Road to California 2011–part II

Okay–I admit it. I’ve done this a lot of times.

The first year it was held in the Marriott hotel, and the quilts were everywhere–in the central courtyard with many of the vendors in classrooms–a mess. Then the Ontario Convention Center was finished and at some point we moved over there. I have the 2009 bar. Somewhere. 2010 (the 15th anniversary) is still in its baggie, as is this year’s–if I can find it.

So, that impacts how I look at the quilts, what I’m interested in photographing. So, if I’ve excluded your favorite, I’m sorry. In this quilt show I have seen a migration from the more mainstream quilts (the kind that you and I make) to more and more elaborate quilts. A natural progression, I suppose, but I have known of some quilts (that I thought were worthy) that didn’t get in. And so the kinds of quilts that you and I make, seem to be in a different sphere than many of these. I have found a lot of those types of quilts in the vendors’ booths, which is another reason to haunt them.

I enjoyed seeing the “travel” quilts.

These are the quilts taken from photographs of faraway places. This was begun in a faraway place as well–in Esterita Austin’s class at a 13th-century villa in Tuscany, Italy. Patricia Masterson was the piecer and the maker, and the title is Reminiscence of Tuscany.

I’m a complete fan of these group quilts, where everyone is given a strip of the photo, and encouraged to make it in what ever style or technique they wished. Then the quilter finishes it off. The makers of this quilt, titled Annency, France, are “The Extreme Quilters Group” from Simi Valley and the quilter was Sue Rasmussen.

Detail.

Of course we all know where this is located. History and Tradition was made and quilted by Judith Eselius from Oregon. (I don’t remember the canals being that blue, but I like that color when used in this composition.)

Detail of the quilting.

Incommunicato, by Esteria Austin (recognize that name? from the quilt above?) She writes: “Every September it is my privilege to lead a workshop and tour in Tuscany. One year, after lunch, I snapped a photo of two participants caught in this wonderful pose.” How many times has my husband been checking out our photos of the day, while I re-applied my lipstick? Many.