If you were following my Instagram feed, then you already saw a selection of quilts that were in the quilt show. Today, I want to highlight a few more quilts that really caught my eye. One of the benefits of being able to blog about the quilts after the fact is that it gives me time to research the quilter and link to them (although there were still I few I could not find); I really wish the write ups had included IG names or blog names so that I could have appropriately tagged them when I was trying to give credit during the show. Perhaps feedback for next year, right? I have linked where I could, and if you have information about any work here that I can add, please let me know; I would be happy to do so.
I can’t lead this view of the QuiltCon 2015 Quilt Show with anything other than the Best in Show quilt, “i Quilt” by Kathy York. I just love the quilting in the central white “i” to help reinforce the design. York shares the idea behind her quilt in her show statement: “At times I feel alone, but I am not. I am supported by many friends and family. These are the little ‘i’ blocks that make up the big central ‘i.’ The other ‘i’ blocks in the field are for all the people I have never met that support my life.”

“i Quilt” by Kathy York – Best in Show
1st Place, Best Machine Quilting
Diving Geese
By Katie Pedersen of Seattle. Pieced by Katie Pedersen. Quilted by Krista Withers.
Artist Statement: “‘Diving Geese’ evolved through my desire to create a minimalist design with no recognizable black layout,” Pedersen says. “The triangular ‘geese’ were created using the modern crazy piecing technique and scraps. I used an angle piecing technique to bring the blocks together so that the geese would appear to be diving. I love the ‘ghost geese’ that Krista quilted in.”
2015 Coats Award of Quilting Excellence
Coral Reef
By Marla Varner of Sequim, Washington. Pieced and quilted by Marla Varner.
Artist Statement: “The vibrant colors of this bicolor quilt were the perfect canvas for dense hand quilting,” says Varner of her winning quilt. “The quilting is improvisational, with each block inviting me to play with unique designs featuring multiple thread weights and colors.”
Amazonia by Nathalie Bearden in Use of Negative Space. I really enjoyed seeing the texture and quilting pop on the back side of the quilt!

“Grand Pineapple – Dichotomy” by Allison Lee
“Survivor” by Jennifer Benoit-Bryan is a very powerful quilt that spoke to me. Personally, I voted for it in the People’s Choice Award.
Artist’s Statement: “At some point in life, most people live through a terrible event. In my case, afterward I struggled to label myself, neither survivor nor victim felt completely right, although I felt much closer to the victim side. This quilt represents the shift I’ve experienced over many years along the continuum toward the survivor side while the victim label has faded into the background. I hope that this quilt offers a message of hope to those at other points along this continuum.”
I love how Amanda continued the design out into the binding in her When Oceans Rise quilt.

Phased Circles by Michelle Wilkie

Huckleberry by Rebecca Bryan in Piecing
“Rainbow Remix” Artist Statement: “Inspired by quilters of Gee’s Bend, I set out to make a rainbow quilt using an improvisational technique. Each block blends 2 different colors together and moves the spectrum around in surprising but visually pleasing ways. In homage to the perfectly, imperfect Gee’s Bend quilts that I love so much, I kept the quilt irregularly shaped. I couldn’t bear to square this one up.”

Rainbow Remix by Rebecca Bryan in Improvisation

Ceiling Tiles by Amy Garro in Piecieng
“Big Top” Artist Statement: “Inspired by vintage quilt block Spring and Fall by Nancy Cabot, I modernized the original block by using bold chunks of color rather than intricate piecing. I created a gradient of color across the quilt, alternated the direction of columns of blocks, and left a large area of negative space for the eye to rest. Quilted in a meandering free motion pattern.”

Big Top by Faith Jones in Use of Negative Space

(Left) Abacus by Christa Watson and Neighborhood by Michelle Wilkie (Right)
“Pike’s Peak” Artist’s Statement: “Pike’s Peak uses half square triangles, bright colors, and negative space to create a fun and modern quilt. The straight line and dense back and forth quilting continues the quilt design into the negative space.”

Pike’s Peak by Cheryl Brickley

Swan in the Water by Kristyn McCoy
“Museum Windows” Artist’s Statement: “This quilt was inspired by a friend’s photo of a stained glass window at the Museum at Prairiefire. It was machine improv-pieced from trapezoidal sections of strips. The quilt was machine quilted with paisley and swirl designs in the upper negative space of the quilt and stitch-in-the-ditch around each pane on the lower portion of the quilt.

Peek by Melanie Shortman Tuazon
There were so many beautiful and inspiring quilts at QuiltCon; these are just a small sampling of the quilt show. To see more, you can visit my Quilting Jetgirl Instagram feed, Christa Watson also posted many photos of quilts from the show, as did the Fat Quarter Shop, Bryan House Quilts, and Gina Pina.
Thanks for posting all of these great pictures, Yvonne. My fav is the quilting shot of Color in Flight – wow! I’ve been a little addicted to HSTs lately, going to have to keep this design in mind 🙂
Wow, gorgeous quilts! Thanks for sharing your trip!
Thanks for posting the quilts and links. As a person not able to attend these large conventions, it really brings the quilts to me. My favorite is Rainbow Remix, just love the colors and wonkiness of it!
Gorgeous choices! I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment in figuring out how to effectively share my experiences at QuiltCon without going totally nutso crazy with wordy blog posts. This is quite effective! I’m trying to finish up my first reflective QuiltCon post, but stay tuned for a quilt highlight post from me one of these days! It’s so interesting to see which quilts each person highlights, since there’s almost ALWAYS a quilt I hadn’t seen AND a quilt that I found equally fabulous.
First off – thank you so much for including my quilts, I am so honored!! What a great collection of quilts. Just seeing your photos just shows you that amazing variety that was present. I could have spent all week in the quilt show floor!! Mind-blowing inspiration.
Great pictures! Thank you so much for including one of mine 🙂
Thanks for such a great showing from QuiltCon! So many lovely quilts! I’m visiting from Stitch All The Things.
Great pics Yvonne and thank you for sharing them with us!
Thanks for taking the time to do this. I loved the opportunity to see some of the quilts on display. I really loved the rainbow ones. 😉
So many beautiful quilts! They prove that there is no way that I am a modern quilter (not that I have ever called myself one), but I can still admire modern work.
Thanks for sharing all these amazing quilts. I really love them all, but especially the best in show!
Thank you for this selection, and for including my quilt! You’ve done such a great job of recording your experience.
I almost missed this post somehow, thankfully just spotted it! Amazing quilts – and speaking as someone who has attempted to photograph quilts at a show (albeit much smaller obviously!) also very impressive quilt photography. I do love the best in show quilt, that would have to be my favourite, and the survivor one is very powerful, but I’d have to say, in my opinion, your alphabet quilt would have totally held its own amongst all of them.
As someone who is unlikely ever to make QuiltCon I love to get a flavour of it through posts like this. I love your selection of quilts here and really appreciate both this and the other posts sharing your experiences there. Thanks, Yvonne!
Knowing that this is just a small selection of the overall many of quilts there is just amazing, these are all really great and really quite spectacular in their own! I could have probably just walked up and down the aisles of quilts over and over again.
Hey is your beacon quilt inspired quilt inspired by the big top quilt in this post? I came across the image looking for negative space quilting ideas today.