Form, Not Function -- the big winners

"Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie" opened last weekend, the tenth year for this show.  To celebrate, there's a beautiful catalog that shows not only everything from this show but also all the previous best-in-show winners, and a listing of all participants, jurors and judges from the past.

Best in show this year was Betty Busby -- the second year in a row!  Her quilt features a thread-painted center surrounded by an expanse of natural handwoven cotton and a sunburst of fat wrapped cords, quilted with big, beautiful, subtle hand seed stitches.

Betty Busby, Retia, 60 x 45" (details below)

This year the Carnegie received a grant that will fund a generous award of excellence -- in effect, the second place winner -- for five years.  It went to Judy Kirpich for her intricately pieced quilt.

Judy Kirpich, Circles No. 6, 57 x 61", detail below

What's notable about Judy's work is that all those circles are pieced in, not appliqued, not fused.  I've seen her working in person and still don't understand how she manages to get everything so perfectly flat.  And her quilting is wonderful, making the circles pop and giving lots of variety to the backgrounds.

Because the Carnegie was doing the catalog this year, it asked artists to deliver their work a few weeks early so the show could be judged and the winners listed in the catalog.  That also had the pleasant side effect of allowing the two big winners to be hung in the prime spots of the gallery, at the two ends of the long classical room, which showed them at their best.

I'll write more later this week about other works in the show that I liked.  Meanwhile, why not give yourself a present and buy a copy of the catalog?