QuiltCon (4 of 4)- Up Close

-

Another wonderful part of attending a show is getting to see so many quilts up close. If the quilter isn't there to chat, you may find an attendant to show off special features and answer questions about the piece. 

White gloved volunteer reveals the back of Stephanie Hedstrom's temperature quilt.

Pictures are permitted, without flash of course. But the Modern Quilt Guild makes that irrelevant. True to their name, they incorporated technology for a more modern, up-to-date presentation, - very savvy. There is an app which gives access to pictures of each quilt as well as the artist's written and recorded statement about their work. Pretty sophisticated, right?

In many respects this is an open sharing of ideas, - and there are so many cool quilting techniques that can bring fresh inspiration to the viewers' own work! Here are some examples that spoke to me:

The mosaic look of Bianca Mercado's Cuban Panels, in the Youth division

Hand embroidery in Seeing Red Feeling Blue by Jennifer Broemel

The very thin piecing of Paola Machetta's Sealights

French knots look like rivets on the bridge that quilters in the Memphis guild depicted with this community outreach quilt

Incredible texture on Jennifer Broemel's Ever Loving Memories in the Handwork category

Hand-dyed, rich colors in Carson Converse's Green and Rose

Intense hand quilting in Plaidish by Julie Reuben, first prize, Handwork category 

I'm feeling a sense of gratitude to the quilters who shared their work in this year's QuiltCon. So much to absorb, and so inspiring!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Ooops, I did it again

-
Image
You know when you make a mistake and you end up thinking " Man, I really should have known better!"? I recently experienced that moment when I took my latest finish out of the wash, hung it to dry, and later found that the backing I used had bled through to the front of the quilt. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it had covered the entire quilt, but in this case I have a strip of a stronger color on one side of the back: Heartbreaking to think that after all that time and effort, the piece was ruined just because I forgot to turn to the cold/cold setting for the delicate cycle on the washing machine. But then it occurred to me to "put it out there." I posted the problem on Instagram and got back several suggestions. The most popular solution was Dawn dish soap. And I'm happy to report I've met with success!!! It did require some persistence though. First, I tried applying Dawn to the affected areas and then putting it through the wash with a bit of ...
Read more

A Follow Up

-
Image
Shifting Contour When last you heard of this quilt it had been saved from the scourge of fabric bleeding. But I never posted the whole quilt. So here it is.  I have called it Shifting Contour because, in my mind, the patterned fabric plays the role of the background on the left side of the piece. On the right side, the patterned fabric moves to the foreground and becomes a solid shape against the cream background. It is an experiment with the concept of negative space. This year our local guild has taken the lead from our parent organization, the Modern Quilt Guild, and focused on a specific topic each quarter. They covered categories which can be found in the annual QuiltCon quilt show: modern traditionalism, applique, negative space, and minimalism.  I found defining these terms has been really helpful, as sometimes it's difficult to identify why a certain quilt is in a category, in which category a quilt "belongs" when entering it, and even how to deliberately incorpo...
Read more

Q=A=Q 2025 Opening

-
Image
  The first weekend in November was the opening of the annual Quilts=Art=Quilts show at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, New York.  Q=A=Q Opening Night The show includes seventy quilts created by fifty three artists from around the world, including  Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Kuwait, Switzerland, and the US. This is the second year that I've been honored to be juried into Q=A=Q.  It requires a bit of effort to get to upstate New York on opening night; there are no direct flights from our location. So I'm doubly grateful for the support of family who joined me to take in the experience.  This is very different from a large quilt convention. While you can get up close to the work at any kind of quilt show, the more intimate setting of a gallery brings a unique perspective. The environment elevates a quilt to the status of art. I love that there are so many ways to present my work. I know this is a relatively new phenomenon and it reflects c...
Read more