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So You Want to Make A Winning Quilt? Road 2016 Best Traditional Quilt

Thursday, June 23rd, 2016

The Paisley Peacock was made and quilted by Bethanne Nemesh. Bethanne won $5,000 for Outstanding Traditional Quilt from Janome.

While both of Bethanne Nemesh’s grandmothers made quilts, quilting for Bethanne was largely a process of self-discovery. Her mother didn’t quilt, but she did sew and Bethanne remembers “truly hat(ing) the fabrics from my youth. The late 1970’s and 1980’s calicos did not do much to inspire a young artist.” It was when Bethanne went to college and met a fiber artist who did hand dying and printmaking that she realized she didn’t have to tolerate what the stores had to offer. Later, when she moved to Pennsylvania with the rich quilting culture there, Bethanne really took off with her quilting.

Paisley Peacock was inspired by a henna tattoo that Bethanne got at the beach one summer; the tattoo had swirling paisley designs. She was also inspired by a rich ribbon edged sari fabric from India. The quilt took close to 200 quilting hours, but that only tells a part of the story. The design time for the quilt was also significant, but most of her work was with the edge treatment. Bethanne is known for doing specialty edges on her quilts. The handmade edge for Paisley Peacock is a combination of beads enclosed in a sleeve of fabric and individually made tabs placed carefully around the quilt. The edge itself took an additional 150 hours to complete.

Bethanne was “quite surprised” that Paisley Peacock won one of the top prizes at Road 2016. Winning Outstanding Traditional Quilt was an enormous honor for her, “especially since a huge number of entries at the show were traditional.” What did Bethanne do with her prize money? In August 2016, Bethanne sustained a hip injury that required extensive surgery. She is still not fully recovered and so trying to maintain her 2,500 square foot front yard garden of perennials has been challenging. Winning this prize allowed her to hire a professional landscaper to design and execute a drastic –yet still beautiful– scaled down version of her front garden. After achieving this honor, Bethanne hopes to continue to push herself creatively making meaningful show quilts. She is currently working on two quilts that she really feels strongly about. Bethanne also hopes to travel and teach at a west coast show in the near future. ]]>

Tags: Bethanne Nemesh, Fiber Artist, Outstanding Traditional Quilt, Pennsylvania Quilting
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Road 2016's Top Modern Quilt

Tuesday, June 14th, 2016

Modern Mojo Two was made and quilted by Linda M. Thielfoldt of Troy, Michigan. Linda received a $5,000 award for Best Modern Quilt from sponsor Riley Blake Designs.When Linda Thiefoldt was 12 years old, she tried her hand at quilting for the first time. Her sister was having a baby and Linda wanted to make her a quilt. It was an original design and tied with embroidery floss. Her winning quilt at Road 2016 has come a long way from that first simple quilt.

Modern Mojo Two was very special to Linda. She had a bad ski crash and broke her ankle and shoulder. It was very painful and she couldn’t quilt or sew for 6 months. It was a full 10 months before she was done with physical therapy. There was a point where she thought she might never be able to machine quilt again. It was a very dark time for her. Modern Mojo Two was the first quilt Linda made after her physical therapy where she felt like she was back. She had a lot of charity quilt practice but she felt her quilting was pretty awful due to her limited range of motion. Linda was fearful that she might never get back to competitive quilting again. It took a long time as she could only quilt for an hour or so a day due to the lingering pain. The quilt was in the machine for 4 months. Linda learned “that you have to make the most of every day and push harder through adversity. Had I given up, which trust me I wanted to on many days, this quilt would have never come to fruition. It was a very humbling and soul searching time where I had only my faith to rely on. The thought of losing something so central to my life was very scary.”

The winning design was most influenced by the white fabric with the different sized dots she found. She had previously drawn out the stripes in the layout and was planning on doing some quilting in the background “white” space in a grid type format. But when she found that one print with the “spikey circle things,” the design changed and the spikes and circles really took center stage.

When Linda found out her quilt had won, she was “beyond thrilled.” Linda said, “I live in Michigan and I’m sure if you had been paying attention, you could have heard me squeal all the way to California. I was stunned that this quilt which has so much meaning for me was chosen for this award and to make it to the “top tier” of awards was such a welcome. I have been competing a long time and have been blessed to have won many ribbons but this one by far has the most meaning to me.” Linda used some of her prize money to pay off the balance on her embroidery machine and set the rest aside for a future longarm machine.

