What a terrific state Maine is! It’s so very different than my home in New Mexico and chock full of adventures waiting to happen. It just so happens that I am here to teach at Maine Quilts, the annual statewide show, hosted by the Pine Tree Quilters Guild, and held in Augusta each year. Augusta is the capital of Maine. The city’s population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital and the eighth-largest city in Maine. The show takes place in the August Convention Center.
It is a welcoming group, friendly and helpful! We got a sneak preview of the quilt show last night before classes began today. I was full of anticipation to see the quilts of the far northeastern United States. I was not disappointed. Here is a small selection.
Springtime in the Geisha’s Garden by Margaret Solomon Gunn
Springtime in the Geisha’s Garden, by Margaret Solomon Gunn won Best of Show. It is an amazing quilt set apart from the others by the fine use of color, the detail, and the quilting. “The fabrics and original design are reminiscent of an Asian Garden. The quilt has accents of silk fabric and silk embroidery. The quilting designs are free-handed and the quilt includes hand applique, hand and machine piecing, hand embroidery, embellishment, and is machine quilted.
Geisha’s Garden – Back View
Here’s a look at the back of this magnificent quilt. Except for this quilt, the others in this post are all bed-sized quilts and winners in the juried show.
Lotsa Lemoynes by Daniel Perkins, Rangeley, ME
Lotsa Lemoynes was created by piecing the center section, placing it on point and then filling in the corners. Daniel Perkins says that the quilt was created using Studio 180 design’s Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star tool and techniques. It is an original design, machine pieced and quilted by Daniel and Carol Perkins.
Lotsa Lemoynes – detail
The quality and intensity of quilting in all of the award winners was simply astounding.
LZ8 by Sharleen Fields, Buxton, ME and quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn,
Sadly, the aisles in the show were not wide enough to capture the entirety of the large quilts, so these are cropped. LZ8, by Sharleen Fields, was named for the landing zones used in Vietnam to ‘dust off’ the troops. Sharleen writes, This looks like 8 birds (i.e. helicopters) heading in to land. My husband, a Vietnam veteran, helped me pick out some of the colors. The source is “Amazon Star” workshop taught by a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor. It is paper pieced, hand appliqued, and . . .
LZ8 detail
professionally machine quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn. Lovely!
Nantuckety Day by Wendy Coffin, Rye, NH
Wendy Coffin writes this about her quilt, Nantuckety Day. “Blue and white are quintessential Nantucket colors and, in my quilt, remind me of a perfect summer island day with gorgeous blue skies and water, blooming hydrangeas and blueberries, white caps and clouds.” The source is Weekend: Quilts and Projects by Barb Adams and Alm Allen, “Lazy Morning”, Blackbird Designs. It is machine pieced and
Nantuckety Day Detail
professionally machine quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn.
What struck me most about these first quilts was the way the quilting complemented the designs, enhancing the the piecework and applique. As I was processing these images and looking them up in the show catalogue, I noticed that three of the four were all quilted by Margaret Solomon Gunn – she is one heckuva great quilter!
Stay Tuned . . .