Quan Yin - A show quilt
 

A discussion over on the Main forum about threads ( https://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f...s-t297571.html ) jogged my memory that I had never posted pictures of this quilt. It was made by my good friend Gail to enter into the big shows. Some members here have seen Quan Yin in person.

Quan Yin is the Buddhist goddess of compassion. Gail did the applique then entrusted her to me to quilt her. She made her debut in Houston last year and was at Road to California early this year. She made an appearance at Empire quiltfest and we plan on putting her in another local venue this fall to finish her career. While she did ribbon as best Art Quilt at Empire she did nothing at Road or Houston but it was an honor to just be accepted to these two shows.

I had not posted pictures when I finished her because she had not yet made her show debuts.

The reason the thread topic jogged my memory is the plethora of threads I used on this.

All the ditch work was Filtec Essence invisible monofilament thread. Every appliqued element was ditched and treated with a trapunto treatment.
The quilting in her gowns used Superior Glitter holographic thread and Glide 40 wt
The water pouring from her vase was also Superior Glitter
Metallic thread was used to make the flaming mandala behind her (four different colors were used in the flames). The mandala is all quilting not appliqued. I used both Superior brand and Wonderfil brand. I also used metallic to outline and emphasize elements in the dragon's scales and spines and on her blouse.
The quilting on the goddess face, upper body and hands was Invisifil 100 wt polyester by Wonderfil
All the background quilting (the waves, clouds and swirls in the sky) were done using Filtec Glide in white and Federal blue 40 wt.

Batting is two layers of wool and under all the applique, because I trapuntoed, is a 3rd layer of wool.

Gail used lots of different fabrics, hand dyes, silks (including an embossed silk in her robe), satin, batik and Stonehenge cotton for the background. Once I finished the quilting, Gail further embellished her with Tsukineko inks, tiny little seed pearl beads and crystal beads along with a real jade bead necklace.

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And here is a closeup of the dragon's claw taken while I was quilting showing the holographic and metallic but pictures really don't show the sparkle you see in real life.
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That is one amazing quilt and quilting. Can't imagine why it did not get a ribbon!!!

You've done an amazing beautiful job of quilting the goddess. She's exquisite.

I am in awe of this beautiful quilt. The detail is just amazing. I could stare at this all day I just love the quilt.

Wow! I'm so inspired by your gorgeous work - the detail! Amazing! And thank you (again) for sharing your thread choices..

Christine

I was one lucky QB member who had the pleasure of seeing this in person at the Road to Calif this year. It is exquisite and so detailed. Extraordinary work by Gail and feline. So glad to see a post of her....

Looks great!

Wow that is simply stunning!

Exquisite! I am sorry you are disappointed with no ribbon

What a spectacular quilt...the details and the quilting are amazing.

Thanks for posting. I wish I could see it in person!

Very interesting quilt and so beautifully done.

Wow, wow, wow!!! I know how long you labored over this and it is exquisite. Beautiful work by your friend Gail and your quilting is over the top. I wonder how you didn't collapse over holding your breath as you worked. I know I catch myself holding my breath on something intricate and I can only imagine how painstaking this whole process was. Great work!

What an amazing piece of art.

I'm speechless, wow, wow, wow.

Amazing! that is one fabulous quilt .You both went above and beyond. Your quilting is superb , your choice of threads perfect

Wow!!! That is amazing both the piecing and the quilting.

Don't have adequate words to comment as I am in awe of the talent used to create this piece. WOW.

What a wonderful work of Thread Art, such beautiful work. Thank you for sharing. We rarely get to see this kind of work.

Amazing and awe-inspiring !

Absolutely gorgeous!!

WOW, that is a wonderful work of art!

Oh, WOW! That's all I got, just WOW!��

My goodness! What an awesome quilt!

Your thread artistry brought that piece to life..it would not have had the admiration and awe of so many viewers ar it various showing. My astonishment is the fact that it only rec'd one ribbon--wonder what overshadowed it and rec'd those other ribbons

The competition at the big National shows like AQS, Houston and Road is intense. Quilters from all over the world enter these shows and the work is a caliber that is just mind boggling. I am always amazed the quilts that Japanese quilters enter don't blow everyone out of the water. Here is a picture of her hanging in Road that my friend sent me. The fox is by Kathy McNeil, just google her work if you aren't familiar. She was last years Peoples Choice BOS winner at Fall Paducah with her quilt of the two draft horses called "All You Need is Love". I wish I knew who made the Angel quilt. I would love to see that one in person. The workmanship in these show quilts is just amazing. As you can see the other two make such a strong visual impact in comparison.

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Edited to add that Gail actually took a class with Kathy to learn her applique techniques so it is kinda neat to see student and master quilts side by side like that.

Wow that is just gorgeous! Thank you for sharing and you both did amazing work.

I had the honor of seeing this quilt in person in Houston last year. As amazing as it looks here, it looked even better in real life. I was speechless. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Beautiful! You and your friend should be very proud. Thanks for all the info on thread used.

Stunning! Amazing!!! why aren't you sharing all of this with me? You need to be blasting your work everywhere? Can you even see my comments now? LOL

The planning that you put into this to quilt it so ornately blows me away. Lovely, lovely quilt!

Quilt and quilting are exquisite.

An absolutey gorgeous quilt and the quilting is exquisite!

C, you crack me up. As you know I am not great at FB so I end up posting here.

Wow! Great quilting Felinefanatic- You and Gail make a great team. Would love to have seen it in person to get the full effect of all the specialty threads you used...

Rob

I know nothing about Quilt shows and what gets a ribbon. I am reasonably certain, however, that this piece is a work of art worthy of addition to the textiles collection at a fine arts institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago, which is near my home. The collaboration between the designer and quilter is awe-inspiring.:thumbup:

Simply stunning!

Just another wow!

I called DH in to look at this quilt and some of your other ones.

He was/is properly impressed!

Amazing. Just beautiful!