What is next for this modern quilt winner? Working on another modern quilt, of course. Even though she has been a traditional quilter all her life, Linda has found that she is most inspired by the open and negative space that is such a huge part of modern quilts. Linda plans to keep the same name, developing a series: Modern Mojo One, Modern Mojo Two…..stay tuned.

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Tags: Linda Thiefoldt, Modern Quilting, Winning Quilt
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So You Want To Make A Winning Quilt – Road 2016 Outstanding Innovative Quilt

Thursday, June 9th, 2016

Really ‘Wild’ Flowers! Third Season was made and quilted by Sharon L Schlotzhauer of Monument, Colorado. She won $5,000 from sponsor, SewBatik.

Sharon Schlotzhauer has always loved fabric. She had done occasional garment sewing and fabric-related crafts from her teens into adulthood.

Sharon began quilting in 2000 shortly after “inadvertently’ watching a portion of Eleanor Burns, Quilt-In-A-Day program one Saturday morning. (Truthfully, Sharon was actually waiting for a different program to come on and had tuned in a bit early) Sharon thought that Eleanor made quilting look so fun and had made such a beautiful block, that her interest was piqued. After that initial introduction, Sharon started tuning in each Saturday morning and eventually became hooked. Prior to that chance encounter, she had had no interest in either quilts or quilting! The inspiration for Really ‘Wild’ Flowers! came from Sharon wanting to do something dimensional and unusual. Ever since she began making art/wall quilts in 2004, she has worked in dimension and embellishment in some way. This quilt is the newest in her ‘Wild’ Flowers! series which began in 2008 with a smaller Robert Kaufman challenge quilt. The three larger, “Really ‘Wild’ Flowers! ‘Seasons’ quilts began in 2009. All the ‘wild’ flower quilts are different but similar to each other and the flowers have evolved in different shapes and forms. The required commonality is the dimensional open-centered flowers, which to Sharon’s knowledge is uniquely her own. The idea for each quilt comes with a thought, a sketch, and what she imagines that she can do to make the next quilt a little more interesting. [caption id="attachment_4088" align="aligncenter" width="406"]

Really ‘Wild’ Flowers! Second Season – 62″ x 65″
went missing in November 2011 in Houston, Texas.
There is a reward for its safe return[/caption] Sharon spent a little under 400 hours in 2015 working on this quilt. (Her second “Season” quilt took 700 hours!!) Every competition quilt Sharon makes is a learning process as she attempts to create a more interesting or more innovative element with each consecutive one. What did Sharon think when she found out she won Outstanding Innovative Quilt at Road 2016? “I was absolutely stunned for a few moments – and then filled with incredible excitement!! I had to read the email twice to be sure I didn’t misunderstand it! I never take any award of any size, at any show, for granted. I’m always grateful, and it’s a blessing for me when my work is given recognition by judges or viewers alike.” What does Sharon plan to do next with her quilting? She wants to continue to” follow my interest and my heart.” Sharon plans to keep on making show and competition quilts along with benefit and personal/gift quilts in between. There are two more pieces to her ‘Wild’ Flowers! series that are currently drafted and waiting to be made. Making miniatures is also an increasing interest for Sharon – usually hand-appliqued landscapes. Sharon says that she loves detail and enjoys working in small scale. To learn more about Sharon and her work, please visit her website. ]]>

Tags: Art Quilts, Eleanor Burns, Miniature Quilts, Quilt in a Day, Robert Kaufman, SewBatik, Sharon Schlotzhauer
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So You Want To Make A Winning Quilt- Road 2016 Outstanding Art Quilt

Saturday, May 14th, 2016

Beach Sculptures was made and quilted by Judy Leslie. She won $5,000 from sponsor Handi Quilter, Inc. for winning Outstanding Art Quilt at Road to California 2016.

[caption id="attachment_4043" align="aligncenter" width="602"]

Photo credit: Judy Leslie[/caption]

Judy Leslie is from Coquitlam, BC Canada. Her original design took about a year to complete. She uses a domestic machine for her quilting!!

How did you get started in quilting? I have always loved designing with fibre (this is the Canadian spelling of fibre!). My interest began as a pre-teen by dreaming up and sewing ‘exotic’ doll clothes for my younger sister. I then moved on to constructing a vast array of garments over the years. About twenty years ago I discovered the wonderful tactile nature of cloth in ‘quilt’ form. I began by making a few traditional style quilts, but soon developed an interest in creating art quilts. Once I retired from a teaching career, I was able to devote more time to experimenting with techniques and designs. I am forever inspired by the lushness of our local landscape as well as recent journeys to other vistas.

