IQF 2019 Winners Gallery

Traditional Quilts

First place : Yan Liu, Canada - Dear Hannah 58” x 58”

"I spent many hours on drafting, designing and making this traditional quilt for my future daughter in-law, Hannah, as a wedding gift. I first drew each square on A4 paper and then put them under the sewing machine. "

Second Place: Jyoti Ahuja, India - Around the world in 365 days 90” x 90”

''When I first came across the 365 Challenge by Kathryn Kerr, I decided to take this challenge upon myself as a learning opportunity and started this on January 1st of 2018. Selecting fabric for this quilt was a big challenge as it required parallel coordination between several contrasting light and dark colours respectively. While I was going through this challenge, I came across this quilt show, and decided to complete this a month early (using last years’ blocks) so that I could place this quilt as one of India’s first representation of the 365 Challenge. Since the piecing of the quilt was quite dense, I decided upon doing an edge to edge Long arm quilting with self-drawn pantograph.''

Third Place: Sunitha Santharam, India - Bali Wedding Star 95” x 93”

''Quilt pattern by Ms BRADLEY & JUDEE NIEMEYER. It is a foundation paper piecing technique. Quilting design by Patricia Hechler, Quilted by Prathista.''

Honorable mention: Padmaja Bhide, India - Himalayan Orchard 67" x 68"

''This quilt, hand- pieced with an English Paper Piecing technique, has been one of my most rewarding projects, and is inspired by the Passacaglia style by designer Willyne Hammerstein. My colour palette and the decision to use all Indian fabrics was inspired by north India. I was drawn particularly to the fine marble inlay work seen in the historic architecture of North India including Taj Mahal and also the pastel hues of the valleys, crystalline rivers and apple orchards of Himachal Pradesh. The result is an intricate quilt, but one that conveys the elegance and serenity of cooler climates and mountains.'' Quilted by: Manisha Iyer, Studio Baani

Modern Quilts

First Place: Yan Liu, Canada - Matrix 32” x 48”

''Both my husband and I were trained as engineers and scientists in geology and oil and gas industry. Inspired by some quilts images on the internet, the various straight line shapes caught my eyes and brains. Hence I drew 96 squares with sorts of shapes on paper before foundation paper piecing them onto fabrics. So much fun but lots of details and precision. Love this contemporary/modern art work I’ve done.''

Second place: Birgit Schueller, Germany - Blushing #2 - Quo Vadis? 68” x 42”

''This is the second quilt in my "Blushing" series. I love the gradation from light peach to dark burgundy against the gray background. "Quo Vadis?" is an expression of my mixed emotions regarding what has been happening in the world lately and about what the future may bring - or not! While the colors are cheerful, I was intrigued by the idea of a very geometric and rather minimalistic piecing approach. The almost solid background fabric was perfect for some bold, modern quilting to add dimension and depth.''

Third Place: Kamala Murali, India - Mutai Pink 54.25” x 48”

''The Mutai Pink Quilt is pieced using found fabrics in silk interspersed with cotton in a colourful palette of fuschia, blush pink and sea green. It was pieced in an improvisational manner, with colour taking center stage in the overall design. The quilted lines give it a ribbed effect, enhancing the stripe-patterned fabrics and adding a finished aesthetic to the textile. As a textile designer, I primarily use surplus and waste fabrics to help rethink our ideas of 'waste' and to create a design language that is contemporary, relevant and honest.'' Quilted by : Tina Katwal.

Honorable mention : Birgit Schueller, Germany - Never Underestimate the Small 27” x 36.5”

''For another project, I used up one roll of fabric strips well, almost! All that remained were about a handful of rather small scraps, which were lying around in my cutting area, randomly mixed with the cuttings left from squaring up yet another quilt. I walked by this setting several times each day and all of a sudden it struck me that this exact combination would make for a fun, improvisational little quilt! The result proves that you better 'Never Underestimate the Small'! ''

Art Quilts

First Place: Lalitha Rajan and Prabha Mathew, India

"ANAMIKA" - #WE TOO# The faceless unsung bravehearts 61” x 48”

''This quilt is a tribute to the countless unseen and marginalized women of this country who, for the better part of their lives, toil day and night to support their families but yet are not treated as equals in the family and social hierarchy.

It’s a small effort on our part to depict the life of a rural Indian woman who faces innumerable hardships during the course of her lifetime but is unable to articulate her worth and discrimination she faces. With the ghunghat covering her head(partly to balance the load and partly as a culture of not leaving the head uncovered),She balances the life outside the house by helping in the farms and also handling the entire household chores but yet has very little say in the way she lives.This rural woman forms the backbone of agricultural labour and yet she is completely missing in the current debate on farmers and agricultural distress.This quilt is a Metaphor for this faceless Indian woman and her daily struggles.'' Quilted by Kalindi Hambir.

