Modern Traditionalism

As someone rooted in the tradition  this section obviously appeals to me and there are quite a few photos. Noticeable here as in other sections is the ubiquity of the log cabin pattern very much alive and well and metamorphosing into fresh forms.

Fade to Gray by
Daniela O'Connell

Detail

Tara Faughnan: Galactic Quilt

Isabel Munoz: Can You Get Inside?

Blair C. Stocker: Starflake

Quilt No. 24: Prairie by Shelby Skumanich

Malka Dubrowsky: Next Teardrop

Lorena Uriarte: potted Gums on Mount Agony Road

Slightly Arabic feel . . .

. . . achieved by hourglass centre

Alex O Hoffman: Cabin Fade Quilt

Acid Lime Kisses by Amanda Hancock

L Cabin by Linda Hungerford

Improvisation

Improvisation is an important aspect of the modern quilt movement and the one I am most drawn to.

Erin Suliak: Frolic
Made from "thrifted"
garments.

Tara Faughnan:
The Spaces Inbetween

Detail

Kamali Murali:
Apricot Quilt

Jen Broemel:
Getting Centered

Check out the giant
cross stitches

Detail

Patricia Young: Winding
Through It All

Negative Space

The use of negative space appears in most sections but there is a separate category too. For some reason I've taken only a limited number of photos none of which depict quilts with large amounts of negative space. 

I've included this because it's by a UK quilter,
Paula Steel, and it's one of at least two she has in the show.
It's called Finding Structure and is a swatch made with moving material around on a design wall.

Swatches by Heather E. Black
Designed to look like a sketch
book with overlapping
doodles.

Detail: I like the freely
quilted black
outlines.

Lorena Uriarte: Sakura Breeze representing the fleeting
nature of the Japanese Cherry Blossom season. She uses
just two fabrics, a Japanese yarn dyed cloth and an ombre
pink in a modern interpretation of the rail fence block.
Super binding.

Lovely curved hand quilting with central ties.

 by

Float On by Jen Carlton Baily
She describes a magical moment lying on the grass at a summer concert when the words of the song sounded out and children in front blew bubbles.

Although hard to see she makes interesting use of negative space by piecing the white background fabrics in same way as the coloured blocks.

Handwork Section

This is the only show I know of which has a handwork section and although the modern movement has given prominence to masterful quilting whether free machine or walking foot hand quilting is present in all the categories. In the handwork section some pieces are hand pieced and machine quilted as with  two shown here.

Trippy Triangles by Joanna Marsh
English Paper Pieced and machine quilted

Detail

100 Days Down the Rabbit Hole by Jacqueline Skerrit
She made 100 blocks in 100 days using 3 colours plus gray in each block, piecing or applique then added batting and quilting.
Background blocks are "Ghost quilted" to add interest.
What a fantastic concept and arrangement.

Detail

Ice Melting by Karen Maple
Hand pieced using a new method, California, not English, paper piecing. I must investigate what this is.

Stunning machine quilts with accented by hand work.

Charity Quilts

Every year Guilds and Bees make charity quilts to be displayed at QuiltCon and then they donate them to a local charity either for use, display or as a fundraiser. These are often stunningly inventive pieces.
A theme is set to give a focus and some unity to the display. This year it was black and white and words.

I went on a special exhibit tour with Mary Fons which included a description of A Day in the Life of a Quilter

Reading from left to right: dawn, asleep, alarm, kiss husband and cup of coffee. R2 More coffee, good, another cup, not so good, private moment, good job done. R3 Breakfast, walk the dog, another good job done. R4 Time to sew, going well till oops, unpick. R5 School run and clubs: football, music followed by ice cream. R6 Time to sew again, cutter accident, oh dear, plaster but undeterred. R7 call for pizza, delivery, pay, eat pizza, greedy and more pizza and R8 chocolate and a glass of wine, sew and more wine, spill wine R9 Kiss husband twice, bed ...!

Small Quilts

I forgot to note the name

Pop Heart by Amanda Hancock

Two Red Stitches by Sarah Hibbert of the UK

Twist by Maria Shell

Detail of block

Define Gravity by Daniela O'Connell

Tara Glastonbury
Corporate Life

Tara Glastonbury
Off the Rails

Out and around on Friday

I absolutely relished the display of Victoria Findlay Wolfe's quilts. What a virtuoso!

And here are other selections from the first half of the quilt displays:

Convex Concave by Laura Ward

Amy Friend's Radiance Quilt, a MQG free to members quilt of the month pattern,

Quadrants by Jessica Levitt and friends is in the Group or Bee section. for quilts made by 3 people or more.

No apologies by Laura Loewen and Boulder MQG members

This is The View from here by Liz Moser in the Fabric Challenge section using the prescribed Indah batik selections.

Detail of the piecing and quilting

This is from the
Individual Youth Section
Click to enlarge and see
the captions.

This is the
accomplished winner
of this section

This is one of several quilts in the Youth Group section made using blocks made by members of the Social Justice sewing Academy