The 2018 Houston International Quilt Festival - Part One

(Someone pointed out that I had not included a picture of myself in front of my quilt in the last post...this is right after the Winner's Circle big reveal program was over.

Thank you to whoever grabbed my camera and got the picture!)

Ready for the show???  The first 8 quilts are the big money winners.  I "borrowed" the first pictures of each quilt from the quilts.org website, where they are flat, square, and true-colored, LOL.  

But I am not sure you can zoom in on their pics for details, so I have included any good shots I took.  There was no way I could get satisfactory, square pictures of all quilts, as you will see.

I will share the shots I have!

DISCLAIMER:  I am a crappy photographer!!  The lovely, soft lighting of the show venue and the super bright spotlights of the Winner's Circle celebration were challenging for my iPhone.

I usually bring my old-fashioned Sony "point and shoot" camera because it takes pretty good pics...should have packed it...

QUILTS: A WORLD OF BEAUTY

MAJOR PRIZES

The Handi Quilter Best of Show - $12,500

"Eternal Beauty"
Sherry Reynolds
Laramie, Wyoming
USA

The International Quilt Festival Founders Award - $7500

"Over the Waves"
Setsuko Matsushima
Otsu-Shi, Shiga
JAPAN

The Baby Lock World of Beauty Award - $7500

"An Old Woman With Joyous Face"
Marina Landi
Sao Paulo
BRAZIL
with Natasha De Souza Bugarin

The RJR Fabrics Robert S. Cohan Award for Traditional Artistry - $5,000

"Reminiscence"
Mariko Takeda
Nagoya-Shi, Aichi-Ken
JAPAN

The Gammill Master Award for Contemporary Artistry - $5,000

"Velvet Flowers"
Linda Anderson
La Mesa. California
USA

The Pfaff Master Award for Machine Artistry - $5,000

"Hope"
Ximo Navarro Sirera
Canals, Valencia
SPAIN

The Koala Studios Master Award for Innovative Artistry - $5,000

"Silent Canary"
Patricia Kennedy-Zafred
Murrysville, Pennsylvania
USA

The Superior Threads Master Award for Thread Artistry - $5000

"Blue Anemone"
Andrea Brokenshire
Round Rock, Texas
USA

Judge's Award, Vicki Anderson - $250

"Ruby"
Roxanne Nelson
Calgary, Alberta
CANADA

Judge's Award, Jonathan Gregory - $250

"Stone Lakes"
Jan Soules
Elk Grove, California
USA

Judge's Award, Carrie Nelson - $250

"The Architecture of Trees"
Suzan Engler
Panorama Village, Texas
USA

QUILTS: A WORLD OF BEAUTY

CATEGORY AWARDS

1st - $1,000

2nd - $700

3rd - $300

ABSTRACT, LARGE

(sponsored by Elna)

1st - "A Self-Portrait in an Ancient Bronze Mirror"
Eudjoo An
Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do
SOUTH KOREA

2nd Place - "Fractal"

3rd - "Antelope Canyon Mosaic"
Kimberly Lacy
Colorado Springs, Colorado
USA

Honorable Mention - "Winter Squash"
Maren Johnston
Santa Barbara, California
USA

ABSTRACT, SMALL

(sponsored by Benartex)

1st - "Cool Jazz"
Shirley Gisi
Colorado Springs, Colorado
USA

2nd - "Flax Fields"
Leah Gravells
Edmonton, Alberta
CANADA

3rd - "Lepidopteran"
Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry
Port Townsend, Washington
USA

ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES

(sponsored by Madeira Thread)

1st - "Small Happy Crazy Quilt"
Aki Sakai
Hachiouji, Tokyo
JAPAN

2nd - "Fair and Square"
Rachel Daisy
Springwood, New South Wales
AUSTRALIA

3rd - "The Royal Huntress"
Karlee Porter
Clinton, Utah
USA

Honorable Mention - "Who Let the Dogs In?"
Sandra Branjord
Sun City, Arizonia
USA

Much more to come!!!

In stitches, 
Teresa   :o)

Quilting Fantasy Come TRUE!

I am all a-flutter!  My "CONTENTMENT" anniversary quilt was juried into the 2018 IQA Houston International Quilt Festival!

And even better, I found out at the pre-show, Tuesday night Winner's Circle Celebration what ribbon I had won in the "Applique, Small" category.  Now that I am home, I am still unsure that the week even happened!

I found out a couple of weeks before Market that I had "won a prize between $250-$1000."  I found out my fate through email...apparently you get a phone call if you are one of the 8 big winners ($5000-$12,500).  

Further details about "the color of my ribbon" would be revealed in the Winner's Circle.

Once the huge crowd was settled in the combined ballrooms, we were all welcomed by the Founder and Director Emeritus, Karey Bresenhan.  Next year will be the 45th year of her life's dream.

Then the fun began!  In addition to the eight major awards and the three judges' choices (which were presented first), there were 41 categories in which prize winners needed to be announced and presented awards by the particular category sponsors.  

A slide show revealed each category's winners, starting excitingly with Honorable Mention.  When first place for each group was revealed, a small curtain was raised revealing the winning quilt, momentarily illuminated by a spotlight (mine is on the far right in this picture.)

They start on the back walls of each side, working toward the front of the room as the excitement builds.  The ballrooms' tall walls were draped in black curtains.  I didn't even see the smaller hanging curtains covering the quilts until the process started.

All kinds of quilting royalty were on hand to pass out their awards.  Here are Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson for TheQuiltShow.com.

The winner of the Handi Quilter BEST OF SHOW got a big ol' check...actually on a big ol' check!  ("ETERNAL BEAUTY", Sherry Reynolds, Laramie, Wyoming)

Will that check be checked or a carry-on when she travels home?!?

Finally, they got to my category.  It is absolutely terrifying...and thrilling...to wait to hear your name as they start with Honorable Mention.

When I got back to my seat, I immediately took a picture, just in case they realized a mistake on their part and took it away.

After all the awards were presented, they turned up the spot lights on all 50+ winning quilts and everyone in attendance got to be the first ones to see them up close and personal...a fancy sneakie-peekie.

We all stood by our quilts to greet people and answer questions.  I stood by my quilt for quite a while, until the people thinned out.  There were so many people, it was hard to get pictures until most folks had gone home.

 I even found the ballroom carpeting inspirational...

 ...and some tile accents on a wall out in the concourse.

Inspiration is everywhere!

There were so many International quilts in this show.  A lot of International quilters and quilt lovers were at the show, which was so much fun!  

In addition to USA quilts, the following citizen quilters were represented: Australia, Spain, France, Finland, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Kenya, United Kingdom, China, Sweden, New Zealand, Mexico, Israel, and Brazil.

I have SOOOO many pictures to share with you!!!!!  LOTS of posts coming full of lovelies!

(I even kept the sign from my chair...)

In stitches,
Teresa   :o)