Quilts in Tacoma

Our trip to Tacoma to the APWQ Quilt Show was great. I know I expressed disappointment that the show had moved from Seattle to Tacoma, but Tacoma was also great. Beautiful city, beautiful venue, beautiful weather, beautiful quilts. A hard-to-beat combination. The train trip to Tacoma from Portland is always fun and the view out the train windows, along the Puget Sound must be one of the best train views ever.

When we got to the Quilt Show the first order of business was to go find our own quilts. I know this is crazy, or vain, or something, but somehow it is just what you have to do. Did they arrive? Did the committee decide they were just too awful to hang? Are they hung upside down? You just need to know these things before you can continue on.

Jeri's contribution to the "Spirit of the West" was the first we found. Check.

Reva had two pieces in the Columbia FiberArts exhibit. Here she is with one of them The other was also accounted for. Check.

Mine were both there as well. Check.

 Gerrie also  had two in the CFG exhibit, but I failed to get a photo.

So now that we knew our work was all present and accounted for we could move on to the rest of the show. It was an uneven show in my opinion. Some wonderful work, some less so. A few of my favorites:

"Elemental" by Barbara Nepom

"Crosswalk V" by Beverly Fine

"A Walk in the Woods" by Elaine Millar

"Ruffled Feathers" by Roxanne Nelson

The show was judged so you see a ribbon on that wonderful parrot above. I loved that one, but some of the other winners were a mystery to me. The piece below was judged "Best in Show". It is technically stunning, but, in my opinion, less impressive in terms of design and color use.

"Beauty from Within" by Renae Haddadin

You can see in the detail below what is so extraordinary about this quilt. The quilting is mind-boggling. It is machine stitched, masterfully and with a lot of originality. I'm not sure I would have chosen it as the best, but I guess I understand the reasoning.

It was a great day and we ended it with a fun and very delicious dinner at a beautiful Thai restaurant called Indochine. A near perfect day in Tacoma.