Second Place: Birgit Schueller, Germany - Hole Cloth 41” x 51.5”

''Normally, holes in a quilt are an indicator for rough usage or poor care. Here, however, they are a design element and are supposed to add a new and exciting aspect. Apart from the holes, I was fascinated by the idea to extend the piecing pattern into the quilting and to discover how it filled the background almost naturally.''

Third Place: Yan Liu, Canada - Gold Lady 45” x 45”

''I went to Vienna, Austria recently and was fascinated by Gustav Klimt’s painting Gold Lady. Then I traced his painting from the photo I took in Vienna and enlarged it for an applique project. I used different shiny Indian raw silk in this work; and fusible web and transparent thread for the applique. Intensive free motion needle painting for the quilting. Awesome experience!! Will do it again!''

Honorable mention: Vandana Patil, India - Watercolour effect floral beauty 44.5” x 55”

''I have attempted to give the effect of a water colour painting with the use of sheer fabrics in this art quilt.''

Novice Quilts

First place: Archana Thorat, India - The Gaze and Grace of Sai 33” x 34”

''I was an Engineer dealing with scraps everyday, working with Electrical and emotional scraps fulltime and buying some fabric ones on Saturdays. On Sundays, there was the mesmerizing wormhole of Quilting Videos on Youtube. This was where it started. I became increasingly interested in all of it. I discovered great local artists and spent weeks attending workshops learning technique and ˜how-to” of creating an art quilt. But I never actually created my own. It was hard to see the light of inspiration from under the pile of scraps that life had thrown at me. But, Faith and Patience - These two words and their wordsmith inspired me. Sai Baba (pictured),an old man in the 18th century had a simple message. “Love all, despite all, and gaze upon the beauty that manifests in the unity of all our differences”. Is this what an art quilt is? To love all the scraps of fabric, despite the differences in their texture and hues, and see the grace in their unity when they are quilted together.''

Second Place: Devangi Mulay, India - Colours of Quilting 60” x 80”

''It is a Bargello quilt made with rainbow coloured jelly roll and adding white fabric in between to highlight each colour. Bordered with black and white to make it, like click out of camera. Heart shaped meandering quilting done by my dear friend Ashwini Shanbhag. We are in love with 'Colours of Quilting'.''

Third place: Ritu Sudharshan - Sweet Treats 45” x 63”

''I am 10 years old and I love to bake. I have been baking on my own for the last 2 years. When it was time to make my first quilt, I chose some “Sweet Treats”. I learnt to do raw-edge applique for this project. On my first applique block, I wasn’t very confident doing the detailed curvy shapes. But, by the end of this quilt, my skill level improved a lot. This quilt is a combination of nine-patch blocks and applique blocks that were machine pieced and machine appliqued.'' Quilted by: Tina Katwal.

Theme Quilts

First Place: Chitra Mandanna, India - VIBGYOR 36” x 48”

''Even the Gods adore them! From Sri Krishna to Lord Muruga, the peacock with his beauty and his dance has enthralled all. A rainbow itself has to take a bow in front of the peacock’s stunning colours!

In this quilt I have tried with my limited human ability to capture the colours and beauty of this nature’s wonder. The perfection in his head and neck, the colours of his feathers and his dance are all shown separately to try and depict his beauty. The head and neck are done using raw edge appliqué and curved edge appliqué methods. The colours and shading of his feather are done using fabric manipulation technique. His dance is shown using two layers of Free Motion Quilting. The inner border on top has two rows of beads sewn on either side. The arched border on top is made with strips of stretch fabric rolled and put together in rainbow shapes with the colour arrangement similar to that of the peacock’s feather. ''

Second Place: Jaya Parker, United States of America - Dance of the peacock 48” x 48”

''Sorry (saree) this peacock is fit to be (tie)d. Intriguing and mesmerising: I wanted to transfer the vision, feeling and sense of movement / fluttering of a peacock dance to fabric. The peacock’s glittering blue body always entranced me. I fussy cut paisleys (miniature peacocks to me) from blue tie fabrics. I then built the rest of the body using portrait quilting techniques. With the body placed I saw a blue bow- next to green scallop feathers. Voila! A rainbow- and peacocks dance in the rain! With newfound inspiration I pieced the background as a diamond explosion with leaf patterned fabric. Dynaflo paints used for rainbow effect. The feathers are done with a background in fmq and then each feather individually crafted, quilted, painted (tsakineko and lumiere paints) and each frond appliqued. Butterflies (for the “flutter”), flowers and leaves are done in reverse applique, some of the tie and saree fabrics are from my mom and dad.''

