Facade Exhibit

Studio Art Quilt Associates Regional NC/VA group is concluding an exhibit at the Petersburg Area Art League, Petersburg, VA.  The theme was "Facade", which could be interpreted in multiple ways from architectural fronts, to the portrayal of emotions, or the masks we wear.  The quilts in this exhibit covered the gamut.  Sue's submission to this juried exhibit is "Beyond the Door", a realistic portrayal of Midhope Castle in West Lothian, Scotland.

This piece was painted on a midweight canvas fabric using a variety of textile paints, walnut ink, and Inktense paint sticks. The grasses and ferns around the steps and door are Thermofax screen prints. This was a unique project for Sue in that it was all done with paints rather than pieced fabrics.

Here are some other outstanding quilts in this exhibit.

Facade 1 by Kevin Womack

Alaska Glacier by Karin Tauber

My Mask by Sandy Curran

Reality Reflections by Paula C. Dean

Seduced by a Digital World by Jayne Bentley Gaskins

Visitor by Sharon Carrier

Silenced by Paula C. Dean

Kracken by Frances Bents

Painted Ladies by Sherry Watkins

Unfortunately, the show will be coming down on Thursday and there are no plans for additional venues. I do hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the exhibit.

Life's a Stitch x 4

If you live in or near Northern Virginia, you can visit the "Life's a Stitch" exhibit at the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center through October 13 in the McGuire Woods Gallery.  Four quilt artists show 4 different ways they use stitch and fiber sculpture to express themselves showing both humorous and serious topics. 

The Workhouse is housed in the renovated campus of the former Lorton Reformatory which was set up as an agricultural work camp and housed prisoners from Washington DC beginning in 1910 through 2001. It was sold to Fairfax County (Virginia) and approved for use as a cultural arts center; it opened with this new mission in 2008.

The current exhibit features work by Holly Cole, Susan Lapham, Susan Callahan, and Linda Strowbridge. Each has their own distinctive approach to fiber art. Holy Cole uses her background in theater and costume design to create 2D and 3D pieces reflecting her love for animals, particularly endangered species.  Using upcycled canvas army tarps as a foundation for her drawing and painting skills she creates amazing animal portraits and sculptures.

Susan Lapham's approach is abstract and intuitive, reflecting memories of family and fun.  Some pieces are precisely pieced angular compositions while others consist of more organic and playful shapes. 

Susan Callahan's pieces draw on her experience as a chef and reflect a lifetime of feeding people that are both humorous and reflective.  She uses painting, printing and fabric collage in her compositions. Who knew that stove top burners could create such interesting patterns?

Linda Strowbridge's architectural approach uses abstract expressionism and collage to explore her love of old buildings. Her skillful use of line, color and shape make for unique compositions.

This is just a sampling of what you will see in the exhibit - each artist brings their own unique perspective to their work.  It is an hour or more well spent, do try to see this exhibit if you are near the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC.  If you have more time to spend, you can also visit the working studios of the artists who have space at the workhouse.   They encompass all aspects of artistic endeavor, not just fiber art.  Check out the Workhouse Arts Center!

Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women

If you are a quilter, or quilt lover, RUN, don't walk to the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) to see the current exhibit "Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women".  The exhibit continues through August 26; if you are in or plan to visit DC this summer, make sure to put this exhibit on your agenda.  The 50 quilts on display are part of a collection of 130 Amish quilts donated to the museum by Faith and Stephen Brown who started the collection in 1973.  

The Broken Star quilt above, circa 1930, is from Holmes County, Ohio by an unidentified maker.  The quilts in the collection are from Amish communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The Amish are plain people whose religious beliefs bind them to communal groups. There are many sects, from the strictest Amish in their solid color clothing who eschew electricity and choose horse & buggy for transportation to Mennonites who blend in with the general population, and many levels in between.  The quilts in the collection were made between the 1880s and late 1940s.  The Amish adopted quilt making in the late 19th century, creating them as bed coverings; they were never intended to be viewed as art.  But their quilts combine the plain with the spectacular, and tradition with innovation.  It was a way that the women of the community could express individuality and showcase elaborate stitching as well as original designs and color choices.

The 2 quilts above are Tumbling Blocks, a pattern using 3 diamonds to create a hexagon, but as you can see here, color placement makes a huge difference!  The quilt on the left is by an unidentified maker from Holmes County Ohio, made about 1940-1950.  The quilt on the right is a Stairway to Heaven variation also from Ohio, made about 1935 by an unknown maker.

Bar quilts are common in Amish culture; the quilt on the right shows 9-patch blocks in the bars.  Both are from Lancaster County, PA by unknown makers, the left from about 1930, the right made about 1915.

This distinctive Lone Star quilt is from the Lapp family in Lancaster County, PA, made about 1935-45.  Even without formal training in color theory, careful color placement creates eye popping designs.  The border here is certainly unique and took careful planning of color placement in the 9-patch blocks.

Another unique quilt is this original design that at first glance resembles an Oriental carpet, but upon closer inspection, you'll find the 9-patch and Monkey Wrench blocks that create the pattern along with 8 pointed stars at the sashing intersections.  From Holmes County, Ohio by an unknown maker it was made about 1920 of cotton and silk. 

    

This 1920 Ocean Waves quilt is two-sided, with concentric rectangles on the back.  It is from Holmes County, Ohio, again an unidentified maker.

