Showing posts with label Road to California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road to California. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The Making of a Show Quilt

Road to California judging has ended and sadly there is no good news to report.  While I would be a big stinking liar if I said I wasn't at least a little disappointed, I truly honestly mean it when I say I am honored to know what amazing company my quilt will be hanging with!  Road to California is a pretty big and prestigious show - one of the largest I know of in terms of monetary prizes.  Of course, big awards usually mean - REALLY big famous amazing quilters.  The quilts you see in magazines and on quilt show brochures.  So I really feel amazing to have a quilt at the show among that great lot!  Maybe some of their good mojo will rub off onto my quilt...  :)


I do still plan to send this out to more shows.  How many and where will depend on how it does in the next few I have lined up.  Showing quilts is a bit of an expensive hobby!

I believe Road to California judges are chosen a bit differently than some of the other large shows and I'm still trying to decipher how they come to judging decisions.  I will say that to date on both of the entries I have sent in the things the judges weren't too keen on were things I suspected I might get dinged on.  I make every effort to listen with one ear open and try to look at a piece through their eyes.  Certainly at the end of the day I want to make something I am in love with, and I really love this piece, imperfections and all.  I am human and somebody has to lose, and to do so they have to find a way to eliminate someone based on something.  So to that extent, "negative" comments are not taken to heart but instead filed in the back of my mind as to what to pay closer attention to next time - in hopes that they have no more things to ding me on with the next quilt!  :)

If you have been following along I have been working on this quilt for more than a year and it has been on a journey in its own creation.  I pieced the center dahlia, I believe, shortly after I bought my long arm.  Gosh maybe it was before my long arm!  It was my first attempt with English paper piecing - and I have grown quite a bit in my piecing and applique skills since this tops creation.  Never the less I love the quilt and I'm glad I went ahead and completed it.



I made quite a few changes along the way as I am still discovering my voice as a quilter - what I like,what I don't like, what works, and what doesn't.  I had a number of revelations during the process.  I think I'm really on the right path to what kind of quilts I want to create.


I realized I love loud and bright colors - and traditional quilts.  I think in the beginning the quilt was a bit bi-polar.  You could almost see the artist in me saying, "who am I?  Am I modern?  Am I traditional?  Am I just a hot mess of fabric?"

Eventually it came together and I think the final result really embodies me, my style, and what I like to see and do as a quilt artist.  I feel like this quilt was my yellow brick road leading me along the path to really awesome fun creations.

I experimented TONS and tons and tons with quilting.  I drew out the quilting plan a bazillion times.  25?  50?  I have to go count to find the exact number but I have every trial quilting plan I made up on the computer and on parchment paper before quilting this.  I also hand made stencils for special areas of quilting that I kept in a file for future use/reference.

I know I was pregnant with my youngest, now 7 month old daughter Olivia when the actual quilting of this quilt occurred.  I had wanted to marathon quilt it during the last month of my pregnancy but alas - I was tired!!!  I did get to it early on after Olivia was born - I want to say by the time she was two weeks old.  Over the course of several weeks I completed it during her nap times.

More than anything I'm proud of the quilting on this quilt.  I am a better piecer than when I began, and definitely a better quilter.  I learned SO many things that I will take with me as I am working on my next show quilt.  I might love the back as much if not more than the front.

I used two layers of black Hobbs 80/20 for batting.  Threads used were Kimono Silk and Bottom Line by Superior Threads, and Invisifil for most of the black background quilting.  I had initially planned on quilting with black metallic thread but once I got going I just didn't like the way it looked.


Here are a few close ups of my final effort that resulted in the quilt entitled Impermanence.  This is my very first attempt at a real bonafied made for just for showing and sharing quilt.


I was very proud of the framework quilting around the dahlia and chose to paint it with metallic fabric paint to make it pop.  We have yet to see how this will play with judges in future shows and there was no comment of it shared with me from the Road to California judges.


What the judges liked were the quilting in which they said was "very well done", and they really liked the gradient colors.  They liked the curving scalloped outer edging and felt it added positively to the mood of the quilt.

I won't share what they dinged until this is done going to shows but I can share that I sort of expected it.  If they were going to get me on anything, I knew immediately what it would be.  Lessons for the next quilt.  :)

Another thing I need to consider next time is the category.  This was entered into Traditional Wall - I don't know where else I would have put it.  But then, a similar whole cloth style quilt I sent off to a regional show close to me was moved from the miniature category I entered it in to the special techniques category though it was very very small.  I do wonder if this would have fit better or would have even alified to be entered into another category.  It's tricky business as I don't want to take a chance of making a mistake resulting in disqualification but certainly I want the best opportunity for it to be judged.


I attempted for the first time a flanged binding...this was FUN and I love the way it turned out!  I will definitely use this technique again and I hope with even better execution on the next piece.  I love how this brings the colors out to the edge without interfering with the design of the quilt or the quilting plan.  What a lot of fussing this was I tell you - worth the work but it was WORK that's for sure.


