Creative Life Sampler

This quilt was in the "Fabric of a Nation; American Quilt Stories" show at the Skirball Cultural Center this month.  During World War II, 17,814 men, women, and children of Japanese descent were held by the United States government at the Poston War Relocation Center in southwestern Arizona because they were perceived as a threat after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.   This quilt was created by Japanese American children as a project in their fourth grade civics class after studying pioneer women. The scraps for this project were gathered from the barracks at this internment camp and each child cross stitched their names onto a block.  Think of that for a moment.  These children were studying the country the lived in, it's history and its promise, just as other children their age were doing across the country. The difference is they were doing it without the freedoms they were learning about in school.   Quite the American quilt story. Though it was created in very different

Quilted sculpture at entrance: "Krakow Kabuki Waltz," by Virginia Jacobs Took a road trip to catch the final days of "Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories" at the Skirball Cultural Center in LA last week.  It seemed to me that this exhibit had many layers. There was so much to unpack! A majority of the pieces included came from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The examples chosen from their collection dated from the 1800's to the present, so the work on display covered many pivotal moments in the nation's history. The quilters of these quilts are all unknown, but they show a good deal of the individuality of their makers. From left to right: Railroad Quilt, (after 1888), Henry Clay Feathered Star, (after 1844), Hoosier Suffrage Quilt, (after 1920) For me, the star of the show was Harriette Power's famous quilt. So many quilt history books include this piece of American folk art. It was exciting to see it in person! (See this link for more informati

  The Busy Appliqu é  Aisle Now let's turn our attention to some interesting techniques. As in yesterday's post, we'll start with the "Log Cabin Challenge" and take a look at the second place winner, "Not What It Seams" by Marah Light. Here black batting is used under the white quilt top for a very subtle effect. The double white seams contrast well against areas with just one layer of white on the black. This gives the piece more dimension and shows off the pattern better that white against white batting would.  Several other ribbon winners displayed some noteworthy techniques. In the "Youth" division, Henry Webb won second for "Maxine," which is hand pieced and machine appliquéd. First place in "Handwork" went to "Confetti" by Diane Fox, (@hiitsdi5280) who used my personal favorite, the seed stitch, to shadow the solid shapes in this piece. Second place in the "Handwork" division went to "The Sun G

So many really great ideas were on display this year! For me the stand out Log Cabin entry was "Sara Jane Log Cabin Quilt" by Janelle Schwartz (@dottyandgrace) It's the very essence of the log cabin block, clean and very modern. This quilt in the "Minimalist Design" Category caught my eye. "Note Intercepted" is by Ashelyn Downs (@HandRemadeCo). The writing: "Did you see what she was wearing?" is embroidered in black. It was so effective at imitating a crumpled piece of paper that I almost couldn't decide whether to put it with "clever ideas" or "techniques" I wanted to share. In the "Piecing" category, I loved Emily Parson's idea of using paint swatches in "Paint Chip Love"! (@emilyquilts)  And this whimsical piece by Jody Taylor, (@JODTAY) was also in the "Piecing" category. It is entitled "My Stick Family": "Up Cake Down Cake" by Ann Feitelson (@feitelsonann) was

  Chatting in front of my quilt I'm still absorbing all the wonderful work that I saw in Atlanta last week at QuiltCon, and I thought I would share a few things that spoke to me. The first thing that I want to celebrate is the "Modern X" challenge. This year was the 10th QuiltCon, so one of the challenges was to create a quilt based on "X", the Roman numeral for ten.  I love prompts that cause us to think and create in our own individual way. It's always amazing to see the different ways people tackle the same problem.  Here are a few examples.  Some quilters focused on the individual symbol: From left to right  Row 1: Marie Costelloe, Laura Bryant, Dianne McCarthy Row 2: Natalie Skinner, Amanda Hines, Pat Fortser Row 3: Nikki Woolsey, Claudia Banks, Cordelia Nance Row 4: Jessica Plunkett, Marisa Wilhelmi, Jane Taylor  Other makers multiplied the "X" for a more complex design:  From left to right Row 1: Carol Breaux, Laure Mabry, Kate Gawler Row 2: