There are only a few basic shapes in the world but as this collection of quilts from the Des Moines Quilt Show illustrates, quilters these days can create some pretty incredible things with just a few shapes. It definitely helps that quilters today can choose fabrics in an almost limitless number of colors.

Squares, circles, hexagons and rectangles combine to form this quilt entitled “Interchange” by Eva Birch, Nancy Gano and Jodi Robinson.

 

When it comes to triangles, the possibilities, it seems, are endless, as this quilt by Jackie O’Laughlin shows. It is entitled “Glacier Ice.”

 

A dizzying array of circles and triangles make up this quilt entitled “Barbara’s Circle” by Beth Nufer.

 

I think the title of this quilt is right on the money: “Shards of Glass” by Marianne Haak.

 

“Stirring the Coffee” created by Mary Kerr, quilted by Kelly Cline. Not all quilters are brave enough to let someone else do the quilting on the quilts that they so painstakingly piece together.

 

Simple shapes make a very powerful statement in this work by Susan Morgan entitled “Migration Patterns.”

 

The shapes on this quilt by Betty Mathers are not simple but maybe that’s okay. It’s entitled “Slipping Under, Rising Above.”