Fly Me to the Moon at Library of Congress.

Tuesday was another great day.  The "Fly Me to the Moon" book of quilts is currently featured in a display at the Library of Congress, in the Science and Reading Room in the Adams building.  The quilt artists who were close enough and able were invited to come for a special tour and viewing of the exhibit, as well as a display of the quilts made by the participants, for that day only.  It was a very special event!

As we gathered outside the main entrance we began signing each other's copies of the book. Here are Marsha White and Linda Cooper, two of the local quilt makers.

Our morning started off with a tour of the Jefferson Building which opened in 1897.

This is the Great Hall on the main floor of the Italian Renaissance-style building which is heavily ornamented.  A large brass inlay of a compass rose is the centerpiece of the marble floor.

The second level mezzanine is highly decorated.  Fifty-six circular printers' marks adorn the triangular ceiling vaults.  In the ceiling of the west mezzanine above, the 8 paintings in the arches show The Sciences.  Three medallions in the center depict the arts - sculpture, architecture, and painting.

We saw the reconstructed Thomas Jefferson library on the second floor.  When the original collection of books was lost to the burning of the Capitol in 1814 where the library was housed, Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement.  It was purchased by Congress in 1815 and became the foundation of the national library.  The books remaining are what is left after a second fire, before the current library was built.

Some of the books are Jefferson's originals.  Some have been purchased to replace ones that burned.  Some were replaced with identical copies from the Library's collection.  Others are still missing and the library continues to search for copies and replace them as they are found.

Above is the overlook of the main reading room.  It's hard to see here, but all those alcoves under the arches contain books.  The top of the dome which isn't visible here contains a mural painted by Edwin Blashfield representing Western civilization as understood in 1897.  The marble columns support 8 figures representing features of civilized life and thought. The bronze statues are tributes to men whose lives were devoted to the subjects which the plaster statues represent.

We then moved on to the Adams building where the Science, Technology and Business Division is located.  In the Reading Room here is the exhibit honoring the Fly Me to the Moon book. 

The display includes photo copies of some of the quilts, and other books from the library collection that connect to the events and themes depicted in the quilts.

From there we went to a central room where the quilts of those in attendance were on display.  Again, the display included books that linked to the subject matter of the quilt, as well as a placard for each quilt on display.  It provided an opportunity to see the quilts up close, sign each other's books, and chat with members of the library staff who came in to see them.

Here is Sue with her quilt.  Another amazing thing the library staff had done was create a slide show of all the quilts, which was showing on 2 electronic screens in the room.  The colors of the quilts on screen were particularly vibrant.

Above are the folks who made this all possible: Nanette Gibbs, exhibit curator and guide, her supervisor, and Susanne Miller Jones with husband Todd.  Susanne is the curator/book author of the Fly Me to the Moon collection whose forethought and dream made this idea a reality.

Finally, we have the  book itself along with Sue's quilt "Moon River" shown in the book.  The book has just shipped from the publisher and is available from Amazon. If you want to know more about the creation of Sue's quilt, you can read about it in this blog post.

Parks Quilts in Berryville

Saturday was a good day.  Sue was able to make a trip out to Berryville, VA, to visit the "Inspired by the National Parks" exhibit which is there until November 25. 

Of course this is not the first time she has seen the exhibit; it has previously been at the Quilters Unlimited show in Northern VA, and also at the Virginia Quilt Museum.  And we've shared them in previous blog posts.  But it's always fun to see the same show in different venues.  This venue, The Barns at Rose Hill, is a wonderful space. 

The rustic interior of this re-purposed barn is a fitting backdrop for these nature inspired quilts.

Some of the quilts are hung in their park grouping of larger quilt of the park with the 2 smaller quilts of flora and fauna.  Others are hung separately due to the venue and method of display.

Above you can see the portable display units that are used for most of the flora and fauna quilts.

The larger park quilts are displayed on the walls.  In the downstairs portion of the building, the walls are white as seen here.

The upstairs portion of the barn has a large meeting room where many of the quilts are hung against the backdrop of the wood paneled walls.

Sue's quilt is the center one of this panel - Scarlet Globemallow from Mesa Verde National Park.

These three are some other favorites, especially the singing vole.

This Rocky Mountain landscape is also a favorite.

If you have the opportunity and want to take a road trip, ride out to Berryville to the Barns of Rose Hill, located between the government center and library, next to the park in the "downtown" area, just off route 7 east.  It's a great way to spend an afternoon. They are open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 - 3 PM, admission is free.

