Beautiful applique and strong graphics

Here's more pictures from the Barnswallows Quilt Show in Morden, Manitoba, Canada, May 1 to 3. Above is a snowball quilt made by Lorna Barclay for her grandson Graham. He chose the fabric (about 30 fat quarters) and with grandma's quiltmaking skills, it turned out to be a quilt with really strong graphics. This is a great example of how a simple block can be really stunning.

Morden is full of Dear Jane followers, and this is the first finished one I've seen at this show. Maker Evelyn Hoeppner explains how she tried to followed Jane Stickles' colour scheme. Click on the photo for the explanation.

Here's most of the whole thing -- sorry for cutting off the border. Lovely, lovely work. The Dear Janes in Morden are purists -- no CDs or patterns for them, just the book, and they get together to compare notes on how they made the blocks. There was another DJ in pastels on the UFO table (unfiinished objects or works in process). What was interesting was how small the Dear Jane is compared to the queen sized quilts all around it. Obviously made for a smaller bed. I admire the handwork involved in this, and I'm casting about for a long term handwork project myself, but I don't think I'm going in the DJ direction, although its tempting.

This one was hanging adjacent to DJ -- both were at the end of adjacent rows, so it was interesting to compare them. It is made by Betty Klassen, a very fine applique quilter who started the local quilt shop in town (now Quilter's Jewel, owned by another very fine hand quilter and appliquer, Pearl Braun Dyck.) Together those women have been responsible (with a few others) for a quiltmaking renaissance in Southern Manitoba and beyond.) I love the fact Betty used solids here in a very traditional design, but it still remains fresh. It was machine quilted exquisitely by Katie Friesen, who was the featured quilter and also a finalist in the $100,000 quilter's challenge for her William Morris quilt. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of Katie's stuff.
One last shot of a Baltimore-style quilt with hearts, appliqued by one woman and machine quilted by another as a gift to their mother. Bad, bad, bad journalist -- I didn't record their names.