quiltology...

To us mere mortals who struggle with matching seams and maintaining crisp points in our patchwork, the very idea of entering an international quilt competition is quite daunting. 

But if you want to see how the pros do it, you might want to check out a free screening of the new documentary film Stitched on Sunday afternoon Sept 18^th. 

Filmmaker Jena Moreno followed three big time quilters who’ve each created some controversy in the past, as they completed their entries for last fall’s International Quilt Festival in Houston.   

Quilting legend Caryl Bryer Fallert was the first quilter who won a major prize with a quilt made on a sewing machine (gasp!)  She mentored Hollis Chatelain who caused a stir when she won an award with a painted quilt!  Hollis in turn mentored Randall Cook who caused quite a sensation with a quilt of a male nude (oh the quilt ladies' tongues were wagging over this one!) 

Here’s the info… 

Stitched

Sunday Sept 18 @ 2pm

National Museum of Mexican Art

1852 W 19^th Street, Chicago, IL 60608

(Damen-Cermak Pink Line station) 

Can’t make it?  Buy the DVD at http://www.stitchedfilm.com/dvd/

Blink—and its August!  Wow, where has the summer gone?

I’ve been really busy the past few months and my poor blog space has been neglected.  It’s time to play a little catch up here.  Life is good—even if my poor Cubbies are out of contention—and there’s much to share. 

I’ve been on the road again—hitting all the hot spots across the Midwest—Milwaukee,    St Louis, Des Moines, Kansas and Nebraska!  Are you jealous?  If you’re not, maybe you should be.  Why?  Because there’s lots of wonderful quilt shows out there and I’ve been dropping in to check them out.

Here’s my list…

The Milwaukee Art Museum is the last stop on the tour of the Winterthur Museum's Quilts in a Material World.  The show features rare textiles from the late 1700s and early 1800s.  The show is up through September 6^th. 

The University of Nebraska in Lincoln is home to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.  You might want to bookmark their web site because it really is something special with lots of historical information on quilts and their makers.

I had an opportunity to see the current show South Asian Seams: Quilts from India, Pakistan, & Bangladesh (which is up through November 7^th) and I highly recommend it.  The strong graphic elements, color and hand work reminds me of our own Amish quilts.

If you do find yourself in Lincoln, you might want to drive down to Lawrence Kansas—home to the University of Kansas—and just 50 minutes west of Kansas City.  There the  Spencer Museum of Art has a show of their quilts called Quilting Time and Space through August 29th. Curated by University student interns, the exhibit "explores cross-cultural connections through the art of quilting," using antique and contemporary quilts to represent "confluences of tradition and place."

Continue west on I-70 to Manhattan, Kansas where Kansas State University has its first show of their quilts at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum.  Pieces of Time: Quilts from K-State's Historic Costume and Textile Museum will be on display through September 12th.

If you can't visit in person--check out these shows online.  There's always something special to see.  Happy travels to you…

Mazal Tov to Hannah and Joe!

Thanks for sending us a picture of the wedding chuppah quilt you made for this very special day.  

Chuppah literally means a canopy or covering—but it’s much more than that because it symbolizes the home the couple will build together.

Hannah and Joe got engaged in Hawaii which inspired the use of the vintage Hawaiian fabrics for the centers of each quilt block.  She carefully fussy cut each of these funky retro 50s prints to showcase the big tropical blooms and then framed them with a glorious palette of colorful tone-on-tone prints.  The pop comes from yellow—her wedding color—which matches Joe’s tie.  Nice!

Welcome to 2009--the year of yellow!

According to the color people at PANTONE, the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, Mimosa, a warm, engaging yellow, is the color of the year for 2009. In a time of economic uncertainty and political change, optimism is paramount and no other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow.

"The color yellow exemplifies the warmth and nurturing quality of the sun, properties we as humans are naturally drawn to for reassurance," explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. "Mimosa also speaks to enlightenment, as it is a hue that sparks imagination and innovation."

Beth used yellow to pop her black and white patchwork last year when she made her "Traveling Theta Quilt" to share with her sorority sisters from Kappa Alpah Theta. 

Each year this quilt will pass from one member to the next so that they all have a chance to live with it and enjoy it personally.  Beth said, "putting the pieces of fabric together to create one quilt symbolizes the sacred chain that binds this group of woman together."   

And it looks like Theresa is the lucky lady who gets to live with the quilt first--perfect in this year of yellow!

It's no easy task to work with yellow in patchwork.  This is a strong color that goes a long way.  But if you use other strong colors to balance it out, like Beth did here, you'll have a wonderful quilt that just screams sunshine! 

And who among us doesn't need a little bit of that now and again?

Happy new year everybody...! 

Okay, I know it doesn’t look like much—this old barn located in the middle of nowhere—but trust me—it’s a magical place. You believe in magic, don’t you? I know I do—I believe in the making of magic—and this is the place to do it.

Far away on an island in Door County, floating between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, is a magical place called Sievers—a school for fiber artists of all ilk—quilters, weavers, knitters, jewelry and basket makers. Pick your medium or sample the lot—this is the place to take classes, exchange ideas, meet kindred spirits and practice your magic!

How does a week of uninterrupted quilting bliss sound to you? Magical—right? Then you must go—this year, next, five years from now. Check it out, save a week’s vacation, recruit a friend—and go!

And when you are lucky enough to go—follow these directions carefully—leave the bathing suit and sunscreen at home—you won’t need them—you’re going to be inside sewing all day, remember? Instead, load up your stash—yes all of it, you don’t want to wish you had brought that crazy batik or whacky neon paisley when the creative muse comes knocking at your door—sewing machine, shorts, tees, flip flops and sweatshirt for the cool nights. Now, gas up the car and head north—drive through the flat lands and past the dairy cows—pass up the saloons, fish boils, t-shirt shops and ice cream parlors—you don’t need that stuff—keep your eyes on the prize—a week’s worth of time making magic!

Take Highway 42 through all the way to the tip of the “lower Door” and you’ll reach Northport Pier where you’ll pick up the car ferry to Washington Island—and in no time you’ll be there!

Alright, I hear you saying, cut to the chase—enough with the flowery prose about this magical place—after all, this is about as interesting as reading the latest on Britney’s custody hearings—you want to see quilts! I get it.

Sievers was the place where I really fell in love with quilting, met my first quilting friends and made some of my favorite quilts.

In Marianne Fons’ Fancy Fans class (circa 1995) I made my first real quilt—here’s Marianne’s inspiration quilt—beautiful 1930s fabrics in colorful fan blocks set on point and bordered with scalloped piano keys! Folks—that fabulous border is no easy task—this is precision my friends. Would you expect anything less from Marianne?

And now—here’s my version—Beijing Fans.

Same block—but set in spiral pattern just like a dragon's tail!

I’m always amazed at how different the same block can look in various fabrics, colors and settings.  And this proves it.

I wonder...could it be magic?