Suzzie's Quilt Shop

This week Sue had occasion to be in Manassas, VA and took advantage of the opportunity to stop in at Suzzie's Quilt Shop.  The shop moved into a larger space about a year ago and she had not been there since the move.  She is happy to report that the new location is a much larger, spacious shop.

Taller shelves line the walls, with lower fabric displays in the center of the store, making the space feel large and open.

There is a very large selection of batiks (Suzzi's favorite) that lines the walls.  I had to take this shot to showcase the seahorse pattern by a friend of ours, Elaine Perez of Summercrafter designs.

A HUGE display of patterns covers one of the outside walls of the classroom space which is in the center rear of the store.

Suzzi's is also a Janome dealer with a large selection of machines from the most basic to the top of the line embroidery machine.

Along with a vast array of notions and thread, books and other quilt-related supplies, there is surely something here for everyone, even if you didn't know you needed it!  There's also a varied selection of classes.  If you are a quilter and happen to be near Manassas, Virginia, do stop in and browse at Suzzie's Quilt Shop!

Quilter's Journey - Pat Sloan

I'm sure most of you are familiar with quilter Pat Sloan.  For the past 20 years or so she has been a pattern designer, fabric designer, prolific author, and more recently, a "podcaster" for American Patchwork and Quilting.  Pat was the featured speaker at Sue's local Quilters Unlimited meeting this week.  She presented a slide show detailing her quilt journey from the late 1970's to today, highlighting her transition from learning traditional quilting to evolving her own style that blends piecing with fusible applique.

Pat has a number of free projects available through her website.  In the photo above, one of the guild members brought a quilt to share that she made with one of Pat's sew alongs.  Pat's story is familiar to many of us, having started sewing as a child with doll clothes, doing garment sewing, and later learning to quilt.  However she took her creative passion a few steps further by creating patterns, fabric lines, publishing books, teaching, etc.  Who doesn't own some of Pat's patterns, fabric or books?

In the quilts above, you see her typical style of quilt on the right, which features a pieced background combined with applique in an asymmetrical style.  She likes large scale designs and simple shapes.  Her applique is fused cut-away secured with a machine blanket stitch.  The quilt on the left is from her Splendid Sampler book, a book of 100 6 inch blocks by almost as many different designers. 

The quilts in the photo above represent more of Pat's signature pieced/applique style. 

This quilt is another example from the Splendid Sampler, combined with an Irish Chain block setting.

As mentioned previously, Pat is also the host of the American Patchwork & Quilting Podcast, where she talks about tips, techniques and trends with designers, authors, shop owners, and editors.  A new show is available every Monday afternoon.  You can listen in at AllPeopleQuilt.com/podcast, or download from iTunes. 

Currently, some of Pat's quilts are on display at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA, through December 16.  Whether you are a long-time quilter or a newbie, Pat has something for everyone!

Repeating Designs

Recently we started experimenting with creating screens that make repeating designs.  There is an online video and instructions by Julia Rothman on hand drawing a repeat design that can accessed for free; more in-depth instruction is available on Skillshare.  We started with one of our single image screen designs.

Following the tutorial instructions, the design is split in half vertically and the pieces flipped, then taped together on the back.  Then it is split horizontally and flipped/taped again.  That divides the image into quarters that are moved to the outside corners leaving open space in the middle.  Add a new design element in the center and you are ready to go.  Check out the link above for a better visual explanation of this process.

Once the design was complete, it was scanned to create a new screen.  Then it was ready to test with paint.

Ready for first print.

Three repeats are printed.

Here's what the screen looks like in the process of printing.  We used paper towels to mask previous prints that were still damp, so the paint wouldn't transfer to the back of the screen.  The difficulty comes in trying to line up the new placement with the previous print.  Patience is definitely required! 

It's fun to see the design emerging.

Two completed rows - 6 repeats.

The completed piece (with a missing corner!)  Not bad for a first attempt.  We can see some spots where the segments could have been better matched, and think some tweaking of the design may help avoid that issue; we see more experimentation ahead.  Stay tuned for more on this topic!

VQM Fall Exhibits

On Saturday Sue and Elizabeth attended the Celebration of Modern Quilting at the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg, VA, and also had the opportunity to see all of the current exhibits.

The event included viewing the exhibit including demos, lunch, and a presentation by Violet Craft. 

The Heritage Revisited exhibit, curated by Susan Emory of Swirly Girl Designs, is on the main floor of the museum.  Here is Sue next to her quilt "Primary Improv" - the red, yellow, blue and green piece to her right. It's a wonderful exhibit that provides an interesting contrast to the historic architecture of the museum. The quilts juried into the exhibit are examples of work in the following categories - improvisational pieces, use of negative space, foundation piecing, alternate gridwork and applique.

