Sunday, March 15, 2009

Dallas Quilt Celebration 2009 - Awesome!

We had a really good time at the quilt show. There was certainly lots to see! We took lots of pictures. Here is the slideshow. I bought all sorts of stuff. I covered three months worth of presents for my secret pal, got a "Big Board" ironing board which is very similar to the thing I've been asking Larry to make me for months now (he was thrilled to be off the hook), the latest Chiaverini and Ferris novels, some beautiful quilt cards, one of Joy's lovely hand-dyed pastel fat quarter collections, and a Flynn Mulit-Frame System for quilting large quilts on my home sewing machine.

Here's an absolutely wonderful Dear Jane, a virtual replica of the original. It came up winless in this show. Are they getting tired of us, do you think?



Here is one of Larry's favorites. The texture on this bird was awesome. The bird reminded us of Fawkes, the phoenix in the Harry Potter series.



Larry really liked this one too. His favorite color (by far) is blue. I thought it was pretty amazing too!
























We both really liked the best in show. I certainly thought it was an excellent choice for that award. It showed the most creativity coupled with the highest level of technical expertise of any quilt in the show. Look at how much depth it shows, and how perfectly flat it hangs! Larry wasn't as impressed as I was (not enough blue, I think). It had stiff competition, but it was definitely the cream of an excellent crop. I took multiple closeup photos of this work; they are displayed early in the slideshow.





























This one was wicked cool too. The pieces on this miniature are incredibly small. That piece of paper is the standard 8.5"x11" sheet that all the quilts are shown with. It very deservedly won the blue ribbon for best miniature. Oh yeah, her dimensional embroidery is phenomenal too. Mission Impossible she called it? Apparently not!



We rounded out this lovely, if tiring, afternoon with a fabulous meal at Craft, located in the W hotel in downtown Dallas. The food was amazing, as usual, and the service is unlike anything I have ever experienced anywhere else. We stayed at the W for Christmas a year ago, when Larry's job wouldn't let him go out of town over the holiday. Craft was new then, and was already quite wonderful, but it has gotten even better since then. The meltingly delicious shortribs, the perfectly sauted broccoli, the to die for lemon crepes. Sigh. It's a good thing it is 50 miles away and shockingly expensive, or I would be another 100 pounds overweight, but once a year? C'est parfait!

7 comments:

Jo in TAS said...

I'll never tire of Dear Janes, they're always winners to me :-)

Jeanne said...

I agree with Jo! Thanks for sharing some of the quilts at the show.

Anonymous said...

Hi Susan - I saw you on the DJ email list, I haven't posted yet since I've been traveling for the past few weeks... anyway, I'm in Dallas. I missed the quilt celebration since I was actually in Austin for a conference. Anyway, I absolutely love to paper piece. I am certainly no expert but if you need some ideas or have some questions, I might be able to help you out.
Just let me know!
Chris

Mary Ann said...

Hi Susan! Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures and experiences at the show!!! That DJ quilt looks very much like my unquilted one!! I also tried to use the original fabrics and colours...I just can't wait to get it completed!!
Again, thanks for sharing!
Mary Ann

Barb said...

Oh, those quilts are so wonderful, thanks for showing them. good thing they hand out gloves or I would be in trouble for touching them all.

I tried to email you, but I do have batting for my quilts now, husband was very generous to me. Although, those two quilts are going to my sister unquilted for her twin grandbabies she is getting in May. I would have written that but don't know what family members are lurking about. I told her I would make them and she could quilt them so she could have a hand in it as well. Just trying to help her out, she has rheumotiod artheritis.
Awesome sister, does awesome quilting and is soooooooooo busy.

Brandy said...

I can't wait to get started on my block(s) for the pastel quilt... I need to rummage through my fabric!!! Maybe we can have a group trip to the next quilt show??

LuAnn said...

I always love to see a Dear Jane quilt "in person". I guess we love them because we know how much work goes into those blocks.