Enjoy 24 of just some of my favorite modern quilts (plus a few bonus quilts) from QuiltCon 2020 in Austin, Texas. All descriptions were written by the makers. Prepare to be inspired!
Quilts incorporating typography
Statement: “A familiar saying when things just are not going your way. I thought I would use this phrase as I worked through the different angles of the letters/shapes using the reverse applique technique.”
featured in the Small Quilts category
Statement: “Oops! is the best way to describe our charity quilt. This was not the original plan for our quilt and due to a few mishaps, it’s the direction it took. It started out as a long saying, due to last minute time constraints, this wa a word that was thrown out in our meeting and we went with it. If you look closely you may see a few popular phrases in the quilting!”
featured in the Charity Quilts category
Statement: “Every human being deserves to feel respected and valued in life, and to have their needs and view points heard. If we spend more time listening to each other, we will understand each other better, and in the end all feel more connected. We don’t always have to agree, but we do need to have empathy, and embrace the fact that diversity and differences are what makes our world both beautiful and interesting. This is the only way to find peace in our hearts. This quilt symbolizes those voices that have been crushed by prejudice, fear or pain experienced in life. Each maker asked to piece a block with “HEAR MY WORDS” in a speech bubble, with the style they chose visually representing how they personally felt about having their words heard. Some blocks are big, bold and loud, others are small, quiet and introvert. These are based on each maker’s life experiences. The goal was to make the viewer contemplate what words it is that they themselves are feeling need to be heard, and also to remind them to take the time to listen the next time someone shares their thoughts. Pieced by the members of the VMQG. Longarm quilted by Laura Gates @poppyseedquilting “
featured in the Charity Quilts category ,
Statement: “Embrace the Detours was conjured by a small group within DCMQG who jumped from the challenge description to brainstorming about words for the quilt. We settled on Kevin Charbonneau’s iconic admonition to Embrace the Detours! Over 30 DCMQG members created the arrows and letters of the quilt. The next step was the incredible ruler quilting by Sarah Thomas @sariditty . Thanks to all DCMQG members for this impressive group effort.”
featured in the Charity Quilts category
Statement: “The visible words are all part of what gives a person Value. Once we allow another person to judge us then they have valued us. Don’t be valued, have value.”
featured in the Charity Quilts category
Quilted by Joanna Marsh
Statement: “Lizzo’s hit song Truth Hurts is an anthem for many women including myself. Her lyrics and message of body positivity resonate loudly for me and I had to make a quilt to celebrate all the joy and confidence she has brought me over the past year. I hope that like her lyrics, this quilt will empower everyone who sees it.”
featured in the Piecing category
Statement: “ ‘it’s hard to find fabrics for boys, so we have new dinosaur fabric.’ ‘You must have sons, wearing a dinosaur skirt like that!’ ‘Ill just tell her that dinosaurs are for boys.’ These sorts of comments finally boiled over into this quilt. Paper pieced dinosaurs and letters were combined with improv piecing. I tried to chose “girly” fabrics, colors, and other elements to contrast with the perceived masculinity of the T. Rexes.”
featured in the Piecing category
Statement: “Words from a favorite song, and an unofficial, cheeky motto for my quilt making. Quilters know that people are constantly asking if you sell your quilts, and then reacting with shock when you name a price. Here is another possible way to answer. I think it’s more polite than, ‘You can’t afford me.’”
featured in the Handwork category
Quilts incorporating curves
Statement: “This small quilt maximizes its design aesthetic by using the quilt top, the quilt binding and the quilting. Colorful, bold shapes, multicolored heavy weight thread and a pieced binding all lend to its cohesive visual impact.”
featured in the Small Quilts category
Awarded 2nd place in Use of Negative Space category
Statement: “The design was inspired by a geometric street art mural. I included the main motif in negative space to showcase it and mimic the concrete wall of the original work. I placed the yellow strips as if they linked the motif to the edge of the quilt. All the curves are hand appliquéd.”
featured in the Use of Negative Space category
Quilted by Christine Perrigo
Statement: “Directions pulling Discombobulates my mind Deep breathe find the flow”
featured in the Minimalist Design category
Quilted by Gina Pina
Statement: “This quilt was the result of an assignment for the undergrad sculpture class I took in 2017. The goal was to make something the audience could interact with. Inspired by Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, I made these blocks that my fellow students could arrange in a grid. I invited them to think about how the colors were interacting and about creating a compelling pattern. Eventually, I pieced them together as my classmates arranged them.”
