Viewers Choice, Creative Item and Creative Item, 2nd Place - Beaded Dragon Vest by Cynthia Bane Mammon
Leslie Finta - Going-on-a-Field-Trip - Although Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday, I decided to take the theme of our guild challenge and create a quilt based on my family members who have died. As I retired teacher, I wanted to have a school bus filled with my children and grandchildren going to visit our past relatives, most of whom they have never met. It's been a great ancestry lesson for all!
Chris Lee - Block Party - This fun-loving group of souls are throwing a once a year Day of the Dead Fiesta. They are laughing, singing, dancing and if you are a dog soul, howling at the moon. Party On!
Mary Pimentel-Wheeler - Margaritaville Apron - I'm not a big fan of skulls, so I used the tops of the skulls to make scallops for my apron edging. It still has a Fiesta vibe, and I'll wear it whenever I'm in a party mood and drinking margaritas. It's reversible, with double ties that can be tied both front and back either way you wear it, so you have a place to tuck in a towel.
Jan Sammons - My Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda Tablecloth - I have wanted a tablecloth for our ofrenda (Day of the Dead altar). This years challenge was the perfect opportunity to create one.
Kathy Callahan - Night Music - Fussy cutting, some painting along with machine quilting and hand quilting went into this little wall hanging.
Estrella Shoka - Fiesta Challenge - Day of the Dead and Frieda Kahlo fabric are combined in a fiesta-themed collage quilt, with raw edge appliqué and meandering quilting.
A1-Monica Kaseman - Spiffy Pippin - When I looked at the inspiration photograph, two things stood out: the dog and the rainbow colors. So I made a portrait quilt of our dog Pippin sporting a rainbow colored tie.
A2-Fran McNamee - Fire Fighter's Finest Friend - Dalmatians are the mascot of firefighters. Their job was to calm the horses that pulled the fire wagon when they were at a fire.
A3-Dale Wolfe - California Now - The quilt in front of me had a Dalmatian against a lovely red background, but the more I looked at it, I just saw FIRE and the dog was on the job. Bargello piecing builds a mountain against a blue sky, that includes green trees, white and gray smoke, yellow, orange and red fire. Thread play was added to enhance the look of flames.
A4-Teresa Molnar - Challenge! - I received a quilt based on an unseen picture and had to base my design on this. Quite a challenge!
A5-Jill-Orr - Montage 2 - Nothing like an Envelope Challenge to play with new fabric sculpture techniques using fabric trimmings. I used ModgePodge with the trimmings to get the 3D effect, baked the flowers a bit, then sewed them down on the background. I ended up doing a series of these. Try it!
A6-Mary Pimentel-Wheeler - Hexifish - I stared at Jill's quilt for a long time looking for inspiration. What jumped out at me was the background, which looked sort of kelp-like. My kelp strand has three Hexifish (yeah, I made that up), which are a nod to the hexies in Jill's quilt.
A7-Erica Reikki - Camping Hexies - The quilt before me had a hexagon which reminded me about a star design that I wanted to do with the hexies. I had some fabric from a quilt I just finished, and this quilt came to be.
B1-Chris Lee - When I saw the photo for the challenge, I had my inspiration right away. Seeing the dog going on a walk, I could only think of the many walks my husband and I have taken with our dogs. The most quiltable of the two is our male English Cocker Spaniel, Buddy. Dog people call his coloring a Blue, Roan and Tan or BRAT for short. He is anything other than a brat. He is loving, loyal and affectionate, in other words Buddy.
B2-Carmen Franklin - Not My Best Friend - Chester was rescued by my husband. I had gone to my quilting group on that Monday. When I came home, this black lab greeted me at the door. After being scared to death, my husband told me how Chester came to be with us. I reminded Gary (my husband) that we couldn't have a dog. You see I'm a Longarm quilter with clients that probably wouldn't like their quilt having dog hairs or smells. Well, we found Chester a great home with our grandson Jake. When we visit them Chester greets my husband with wagging tail and kisses. Me, I get the side eye and the turn of his nose. That’s the story of how Chester became "not my best friend".
