Donna Blum sent a photo of her Mermaid Magic quilt, an impressive applique fantasy. She used the Broderie Perse technique, cutting flowers and foliage out of a large-scale print. I recognized this print right away. It's from my Moda collection Morris and Company, the Anemone print. When I looked closer I saw she used the same print in a different colorway for the white anemones and an orange colorway for the Mermaid's hair. VERY clever! It's fun to collaborate. Donna, me and John Henry Dearle who designed the Anemone print 120 years ago.
In no particular order of preference (actually, they turned out to be alphabetical by title), here are just a few of the pictures I took at the Houston International Quilt Festival in November. There were so many more, but many of the shots didn't turn out well enough to post. Oh my gosh, in looking back at all these pictures, I'm reminded once again of what a wealth of talent we have in the art-quilt world. In the process of cropping, straightening, and light-correcting all these pictures, I've been inspired all over again. I've tried to give proper attribution to the artists, but if you see an error, misspelling, or just don't want your quilt showcased here, please just let me know and I will immediately delete it. Enjoy! After the Rain, by Dianne Firth Big Bang, by Marianne R. Williamson Big Leaf I, by Dominie M. Nash Caddy and the Cakes, by Janet Fogg Coneflower, by Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert Evening Dandies - Lions, That is! by Leigh Layton Global Meltdown, by Christi S. Beckmann Hope Springs Eternal, by Phyllis Binkley I'm Watching You, by Barbara McKie Indian Paintbrush, by Margit Kagerer It Came from Beneath the Sea, by Roberta Deluz Leaf on Wet Pavement, by Ruth Anne Yax Let's All Spring Forward, by Rosalie Baker Lunacy on a Starry Night, by Annette Hendricks My Rhino, by Pam Holland Pathway to a Secret Garden, by Dianne Firth Rainbow Canyon, by Grace J. Errea Rooted X, by Kristin La Flamme Royal Gala: Bloom, by Amanda Onchulenko Ruffled Feathers, by Roxanne Nelson Sandia Mountain Spring, by Betty Busby Sheer Whim, by Maria Elkins Sillouhettes, by Carol Taylor Sunflower I, by Patricia Schumbacher The Sentry of Santorini Island, by David Taylor The Winner's Circle, by Nancy Dickey Urban Footscape, by Jamie Fingal Yellowstone I - Outflow, by Nancy E. Kempel and here are a couple of art dolls that caught my eye... Hobby Horse, by Brenda Gehl Heart of My Heart, by Janet Bodin
I am still struggling to put names and titles on a number of quilts. I saw many foreigners taking pictures and wondered how they plan to use...
We're celebrating St. Patrick's Day, which honors the patron saint who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century A.D. Here are some exemplary quilts that feature the color green! Also please
Now I have to warn you…….this is a very long post but so worth it! Do remember that you can click on any image to see a close up (and you can also scroll through them all). And dearest Helen from Whitecroft tours…….I dedicate this entry to you…..I wish you could have been here with me - it is truly breath taking and I hope the display can travel further afield. It would be so special if it could be in the UK with the 150th anniversary events. The quilts are absolute eye candy and I can honestly say after 30 years of quilting I have never seen such perfection……these Japanese quilters are absolute masters. They have captured all things Beatrix Potter with incredible accuracy - so much detail and nearly all entirely hand stitched. I phoned Larry this afternoon and said I was giving up on doing my own Beatrix Potter book…..you will see why! Enjoy it all (and again I have not included the maker as it was all in Japanese - check here for that info)………. Some of the quilts were small framed ones………... I do hope you have enjoyed the quilts (downloading and formatting has kept me occupied for 2 hours!). Most of these works of art were hand appliquéd, hand quilted and hand embroidered - truly grand masters of quilting…….I have many more photos I could share but blogger might shut me down! I have hand stitched a small gift from home for every one of these quilters which I am hoping I can leave for someone to pass on who actually understands me tomorrow! More of the general quilt entries as well tomorrow x
Appliqued crocheted piece by Kate Clayton Donaldson Sold at Case Antiques I've long been intrigued by this photograph in the Li...