Third Place: Bamini Arvind, India - Exuberance 48” x 48”

''"The brilliant long-bills in their vivid dress The peacock scattering on the breeze his moons Painted my memory like a frescoed wall." - Sri Aurobindo - Savitri - Book Four, Canto III

The kaleidoscope block lends itself to enormous design possibilities creating curves from straight lines, and can be used to convey ripples, movement, dance and joy of the peacock. It was a joyous challenge for me to play around with the colours and motifs with some nudging from my friend Tina.'' Quilted by: Tina Katwal.

Honorable mention: Chitra Mandanna, India - Dance of the Peacock 36” x 48”

''If pixie dust and fairy wings Vivid colours and shiny things Descended they on to this realm What would it be...Oh! What would it be?

Graceful moves and spread of cheer Among fragrant flowers in a sparkly drizzle What would it be....Oh! What would it be?

This is a quilt with confetti work done on a painted background. In certain areas the FMQ is done with contrast coloured threads in the bobbin and with increased thread tension to create a shaded effect. The wings of the fairy are made with a translucent fabric using raw edge appliqué method. The pixie dust is made using shimmery fabric and glitter.''

Best Hand Quilting

Vatsala Kamat, India - Basket of Flowers 98"x96"

''Saw a similar pattern at Jenny's Quilt Shop in Singapore. Jenny, my teacher helped to design the quilt on paper and I have hand pieced hundreds of hexies to create this beauty.''

Best Machine Quilting

Brinda Shrikanth, UAE - Genesis 90"x90"

''This piece is my first attempt at designing a wholecloth quilt; hence the name Genesis to mark my foray into the territory of wholecloth quilting. A wholecloth quilt is appealing as it presents an opportunity to explore open spaces that hold the potential to design and create an individual and personal expression. I indulged in crafting feathers and fillers to display a sense of movement and free motion that captures the wonders of wholecloth quilts. The challenges I faced often emerged from the juxtaposition of a solid fabric with subtly coloured threads as this required a tasteful matching of colours to highlight the textured elegance of the quilt. The experience of quilting was also educational in understanding the importance of the close association between the choice of needle, the colour of thread and quality of fabric as what is envisioned before putting together these elements of the quilt can often not be fully perceived until the final outcome.''

Excellence Award

Marline Turner, South Africa - Royal Doulton Delft or Wedgewood 83.5" x 83.5"

''The inspiration for this quilt came from my love of blue and white antique china and pottery.''

Best of Show

Chitra Mandanna, India - Inspiration 36" x 48"

''This is a portrait of my maternal uncle who kindled my interest in sewing at a very young age. I still remember as a little girl, replicating the corduroy vests and denim sling bags that he used stitch as a hobby. Layers of cheesecloth have been used to create different tones in the portrait. Since I enjoy up-cycling materials, I used the "up-cycled style" as a theme. I made his apparel and cap in the portrait with used jeans and a t-shirt.''

Judges Choice

Judge Pat Archibald's Choice

Life's Sangria by Rainy Khurana, India 28" x 90"

''This piece is an ode to Life's bitter sweet moments that keep us youthful and hopeful of what lies ahead. Just like a Sangria drink that embodies different flavours, colours and punch ,it is the varied experiences, explorations and emotions that makes a life more enriching and interesting. The artwork thus uses different textures and coloured gradation to represent these elements. Just as the flavours are built up with the wine, fruit, juices, flavoured liqueur and bitters in a Sangria, likewise different textures are built with varied sparkly,matte,shapes of embellishments. Fraying technique is used to represent the uninhibited youthful spirit. This Artpiece is mainly focused around colour gradation and surface ornamentations.''

Judge Paramjeet Bawa's Choice

Animal Whisperer by Chitra Mandanna, India 48" x 36"

''Compassion is a trait found in many kids these days. It becomes our responsibility as adults to nurture this compassion to build a more compassionate world.

Here is my two year old daughter 'Isha' at her grandma's place in Coorg interacting with a cow. I was candidly watching the scene as Isha sat with the cow talking to her and giving her bananas. The cow was also responding in her own gentle way. It seemed as though the two of them were transported to some magical world of their own. In this collage quilt, I have used my favourite fabrics which I had collected over years, to recreate this magical world with a wonderful garden and many beautiful life forms.''

This quilt also won the Viewers' Choice Award.

Judge Shruti Dandekar's Choice

Quirky by Madhura, India 32" x 35"

''I was quite taken by the minimalism and high contrast of the image, and I knew it would be challenging to get the same impact with fabric and quilting, but 'as no rule, is the only rule in modern quilt art' , I said why not go 'Quirky'.

The matchstick quilting helped me to achieve the impact I wanted. Those wings are the outcome of quilting lines with blue-gray threads. Loved and enjoyed my process of making this modern quilt.''