Inspirational Sunday (18) - via the 2013 International Quilt Festival in Long Beach

As promised, this week's selection of quilts are all about color!  You may want to grab some sunglasses.

Starting off with this quilt called, "Pixelated Color Wheel" by Kati Spencer of Taylorsville, UT.  It is machine pieced and quilted.

She says, "I used approximately 150 different colors of solid cotton fabric.  My initial intention with this quilt wasn't to perfectly recreate the color wheel, but rather to place fabrics in such a way that created interest while providing the overall view of the color wheel.  The design itself was very organic as I simply began with the central white squares and began arranging all other colors radiating from that point, moving from light to dark.  The use of color, quilting and solid fabrics create a simple yet interesting piece that has become a well-received quilt in the modern quilting community."

I'm not sure if I have 150 different solids yet, but I like the idea of creating a quilt using her method.

The next quilt is called "Circus Stars" by Teresa Justice of Rock Hill, SC.  It is machine pieced, big stitch hand quilted.

"Using a traditional Kaleidoscope block, I wanted to create an explosion of colors on a black and white background.  The colors, movement in the stars and illusions of white and black rings all brought to mind the traditional American circus.  I designed a border that reminded me of circus tents and added quilted rings to the border representing the three-ring circus format."

If an explosion of color is what she was going for, I think she attained it.  Isn't it just "WOW"?

This next quilt is called, "The 48 Pound Quilt" by Tanya Finken of Saratoga Springs, UT.  It is pieced and free-motion quilted.  The modern cross or modern plus sign inspired this design.

She says, "This was my quilt for the Kona Solids Challenge.  We were given a Kona Brights Charm Pack and challenge to use these and other solids to produce a quilt.  I have had  the pound symbols in my head for a while, so I chose to make my quilt with these.  I call it The 48 Pound Quilt because there are 42 pound symbols on the front, and six more hiding on the back."

Well, good thing it didn't weigh 48 pounds, right?  I doubt many kids now days would know what she meant by "pound" symbols since they call them hash tags" now thanks to social media.

This next quilt is called "Intersections" by Diane Melms of Anchorage Alaska.  It is an original design and machine pieced and quilted.

"In life we intersect and encounter many people and ideas.  This convergence makes our life richer as we learn from new experiences and input.  The choices we make color our life and create a patchwork, which becomes our life story."

I wonder what the patchwork of my life would look like.

Most of the quilts today have been rather "Modern", so the final quilt today is a bit more traditional, but still colorful.  It is called, "Spring Garden" by Susie Andersen, Margie Lambeth, and Margaret A. Phillips of Cos Cob, CT.  It is machine pieced and free-motion quilted.  It uses 16 patches and Sawtooth Stars for design.

The quilter's statement says simply, "This is the latest in my series of large quilts exploring color while using traditionally pieced designs."

Who knows what next week's selections will be?  Do you have any suggestions for themes?

Thanks for reading today,

Jen