These two Center Diamond quilts are both from Lancaster County, PA.  The one on the left by Barbara Fisher about 1920, the other by an unknown maker about 1930.

A unique (to me) design is the 16-patch quilt, also known as Tartan.  It is from Mifflin County, PA, 1930, by an unknown maker.

Finally, this Trip Around the World quilt (for which I neglected to get the source information).  A one-patch quilt, the design is created though careful color placement.  

Now, you may think you've seen enough and don't need to visit the exhibit in person - BUT - this post included only 12 of the 50 quilts on exhibit!  And the impact is so much greater when seen in person. One thing is very clear to me for those of you who are quilters - document your quilt by putting a label on the back, so those who see your work in the future will know who made it, when, and where you lived at the time.  It is so important for those who will study these textiles in the future!  I hope you thoroughly enjoy this exhibit, and we would love to see your comments afterward.

Daisy Meadow - Thermofax Screens for Fusible Applique

Last month Sue completed a piece for the Backyard Escape exhibit being curated by Sacred Threads.  There will be several groups of traveling exhibits that will be shown at hospitals and quilt shows beginning in May 2020, and then will come together at Sacred Threads in July 2021.  The "backyard escape" theme was to showcase something that brings you peace and tranquility in your backyard, that could do the same for patients and families in a hospital setting.  All the works are to be for sale, so there is also a fund raising aspect for the hospitals involved.

Sue's "Daisy Meadow" combines a background technique by Terry Kramzar which she also used last year in a piece called Balloon Flowers, along with fusible applique created from screen prints. This is the finished quilt, but we also want to share the technique for the Thermofax printed flowers.

But first, the background. The 4" finished background squares are made from an assortment of batiks and are layered with fusible batting, then quilted prior to assembly.

After quilting, they are trimmed and then ready for the center squares which are also from a variety of batiks.  Terry's special ruler makes trimming and placement of the squares easy.

Then the squares were arranged with darker values at the bottom and lighter values at the top.

After the squares were sewn together, it was time to create the flowers and stems.  Sue chose our "lazy daisy" screen in 3 sizes to print with black acrylic paint on yellow fabric.

These need to be backed with a fusible product before cutting out.  Sue used MistyFuse, but you could also use Wonder Under or Steam-a-Seam2 Lite, or another favorite fusible, as long as it is fairly thin.  You don't want to add stiffness or something that might gum up on your needle when stitching. After fusing, cut them out, then you are ready to create your arrangement on the background.

Play with the arrangement until you are satisfied.  Consideration was also given to where the stems would go and what needed to go underneath what.

Here's the arrangement with stems and leaves added.  The stems & leaves were fused and stitched before the flowers were fused in place. To maintain your arrangement, take a picture for reference and you can also lay them out on another surface the same way you want them on the quilt.

The flowers were all edge stitched in black along the printing lines, and then the petals have some accent stitching in yellow.

And finally, a close up detail shot.  We have a number of screens in the shop that work well for this fusible applique technique, including various flowers, leaves, a bird, butterflies. If you have a photo of an item, you can turn it into a screen - all of those items mentioned started out as photos we took. And like the flowers, when they are digital, you can create various sizes.  What photos do you have that would make great appliques?

Elvis Exhibit at IQF

Now that we're home and somewhat back to a normal routine, we can share more from the International Quilt Festival. We arrived at the George R. Brown convention center about 1:30 in the afternoon.

It was the first trip to Houston for both of us.

We entered the center on the second floor from the parking garage and had been advised by fellow quilters to check out the view from the round windows on that level which overlook the convention center floor.  We later found out that the GRB is designed to resemble a ship, hence the round windows.

Above is a look at the vendor section.

And this is the quilt show section.

The first place we went was to see Sue's quilt in the OURstory exhibit.  However, due to prohibitions on photography, we can't share photos of that exhibit.  (not until we get an OK from Susanne, our fearless leader).  But there were no limitations on the Elvis exhibit, curated by another friend from Northern Virginia, Donna DeSoto.  The Houston exhibit included 40 of the 96 quilts in the collection that celebrate the life and career of Elvis.

Jail House Rock is by Lesly-Claire Greenburg of Fairfax, VA.  The main technique is fused raw-edge applique.

Goodnight from Elvis is by Kaye Sauer of Queensland, Australia.  It is machine appliqued, quilted and embellished.

Debra Gabel of Clarksville, MD, made Elvis: A Portrait.  She used painting and machine quilting to create the look of a faux postage stamp.

Pink Cadillac is by Susan Bynum of Falls Church, VA.  The 1955 Cadillac was Elvis' favorite and can still be seen at Graceland.

Lucky in Love 2 is by Ricki Selva of Fort Myer, VA.  Her piece represents Elvis with his most famous leading lady Ann-Margret.

Blue Suede Shoes is by Joyce Carrier of Bluemont, VA.  The famous song warns against stepping on his blue suede shoes, but Joyce imagines that perhaps there was one that could step on them.

Fever by Claire Josiak of Calgary, Canada, is based on the lyrics "cats were born to give chicks fever".  This whimsical quilt was a fun addition to the group.

All the quilts in the collection have been published in a book called Inspired by Elvis: Art Quilts Celebrating the King which is available from Amazon here.