Above is an opportunity quilt designed by Susan Emory called "Seeds of Color".  It includes alternate grid work, improvisational quilting, applique, and foundation piecing.  Tickets for an opportunity to win this quilt are $1 each; the drawing for a winner will be on December 16.  Tickets can be purchased at the museum or on the website.

After a boxed lunch, we attended the presentation by Violet Craft.  Violet is a fabric and pattern designer from Portland, OR, who is active in the modern quilt movement. She shared her journey into the quilt industry and progression to where she is today, beginning with a children's clothing line, venturing into fabric design, and of course quilt design.  She has licensed some of her children's patterns to Indygo Junction and the photo above shows some of her "Forest Abstraction" pattern designs.  She has recently transitioned from designing for Michael Miller fabrics to Robert Kaufman. It's always interesting to hear how others have found their way into the quilt industry, often starting out in a completely unrelated field.

Back at the museum, we finished our tour of the exhibits.  A small room on the main floor held some "Treasures from the Vault", including the Belle Grove Album Quilt above (1991).  This was the museum's first fund raising quilt, which raised over $20,000 for the start of the museum.  It was designed by Anna Holland, hand appliqued by sixty quilters across Virginia, and hand quilted by Margie Hockman. The quilt was won by the Skyline Quilters Guild of Front Royal who donated it to the museum's permanent collection.

An outstanding exhibit on the 2nd floor is called "13 Perspectives" by the New Image Artists, a fiber group from the Washington, DC area. The photo above features a group of 8" mounted quilts showing the artists "Eye-dentity", each square created from their own unique perspective.  The pieces in this collection curated by Trudi Van Dyke run the gamut from figurative to abstract, wall art to 3D display pieces, all very intriguing. "Mastery of traditional as well as innovative techniques and materials provide a rich tapestry of visual excitement and stretch the definition of quilting."  It is well worth the trip to see this exhibit.

The final exhibit is the work of Pat Sloan, fabric and pattern designer.  This collection traces her evolving style of work over her career as a quilter.  Her signature pieced style combined with applique is evident in most of the pieces.  But also included are some more traditional as well as improvisational pieces.  It's a treat to be able to see a well-known quilter's work up close.

Not to be left out is the gift shop which contains an eclectic and ever changing array of gift items (for yourself or a friend!).  The photo above includes some pieces created by the artists of the 13 Perspectives exhibit.

We hope you will have the opportunity to make a trip to the Virginia Quilt Museum while these exhibits are up through Dec. 16.  It's great to have such a wonderful resource in our state, and always a treat to be able to make a visit.  And if you are so inclined, donations are welcome.  The museum does not receive any funding from the state, so depends on its membership, visitors, and donations to continue its mission to preserve our quilt history and share the art of quilting.

Fall Classes

We are back on the calendar for teaching our thermofax classes this fall.  Printing with Thermofax Screens is scheduled for Oct. 14 at Artistic Artifacts.  Join us from 10 AM to 3:30 PM for a fun day of printing with our extensive collection of original screens.  Many images are elements of nature based on photos we have taken.  Others are more graphic designs.  We will work with textile paints, discharge products and thickened dye.  Bring as much fabric as you like (commercial fabrics, hand dyes, solids, prints) and build your stash of custom printed fabric!  You will also go home with a small screen of your choice, and learn to tape the edges for ease of use.  Go to the AA site for more information and registration.  Below are samples of our work.

And here are some pics of student work from previous classes.

 Come join us and learn to create your own unique fabric!

We are also teaching Photos to Thermofax Screens at Artistic Artifacts on Nov. 4 from 10 AM -1 PM.  We will show you how to use Photoshop Elements to convert a photo to a black and white image suitable for creating a thermofax screen that can then be used in your art quilts or mixed media work.  You will practice with some of our images first and then work with your own to see how you can incorporate your own unique imagery into your work without any concerns about copyright.  We'll also give you tips for taking photographs to make this process easier.  Soon you'll be looking at things with screen images in mind.  If you will be in the metropolitan DC area, come join us on Nov. 4!

Note: While your own laptop and copy of Photoshop Elements are most beneficial, you can share one of our laptops if you don't have one, and/or download a trial copy of Photoshop Elements to try for 30 days before purchasing. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for the free trial links.)  Send us an email at pgfiber2art  @ gmail dot com.