The Pacific International Quilt Festival happens once a year for 3 days or so in Santa Clara, California. Even though it always happens during a week in which I have too much to do, I make time for it and trek down to it.
The Island of Romance by Louise Allyn Beckman 61x40
There’s the market hall with booths for days. The fat quarters! The luscious array of threads! Plastic templates! Patterns! Books! Gadgets! Sewing Machines! Sewing Machine tables! Long Arm Quilters!
Tempting, but the best part of the Festival are the quilts on display. These are just a few of the ones I enjoyed.
Siesta by Tanya Brown 33x45
Abuela by Jennifer Day 48x41
House Top Quilt by Tara Faughnan 50x50
These are the Ties that Bind by Sara Henry and Becky Hubel 67x55
Greek Fossils by Ferret 80x60
Greek Fossils Close up
Towards Infinity by Sally Scott 80.7x48.8
Dawn Prayers on the Ganges by Meri Henriques Vahl 48x81
Grass Trees by Gloria Looughman Victornia 50x75
Fern Pool by Gloria Loughman 80x70
Owl Feathers by Anna Mae Gazo
Pieces of the Puzzle from People of our Planet by Diane Lovitt 47x86
Mary's Cabbages by Jacqueline Manley 51x52
Crazy Quilt Pansies by Diana McClun, quilted by Victoria Simpson
Georgia on my Mind by Nancy S. Brown 46x49
Scrapbag Terrace: Senior Living for Art Quilters by Marsha Burdick 93x76
Noble Mandala by Joan Dyer
Sunset by Jan Soules
America Let it Shine by Sherry Reynolds
The creativity, skill, workmanship and beauty of the quilts is remarkable, freakishly so on some of them. A whole lot of them consist of more thread than fabric.
I cannot help thinking about the level of obsessive compulsiveness gathered in one hall during this quilt festival. Yeah, okay…takes one to know one?
Why I Prewash by Joni Strother
And last but not least, I loved the sense of humor and lesson of this one – and as it happened the creator of the quilt was there as I was taking a picture of her quilt!
Her artist statement reads “I got the idea for this quilt while pre washing lots of batiks. I use Shout Color Catchers in each load. They turn such lovely blotchy colors when they absorb extra dye from the wash water. I machine pieced and quilted color catchers. I also drew on them with color pencils.”
Hmm. I think I’ll be pre washing more now.
piecedgoods 
Wow, these are all wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
these are AMAZING!
Love quilt shows. People do amazing things with fabric! Especially enjoyed the “Why Prewash?” quilt. I made such cute “I Love You” quilts in red and white for my 3 daughters for a Mother/Daughter weekend. After washing they were pink and red quilts. Still loved but certainly showed my lack of prewashing.
I know! – it’s always red that runs into the other colors!
Thank you so much for featuring my quilt and me! Great photos and ideas. The Color Catchers are
easy to sew and quilt. It’s a fun experiment.
Sincerely,
Joni Strother,
San Jose, California