Category Archives: Northwest Quilting Expo

The Judges’ Comments

by Dawn Posted on October 3, 2019
Give Me the Simple Life (95″ square), made by Dawn White, quilted by Kazumi Peterson, 2019. Design: Hazel’s Diary Quilt by Shelly Pagliai.

Give Me the Simple Life, my version of Hazel’s Diary Quilt, is home again after hanging for three days at last week’s Northwest Quilting Expo. I entered my quilt for judging in the traditional category and received the judges’ comments when I picked my quilt up this morning.

Here’s what the judges said:

“A very compelling combination of a primary color palette. Presentation inside scalloped sashings is so appealing and beautifully executed.” Credit is due Shelly Pagliai of Prairie Moon Quilts, who designed Hazel’s Diary Quilt and cheered me on every step of the way as I posted my progress on Instagram and on this blog.

“Hand appliqué stitch is very well done.” This comment means a lot to me because I took on the challenge of making this quilt to become proficient at needleturn appliqué.

“Machine piecing is precisely done.” Thank you, judges.

“Quilting motifs are well chosen to fill the spaces.” Kudos to Kazumi Peterson, whose free motion quilting skills and precise ruler work greatly enhanced the finished product.

“Outside edge of quilt should be straight and corners square.” This comment caught me by surprise. Were the corners really not square? I used a square ruler to trim my quilt before attaching the binding.  Of course I got out that ruler and checked the corners. The first three were perfectly square. But guess what? The fourth corner was an eighth of an inch off!

I know there are many other imperfections in this quilt but all in all, I am very happy with how it turned out. Most of all, I am glad that it’s done!!

 

 

 

Posted in appliqué, free motion quilting, Hazel's Diary Quilt, needleturn appliqué, Northwest Quilting Expo, update | 7 Comments

NW Quilting Expo 2019

by Dawn Posted on September 27, 2019

Yesterday found me happily wandering around NW Quilting Expo, now in its 19th year, out at Delta Park in Portland. Hundreds of quilts were on display, including mine and several made by friends, fellow quilt guild members, and students.

Given my recent experience with needleturn appliqué, I found myself looking more closely at quilts featuring appliqué. There were some stunners, that’s for sure! Let’s look at a few of them:

Hosanna, made and quilted by Audra Rasnake of Meadowview VA

Detail of Audra Rasnake’s Hosanna:

 

Spring Explosion, made and quilted by Sharon Engel of Greeley CO

Detail of Sharon Engel’s Spring Explosion:

 

Baltimore Wreaths & Roses, made by Kathie Kerler of Portland OR, quilted by Cory Allender

 

Here’s a fun one made by Judy Liebo, one of the featured quilters:

Disney, Eat Your Heart Out, made and quilted by Judy Liebo

Judy reproduced Disney princesses (with permission), replacing the faces with photos of her granddaughters. Check out Tinkerbelle — that’s Judy’s face — in the upper right corner:

 

Here’s my quilt:

Give Me the Simple Life, made by Dawn White of Portland OR, quilted by Kazumi Peterson

 

Among the other quilts that caught my eye:

Cake Plate, made and quilted by Salena Korpi Beckwith of Columbia Falls MT

 

Zinnia, made and quilted by Heidi Thaut of Bend OR

 

Dancing Diadems, made and quilted by Emily Blackmer of Tacoma WA

 

Happy Chance, made by Dianne Denhem of Oregon City OR, quilted by Kazumi Peterson

 

Polar Vortex, made and quilted by Jean Ludeman of Welches OR

 

My Little Amsterdam, made by Sandy Arbuthnot of Lake Oswego OR, quilted by Nancy Stovall

 

Zebra Portrait, made by Jill Huntington of Portland OR, quilted by Nancy Stovall

 

Little Pieces of My Heart, made and quilted by Gail Weiss of Portland OR

 

La Fin du Monde, made and quilted by Cheryl Farris of Portland OR

 

Here’s another of featured quilter Judy Liebo’s whimsical challenge quilts . . .

