With great excitement Maureen & I headed down to the Dome today to start our enjoyment of visiting the festival. And what a spectacle it is. We have decided to view all the quilt exhibits before we start on the retail outlets (good move, I think!). I would hazard a guess that there was 15,000 to 20,000 thousand visitors at the show today so waiting in line to get an opportunity to take photos was an act of patience. Whilst some of the quilts are not to my taste, the quality of workmanship is unquestionable, and the presentation of the quilts by the organisers very good.
The first of the exhibitions we saw is titled “Partnership Quilts”. The theme was inspired from a Yoko Saito pattern “Welcome to My House”. Japanese quilters were invited to make and send in a 15cm x 15cm block. The response was enormous; 10,142 blocks were received and made into 60 quilts, all of which are on display. After the festival the quilts will be raffled off for various charities. Here are just a few and some close up details for you to see.
The next exhibition is “Quilt Impressionism: An Encounter Between Quilting and Art”. Four of Japans leading quilters were invited to create quilts reflecting their interpretation of their favourite impressionist.
Reiko Washizawa chose Monet to bring to life the gardens at Monet’s home in Giverny.
Akane Sakamoto chose the self portrait and flowers of van Gogh.
With the help of some of her students they also created this sunflower garden. The detail in the flower heads were stunning.
Yoko Ueda’s depiction of the Renoir women was translated into photo quilts.
Kathy Nakajima chose Gauguin’s travels to Tahiti as her inspiration.
And finally we saw the work of Suzuka Koseki. Suzuko’s quilts are colourful and invoke a sense of fun. Here are a few of her quilts and a couple of close up shots as well.
We have only seen three of the eight special exhibitions and none of the general entries, so still a lot to see over the coming days.
Margaret River & Beyond 
Wow so many to love, the houses, sunflower s
Thanks for pictures, have a wonderful time 🤗💕
Hi Joan, and we haven’t even seen the major winners yet.
What an amazing display to take in. Enjoy the rest of the exhibitions.
We will, thanks Heather. So many more quilts to see.
Wow, how amazing are all those beautiful quilts. I bet your creative juices are in overflow Kerry!!! I particularly loved the sunflowers what details in each flower.
Very inspirational Wendy. The sunflower details were just amazing. More to see tomorrow.
i look forward to seeing more!
I thought the Northampton airing of the quilts was too much , this is crazy
This is a quilters dream Bruce.
Spectacular! Sunflowers but also love the teapots. Enjoy look forward to. The catch up in May and looking at the photos.
Looking forward to seeing you both and showing you around Margaret River.
WOW
Yep,WOW indeed. And the best is yet to come!
Absolutely stunning, you must be so pleased that you decided to go 🙂
Thanks Denise. Yes we are having a wonderful time. There are so many works from very talented quilters on display.