American Quilt Society Grand Rapids Show 2013 - Caohogan Way and Guild Challenges

Thanks to a friend who has a house in Grand Rapids, I was able to spend six hours at the quilt show and not have to drive one and a half hours to get back home. It has been eight years since I last saw a major show. And this one was wonderfully diverse.

I will offer several posts with some of the quilts I found of particular interest to me. The major winners are readily found online, and very much worth seeing. So I will concentrate on other quilts in the show.

The quilts that most stayed with me were in my particular interest areas, of course. Words on quilts, literary or historical quilts, embroidered quilts, quilts that bring a smile or a laugh, and just creative never seen before original quilts.

Celebrate the Caohagan Way was a fun and uplifting exhibit at the show. The quilts are from a Philippines Island and made by about 80 quilters who have been quilting for about 15 years. Junko Yoshikawa, a Japanese quilting teacher,  taught quilting to the women of the island, and the craft now provides about a third of the island's income! They can be ordered for $300. The exhibit was an overview of the 15 years quilting tradition on the island.

I loved the SLO Quilters of San Luis Obispo, CA Guild Challenge for words on quilts. Edgar Allan Poe was a favorite poet of mine when I was about 11 years old. This is Nevermore by Sue Barker.

The Flying Geese Quilters Guild of Irvine, CA had the challenge History Lesson- An Event in American History. This is Follow the North Star, with Harriet Tubman, by Sandy Ingraham.

The Prairie Quilt Guild of Wichita, KS had the theme In Living Color. Sharon E. Smith offered Maranda Reads little Red Riding Hood. It is a quilt about reading that includes the story and a photo of a baby reading. Whats not to love?

Under was the challenge theme for Across the Square Quilters from Charlotte, MI. Under Cover was made by Carol Randall. My child loved to make a hide-out of our dining room table. So this brings back memories.

The Ann Arbor, MI based Tuesday Night Friends theme was I've Got the Quilting Bug. This winning quilt guild had amazing quilts like Jewel Box Beetle by Sue Holdaway-Heys.

I could list so many more, but will save them for another day.