Quilts, Quilts and More Quilts

As vendors at Quilt Market, not only were we able to see lots of quilts that were created to sell patterns, fabric and other supplies, we were also able to see the competition quilts. These are some of the best quilts created in the world, I think in the last 3 years. The style ranges from traditional to contemporary, made all by hand and made all by sewing machine. I'll share some photos I took and then you can check out this link to see the quilts that were judged the BEST in various categories. WINNERS

I love this quilt by Cynthia England. Her booth was next to us during Market. I'm so happy she won Best of Show! The first person to ever win 3 Best of Shows!

Leafy Appliqué by Kaffe Fassett, Liza Lucy, Rebekah Lynch, Sylvi Sealy, Anita Brady. Quilted by Barb Persing.

Sunflowers and Flying Geese by Arlene Heinz

Country Garden by Brigitte Mesecke

 

Waiting for Kelly by Martha Wolfe

There were lots of special exhibits. This one had a Lion King theme.

This special exhibit's theme was the Pantone color, Highlight.

Coco by Neroli Henderson

Tickled Pink by Susan Carlson

Lazy Afternoon by Hiroko Miyama

The Venetian by Jan Soules

This is a group quilt by the Pittsburg Modern Quilt Guild. I really love it.

Leather!

Marilyn Badger and Cindy Oates. They often make quilts together.

Such a heart wrenching quilt by Cindy Garcia entitled Love Beareth All Things.

This was one of my favorites. There's lots of embellishing with beads. Free Tibet by Meri Henrique Vahl

Close Up.

Millefiori Quilt

 

On The Same Page by Linda Anderson

Of course I love any dog quilts.

Janet Stone makes amazing quilts that all have an alphabet theme.

There's also an auction. Previous winners are invited to donate a small quilt that is auctioned to raise money for the International Quilt Association. It's a chance to own a piece of art from some amazing quilters.

Kathy York is one of my favorite quilt artists. I love how she uses clear and vibrant colors. There was an exhibit of her quilts.

 

Can you tell the buildings rise off of the quilt?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The number of quilts is just mind blowing. My brain seems like it is going to explode from the beauty and inspiration. It does make me want to go home and sew and sew and sew.

 

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Quilts Tell A Story

This was the view as we drove into Washington DC to visit the relatively new location of the Textile Museum.

The museum used to be located on Embassy Row and it was tiny, but became part of George Washington University and now has a beautiful new home.

 

I heard about an exhibit a couple of months ago, called "Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora". I originally heard the word diaspora in relation to the Jews. I wasn't really sure what it meant, but the pieces in this exhibit explained it so clearly. I would use the word dispersion as a synonym. The dispersion of ethnic groups can be voluntary or involuntary. This was the basis of the story that each of these fiber prices told.

The interpretation of this theme by 44 textile artists was amazing. I expected to see 2 dimensional quilts hanging on the walls. Instead it was fiber art represented as quilts, sculptures, video and even a piece that was hanging from the ceiling. Honestly I was curious as to how these pieces were delivered to the museum.

Interestingly, we were listening to NPR on the way to DC and there was a broadcast about the National Park Service and the making of one of the Japanese internment camps, Manazar, into a National Historic site. One of the first pieces I saw was about the Japanese children being sent to one of these camps during WWII.

Following are a bunch of photos I took of the diverse pieces along with the artist's statements that I thought were so very thought provoking, far ranging and diverse.

 

 

 

There was also a patriotic textile exhibit. Did you know that it wasn't until 1840 that politicical campaigns were coordinated on a national level? They started to use promotional textile material such as bandanas and flags. William Henry Harrison had a 10 foot ball covered with campaign material that would be rolled from town to town - "let's keep the ball rolling".

There is not much time left to see the Diaspora exhibit. It closes September 4th. I will definitely watch for the upcoming visits at this museum. They seem to be able to combine history and textiles in such an interesting way. Click HERE if you'd like to visit their website.

 

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