Escape to another time and place with this week’s Free Quilt Pattern, featuring a fantastic panel with a medieval knight in armor, a castle fortress and a graceful stone bridge. Add in the other coordinates from this historic fantasy collection, … Continue reading →
Detail from an embroidered quilt, ca 1900, in the collection of the Jewish Museum My cousin sent an April 12, 2014 article from the Jewish Daily Forward called "Why Jews Suffer from a Quilt Complex?" Author Jenna Weissman Joselit discussed why her Jewish "home and ... parents’ home and ... grandparents’ homes were entirely quilt-free." "East European Jews and their descendants, as I've just discovered, had little truck with quilting. Feather bedding was one thing; patchwork quilts quite another." The article: http://forward.com/articles/196183/why-jews-suffer-from-a-quilt-complex/#ixzz2ymyvYwz4 This is true in my personal experience too. My Jewish grandmother's house (and my Irish-Catholic grandmother's house---both in New York City) were entirely quilt-free. My Jewish grandmother loved handwork, knitting full outfits (skirt, cardigan and shell) and crocheting doilies similar to this by the dozens. It's a question I have considered for awhile. To discuss it we first need to divide the quilts and quilters into two categories. One: Contemporary quilters working after 1960 Two: Historical quilts made before 1960. Then we have to define "quilt." A layered patchwork textile with layers held together by quilting or tying. Contemporary quilters working after 1960 Rosh Hashana by Linda Frost, 2010 This quilt traveled in a 2012-13 Smith-Kramer exhibit America Celebrates! Quilts of Joy and Remembrance. Linda can represent the thousands of Jewish quiltmakers working after 1960 during the current revival of interest in the form. There is no lack of contemporary Jewish quilt artists making bed coverings and art quilts, so we shall move on to the second category. Historical quilts made before 1960 The Reiter/Freidman family Baltimore Album quilt 1848-1850, Baltimore Collection of the American Folk Art Museum One of three similar Baltimore album quilts attributed to Baltimore's Jewish community about 1850. Read more here: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/?p=folk&t=images&id=4268 Quilt photographed during the Kansas Quilt Project In 1986 I participated in the Kansas Quilt Project, which documented about 13,000 quilts made in Kansas or brought to Kansas up to that date. The majority were vintage quilts made before 1950. We looked at the quiltmaker's religion. About 59 percent of the quilts were identified as being made by a quiltmaker with a known religious affiliation. The number: about 7,700 quilts. The highest percentage (22.5%) was made by Methodists followed by people identified as generic Christians, then Roman Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians and Lutherans---not surprising as these specific denominations ranked highest among Kansans in general in the 1980s. Fundraising quilt made by members of the Sunday School, First Methodist Episcopal Church, Topeka, Kansas, 1883. Collection of the Kansas State Historical Society. Church members paid a dime to have their names included. The contrast between Roman Catholics and Methodists was interesting, however. Catholics made up the highest percentage of Kansans (34.6%) at the time, with Methodists at 26.9%. Yet Catholics did not make quilts in proportion to their numbers either in 1886 or 1986. Catholics made 7% of our total; Methodists over three times as many. I did the accounting and was surprised to find that of all those quilts only six were made by Jews: Six quilts made by 1-1/2 quilt makers identifying themselves as Jewish. I know it was 1-1/2 because I was the half and a friend was the whole. We both began after 1960. The Kansas Quilt Project also asked about quiltmakers' ethnic origins and found over 8,000 identifications. British heritage was first with 41% reporting that background, German ethnicity was a close second at 38% and then the numbers dropped to 13% for Scandinavian, 5% for French and 1% for Czech. Ethnicity such as Italian, Mexican, Amish and Jewish were insignificant at less than 1% each. Fundraising quilt made by women of the First Baptist Church, Jamestown, Tennessee 1937-1939. From the Quilt Index. Community members paid a dime for each embroidered name raising $22.10. The quilt then sold for $10.00. The $32.10 bought chairs for Sunday School. My theory at the time of writing the book on the findings of the Kansas Quilt Project: "Protestant church activities, such as Sunday School quilts and Ladies' Aid Society quilting groups traditionally were a strong influence on quilting." Lititz, Pennsylvania, 1942 Photo by Marjory Collins. Courtesy of the Library of Congress The caption: "The Moravian sewing circle quilts for anyone at one cent a yard of thread and donates the money to the church." The Moravians in the photo, like many Protestant women's church groups, raised money for church improvements and maintenance by taking in quilting, an activity still carried out in church basements. Women also raised money by charging for signatures, and by raffling (if such gambling was allowed) and auctioning quilts. Quilt auctions raise significant funds for the Mennonite Relief Services. Based on data from the Kansas Quilt Project and personal observation I would have to agree with Jenna Weissman Joselit that quiltmaking was not a popular activity among Jewish women in the past. