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Seeing Green at Road

Friday, March 14th, 2014

Road 2014 hosted 17 Special Quilt Exhibits.

It’s that time of year when the color green is pretty popular so we thought it would be the perfect time to feature the All in Green Quilt Challenge.

France Patchwork, a non-profit association that promotes patchwork and contemporary quilts all over Europe, was chosen as the sponsor of this exhibit. The organization has over 12,500 members and is celebrating its 30^th anniversary in 2014.

Thirty eight members of the association “played with all the color green they could find.” Their results were truly amazing!!!

The exhibit was located in the new Pavilion.

What do you think about all this green?

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Tags: St. Patrick's Day; France Patchwork
Posted in quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog, Road 2014, Road to California | No Comments »

So You Want To Make A Winning Quilt? Thoughts From Our 2013 Masterpiece Winner

Sunday, June 30th, 2013

Denise Havlan of Plainfield, Illinois, was awarded $3,000 from Sew Batik for her winning entry, The Peaceful Ones. This quilt took 2 years to create as Denise balanced her quilting time with her family and grandchildren time.

How did Denise get started in quilting? Back in 1989, she unknowingly entered a quilt shop and was interested in what she saw. However, she “had no knowledge of sewing, let alone quilting. I took some classes and fell in love and the rest, as they say, is history.”

The Peaceful Ones was inspired by her favorite subject as a painter: Native Americans. When Denise started quilting, she wanted to render their images in fabric. Her work process was a journey that involved stretching her imagination, extending her physical capabilities, and making creative decisions that affected the outcome of her work.

What was Denise’s reaction when she won the Masterpiece prize? “It was the ultimate satisfaction when others recognized (my) creative efforts.” Denise feels that if one puts so much effort into a quilt, it needs to be recognized. She says it is thrilling to have other’s see her work in a quilt show and to come home with a ribbon is great. When asked if she did anything special with her prize money, Denise replied, “The prize money is always spent before I get it…the ribbon is my award that lives on!”

There is no stopping Denise with her quilting endeavors. It is “forward in to the future” for her.

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Tags: Native Americans, Quilt Show, Sew Batik, Winning Quilt
Posted in quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog, Road 2013, Road to California | No Comments »

Meet Jerry Granata- Retired Navy Veteran, Artist, Quilter

Friday, May 17th, 2013

How does a 21 year Naval Veteran become an award winning quilter?

For Jerry Granata, his quilting journey began when he was a young boy, watching his mother and sister in their work as high level, garment sewers. His sister noticed his interest and taught him how to sew garments, first for babies then for himself. Later, in high school, Jerry was introduced to quilting but put it aside when he graduated to join the Navy.

His Naval experience included playing the flute, jazz saxophone, and singing vocals for different Navy rock bands. While playing for the Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, he was introduced to musical theater and utilized his sewing background in doing costume design. After 21 years of service, he left the Navy, went to Florida, and opened a night club, providing him with another opportunity to use his music and costume designing background.

He stayed in Florida for nine years when in 2012, Jerry sold all of his belongings, bought a motor home, and spent the next year traveling the country looking to find a place a land. Where did he finally settle? Palm Springs, California where he began oil painting. He soon realized that his love for color and composition was limited with painting, so he embarked on finding a new medium to express his creativity and artistic talent. Fabrics became that new medium.

Jerry began quilting by learning the basics of patterns and piecing. From there, he moved into art quilts which have become his passion. In his quilting, he loves experimenting with color, painting, art deco, and beading.

He is relatively new to quilt shows, entering his first quilt design in 2009. At Road 2013, Jerry had two award winners:

What is in Jerry’s future? More quilting and more experimenting. He also hopes to get in to teaching art quilt design.

Whatever Jerry Granata does, he does it with enthusiasm and dedication. He sums up his philosophy this way: “Everyone has a voice, an artistic side. You just have to find out what it is. Quilting does it for me.”

How have you found your artistic voice?

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Tags: Art Deco Quilts, Jerry Granata, Navy, Pieced Quilts
Posted in behind the scenes, quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog, Road 2013, Road to California | 10 Comments »

Bridging Language And Culture Through Quilting

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Apparently, learning to quilt teaches all kinds of great skills, including learning English. Because that is exactly what happened with Molly Hamilton-McNally, winner of 2012 Road to California’s Best of the Show quilt entry. Meeting Molly at this year’s Road was a real delight as she shared her humble beginnings in to the world of quilting.

In 1994, Molly came to the United States on a seven month VISA. Originally from China, Molly spoke no English and a little Japanese. She was hired to work in a Japanese restaurant. One of her regular customers introduced Molly to her boss who also knew a little Japanese and they began dating. He had a hard time pronouncing her Chinese name, so he told her he was going to call her something easier, Molly. Thus, that was how she got her very English name. As the deadline for her VISA loomed near, he proposed marriage so that she could stay legally in this country and she accepted.

Tragically, in 2000, Molly’s husband passed away from cancer. This left Molly with no income, no children, no relatives, and no way to effectively communicate in English. You can understand why she soon became depressed and sought therapy. Her doctor suggested that she find a hobby to help her through. Molly lived in the small Northern California town of Tehachapi. She had recently visited the local quit show and thought that quilting would be an interesting hobby to look in to.

Molly had no background in quilting; there are no quilts in China. But she did love art and could see where her interest in art could benefit her in this hobby. She decided to join the local quilt guild to find out what quilting was all about. She remembers that the first meeting she went to was really difficult because she didn’t know English. She learned how to quilt not by following verbal directions but by carefully watching the demonstrations. Over and over again, she diligently watched the steps repeated and repeated until she was able to basically self-teach herself. Over time, the friends she made at the guild not only showed her how to quilt, but also helped her to learn English. Molly credits the guild and its members for saving her life.

