I spent this afternoon being inspired by some of the most incredible quilts that I have seen in a long time.  I attended a trunk show by Kathy Doughty from Sydney, Australia.  Kathy is a fantastic speaker and her quilts are jaw dropping. “Making a quilt is like writing a song.  Its pulling in the influences in your life that are important and combining them into one specific piece.” – Kathy Doughty If you are not familiar with Kathy’s work, take some time to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gdZWumIpGc Or visit her website and blog: http://www.materialobsession.typepad.com/   My favorite quilt was this Pickle Dish quilt with a turquoise background.  Kathy calls this one Gypsy Kisses.  The pattern for this quilt can be found in the book, Material Obsession 2 by Kathy Doughty and Sara Fielke. Kathy talked about using some of those old striped and plaid fabrics in our stash in a new way – as backgrounds for applique.   This pink quilt and the green quilt that follow are made from the same pattern.  The green quilt is Kathy’s version. This purple quilt belongs to one of Kathy’s students. After the presentation, the quilts were all laid out on tables at the back of the room so we could get a closer look at them.  Some of Kathy’s quilts do not have batting in them.  Some of the quilts have been hand quilted by a quilter that works with Kathy that quilts with perle cotton with the knots on the front of the quilt–the knots are not burried inside the quilt in the batting, or wadding as Kathy calls it. I was delighted to see that this quilt was quilted with a swirl design much like the swirls that I like to put on my quilts.   After the trunk show I bought Kathy’s latest book, Adding Layers and I had Kathy autograph it.  Kathy encouraged us to actually read her books, not just flip through them looking at the projects.  So, I will be enjoying this book in the coming days with my coffee during those quiet moments of the day. Kathy talked about purchasing that incredible focus fabric and then going home to pull the fabrics from your stash to make the quilt.  I am inspired to now look at the fabrics in my stash a little differently. I feel so lucky to live close enough to venues where famous and inspiring quilters like Kathy are visiting.