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. Bertha Stenge was one of the most prominent quiltmakers of the 1940's and '50s, winning national prizes with her work. Bertha Sheramsky Stenge (1891-1957) Bertha Stenge, The Quilt Show Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago See more of Stenge's quilts here at the Art Institute http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/artist/Stenge,+Bertha And read a biography here: http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/art/collections/daisy/biography.html Berger/Miller quilt Another of the 1850 Jewish Baltimore Albums from the collection of Jane Katcher http://www.janekatchercollection.com/html/albumquilt.html Bertha Neiden 1914 Bayla Schuchman, born in Gorodish, Russia, emigrated to the U.S. in 1909. By 1914 when this photo was taken her name was Bertha and she was Americanized enough to enter her quilt in the Nebraska State Fair. Her wool patchwork seems to have more in common with the European tradition of tailor's patchwork or intarsia patchwork than the American quilts of her era. Read more about Bertha Neiden and her quilt: http://www.quiltstudy.org/exhibitions/online_exhibitions/pwp/pwp_identity.html And read more about wool intarsia quilts here at this post I did a few year ago: http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2010/04/more-on-intarsia-and-inlaid-applique.html As far as reasons for the general lack of traditional Jewish quilts in America: Jenna Weissman Joselit discusses European bedding, immigrant culture, access to cotton versus goose down, etc. Quilt dated 1880 by an unknown maker in classic American applique style. One does not find this style of bedding in traditional European cultures. Quilt historians have looked at quilts and immigrants from many angles. The consensus is that the typical American patchwork quilt derived from a few sources, particularly the tradition of patchwork in India and its trading partners Holland and Britain, combined with a widespread European/Asian tradition of quilted bedding. "Armenians make quilts Alexandropol," probably early 20th century, photo from the Library of Congress Japanese quilted bedding about 1930 from the Library of Congress. People all over the world have slept under and on quilted and tied bedding. American quilts are distinctive in their combination of the two techniques, so distinctive that we can view the acquisition of the techniques and designs as a sign of American acculturation. European immigrants from the Pennsylvania Germans of the 1600s to the Ashkenazi Jews at the turn of the last century did not bring the patchwork quilt tradition with them. In the early-19th century the Pennsylvania Germans adapted the bedding of their "English" neighbors to their traditional design sense. It is probably this combination of German folk arts and British bedding format that had the most significant impact on the traditional American quilt. Unfinished top by Mary Jane Lewis Scruggs Collection of the Kansas Museum of History We can see much Germanic design influence in the flat, stylized flowers, red and green colors and mirror-image symmetries in Scrugg's top, evidence of the Pennsylvania-German impact in the American quilt. It is also evidence of this particular African-American quiltmaker's American culture. She was born right after the Civil War to former slaves. Read more about her quilt top here: http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/220469 Embroidered quilt, ca 1900, in the collection of the Jewish Museum The Museum's caption: Quilt. Russia and United States, c. 1899 Velvet: embroidered with wool, silk, and metallic thread; glass beads 81 1/2 x 65 in. (207 x 165.1 cm) The Jewish Museum, New York Purchase: Judaica Acquisitions Fund See more at: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/1986119#sthash.v9VM6XOn.dpuf Cross-stitched embroidery detail showing European dress and dance My first thought in seeing this quilt was that it was a crazy quilt, a very popular style from 1880-1920. Detail showing cross-stitched rooster and seam-covered patchwork on the patchwork triangles. Looking closer at the embroidery I realized that much of it is cross-stitched pictorial work, not typical of the American crazy quilt, which usually features irregular pieces, outlined pictures,satin stitches and seam-covering, linear stitches. An American crazy quilt Perhaps the cross-stitch embroidery was done in Russia and the pieces assembled into patchwork in the U.S., a rather unusual example of Americanization in a single quilt. See another quilt in the Jewish Museum's collection here: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/onlinecollection/object_collection.php?objectid=2772&lefttxt=quilt
It's been a long time, I know. The days are shorter now which means even less time for creativity other than cooking. But th...
Works by 60 leading quilt artists in Japan. This section had the most audacious quilts of the whole festival, which were comprised of a large number of inoffensively pretty works. A close-up of the body. The scraps of red fabric used have all been dyed using traditional Japanese methods. I loved the cheekiness of this Marie Antoinette-inspired quilt. It wasn't until I looked at the photo afterward that I realized the face spelled out "hope". The imprints of thread on this quilt are quite zany. Perhaps one of my favorites -- the manipulation of cloth to create those white froths was quite ingenious. Another one of my favorites. The artist used all of the neckties that were no longer in use now that her husband was retired. It was perhaps the only work in the festival that called to mind how people came to create quilts -- because they had an abundance of fabric scraps. Since my father is a Ferragamo tie aficionado, I recognized some of those fabrics. Another quilt that seems to increase in detail the more you look at it. It's a play on all the dolls that come out on Girl's Day, all mayhem as if they were transported into Alice in Wonderland.
