Textile in a tube

I happened to be putting a textile in a tube the other day to send off to Quilting Arts magazine, who will photograph it for a future article.

And when I got the two pieces out on my work table, it made me think about Textiles in a Tube, the show in Greenville SC (June 1 - July 15) that I am going to be jurying.

I wonder if looking at my mystery package, about to go into the 36 x 3-inch tube, might get you thinking -- what could you put into a tube that would be attractive, appealing and fun?

Maybe a small quilt, maybe some other kind of hanging, maybe a bunch of little doodads that could sit on a shelf.  If it's "any type of material made from fibers or other extended linear materials such as thread or yarn including old and new materials, techniques, and technologies," and if it fits into a 36 x 3-inch tube,  we'd love to see it.  No age limit, so if you have something interesting in the back of the closet, that might do the trick as well.

If I've gotten you in a tube mood, click here for the prospectus.  Postmark deadline is May 4.

Photo suite 16 -- Taking down the tree

 

Sign of the week

Fantastic Fibers 3

Let's move on to the quilts, always a large component of fiber art exhibits.  Here are some that caught my eye.

I was pleased to see a bunch of what I would call "plain old quilts" -- pieced, nice and flat, abstract, with no fancy twists (no raw edges, no wonky edges, no embellishments).  I know this reflects my own delight in this unadorned format, as most of my own work fits this description, and indeed, one of my "plain old quilts" is in this Yeiser show.  But sometimes there are only a few such quilts in a mixed fiber show; this time there were many.

Gail Baar, Structure: 13

I liked the simple shapes, the simple color palette, especially the three or four different shades of white.  Such basic elements, and yet combined in a style that doesn't look the least bit like any other quilter that I know of.  This one goes on my short list for awards (not that anybody asked me...).

Valerie Maser-Flanagan, Ovum Blocks #2


















It was hard not to notice this quilt since it was on the front wall next to the show signage.  I was particularly happy to see this quilt because I had just seen another work by Valerie at Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie.  The egg shapes and the general sensibility of the two quilts are the same, but this one is executed in surface design while the one at FNF was pieced.  Interesting to see how an artist uses the same ideas in different techniques.

Maria Shell, Dance Party at Tamara's House


A classic pieced quilt, in a traditional-looking pattern, but clearly original in its sensibility.  I recall seeing another quilt of Maria's several years ago at FNF, whose claim to fame was brilliant free-motion quilting on whole cloth.  This one has a totally different feel and I love it.

Marcia DeCamp, Jet Trails #8 (with my quilt Crossroads 4 barely visible next door)


Marcia has made a bunch of quilts with this same motif, some fused and some pieced.  This one is pieced, which I like a whole lot better (and not a whole lot harder to do, in my opinion).  I was happy to find her quilt next to mine; I think they complemented each other with two different takes on narrow pieced lines.


Maser-Flanagan - "Ovum Blocks #2Valerie Maser-Flanagan - "Ovum Blocks #2Valerie Maser-Flanagan - "O

Fantastic Fibers 2

Here are more works from Fantastic Fibers that used text and paper.

Saaraliisa Ylitalo, Silence (detail below)



















Squares of gold leaf are applied to what looks to be heavy handmade paper, with writing in ink over the top.  Not sure what I think of the bulldog clips as hanging devices; although casual hanging is trendy these days the delicacy and elegance of this piece seem to call for something a bit more sophisticated.

Sarah Kusa, Undulate (detail below)

The materials are paper drywall tape, mesh tape and silk organza, all in the same warm ivory white and stiff enough to be draped and curved out in front of the backing plane and.  I wonder if they'll start to droop after months or years of display -- but they're gorgeous now.

Nanette Davis, The Midas Touch (detail below)

The hand is slightly larger than life-size, made from foiled paper.

Fantastic Fibers 1

I was pleased to be juried into Fantastic Fibers, the annual show at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah KY and went to the opening a week ago.  FF is a longstanding show that took a hiatus for a few years and has miraculously regained its reputation, with close to 400 entries this year.  The Yeiser is a lovely little gallery and they intelligently time the annual fiber show so that visitors to the big AQS quilt show can see it.  It's only a block from the National Quilt Museum and five blocks from the AQS show, so if you're in Paducah for the big show you can easily see FF.

Fiber artist Luanne Rimel was the juror for FF this year and she saw two trends: lots of paper, lots of text.  Here are some of my favorites:

Shawna Munro, Red Letter Cape (detail below)


















The words, cut from books, are hand-sewed to the white cotton backing with invisible thread.

Samara Rosen, Accumulation of Knowledge (detail below)

Strips of text and music cut from books were stitched together with machine zig-zag, and arranged into a 3-D swoosh.  It reminded me of the works of El Anatsui, one of my favorite artists, whose constructions bulge and billow like this one.

No big deal on installation: just pound a couple of nails into the wall and hang the paper construction onto them. 

Carla Tilghman, Moment (detail below)

The weft of this woven piece is strips from telephone books.