What inspired your winning design? My husband and I have spent many winter vacations leisurely exploring Kauai’s beaches. The slowly eroding shoreline produces exquisite ‘beach sculptures’. The remains of trees, with their intertwined roots, are stripped of their bark and gradually reveal incredible tints of creams, pinks and grays.

How long did it take to make your winning quilt? What did you learn along the way? I usually focus on making at least two pieces at a time as I ponder and plan future projects. The complexity of each artwork’s construction means that a single piece may take many weeks or even months to complete. Sometimes family responsibilities or travel takes me away for periods of time, yet often this time allows me to contemplate ways and means of enhancing the projects that I’m in the process of completing. [caption id="attachment_4044" align="aligncenter" width="508"]

Photo Credit: Judy Lesllie[/caption] What was your reaction when you found out you won Outstanding Art Quilt? I was ecstatic! I was awarded Best Painted Surface at the Road to California in 2013 and I thought that nothing could surpass that thrill. When I received the news I was with my husband and friends on the Big Island of Hawaii wishing I could be at the show in California. Did you do anything special with your prize money? Other than purchasing a huge selection of threads that I have coveted for at least ten years, my prize money is in my Savings account! My ‘workhorse’ domestic machine has never let me down for eight years; I now have a contingency fund should my machine decide to be uncooperative in the future. Where do you go from here with your quilting? At the moment I am creating two major pieces. Although I am using different materials and techniques, both pieces have an animal theme. Making art quilts is an important part of my life and I receive immense pleasure from working in this medium of artistic expression. Since 2007, I have exhibited quilts in a number of major quilt shows and galleries in both Canada and the USA. Many award winning pieces can be viewed on the Fibre Art Network website. I have taught a variety of classes in the past. Physical limitations now prevent me from this pleasure so I am contemplating self publishing a book on some of my favorite techniques.

Editor’s note: You can read a more detailed account of Judy’s work on Beach Sculptures in the Autumn 2015 edition of The Canadian Quilter magazine CQA/ACC.

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Tags: Domestic Machine Quilting, Judy Leslie, Outstanding Art Quilt, Road to California, Road to California 2016
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Meet Kathy McNeil: Road 2016 Director's Choice Winner and Road 2017 Teacher

Tuesday, May 10th, 2016

Kathy McNeil of Tulalip, Washington, won $5,000 for Song of the Sea, from sponsor Moore’s Sewing Center.

Before Kathy McNeil became an award winning quilter, she was a hospital nurse for over 35 years. During that time, she loved the community quilts that guilds made for her patients. When Kathy’s daughter asked her mother to make her a quilt for her dorm room, Kathy vowed to try. They went to the quilt store to buy fabric and that is where Kathy saw her first pictorial quilt. As Kathy remembered, “It was like being hit by a lightning bolt of excitement. I still wake up surprised and excited that I have found this passion that makes me so incredibly happy.”

Kathy got the idea for Song of the Sea from a trip to the Seattle Aquarium with her grandchildren. The octopus came out and literally danced across the glass in front of them. Kathy thought the octopus, “was so incredibly, a real diva of the deep.” Kathy wanted to capture the octopus’ playful, intelligent spirit. The word “diva” that Kathy used to describe her encounter with the octopus inspired the unusual setting of the quilt. As Kathy says, “What better to show off a diva than an Art Nouveau setting?”

It took Kathy about 400 hours of turned edges using the Apliquick technique to make the quilt. Kathy is a US distributor of those tools and loves watching students gain confidence in turning the smallest little shapes so quickly. Kathy shared her progress with the quilt in her monthly newsletter.

It was her readers that chose the name of the octopus—Ophelia. The biggest challenge for Judy was figuring out how to make the suckers for the 8 octopus legs. She finally came up with making 321 tiny silk organza yo- yo’s to fit the visual look and texture that she wanted. When Kathy heard she had won the Director’s Choice at Road 2016, she said, “I leaped, I twirled, I danced, I sang and shouted with joy….. Thank you, thank you for falling in love with my crazy octopus.” Ophelia has been loved by so many people as she has traveled to different shows. She has won two “Best Original Design” Awards and an international art collector has purchased her to be part of a collection of “sea creature art.” Winning the Director’s Choice was such an unexpected gift that Kathy and her husband decided to use her winnings to make some awesome family memories. They took their daughter and her family on a cruise to the Panama Canal while Kathy was teaching.

