Asheville Quilt Show 2011

The Asheville Quilt Show was last weekend and this year it was in a new venue--the Ag Center.  Now, many people might think that moving from the beautiful Arboretum to this location could possibly be a mistake: however, as far as I'm concerned, it was a good decision.  The show was in a new building, there was plenty of places to park and all of the quilts and vendors could share the same space--without any crowding.  While it's true that thee weren't any lush gardens around, it's also true that most people just wanted to see the quilts.  Any move such as this requires a certain amount of time to settle into being the "norm" but I think most people appreciated the benefits.
So--here are a few of my favorite quilts.  This first one is Golden Chrysalis by Terry Williams.  I have seen a few of the quilts by this artist and they seem to have the same sort of theme but each one plays around with light and color in an imaginative way.  As you can see, it received a well-deserved first place.-

 This next one is Lotsa Merry Berries by Nicki Vick.  I love Christmas Quilts like this one that can also just be a winter quilt.  It was beautifully made.

 This is Fourth of July in Margaritaville by Christine Regina.  I love the colors.

 And this one was made by a friend of mine, Sue Weaver.  It is Gradation and, although you can't necessarily tell from the photo, it's a miniature.  This was the first time ever that Sue had won a ribbon and she was quite excited--and it certainly was worthy of the honor.  If you enlarge the picture and look in the 4 corners, you will notice that there a tiny tubes of woven fabric that make up the squares.  You have to have really dexterous fingers to do that.

Connie Brown made this quilt, Tiffalipa.  The interesting thing about this particular quilt (other than the fact that it well done and eye-catching) is that she and I sat next to each other in a class taught by Phillipa Naylor earlier this year and we each finished our projects.  However, they don't bear any resemblance to each other.  She fell a lot deeper into the creative pool than I did and REALLY made it her own.

 Heartwood is made by Marge Edie--a quilter who is incredibly talented in the math side of quilting.  This was a replica of the top of a box she carved for her husband as a wedding gift many years ago.  I was a member of her art group while she was in the creative process of making the math of the angles and the colors of the wood come together into a thing of beauty.  She really succeeded--partially because she also has the gift of perseverance.  She kept at it when things didn't fit right until they did.  And look what she ended up with!

 This quilt, Compass Fantasy, by Renate Jaeger won the Viewers Choice Award.  She said that it had 3,700 pieces.  Man, talk about perserverance!  The original maker and designer of this quilt is Judy Mathieson and it was on the cover of The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts.  If you want to see more of Judy's work you can visit her website ttp://web.mac.com/jackmathieson/Judy_Mathieson/Welcome.html

This last quilt I'm featuring is Dresdan Plate Fantasy by Velma Frady.  No reason.  I just liked it.

And, Oh, one last quilt I liked--MINE!  I received Best of Show for Summer Soiree.  Needless to say, I was very surprised and a very happy camper.