Taunton's Threads - For people who love to sew
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International Quilt Festival 2002 in Houston This year's festival, held as usual at Halloween, offered attendees loads of tricks and treats If you want something done big, where else would you go but Texas? And Houston's annual International Quilt Festival (learn more at www.quilts.com), organized by Karey Bresenhan, was very large indeed. In its 28th year, the festival offered its more than 50,000 attendees literally thousands of opportunities to view, learn about, make, and buy quilts and quilt-related items -- all under the enormous roof of the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Undaunted by a shortage of parking space in the chronically under-construction city, visitors arrived in droves, and dove right in to get the most out of their day or days among the quilts. Even long lines at festival service areas did little to squelch the ebullient mood of attendees, teachers, and vendors.
The centerpiece of the festival was the extensive, multifaceted exhibit of quilts. Or more accurately, exhibits: There were some 40 different thematic displays throughout the show, ranging from historical Australian quilts to contemporary mixed-media art quilts that have only a very tenuous link to traditional quilting techniques. I'm honestly not sure I ever actually managed to view every quilt on exhibit, but I do know that I was completely overwhelmed by the hundreds that I did see. It's hard to imagine such a vast display of technical expertise and creative expression in one place, outside of a major art museum. The largest exhibit at the show was "Quilts: A World of Beauty," which included finalist quilts from the annual judged show of the International Quilt Association. From traditional pieced and hand-quilted examples to ultra-modern wearable art and mixed-media wall hangings, this grouping explored the full range of contemporary, international quilt-making.
Husqvarna Viking sponsored an international competition entitled "Feel Free," with only two rules: Each quilt had to be 51 inches square and made on a sewing machine. With such flexible guidelines, the artists produced interesting effects with non-traditional materials, such as free-motion embroidered words on a transparent vinyl backing (Fanny Viollet's "229 Couleurs à coudre, à écrire, à broder, en toute liberté"), and shredded banknotes stitched to a fabric base (Ankie Vytopil-Diemer's "Money Puzzle #4").
Nancy Martin receives Silver Star Award The Silver Star Award is given annually by the International Quilt Festival to a person "whose work and influence has made -- and continues to make -- a sizable and positive impact on the quilting industry and community." This year, the award was bestowed upon Nancy J. Martin, a well-known teacher, writer, and the founder of That Patchwork Place (now Martingale & Company), a publishing company specializing in quilt and knitting books. A special exhibit of quilts made by Martin and memorabilia from her career was on display in her honor.
For those who managed to break away from the quilt exhibits, there were hundreds of classes, lectures, and workshops to attend, addressing all aspects of quiltmaking, from technique to design and even marketing. In addition to the many classes requiring pre-registration, the festival offered on-the-spot starter classes. Kaye Wood provided hands-on demonstrations of her quick, serged quilting technique at the LoveQuilt Connection booth, where attendees were able to learn Wood's ultra-easy approach while at the same time making crib-size quilts for donation to charitable organizations. Go ahead, treat yourself At the Threads booth, our worthy staff handed out literally thousands of our distinctive red shopping bags (along with free copies of Threads magazine) to eager show-walkers, and we're pretty sure that none of those bags left the building empty. With more than 1,000 vendors of fabrics, notions, antique quilts, crafts, patterns, and all manner of materials of interest to quilt-lovers, the festival provided a setting for lots of joyful and, we hope, guilt-free, spending.
Even attendees who don't make quilts found plenty to tempt them, from a huge range of sewing machines, to independent garment patterns, and entire sections of the show devoted to scrapbooking and embellishment. With the holidays fast approaching, the festival was a perfect place to purchase unique and/or useful gifts for just about anyone on your list. "Masquerade": the Bernina Fashion Show One of my favorite parts of the International Quilt Festival is the annual art-to-wear fashion show sponsored by Bernina. Each year, about 50 top designers of wearable art are invited to participate, and it's clear that they give it their all. The garments are uniformly spectacular -- though uniform is perhaps not a word that should be used in this context at all. Each piece displays amazing invention in design and construction. Most feature quilting or machine embroidery; many incorporated both. The fashion show itself is stunningly, professionally produced and has become a real theatrical event for both show attendees and Houstonites. For quilters, garment sewers, or anyone with an appreciation of couture-quality, one-of-a-kind garments, this production is a must-see.
Kayla's most recent article appears in the December 2002/January 2003 issue of Threads (#104), available on newsstands now, and while it doesn't show us how to create pieces as runway-ready as "Fire Blossom Phoenix," (that will remain Kayla's secret!) it does give us an idea of how to use basic machine embroidery to turn ordinary garments into works of art that are unique but also quite wearable.
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