Today, Molly uses her Chinese background as inspiration in creating her quilt designs. She has become a teacher, lecturer, and designer of quilts. Molly says she loves quilting because of the many uses of color in fabrics. Her favorite technique? Appliqueing. It was that technique that she featured in her award winning quilt.

Molly truly was an inspiring find at this year’s Road to California. Who did you meet at Road this year that inspired you?

Tags: Quilt Guilds
Posted in quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog, Road 2013 | No Comments »

Celebrating Inspiration – Road to California 2013 Winners

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

What a Conference!!!

The number one response I heard when asking attendees what they thought about this year’s Road to California was, “It was so inspiring.” And who wouldn’t be inspired what with so many beautiful quilts on display. Among those on the showroom floor, were the 84 winning entries. How exactly were those winning quilts chosen?

Judging was again supervised by Road to California’s capable and experienced staff member, Stevii Graves. She oversaw an extensive process that involved not only our three judges (Kathy McNeil, Marti Michell, and Linda Taylor) but an additional volunteer force of 17 people working the judging floor. These volunteers — many who are skilled quilt judges in their own right — assisted the judges by keeping the quilts in order, fanning them out for viewing, and writing down notes as the judges dictated their responses.

Judging was over a period of two days. The judging floor was located in a locked area of the convention center. Uniformed guards maintained security of the quilts over night. Efficiency was the key in the judging process. Each and every quilt received its’ opportunity to be viewed by the judges. They worked in a team, discussing all aspects of the quilt and sharing their opinions. Every comment was recorded by four scribes to make sure that every assessment was remembered. While the judging was gong on, additional Road staff assisted in taking the final photographs of all the entries. Those were the pictures used to announce the winners on our website and on the official Road to California DVD.

When everything was said and done, the winning quilts were determined. All entrants received an email Tuesday evening, notifying them of the top winners as well as receiving feedback from the judges on their entry. The prize winning quilters also received an additional congratulatory email.

So, what was the $5,000 Grand Prize Winner this year? Red Feathers by Marilyn Badger:

A huge thank you to everyone who entered. Stay tuned for more winners and news from this year’s conference.

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Posted in behind the scenes, quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog, Road 2013, Road to California | No Comments »

The Jury Is In

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

The Quilters’ Showcase is one of the highlights of Road to California. We love providing the opportunity to display and honor up to 250 original quilt masterpieces that bring not only recognition to accomplished quilters, but some nifty cash prizes too. For 2013, over $30,000 in cash prizes is at stake.

How does a quilt make it to the convention center floor? This year’s process began almost as soon as we turned off the lights to the 2012 Road to California. Applications explaining the rules and the eight eligible categories became available late last winter. Prospective entrants had until October 1^st to submit the required paperwork along with digital pictures of their quilts for jury consideration.

Technology has made the jurying process more streamlined. A special computer program was specially designed for Road to California to insure a process that is secure and fair for all entrants. Three jurors are selected each year from around the country who have experience with quilting as well as art. Each of the jurors view anonymously the digital representations for every quilt submitted in every category. Consideration is given for workmanship, design and use of color. The quality of the picture and the way a quilt is visually represented truly aids a juror in making their decisions. All entries are given a rating of either Accept, Reject, or Undecided. Individual jurors can also make additional comments regarding an entry or even suggest a category change. When all the quilts in a particular category have been rated, each juror can then view the other jurors’ comments and decisions. In order to be accepted for the showcase judging, a quilt must have a unanimous vote from all three jurors. A second round of jurying is conducted to re-examine all Undecided votes to determine whether those quilts will receive a new Accept or Reject status. Jurying is completed when the available number of quilts for judging and floor space has been reached.

Jurying for 2013 is currently going on. All entrants will be notified by email on or around December 1^st of their status. We are so excited to see which quilts will be on display at Road to California. How about you?

Best of Show 2012- Molly Y. Hamilton-McNally

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Tags: Jurying, Quilt Entries, Quilters' Showcase
Posted in behind the scenes, quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog, Road 2012, Road to California | 4 Comments »

The Jury Process

Friday, November 9th, 2007

The jurist are selected because they have a good knowledge of quilting, one may be fairly traditional, one may be more arty, one may specialize in applique or another in embellishing or ????.
We jury the entries on our computers. The jurist can be anywhere they have their computer. They might even do it in “Jammies”. We jury independently and do not know the other jurists opinion until after we have completed a category.
When we jury a quilt entry we only have the title of the quilt, its size and the two photos. The computer has already sorted them into the category that you selected on the entry form. If all the jurist accept or reject an entry, the computer removes them from the jury process and adds them to the appropriate list.
The remaining entries are then discussed by the jurists and a final decision is made whether to accept or reject. Sometimes the discussions can be quite “lively” if two really disagree, but we finally reach a mutual decision.
I would like to say that a good photo is REALLY IMPORTANT. That is all we have when we are in the jury process. Some really outstanding quilts could be rejected because of a poor quality or missing photo.
We plan to mail out the letters the week of November 26. The letters will have appraisal forms, shipping instructions and return instructions.
Good luck to all who entered!]]>

Posted in behind the scenes, quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog | 2 Comments »

My First Blog

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

Carie is currently entering all the quilt and wearable entries into the computer so we can begin the jury process after returning from Houston. Did you know that 85% of the entries arrive in our office three days before the deadline? That’s over 500 entries in just 3 days! So much for trying to get a head start on entering them into the computer. More after we return from Houston.]]>

Posted in behind the scenes, quilt entries, Road 2 CA Blog | 1 Comment »