B3-Valerie Sauban - Cat Nap - The quilt before me in this chain showed a person walking a dog down a trail in front of a large tree. This made me think of the last animal I saw in a tree. It was a mountain lion sleeping in an Oak tree at the Oakland Zoo, on the new California Trail. All four legs were draped over a large branch. The cat seemed quite content.
B4-Helen Anderson - Kids at Play - When I saw the block that inspired my block, I could not help but thinking "where are the kids?" I am so glad to see that they are exploring their surroundings while the grownup rests. Their curiosity got the best of them.
B5-Dianne Slattery - Carousel Tiger - I was intrigued by the baby tigers picture Helen sent to me. Then we took our granddaughter to the Nut Tree and rode the carousel. There was my tiger, and I thought, "Hmm! Babies AND Tigers!"
B6-Janelle Peña - Return to the Wild - I imagined the majestic tiger returning to the wild after working on the carousel.
B7-Birgit Knuth - Year of the Dragon - Year of the Dragon. I wanted the Tiger to be looking up into the sky and seeing the Dragon flying free.
B8-Tammy Zanella - Year of the Rat - Birgit's quilt inspired me to make the yin/yang. The seeing the 2020 Year of the Rat, I added the rat sitting in his garden.
C1-Phyllis Nishimori - Orange George - The inspiration photo shows a pet dog. I don't have a dog. Or a cat. My pet is Orange George, a Fan-tailed Goldfish. He is about 8 years old and slowing down, but I'm sure he would enjoy swimming along through rainbow circles.
C2-Claudia Foster - Going Around in Circles - This quilt was made for the Pass the Envelope Challenge. The previous quilt appeared to have a larger fish encircled with color. Mine is "going around in circles".
C3-Kathy Callahan - Trillium - The quilt I received had 3 Koi that were positioned in what reminded me of a recycle sign. I couldn't figure out what to do with that! So I went with the number 3. Three fish led to the three petals in a trillium. It is hand appliquéd, trapuntoed, and machine quilted. I used some Inktense pencils to add a bit more shading in the petals and leaves. There is also some hand embroidery for the stamen.
C4-Hilja New - A Walk in the Woods - The beautiful Trillium quilt I received made me wonder if the theme was nature, or perhaps dealt with multiples of three, so I incorporated both in stitching acorns. I love oak trees!
C5-Doreen-O'Brien - Sunflower Singularity - I had fun creating a 3D sunflower that pops off of the quilt. I created a pattern for the petals, sewed two pieces of fabric together, leaving the bottom open to flip them out. I bought a surgical tool from Carol's Zoo years ago that works great for this. Then I attached each petal and the base to the background fabric. I created the center and stuffed it keeping with the 3D theme.
C6-Serenity-Campbell-O'Brien - My-First-Quilt - When I looked at the Sunflower I thought of the sun. I was happy when I made it. I had tons of fun and really liked sewing it.
C7- Kitty Knowack - My House - For this year's Pass the Envelope Challenge, the entry before mine was a house. Recently, I have enjoyed a lot of English Paper Piecing so I decided to make my first English Paper Piecing pattern. Using a picture of my house and some graph paper, I took the plunge. It's not perfect, but for my first try I think it came out pretty well. After the show this mini will be hanging on the wall near our dining table.
Laurie Biundo - Medallion Quilt - For six years our QA group has been working through Harriet Hargrave's Quilter's Academy series. This is our second year on book five, the last in the series. This year’s quilts were and original design using border components from the book. The center design was inspired by a block in the Big Block Quilts magazine. The pattern, by Debby Kratovil, is called Staggered Stars.
Patricia Abernathy - Medallion - I had a stash of blacks and wanted a rectangular quilt, so I used lots of blacks and added length to my quilt.