What is on the horizon for Kathy and her quilting? “A wonderful balance of teaching trips, time with Mother Nature for inspiration and taking the summer off to write a new book on borders. I wake up every day feeling very blessed to be part of the quilting community.” To learn more about Kathy McNeil, please visit her website.]]>

Tags: Art Quilts, Award Winning Quilts, Kathy McNeil
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Meet Laurie Tigner: Road 2016 Teacher and Quilt Award Winner

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

Laurie Tigner with Road's owner, Carolyn Reese Laurie Tigner with Road’s owner, Carolyn Reese[/caption] Laurie won first place for Traditional, Wall, Other for Cameo Rose. [caption id="attachment_4000" align="aligncenter" width="428"] Cameo Rose made and quilted by Laurie Tigner[/caption] A whole cloth quilt, Laurie used a technique that she continues to learn about. She chose batik because when she painted over it, it gave the fabric a look of stone with shadows and provided the sculpted look of a real cameo. Laurie tried three times to get the appearance she wanted. At one point, being discouraged, she threw the quilt away. Her husband rescued it out of the trash. Laurie took the piece, squished it in a ball and threw it in a corner where it stayed for 3 months until she heard that HMQS needed another quilt for their show. She added ”tons more color” to finish the piece and turned it in. To Laurie’s amazement, Cameo Rose ended up winning first place in the Wall Quilt category. Then it won first place at Road 2016. Laurie has promised the quilt to a friend after she shows it two more times to get back the time and money she put in to the project. Laurie won another first place honor for doing the quilting on Janet Stone’s winning entry, This One’s Four Ewe.” [caption id="attachment_4001" align="aligncenter" width="400"] “This One’s Four Ewe” made by Janet Stone and quilted by Laurie Tigner[/caption] Janet is a close friend of Laurie’s and asked her to do the quilting. Laurie confided that she was “scared to death” to work on the quilt knowing Janet’s status as a master quilter. Laurie “lived in fear” that she would bring Janet’s reputation down. When Laurie heard the quilt had won first place for Traditional, Large, Applique, she was so relieved. “I didn’t humiliate myself.” What were Laurie’s first impressions of Road? “Huge” and “Friendly.” She was particularly impressed with all the attention to detail. Laurie’s Road classes all focused on using her Inktense Fabric Painting technique. She said she loved her students in her classes. “They were the best.” One day, Laurie remarked how she couldn’t believe how wonderful California oranges were compared to the oranges she got back in South Dakota. Laurie was totally flabbergasted when the next day, one of her students brought Laurie a bag of oranges from her tree!! “I didn’t expect that.” To learn more about Laurie, please visit her web page. ]]>

Tags: Award Winning Quilts, Batik, Inktense Fabric Painting, Janet Stone, Laurie Tigner, Winning Quilt
Posted in Road 2016, Winning Quilts | 2 Comments »

Meet Patt Blair: Road 2016 Winner and 2017 Teacher

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

Patt Blair won 3^rd Place in the category Art, Critter for Summer Hunt at Road 2016

Patt Blair is no stranger to Road to California. A resident of the mountain community of Mt. Baldy, California, she is surrounded by inspiration for her quilt designs. The idea for Summer Hunt came several years ago from another piece of hers, Winter Hunt, where an elusive mountain lion hunted in the late afternoon snow. Patt knew for years that Summer Hunt would come into being; it just took a while to come up with the look she wanted. An east coast artist, B. Hautman, had produced a similar piece and was kind enough to allow Patt her own modified interpretation of his image. It took Patt about 11 weeks to finish Summer Hunt. First, she immersed herself in paining the subject so that she could really come to know it. Patt spent 8 weeks on the quilting. The further along she got on the quilt, the fewer hours were dedicated each day in the project. The blocking and facing only took a few days.

As a quilter, Patt puts a lot of introspection in her pieces. She feels that it “absolutely pays off to really think about the elements of a piece; to decide what importance they will play in telling the quilt’s story. For example, Patt normally loves quilting airflow (the sky) using a motif that draws attention to its easy movement across the horizon. No such attention was warranted in Summer Hunt’s sky so a much more subdued motif was used. Patt was happy to hear she had won third place in the Art, Critter category, which had the highest number of entries for the 2016 show. “A piece becomes like one of my children; I was proud of it.” As a teacher, Patt LOVES the peaceful, playful rhythm that comes from a classroom of people all working and learning together. She has just one classroom goal: that when students leave class, she wants them to feel just a bit “cocky.” In other words, that they will have the realization that they did the project and they’re proud of their work.

