Podcast 228 — QuiltCon West and an Interview with Christa Watson
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Running time: 00:53:47 Size: 25.8 MB
My pal, Holly and I went to Pasadena this last week to check out QuiltCon West. I mean, how exciting is it to have QuiltCon be, basically, in your backyard?!
and as usual, we did have fun!We met Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilting Co.
and, of course, I met up with my friend, Christa Watson — ChristaQuilts:
for a nice interview. We got to talk about how she started as a modern quilter, got into teaching and book writing:
created a company The Precut Store, and the little bit of controversy surrounding the Best of Show quilt at QuiltCon.
Here’s Melissa Averinos‘ quilt “My Brother’s Jeans”:
and close-ups of what we discussed:
and here’s the statement for the background of the quilt:
“The denim in this quilt is from my brother Michael’s work jeans, which I rescued from the dumpster after his suicide in 2009. I improvisationally pieced the crosses, which resemble a variation on the traditional nine patch. The pale ground includes subtle gold and white crosses. Grid quilting creates echoes of the cross motif, as well as references my brother’s work as a tile installer. I tucked vintage gold ribbon behind some of the tears in the denim. This quilt was a joy to work on, as I love worn materials and find beauty in forgotten and discarded things.”
If you haven’t listened to the podcast yet, please do so — I will explain in the podcast about the evocative nature of the quilt.
Congratulations to Melissa and all of the winners at QuiltCon. (Click on this link to see a list and pictures of all of the winning quilts.) All of the quilts were amazing. Here’s a pic of my favorite from the show:
Mickey Beebe, a friend from Santa Cruz made this beautiful quilt, immortalizing the Eichler Home neighborhoods of the San Francisco Bay Area. The quilt won First Place in the Use of Triangles challenge. It’s absolutely gorgeous.
My trip to QuiltCon came exactly three days after returning home from a trip to Louisiana to help my daughter, Kirsten, with the birth and events of baby #2. I spent 4 weeks at her home, being the designated playmate of my grandson, Seth, and being “chief cook and bottle washer” — a job I love. Here’s a pic of Mom with baby:
and then, Miss Brooklyn Emery:
I saw a quilt at QuiltCon that reminded me of poor Kirsten, trying to juggle a toddler, and newborn and a severe lack of sleep:
And I sent her a pic of it, with the message: “No Sleep since…”
I’ll share more about my impressions of QuiltCon in a upcoming podcast.
Until next time, Happy Quilting!
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