In Stitches

It's always wonderful to share art with a buddy and high school friend Chris appreciates an artist's labor and love of craft as much as I.

We wisely used our Saturday afternoon to attend the 46th Annual NQA Quilt Show 2015 down by the riverside in Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. And boy did we get our money's worth in eye candy!

A rainbow of colors filled the once boring hall space. There were all sizes of quilts- large, medium and small in categories of Pieced, Appliquéd, Mixed Technique, Duet, Pictorial, Naturescape, Art/ Innovative, Scrap, Group, Chapter Row, Modern and Other.

Four special exhibits were our first stop. 





The Hoffman Challenge: A  U.S. traveling exhibit to shows, seminars, and quilt shops. Hundreds of participants rise to this challenge.





Route 66: 56 quilts of famous landmarks along the 8 state highway.  Picture below are a couple of my favorites.

50 Shades of Gray: Neutral grays were used in the quilt's design  

Rainbow's Edge: Gold Coast quilters Guild challenged the utili-zation12"x12" squares were on a black panel using 2/5 assigned colors with different techniques.

There were so many gorgeous labor intensive quilts in this juried art show. I have included some of my favorites below:

One Cake , Two Cake, Red Cake , Blue Cake
 450 knotted loops added to binding for a festive effect

Digitally enhanced sunflower

Authentic Turkish designs

Hanging Gardens, 4 quilt shops in 4 states gave participants
4- 2 1/2" strips for their quilts

"My Version of a Persian," entirely hand made and of silk

'Cat Crazy,' hand dyed wool as well as commercial wool

miniature

Spool inspired design after visit to a quilt shop

Personally I'd take any of these... hey, it matches my skorts..

I didn't go home empty handed as the little star quilt below will go back with me to the End of the Rainbow Valley. Both Chris and I 'won' 12"X12" quilted squares in the silent auction which will always remind us of the special afternoon we spent enjoying beautiful quilts...