(Someone pointed out that I had not included a picture of myself in front of my quilt in the last post...this is right after the Winner's Circle big reveal program was over. Thank you to whoever grabbed my camera and got the picture!) Ready for the show??? The first 8 quilts are the big money winners. I "borrowed" the first pictures of each quilt from the quilts.org website, where they are flat, square, and true-colored, LOL. But I am not sure you can zoom in on their pics for details, so I have included any good shots I took. There was no way I could get satisfactory, square pictures of all quilts, as you will see. I will share the shots I have! DISCLAIMER: I am a crappy photographer!! The lovely, soft lighting of the show venue and the super bright spotlights of the Winner's Circle celebration were challenging for my iPhone. I usually bring my old-fashioned Sony "point and shoot" camera because it takes pretty good pics...should have packed it... QUILTS: A WORLD OF BEAUTY MAJOR PRIZES The Handi Quilter Best of Show - $12,500 "Eternal Beauty" Sherry Reynolds Laramie, Wyoming USA The International Quilt Festival Founders Award - $7500 "Over the Waves" Setsuko Matsushima Otsu-Shi, Shiga JAPAN The Baby Lock World of Beauty Award - $7500 "An Old Woman With Joyous Face" Marina Landi Sao Paulo BRAZIL with Natasha De Souza Bugarin The RJR Fabrics Robert S. Cohan Award for Traditional Artistry - $5,000 "Reminiscence" Mariko Takeda Nagoya-Shi, Aichi-Ken JAPAN The Gammill Master Award for Contemporary Artistry - $5,000 "Velvet Flowers" Linda Anderson La Mesa. California USA The Pfaff Master Award for Machine Artistry - $5,000 "Hope" Ximo Navarro Sirera Canals, Valencia SPAIN The Koala Studios Master Award for Innovative Artistry - $5,000 "Silent Canary" Patricia Kennedy-Zafred Murrysville, Pennsylvania USA The Superior Threads Master Award for Thread Artistry - $5000 "Blue Anemone" Andrea Brokenshire Round Rock, Texas USA Judge's Award, Vicki Anderson - $250 "Ruby" Roxanne Nelson Calgary, Alberta CANADA Judge's Award, Jonathan Gregory - $250 "Stone Lakes" Jan Soules Elk Grove, California USA Judge's Award, Carrie Nelson - $250 "The Architecture of Trees" Suzan Engler Panorama Village, Texas USA QUILTS: A WORLD OF BEAUTY CATEGORY AWARDS 1st - $1,000 2nd - $700 3rd - $300 ABSTRACT, LARGE (sponsored by Elna) 1st - "A Self-Portrait in an Ancient Bronze Mirror" Eudjoo An Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do SOUTH KOREA 2nd Place - "Fractal" 3rd - "Antelope Canyon Mosaic" Kimberly Lacy Colorado Springs, Colorado USA Honorable Mention - "Winter Squash" Maren Johnston Santa Barbara, California USA ABSTRACT, SMALL (sponsored by Benartex) 1st - "Cool Jazz" Shirley Gisi Colorado Springs, Colorado USA 2nd - "Flax Fields" Leah Gravells Edmonton, Alberta CANADA 3rd - "Lepidopteran" Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry Port Townsend, Washington USA ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES (sponsored by Madeira Thread) 1st - "Small Happy Crazy Quilt" Aki Sakai Hachiouji, Tokyo JAPAN 2nd - "Fair and Square" Rachel Daisy Springwood, New South Wales AUSTRALIA 3rd - "The Royal Huntress" Karlee Porter Clinton, Utah USA Honorable Mention - "Who Let the Dogs In?" Sandra Branjord Sun City, Arizonia USA Much more to come!!! In stitches, Teresa :o)
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I get excited about the California State Fair! I love state fairs and think I’ve been to Fairs in 6 states. It’s perhaps a cheesy, expensive and dying event, but how can you resist frie…
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Detail from an embroidered quilt, ca 1900, in the collection of the Jewish Museum My cousin sent an April 12, 2014 article from the ...
Steam·punk – Noun * A genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology….a retrofuturistic subgenre of science fiction that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. … Continue reading →
The Arizona Quilters Guild has over 35 chapters, but they all get together annually for the Quilt Arizona show. The 2019 theme is Jewels of the Desert: "Every quilt is like a gemstone, the dancing col
It's been a long time, I know. The days are shorter now which means even less time for creativity other than cooking. But th...
Want to see some of the prettiest quilts in the world? Well, you've come to the right place ! Here's a look at the spectacular creations f...
