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!