Here are the ones that caught my eye this year.  No rhyme or reason other than each of them called to me to look closer and read the story behind each quilt.  By the way, why does it annoy me when I see quilts hanging in a quilt show which people are prohibited to take a photo of?  Am I the only one who feels this way?  

First up is A World of Many Colors by Georgeta Grama from Rasnov/Brasov, Romania.  I am always drawn to rainbows but this quilt with its shadowing effect of a rainbow along with trapunto, fused applique and wholecloth technique was gorgeous.  I especially liked the rainbow binding which pulled it all together.  

Yes this is a quilt.  Stunning, absolutely stunning work.  This is called Make You Happy by Brigit Abueso Bell-Loch from Girona/Catalonia, Spain. It won first place in the Art People, Portraits and Figures category which didn't surprise me.  Ms. Bell-Loch found a photo of her mother when she was in her 20's and thought it would make a nice present for her mother.  It was machine pieced and appliqued, free-motion machine embroidered and machine quilted.  Stunning!  

I love maps.  At the show there was a large section of map quilts which I really enjoyed but this one struck me the most as it focused the antique symbols of a map with chartlines and a compass.  Love the colors and the off center placement of the compass.  This is Uncharted by Catherine Baltgalvis of Riverside, California. The appliqued compass is absolutely perfect.  

OK now we are getting into "Rock Star Quilt Status" for me... This is Supernova by Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced.  When I saw it across the room I said to Zina, "That's Supernova!" and I was thrilled that Lee has her original in this show.  Seeing this quilt made me feel like I saw a celebrity.   I've made this quilt and love, love, love it....and I kept it for myself.  :)  

Now for History Time...This is called A La Carte by Sally Wright of Los Angeles, California.  What drew me in was the garden layout and chateau look to the building so I had to take a look at the description of the quilt.  

It said, "A garden plan is kind of a map, delinting the "bones" of a garden hardscape -- the walls, paths and planting beds -- as well as the garden materials themselves -- the trees, shrubs and flowers.  The whimsical map here sketches out the great 17th century landscape designer Andre' LeNotre's plan for the garden at Vaux-Le-Vicomte, the great chateau built in the late 1650's by Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Minister of Finance. It is said that Louis was so jealous of its beauty, that he had Fouquet arrested and imprisoned for the last 20 years of his life."

Oooo intrigue!  I looked further into this and found that Louis XIV indeed had Fouquet arrested because he thought Fouquet had pilfered money from his treasury.  Poor Fouquet.  LeNotre was much more fortunate as he would go on to design the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.  

After reading the description I looked closer at the quilt and enjoyed it even more.  

Kept my purchases to a minimum this year.  I was on the lookout for more Creative Grids rulers but saw none.  Zina and I spied these great Japanese fabrics and couldn't resist.  How could I resist all those smiling sushi characters?  And those ninjas?