Library of Congress - National Parks Display

Yesterday Sue had an opportunity to visit the Library of Congress to see a display commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the National Parks that included the "Inspired By the National Parks" book. 

Donna Marcinkowski DeSoto, who is the author of the book, got a call a few weeks ago letting her know that the book was selected for a special display in the Science Reading Room, and inviting her and other local contributing artists for a brief tour of the library and official greeting.

We were taken on a brief tour of the original library building (above), the Thomas Jefferson building.  This building was completed in 1897 and is incredibly beautiful as you can see in the photos below.  First is a collage of parts of the interior.  The top two photos show ceilings, all inlaid mosaics, the bottom left shows the main entrance area and bottom right is the main reading room. 

There are also exquisite floors with many geometric patterns that are sure to catch the eye of any quilter.  Here are just 2 examples.

After our tour we traversed the underground tunnel to the Science Reading Room in the John Adams building where the display was located, passing one of these along the way.

This is one library that still has card catalogs! 

This is a shot of the Science Reading Room.  The display was at the back on a lovely marble table behind the stacks.

The book is at the center of the display, opened to one of the quilt pages.  We're told that they periodically change the page that it is open to.  In addition, they selected some of the pages of the book to reproduce and display behind and around the book.  In addition, there were a few other materials pertinent to the national parks.

Pictured above are Donna DeSoto and our LOC guide, Nanette Gibbs. After viewing the display, we were taken to a conference room where we met Constance Carter, a recently retired 50 year employee of the LOC.  We enjoyed Connie's homemade chocolate chip cookies and stories of her time at the Library.  Donna brought along a few of the quilts from the book to show.  From there it was off to the Madison building for lunch. 

Above is part of our group on the library steps before the tour.  It was a beautiful day and a great excuse to visit one of DC's famous landmarks, one of the advantages of living in the shadow of the nation's capital.

The Making of Scarlet Globemallow

Sue here.  It dawned on me today that now that the National Parks book has been published, I can share pictures of the construction of my Scarlet Globemallow quilt.  It's fun to revisit this project that was created 2 years ago. 

It started with a background of 2" squares (2.5 before stitching) of batiks and a hand-dyed blue for the sky.  These were pieced on the diagonal.

The background was quilted before adding the globemallow plant. Click on the photo to enlarge for a better view.

The plant greenery was made from hand-dyed greens; one piece used was dyed with color magnet which creates a two-toned effect.

The flowers and leaves were created from hand drawn patterns based on photos and cut individually.

Then the leaves and flowers were quilted.

Next, the flower centers were added.

Above is a close-up.

Then some hand stitching was added in the flower centers.

And there you have it, the finished quilt.

Inspired By The National Parks

You might remember from past posts where Sue talked about being involved in a quilt project honoring the 100th anniversary of the National Parks. This exhibit and book project was put together by Donna Marcinkowski DeSoto.  Some of the quilts debuted at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last November, and now that the book has been published, we can share photos of our quilts.  You can find the book on Amazon if you're interested in a copy.

The book is spectacular! It is not just a picture book of quilts, it includes a narrative about each of the 59 parks represented, written by a ranger who works at that park. They bring a familiarity and perspective to each of the parks that complements the quilts and artist statements.

Each park is interpreted with 3 quilts - a landscape which could be either vertical or horizontal, and a flora and fauna specific to that park. Sue's contribution was flora for Mesa Verde, the scarlet globe mallow.  Having visited Mesa Verde in 2006, this was her first choice of parks to create a quilt for.

Here it is on page 192!

There are 177 quilts in all, and even though many were seen prior to publication, it is absolutely wonderful to see them all together. 

This landscape quilt for Arches is one of Sue's favorites. Here are some other flora and fauna examples.

This is a book to be digested slowly and savored, both for the information about the parks and the quilts themselves. It is a visual and inspirational delight!

All of the quilts will be exhibited at the Quilters Unlimited annual show June 3-5 at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia. They will also be exhibited at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA, beginning July 26 thru September 10.  If you live in Virginia, we hope you will be able to see the exhibit at one of these venues.

National Parks Project

We are proud to share that Sue is one of 148 fiber artists from the United States, Canada and Germany participating in a special project honoring the National Parks, and celebrating the upcoming centennial anniversary of the National Park Service. The artists made original art quilts depicting landscapes, flora and fauna of the 59 National Parks. The Parks featured in the collection of 177 quilts include a wide range: Acadia to the U.S. Virgin Islands to Gates of the Arctic to American Samoa, and others in between. Part of the collection will debut at the Houston International Quilt Festival October 29-Nov. 1, 2015, and the entire collection will premiere at the Road to California Show in Ontario, CA from January 21-24, 2016. The quilts will travel to various venues for approximately two years.  The accompanying image shows the art quilts created to honor Rocky Mountain National Park: the landscape is by Barb Hollinger, the aspen is by Nancy Evans, and Catherine Kane depicted a mountain lion. 

These are the only images that can be shared at this time.  A book on this project will be published by Schiffer Publishing in the spring of 2016. It will include colorful pictures of the quilts, in addition to personal narratives by rangers and personnel of the National Parks. A percentage of book sales will be donated to the NPS.

More information on this project will be announced in the upcoming months.