Houston Quilt show from a non-quilter’s perspective

by Mary Beth Krapil Another International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX is in the books. It’s an exciting, fun and busy time for us here at Handi Quilter. Especially this year, because we introduced to the world the newest machine in our longarm line-up, the HQ Amara.  She was greeted by a warm and hearty welcome by all who visited our booth at the show. But then, what’s not to love? She’s smooth and quiet and very easy to operate. And she has a wonderful array of fantastic features. All those things that a quilter at one point or another said, “Gee, I wish my longarm had …….”. We were very busy in the booth and that left us little time to explore the quilt show. So, I pressed into service a friend’s husband. I thought it might be interesting to hear the perspective of a non-quilter looking at the quilts on display. We, as quilters have certain aspects of the quilts that draw us in. Those things that make us drool. It might be color, fabrics, quilting, workmanship or artistic balance. Let’s hear Ken’s impressions.

 Houston Quilt show from a non-quilter’s perspective by Ken Rosen

Going to a quilt show is much like being a judge at any kind of show. You cannot look at everything and compare everything you see to all else. There are just too many techniques, too many themes, too much color, too many fabrics, and way too much talent all in one place. After looking at just a small part of the Houston show I was struck by two things. This first quilt really impressed me because, for a striking and colorful work, the quilting patterns were very simple and basic, but used so very effectively. There was a lot of work involved and my impression was that it took a lot of thought and talent to make simple quilting so effective.

Color Me High On Life – by Karalyn Lohrenz – Billings, Montana USA

The second thing that struck me was the multitude of places quilters found the inspiration for their work. These two quilters were among many that drew their inspiration from social issues that hit close to home.

I am the Face of Rescue – by Michelle Jackson – Sandia Park, New Mexico USA

3 Wise Words – by Claire Passmore – Trowbridge, United Kingdom

The last quilt is noteworthy to me only because my wife has done several quilts that are predominately black and white with a little color, where this is similar to her style with much more color.

Gravity – by Valerie Wagner – Spring, TX USA

All and all, I enjoyed the show, even though there was so much in the way of technique and materials that I did not begin to understand. The showers of color everywhere was overwhelming. Thanks Ken!