Report from International Quilt Festival

I've been back from Houston for a couple of days, and I'm still recovering from the long hours in the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) booth and the visual stimulation of all of the beautiful quilts hanging in the show.  And from spending time with some very good friends, as well as making some new ones.  Altogether, a fabulous experience!

Our booth was on the exhibit side of the quilt show, directly in front of the two exhibits SAQA was debuting at IQF, "Celebrating Silver" and "Redirecting the Ordinary."  Information about the new exhibits can be found at http://www.saqa.com/memberArt.php?ID=1737.  We were selling catalogs of the exhibits and our yearly "Portfolio" of member's work, and we also had the quilts from Phase 4 of the SAQA benefit auction.  Each year, members are asked to donate a 12" x 12" piece for the auction to raise money for our exhibition program.  Not only did they make a nice display, we sold lots of them!

Tuning Fork #13 looked wonderful hanging in the "Art: Abstract - Large" section.  It was beautifully lit, and it glowed.

One of the best things about working in an exhibit booth at Festival is getting in early.  Every morning I arrived an hour before opening, and wandered around taking pictures of quilts that caught my eye.  Hundreds of pictures.  It was blissfully quiet and no one was in the way -- vastly different from the noisy throngs in the hall during the open hours.  I wanted to share pictures of a few pieces I enjoyed, mostly pieces by friends of mine (because I didn't make notes about the artist for every quilt I snapped, and I don't want to post pictures of unattributed art).

This piece is by Maria Shell from Anchorage.  Not only is Maria a talented artist, she's also a friend and I was happy to have a chance to spend time with her:

 This is by Robin Williamson, a fellow member of the SAQA North Texas Circle:

 This piece, which won an award, is by my fellow Texas SAQA regional representative Suzan Engler:

This beautiful quilt is by Andrea Brokenshire:

Marianne Williamson had quite a few quilts in the show, two in the judged portion and at least three in special exhibits.  At least, I saw three of them.  This is one of her judged show pieces:

 Colleen Kole had two pieces in "Tactile Architecture."  Both, I believe, are in her Rooflines series:

 This piece is by eight members of DAFA: Connie Akers, Flo Barry, Michelle Knoerzer, Sara Miller, Lu Peters, Carolyn Skei, Brenda Wyatt, and Gay Young. It was in the "Life Begins at 40" exhibit:

 This piece is by Kathy York, and was also a prizewinner:

I'm linking this post to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, Richard and Tanya's Quilts Link a Finish Friday, Friday Fabric Frenzy, Confessions of a Fiber Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.  Go see all the wonderful work there!