featured in the Modern Traditionalism category
Statement: “The block is my original design—a fractal based on the Drunkard’s Path block. Contrasting blues, the block that evokes water in turmoil, the block arrangement that shows breakers rolling to shore, the quilt title, and the manta ray backing fabric, all complement each other. Machine pieced and quilted.”
featured in the Piecing category
Statement: “Teeny tiny bits Focuse order and routine Present mind calming”
featured in the Small Quilts category
Statement: “This is a larger version of a 10” x 10” quilt I made last year but for the PMQG Paintbrush Studio Painter’s Palette solids fabric challenge. I cut the fabric into quarter circles and placed them spontaneously to create the design.”
featured in the Small Quilts category
Quilts incorporating a rainbow color palette
Awarded 3rd place in Piecing category
Statement: “I recently retired from a lifetime of work and have been reflecting on life’s different stages and seasons. In nature, the color of light changes from morning to night, and it changes from season to season. The colors of each new season inspire us and affects our moods. Our lives are not unlike the seasons. This quilt is a product of my thoughts and feelings as I enter this new stage of life. The design was laid out full-sized on freezer paper.”
featured in the Piecing category
Statement: “Rainbow Blender was inspired from applying simple embroidery stitches to the medium of quilting. It features an ombre color palette blended with the hardness of geometric, linear shapes. The straight line quilting throughout accents the pop of geometry and bright colors. This original design was created in Photoshop, machine pieced and machine quilted using a walking foot.”
featured in the Piecing category
Statement: “This quilt is an uneven log cabin quilt. Using the striped Kaffe Fassett fabric for the wider logs creates additional patterns in a rainbow of colors. Most of the assembly was done at a Boston MQG retreat in Maine, where I received feedback, encouragement, and a little help from other guild members in arranging the blocks. The complete quilt top hung in front of a sunny window where the light and colors inspired the name Fractured Rainbow.”
featured in the Quilting Challenge category
Statement: “This quilt was a product of me challenging myself and reaching for my goal to submit a quilt to QuiltCon for the first time. The design was created during my 100 day project. I was inspired by shadows from windows at my work. I used 2D software to create the templates then printed them to scale. Once the quilt was pieced, I chose straight light walking foot quilting to accentuate the colored sections and add interest to the background.”
featured in the Minimalist Design category
Statement: “I drew a rough sketch of this quilt about two years ago. At the time I didn’t have the skills needed to make it happen but knew one day I would. Getting to create this quilt has been such an amazing experience. For me this quilt symbolizes growth and happiness, not only in my quilting but in my life.”
featured in the Appliqué category
Statement: “Summer Sea Breeze is a continuation of a series of color gradation studies. I have been exploring how you move from one color to another. I am also exploring how that color transformation embraces the negative space. I saw in this design the horizon on the sea, with the sand below and the sunset above. I felt that the negative space was where the cool sea breeze would ebb and flow.”
featured in the Negative Space category
Statement: “This quilt is part of a series exploring the intersection of abstract watercolor paintings and traditional quilt blocks. This quilt uses the Courthouse Stairs block to translate one of my abstract watercolors from paint to fabric.”
featured in the Modern Traditionalism category
Speaking of rainbow quilts—I was delighted to be reunited with the 270 Colors I designed and made for Aurifil.
a couple of more of my favorites
Statement: “Waist Not, not only a play on words, but also a play in practice. Denim waistbands, batting and backing have been reclaimed. The thread has also been reclaimed from jeans. The hand-quilting highlights the harvested thread. Textile waste is a huge contributors to landfills—Waist Not shows that there is beauty and fiction in what many consider trash.”
featured in the Quilting Challenge category
Awarded People’s Choice
Statement: “Admiring the cute drawing done by my grandson, Avery, I decided one day to make it into a 2-color quilt. He named him Bob. I love Bob.”
featured in the Minimalist Design category
two quilts I had in the show
Statement: “Paws Up! was inspired by the 4-year-old Yellow Labrador mix, named Casey, who my husband and I adopted last year. Casey is a big fan of stretching her long legs.” Learn more about the quilt and get the pattern here.
featured in the Piecing category
Statement: “Citrus Slices is an exploration in balancing bold prints and graphic pieced shapes with strong graphics created by quilting in the negative space.” Learn more about the quilt and get the pattern here.
featured in the Piecing category
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