IQA quilt show in Cincinnati-- part one

The International Quilt Association Spring show was in Cincinnati April 13--15, so I decided to combine a family visit with a chance to see a big show. Formerly located in Chicago, the IQA moved the show last year to this visitor-friendly city on the Ohio River.
The quilt portion of the show featured 18 exhibits, including a selection of quilts from the Houston (Fall) show. Many of the exhibits have books based on the quilts, so photography was not allowed. Several were specially put together for this show.
All photos shown here are details of the quilts to protect the artists' rights....I will gladly remove any photo if the artist objects to its use here.


QUILTS: A WORLD OF BEAUTY selections from the 2011 show in Houston, Texas

detail: What You and the Animals Gave Me (Megumi Mizuno)

It's always fun to see some "old friends" and this is a detail from my favorite at the Paducah AQS show last year. It also demonstrates one of the problems encountered: much of the lighting was done with spotlights on poles, so whether taking pictures or just going in for a close look, there were shadows galore.

detail: Life in the City  (Sheila Frampton-Cooper)

Cherry-Cherry and I have been thinking and talking a lot about art quilts lately, so it was educational to get a chance to examine work like this.




CELEBRATE SPRING: 2012

detail: Sororan Spring (Margit Kagerer)

This is a very good example of using photos on fabric along with piecing in a quilt. Although the bird image is a square sewn in, it blends beautifully with the shapes for the trees.

detail: Honey Lover's Song (Yoshiko Kobatashi)

Lovely applique in this one! But I also loved using the bird and leaves designs as trapunto in the open spaces.

dtatil: Passion Flower (MaryAnn Vaca-Lambert)

This three-flower quilt was literally a show stopper! There was no way to avoid joining the crowd to admire these huge 3-D flowers. I don't know the botanical name for the spikey parts, but they were indeed made with chenille stems!




CINCINNATI MODERN QUILT GUILD PRESENTS: 
A MODERN SPIN ON THE OHIO STAR BLOCK

detail: Supernova (Heather Jones, quilted by Angela Walters)

"Modern Quilting" is getting established as a recognizable style, and it was pure fun to see what this group did with an old yet appropriate traditional block! Yes, this is just one huge Ohio Star, but check out the fabulous quilting in all those big spaces!




FESTIVAL GALLERY OF ART:
GOOD FOR YOU
I think this might have been an actual competition in the show...it was very hard to tell, and the white glove ladies had no idea. There were ribbons on the quilts in various places, but they were hard to read and some seemed to be from other shows.

detail: Alpha Quilt (Becky Gardner)

I cannot resist a good alphabet quilt, and this one also featured trapunto work.

detail: Red (Sandra Lauterbach)

This one was like layers of lasagna...so many different width strips, raw edges and flowing lines of texture.

detail: Last Light (Marianne R. Williams)

Here is a very intriguing edge finish, one the artist uses often, as we recently saw her work in St. Augustine, Florida, at the Fiber Artists Network show, beside several pieces in Cincinnati. It's just threads...lots of threads.

detail: Salad with Pears (Gail Segreto)

I had to look at this one a couple of times. It's just wonderful.The techniques don't have to be extremely difficult to be great....but good color choices and fine design will take a simple piece right to the top.

detail: Saturday Market Delectables
  (Tina McCann)

The whole quilt shows a delightful collection of felted purses, each one featuring a different vegetable! A lot of work...and a lot of fun in this.


That's enough for today. In the next post I'll share a few more details, especially some more amazing three-dimensional creations!