Patt will be teaching painting and quilting classes at Road 2017. She is teaching both a two-day version of Painted Quilt Art as well as a one day Painting with Inks. In these two classes, students can use one of Patt’s many drawing options or bring one of their own as instructed on her web site. ( www.pattsart.com button: EZ drawing). Patt will also be teaching The Filling Station, a skill building class on quilting motifs,. This class will allow students to learn and practice stitching motifs that they can use in their own work.

Finally, Patt will be doing a Media Mixer class exploring variety and freedom in using several surface design techniques. Patt says this class is “totally fun and represents what my former teacher Robert E Wood Jr. coined as the meaning of CREATIVITY: a winding path to an unknown destination. We’ll all learn where we were going once we get there!!!” ]]>

Tags: Award Winning Quilts, Patt Blair, Quilt Teacher, Road to California 2017
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So You Want To Make A Winning Quilt: Road 2016 Best of Show

Friday, April 1st, 2016

Melissa Sobotka of Richardson, Texas made and quilted Silk Road Sampler, the 2016 Best of Show winner sponsored by Gammill Quilting Systems. Melissa received $10,000 for her winning entry depicting an ancient Istanbul spice bazaar.

[caption id="attachment_3944" align="aligncenter" width="403"]

Silk Road Sampler by Melissa Sobotka[/caption] You had to see Road to California’s 2016 Best of Show winner in person to believe that it was truly an art quilt!!! At first glance, some of our guests actually thought that winner, Melissa Sobotka, just stitched over and around a piece of fabric. That’s how intricate and amazing the appliqueing was for Silk Road Samplers. Melissa got in to quilting by accident. “I was making some banners for my church when a friend suggested if I put some batting in the banners and added some stitching, I would have an art quilt. I had never heard of Art Quilts. I did some research and was fascinated by this art form so I got some scraps of fabric and taught myself.”

It took Melissa 5 months to complete Silk Road Sampler which was inspired by a picture she took in the spice market in Istanbul. She thought the designs on the pillows were something that many appliquers would appreciate and that it would be a busy enough design for her to enjoy working on for many months. About 4 months into the project, Melissa wondered. “What have I got myself into?” The detail on the bottom section nearly put her into “a straight jacket.” But as with all her quilts, Melissa just “faced the challenges head on, a little more each day, until it was finally completed.” Melissa confided that she was in “total shock” when she heard she had won Best of Show. “Road to California was the quilt’s debut show and you never know how a quilt will be received. I feared people would look at it and wonder why anyone would create a quilt of pillows.” What did Melissa do with her prize money? She took a trip to India for the color festival, Holi, searching for an idea for her next quilt. Melissa hopes that her quilting will continue to evolve; that it will build off what she learns from each quilt that she makes and from the innovations and techniques of her fellow quilters. ]]>

Tags: Best of Show Quilt, Gammill Quilting Systems, Holi, Istanbul, Melissa Sobotka, Spice Market
Posted in quilt entries, Road 2016, Winning Quilts | 7 Comments »

Found at Road 2016: Quilt Winner Margot McDonnell

Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

You never know who you will run in to on the viewing floor at Road to California.

Standing by the 3^rd Place Art Pictorial was the maker and quilter, Margot McDonnell, having her picture taken by her friend to record the honor.

What did Margot have to share regarding her winning entry?

A quilter for the past 15 years, Margot said she didn’t normally do quilts like this unless she was “obsessed with the theme.” Moody Beach, Maine, 1957 took 2 years to make. Margot spent the first year just “thinking about it.” “I think a long time before I get going on a project,” said Margot.

She found the picture that inspired her quilt on eBay and bought it. It was just a tiny black and white snapshot. She named her quilt after the information found on the back of the picture. And by the way, Margot has never been to Moody Beach 🙂 The quilt is fused, quilted with a walking foot, and painted. the most challenging part were the reflections and the white surf bubbles which she cut in piece like lace. As Margot worked on the quilt, she thought about the passage of time and how the three little boys must be in the their 60’s by now. Who inspires Margot with her quilting? “Lenore Crawford changed my life.” She taught Margot the technique used on Moody Beach, Maine, 1957. Margot was thrilled to find out she shared the Art Pictorial winning category with her mentor, Lenore Crawford. “I was honored to be named a winner along with Lenore.” Lenore won first place, Art Pictorial, for her quilt, Spanish Arches.

What winning idea are you thinking about for Road 2017? The packet for entries for our 22^nd annual Quilter’s Contest will be available starting around April 1^st on our website.]]>

Tags: Art Pictorial Quilts, Award Winning Quilts, eBay, Lenore Crawford, Maine, Moody Beach
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