The grayish blue painting on the outer edge of the quilt that looks almost like lace is where I wanted more of the quilting to stand out.  I think it added quite a bit to the quilt - without it the quilt would have been terribly bare because there is minimal piecing.  I think in the future this experience will really change my approach at designing the quilt top.  I learned that sometimes quilting is just not enough to fill up and add interest to negative space.  I will use this technique again I believe but now I know how I can refine it to make it even better.

Crystals were another addition that I think added quite a bit to the quilt but I know judges can have strong opinions about them.  Road judges made no mention of them but I think they did work well on this particular quilt.  I don't know, are crystals still showing up on show quilts or are they beginning to fade?  I hear mixed comments about them online and just don't have access to big national shows the way many folks do so I'm at a loss.  I like the way they looked - but also I'm still weaning myself from trying to incorporate every technique I have ever learned into one quilt.  RESTRAINT...this was a huge lesson in restraint for me!

All in all I think my first real grown up show quilt attempt was a success.  I'm so excited to share it at more shows and it has really motivated me to make progress on the next!  Surely I will share with you my thoughts and lessons along the way.  With luck, fingers crossed for me, this will head to MQX East next this spring.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

My Quilt Hanging at R2C and Thoughts on Quilt Shows


   Thanks to Barb from The Quilt Show forums I can share a photo of my quilt Emerald Tapestry hanging at Road to California!  I was really over the moon to be accepted into this national juried show.  No ribbons to share, but lots of experience was gained.

   I have read and talked about showing quilts a lot over the last few years.  I find there are lots of opinions on the subject!  Sometimes folks say - "well winning ribbons isn't everything".  They are right, it's not.  But I tell you what.  I'm not ashamed to say that, yes, I would like to win.  A ribbon, some acknowledgement, something is always the goal.  I don't think that's wrong or greedy or selfish.  It's what makes me strive to do better.  I work better and harder with a goal in mind.  With a level that I want to achieve.  I don't HAVE to quilt this way - but it's the way that I find gratification in what I do.  So yes, every time I enter a show of course - I hope for a ribbon!  But I also am not going to cry because I didn't get one.  I was really reminded of this fact with this show in particular as one of my most admired quilters didn't get her quilt juried in.  I'm baffled at why - because if we're being honest her quilt was a hundred times better than mine.  For whatever reason her perseverance motivated and humbled me...and also really made me appreciate how lucky I was just to have my quilt included.

   The quilts in this show were amazing - and I think the judges comments were spot on.  I was given compliments on my quilting skill, use of beading, crystals, and surface design to enhance the quilting.  The biggest criticism?  That the design was unbalanced.  I completely agree.  This was honestly an unplanned spur of the moment quilt that I was so happy with the end result I decided to show.  But - I can see it - and to hold it next to some of the winning quilt you can see the difference immediately.  The winning quilts were impeccable - every detail was shown attention.  To date, I haven't necessarily been able to take something constructive away that could really help me from all of the comments I've received from shows, but the comments this time around really did help me.  If I'm serious about making a high quality quilt that can stand next to some of the most amazing quilts making their rounds in the big shows...then I am really going to apply what I have learned to the next quilt.

   What do I take away from all of this?  Striving to do well in shows has helped me to look at my quilts more objectively - void of emotion.  That's so much easier said than done.  When we finish a quilt that took a year to make we are in love with it.  It's a piece of your soul.  It's hard to look at it and break it down and see the flaws for what they are.  My struggle to date is that I'm still new and green.  So I learn tremendously with each quilt - and often times, by the time I reach the end of a quilt...I've grown so much that my skill has moved beyond what displayed in that quilt...and I see it only for its flaws!

   I'm also learning the value of - do it right or not at all.  The winning quilts are not ALL without flaws.  But there is a reason for the win.  Be it overall design...detail...workmanship...I am starting to see them a little differently and learning to break things down in the necessary ways to improve what I am doing.  It's not about comparing myself to others - it's more about, learning from others success and applying things to my own work to help me do my very best work on my OWN quilts.

   I have been so tired from pregnancy and maybe a little worn down from the quilts I have been working on.  It's been difficult for me to focus.  This whole experience helped me to focus a little more on my ultimate goals.  I have at any given time about a dozen quilts in various states of progress...right now I have two quilts that were intended for show in a bit of a stand still.  My goal for 2015 is to finish both Vintage Charm and my newest quilt that has been on hold since last spring and show them both.

   Here are a few photos of the quilt that has yet to be named - it's almost finished but I just was at a halt for the longest time.  All that is left to do is a little more bias tape and a few appliqué pieces to be added and it will be ready to quilt.   I think my word for 2015 will be

F-O-C-U-S!!!  :)


This quilt has lots of open space for quilting - and I'm learning from the big quilters that details count, so I'm paying attention to every nook and cranny of this one!