Mr Piano Man Sings the Blues, made and quilted by Judy Liebo

. . . and here’s Judy herself with another one:

Sometimes It Is a Zebra, made in a small group project with three others and quilted by Judy Liebo

 

Linda Reinert, a fellow teacher at Montavilla Sewing Center in Lake Oswego, was another featured quilter. Here’s Linda with her husband’s favorite quilt:

Platform 9¾, made and quilted by Linda Reinert of Vancouver WA

This one was also made by Linda as part of a group challenge on the theme of architecture:

Made in Portland, made and quilted by Linda Reinert of Vancouver WA

 

Look at the beautiful embroidery in this detail of Marcia Sanderman’s award-winning quilt:

Here’s a look at the entire quilt:

Flowerville, made by Marcia Sanderman of Beaverton OR, quilted by Teresa Koster

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of the quilts that caught my fancy at the show. If you are anywhere in the vicinity, I highly recommend that you visit NW Quilting Expo today or tomorrow. If that’s not in the cards, you can see videos and photos on NWQE’s Instagram page.  Sometime soon photos of all the winning quilts will be pictured on NWQE’s website.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Posted in appliqué, free motion quilting, Northwest Quilting Expo, update | 7 Comments

It’s Party Time!

by Dawn Posted on December 29, 2017

Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs is hosting a Best of 2017 Linky Party, inviting bloggers to highlight their top five posts of the year. It’s a fun way to look back over the last 12 months and identify some of the high points.

My top five are below, in reverse order. Clicking on the links will take you to the original posts.

5. Dutch Treat. Although I didn’t finish this quilt till June, I started it in January during an epic snowstorm that kept me and many Portlanders indoors for several days.

4. NYC and VFW. A trip to New York City with my twin sister in March combined many of the things I love in life: family, travel, theater, museums, and quilting. The quilting part? A visit to the Manhattan shop of Victoria Findlay Wolfe:


Victoria didn’t happen to be there that day but I had the pleasure of meeting her the following month in Paducah, Kentucky during AQS Quilt Week:

3. Terrazzo Tiles and Piccolo Terrazzo Tiles. Using the free pattern Mini Mod Tiles by Sew Kind of Wonderful, I made two versions:

The larger one was made by “supersizing” the original pattern, using the larger of the two curved rulers Sew Kind of Wonderful designed for cutting curves. I wrote a tutorial showing how I did it.

2. Junior Billie Bag. This was the first of two JBBs I made in 2017:

Designed over 20 years ago by Billie Mahorney, it’s a fabulous quilter’s tote personalized by each maker, starting with the design on the front and back panels and ending with the pockets inside and out. Two years ago Billie turned the teaching of her design over to me, and I make a bag every time I teach a class. This may be my favorite of the eight I have made so far.

Without consciously planning to, I wound up making a suite of accessories to go with my Junior Billie Bag:

(See the rotary cutter coat in the lower left corner? I wrote directions for it in 2014 and it remains my most popular tutorial. Every now and then when I see a huge spike in the number of views on my website/blog, I know it’s because someone provided a link to the tutorial.)

1 . Where It’s @. Much to my surprise and delight, this quilt won a second place ribbon at the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland, Oregon in September:

The design is Rewind by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts. I started the quilt in a class with Karla in Sisters, Oregon in July 2016. Getting a ribbon was honor enough but the award came with a check for $500. My first reaction? “Think how many yards of fabric I can buy with that!”

Well, this has been a nice little trip down memory lane. Do you want to join Cheryl’s party, too? The link is open until January 2. Be sure to check out the top five posts of the other quilting/blogging partygoers. And thank you for checking out mine!

 

 

 

Posted in Billie Bag, family, Junior Billie Bag, Northwest Quilting Expo, QCR Mini, Quick Curve Ruler, Quilter's Affair, rotary cutter case, sewing tool caddy, tote bags, tutorial, update, windmill block, wonky Greek key | 5 Comments

Northwest Quilting Expo 2017: Reach for the Stars

by Dawn Posted on October 6, 2017

Among the many special exhibits at last week’s Northwest Quilting Expo (held in Portland, Oregon) was a small one called “Reach for the Stars” featuring quilts made using Minnesota quilter Terri Krysan’s design of the same name. The quilts were made by Portland quilters who had seen my version on display at the Pine Needle and wanted to make their own.

