QSDS alumni show 3

I've been writing this week about the QSDS show at the Riffe Gallery in Columbus.  Here are some abstract quilts that I liked. 

I'm a sucker for machine-piecing and was happy to see that Linda Frost made her quilt the old-fashioned way, including some nice curves and pieced-in pointy strips. She used both machine- and hand-quilting, a combination you don't see too often, to excellent effect.  Note how the judicious use of neutrals peps up the composition.

Linda Frost, Geode Slices, 56 x 74" (details below)

The next piece started as a monoprint, with skinny grass pieces raw-edge appliqued over the top.  It falls somewhere between representational and abstract but either way, it's a striking composition with a pleasing color palette.

Betty Ford, Red and Yellow Grass, 21 x 21" (detail below) 

I wrote about Barbara Watler's impressively hand-stitched piece at Quilt National, and here's another, equally impressive piece.  But this one is abstract, complemented by a black-and-white color scheme.  Makes me want to get out my needle and start embroidering.

Barbara Watler, Entanglement 2, 72 x 55" (detail below)

Considering how popular surface design is today in the art quilt world, it was a bit surprising to find so little spectacular screenprinting in this show.  But this piece has so much oomph that it makes up for the lack of it elsewhere in the room.  Shelley Baird's piece is entirely screenprinted, then densely machine-quilted to highlight the design.

Shelley Brenner Baird, Plot, 42 x 60" (details below)