Houston International Quilt Festival 2016

For quite some time now I've been devoting all my blogging energy to the Machine Quilting Unlimited blog. I've posted lots of tips, video tutorials, and loads of eye candy, so be sure to check it out! I also posted on the BERNINA WeAllSew blog about double needle free motion quilting. It's a fun technique, so be sure to hop over there at some point as well.

That said, I'm still here! I just returned from a fabulous trip to the Houston International Quilt Festival. I had three quilts there, two in the International Quilt Association judged show, and one in the Dinner at Eight special exhibit "Patterns". Without further ado, photos!

I'm very pleased and honored that I won two ribbons in the Digital Imagery catalog. Below you can see me with my quilt "Paint the Town Red", which won second place. I'm delighted that my quilt was hanging right next to that of my friend, Suzan Cloud Engler, who won first place with her wonderful quilt "GMO?". My quilt is the same size as hers, but the space available to stand in led to a little bit of a skewed perspective here. Thanks to Lisa Brehm Ellis who took the photo despite her very busy schedule. Lisa also had two wonderful quilts in the show that she made using a special technique she developed to make cathedral windows.

Me with "Paint the Town Red", Suzan Cloud Engler with her first place winner "GMO?" photo credit Lisa Brehm Ellis

I also won an honorable mention with "Winter's Tarnish". Yeah!

As always, the best part of Quilt Festival is seeing friends and meeting new people. My lovely friend Sarah Anne Smith was kind enough to take this photo of me doing my best Vanna White impression by "Blossoming", my Dinner at Eight quilt. Sarah had a quilt in the judged show as well as one in the Dinner at Eight exhibit, and both are stunning.

"Blossoming" by Diane Rusin Doran, photo credit Sarah Anne Smith

All three of these quilts, as well as every other quilt I've made, were sewn on domestic BERNINA machines. "Blossoming" is the first quilt I've completed on my new 770 QE and I loved using it!

All in all it was a wonderful adventure. I'm not sure how many photos from the show I'll post here, but I'll definitely posting some on the Machine Quilting Unlimited blog later this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Dinner at Eight - Affinity

Last year I once again had the pleasure of being juried into the invitational exhibit for the Dinner at Eight Artists. The theme was "Affinity", and I chose to represent my affinity for color (see blog name). I never really posted much about my quilt, but better late than never!

Paint the Town Red ©2015 Diane Rusin Doran

Detail Paint the Town Red ©2015 Diane Rusin Doran

Here's a link to a youtube video where I discuss the quilt for the Quilt Alliance Go Tell it at the Quilt Show! project.

As usual, I created a digital collage for my 40 x 40 inch piece. I began with a photo I took on my first iPhone about five years ago. It was a chance snapshot of a very bright door in Fort Worth, Texas. We were visiting my sister-in-law and had just finished eating breakfast at a local eatery. I took an antsy child to the car, and saw this beautiful doorway across the street. Here's the original photo with it's inspirational bright red door framed by an amazing tree:

And if you look very closely, my reflection is in the window pane to the left of the door. (I hadn't even noticed that reflection until today!)

Dinner at Eight Artists Exhibit 2014

I'm so excited! Yesterday the accepted artists were announced for this year's Dinner at Eight exhibit, and I'm in. Many thanks to Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal for all their work in creating and curating this exhibit. It looks like another great lineup of artists and I'm thrilled to be in their company.

The theme this year is reflections. I spent lots of time considering this, first thinking about literal interpretations as I have *many* photos of reflections in water and windows. Eventually, though, I felt better about doing something a little different. I wanted this quilt to reflect my techniques and styles, not be something in a totally new direction. Here is my piece, Intertwined.

Intertwined, ©2014 Diane Rusin Doran

Seahorses often have patterning (and sometimes coloring) that reflects the environment in which they live. By using transparency, I've made these seahorses do just that. Additionally, their appearance also reflects that of their kin.

Be sure to take a closer look at these detail shots. I threadpainted all of the green elements to add some depth and interest. Note to self: that amount of threadpainting takes way more time than you think it will.

If you've seen my Quilting Arts workshop on digital surface design you'll probably recognize how I created the digital collage. I started with a faux drip dyed background and worked forward from there. It was very fun to create.

I have another new piece of work to share very soon, so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by!

A New Quilt - for Dinner at Eight!

OK, it's been a loooong time since I finished a "big" quilt. I'm constantly making small samples for publication, and have made several quilts for donation in the last few years, but nothing much bigger than 12"x12". Hence I'm *very* excited to show you this new work! Without further ado - California Dreaming:

 I made it specifically for the juried invitational exhibit Dinner at Eight. I'm very honored that my quilt was accepted for the exhibit, and will appear at International Quilt Festival in Long Beach; August 1-4, 2013, and International Quilt Festival in Houston;Oct 31- Nov 3, 2013. 

California Dreaming is 24"x60". It's a digital collage comprised of  several photographs I took while on vacation with my family in Florida and California last summer. (The pelicans are from Florida, the grasses and flowers from California.) The theme for this year's exhibit is "An Exquisite Moment". This quilt represents the exquisite moments I experience with my little family on vacation, free from the everyday stresses of work, school, extracurricular activities, and all the minutia that go along with them. The three pelicans represent my three sons, ages 15, 13, and 10.

If you enlarge the detail photo, you'll be able to see better that on the flowery parts I repeatedly stitched over the lines of the flowers, adding some weight to those areas.