Here is Maxine’s bold and beautiful quilt in black, white, and blue:

Blue Giant, Made and Quilted by Maxine Borosund

Joie’s quilt is a vision in green and purple, one of my favorite color combinations:

Made by Joie Lattz, Quilted by Debbie Scroggy

Lana’s lovely quilt was made as a fundraiser for her grandson’s school (it sold for over $2000!):

Made by Lana Kamerer

The owners of the quilt graciously loaned it to Lana so it could be part of the special exhibit.

Andrea’s quilt was made from the same line of fabrics as Lana’s but with a more limited palette of blues and greens:

Star Bright, Made by Andrea Hinderhofer, Quilted by Kazumi Peterson

So serene! Did you notice the different border treatment? Andrea opted not to carry the checkerboard blocks to the outer borders so she put the unused ones on the back:

Back of Andrea Hinderhofer’s Reach for the Stars Quilt

You can see some of the lovely motifs that longarmer Kazumi Peterson used.

Sharon R.’s scrappy checkerboard border cleverly pulls together all the colors used in her blocks:

Made by Sharon Ripley, Quilted by Melissa Hoffman

Sharon S. used the bright colors in her butterfly focus fabric to great dramatic effect, then calmed it down with her earthy brown and black checkerboard border:

Made by Sharon Schaper, Quilted by Melissa Hoffman

This is my version, also displayed in the exhibit:

Catch a Falling Star, Made by Dawn White, Quilted by Loretta Orsborn

Andrea was out of town during the quilt show but the remaining six of us gathered for group shots in front of each quilt. Here we are in front of Maxine’s:

Left to right: Sharon Schaper, Sharon Ripley, Joie Lattz, Maxine Borosund, Dawn White, and Lana Kamerer. With us in spirit: Andrea Hinderhofer.

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, Northwest Quilting Expo, Reach for the Stars sampler quilt, update | 18 Comments

It’s a Winner!

by Dawn Posted on September 25, 2017
Where It’s @, 57″ x 72″ (2016)

I got a phone call last night from one of the organizers of Northwest Quilting Expo (coming up later this week in Portland, Oregon) that my quilt Where It’s @ won a second place ribbon. I am thrilled!

If I remember the rest of the phone call correctly (I was a bit dazed), winners will be announced Thursday at 1:30 pm at the quilt show. That was the day I was planning to visit the show with my quilt group, the Quisters, so the timing is perfect.

I started this quilt in July 2016 in a class with Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts and finished it late last year. The name of her quilt pattern is Rewind. Karlee Sandell of sewinspired2day.com quilted it for me.

Quilters who enter their creations at Northwest Quilting Expo can opt to have their quilts judged. I chose to have mine judged, as I’m always interested in what the experts have to say, hoping I can learn from their remarks.

In 2011 I won a ribbon in a non-juried show. Here’s a look at that quilt:

Midnight in the Garden quilt by Dawn White at First Light Designs
Midnight in the Garden, 66″ x 80″ (2010)

The venue was Quilts in Bloom, a small quilt show held at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon. Much to my surprise and delight, this quilt won the viewer’s choice award for Best Traditional Quilt. I’m sure that the beautiful custom quilting by Melissa Hoffman contributed to that award. (You can see other examples of Melissa’s beautiful work on her Instagram page, fiddlestitches.)

This quilt is very special to me. It was made from my own pattern 4-Patch Wonder, published in 2010. I originally called the quilt Carmen, after the name of the fabric line from Timeless Treasures, changing it later to Midnight in the Garden. I don’t have it anymore but it’s still in the family. I gave it as a gift to my twin sister Diane as a 60th birthday present. It’s on display in her home in Georgia and I get to enjoy it on my annual visits.

The Northwest Quilting Expo runs Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 28-30, at Portland Expo Center, 2060 N. Marine Drive. Maybe I will see you there!

 

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, faux-kaleido quilts, kaleidoscope quilts, Northwest Quilting Expo, Quisters (Quilt Sisters), update, wonky Greek key | 13 Comments