'Blue Tone' by Aki Sakai is a prize winning quilts from International quilt week Yokohama 2012. It is hand-pieced, appliqued, and embroidered. Aki used both traditional patterns and her own designs. She loves flowers and blue sky and made this mainly blue quilt with the image of linking people by flower.
One of the quilts on display at spring Quilt Market in Portland will be "Marchen (Fairy Tale)" by Kayoko Hibino. This gorgeous work took First Place in the "Handmade" category of the 2017 IQA Judged Show!
The People and Portraits exhibit celebrates the expressiveness of the human face in stunning quilts created by an international array of a...
I have just had four incredible days at the NEC in Birmingham with so many adventures! Lots of coffee breaks and lunches and dinners every day with lots of different friends, as well as some very interesting night time escapades, with friends car's locked up behind barriers in the NEC carpark, boy racers and crashes on the road around the NEC and very little sleep! Coming to the festival is not just about seeing all the lovely quilts and shopping, but also a big social event, and as I have discovered, unexpected adventures too! As there will be lots of photos of the category winners on the internet, I thought I would just post a few photos of my absolute favourite quilts. If you do not see your quilt here, it is not that I did not like it, there were many more that were absolutely stunning, but I cannot possibly post them all here. In no particular order.... "Subtle Differences" by Kay Bell "Juno" by Sandie Chandler "Cappuccino - Perfect Bliss" by Lynda Jackson ""Jacobean Wonder" by Margaret Ede "Slow Growing Hybrids" by Ellen Seward and Sandie Chandler "Mandala" by Anna Williams "Purple Nights" by Marleen Jonkers "Fireglow" by Gillian Arkley - I loved her use of colour Philippa Naylor - The difference between 12" and 30cm meant this one was disqualified I have not been able to get a decent photo of the whole quilt, but here are some close ups of "Turtle Bay" by Claudia Pfeil: "Cordoba" by Claudia Pfeil "Celestial Fireworks" by Hilde van Schaardenburg and Sandra Marcum "Time" by Sue de Vanny "Dream Catcher" by Adriana Briones Calleja "Taking a new path" by Jane Falls - wonderful use of pattern in fabric "Harley" by Adrienne Quinlan - such a jolly fellow "Beyond the black hole" by Natalia Manley "Flight" by Margaret Fetterhoff "That scent!" (Que aroma!)" by Angelines Artero "Silence" by Jean McLean "Spring" by Zsofia Atkins "Blue Spring" by Zsofia Atkins "Eclipsed" by Brenda Wroe "Gold and silver waltz" by Nancy Smith "Zipped Zingy Blocks" by Sheena Norquay "Spin" by Diane Dixon "Alice Dreams" by Angelines Artero "Swift Moons" by Maggie Barber "Time waits for no onee" by Sue Reid "Merrill Hall, Asilomar, California" by Gloria Loughman "The Opera House, Vivid Festival" by Gloria Loughman "Australia My Way" by Cathy Jack Coupland "City by the sea" by Pauline Barnes "Ptolemy's Challenge" by Raita Sawyer "My lady of the grapes" by Laura Di Cera And this was my quilt for FoQ 2015: "The Awakening" by Annelize Littlefair The back of "The Awakening" by Annelize Littlefair British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine September issue Off course I knew that I will be featured in the "Meet a Quilter" feature of the magazine, Judi Mendelssohn came to do the interview in my studio and we had a lovely day. It just went by too quickly and we could have chatted for a lot longer. I was not expecting the September issue to be out yet, so was pleasantly surprised when it was on the stand at Traplet's booth. Then when I got home, another copy was waiting for me. This is the front cover and the page featuring me: It has been a very exciting week this week, I now have a few days at home to organise all my shopping from Festival, maybe even get a bit of sewing done, then, I am booked in to do a class with Angela Walters in Birmingham next week, but I should have a little bit longer to do some quilting before I go to Houston.
Hand appliqué and reverse appliqué, hand piecing, hand and machine embroidery The splicing is partially damaged, but the handmade pattern in the middle is intact. SIZE 141x118cm For over 3,000 years in Southwest China, traditional bed coverings and other household items have been expertly fashioned, like American quilts, from small pieces of fabric patched and appliquéd together to form artistic yet functional textiles. Quilts of Southwest China sheds light on this important cultural heritage tradition through the research of a binational consortium of American and Chinese museums, led by the Michigan State University Museum and the Yunnan Nationalities Museum This is a Quilts cover worth collecting, don’t miss it
Next week is St. Patrick's Day, which honors the patron saint who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century A.D. Here are some qu...
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