three fabrics, and a fairly easy pattern (my favorite: Snowball and 9-Patch!) this quilt really makes a statement.

"Oceans of Love" by Janet Sebastian

Do you see quilts at a show and are reminded of a friend? I have a friend who loves bargello quilts, so I'm always thinking oif her when I see them. This one is especailly well done for the seaside effect.

"Rainbow Tiles" by Shery Inserra

Not only is this glowing with beautiful colors, it really asks you to look closely and see if you can figure out how it all went together!

There are quite a few good machine quilters in this corner of Northeast Florida, and the show was filled with excellent quilting. There were practically no quilts that were done poorly or needed a great deal more quilting...and none that were quilted so much they were "over done"!

I only regret that I didn't get the names of all the quilters...they were on the quilt tags, but not in the program.

"Big Red" by Emily Baker

Deciding how to quilt can be a tough choice...there is no one right way to do any particular quilt. This is a lovely use of feather motifs on a pineapple pattern.

"Sara's Pinwheels" by Gail Niedernhofer

More well-done feathers in a lovely varigated thread to match the hand-dyed fabrics. This is the real big thing sweeping the quilt world...using colored quilting thread as an important part of the entire design. 

"Stars and Seashells" by Suzanne H. Driver

The maker here used her collection of seashell patterns to fill in on this simple blue & white quilt, showing that it does not have to be all fancy and complicated to be beautiful.



"The Ultimate Sacrifice" by Diane Keagy

Another example of how simplicity can tell as much as a mass of detail. This could have been quilted with all sorts of creative motifs. 

Yet the simple grids of the sashing, and the diagonal lines in the rectangles providing a small contrast, offer all that is necessary. The point (again) isn't always about how long it took, or how hard it was to do.

Awards and ribbons are a big part of any quilt show, whether or not you're in the competitive spirit.

The Amelia Island guild had some very pretty ribbons for all the prizes, especially for the major awards.

 The special awards featured an embroidered medallion with seashells and the "AI" initials for the show.

Besides the certified judge giving the place ribbons, I love it when there are some special awards. There was a President's award (kind of tricky for a single guild show!) and then I saw this interesting award:

Yes, that's the Mayor's Choice!  What a great way to be sure the city officials are made aware of the power of quilts to bring people to their communities, and also to get them into the show to find out what quilting really is!

 I spoke with several people who were attending a quilt show for the first time. They were amazed at the artistry of the display...and they were people who know quilters!

Oh, yes, the quilt that won this ribbon:

"Sunset in July" by Pam Wise

 

Among the many fine kaleidoscope style quilts (Stack N Whack, One Block Wonder. etc) was this beauty:

"My Garden" by Charlie Russ

 It received an award for "Best Use of Color", and we had a grand time discussing why.

 Saved for last...here it is... the Best of Show "Silver Streak" by Pam Baity:

The three ribbons also include it's first place for the Mid-Pieced category and a special award for machine quilting. The pattern is "Turning Twenty".

The solid black fabric in the border was stitched completely around with this lovely design, using silver thread. The crystals were used with good taste, and it really did glitter nicely from across the room.

Of course you want to see the back! Note the curved corners. You have to use bias binding for that, but it lets you skip the mitering that some don't like to do. However, you still have to do it well. If it's pulled tight, the corners will cup up and stick out.

This show had all the other things we love: vendors, a boutique, gift baskets and quilt raffles, plus a quilt appraiser. And there were many more beautiful quilts than I'm showing here!

Thank-you, Amelia Island Quilters, for a wonderful show! We wish you a productive next three years so we can come back and see more!