Form, Not Function 2 -- the big prizes

The two big prizes in FNF, right after best in show, went to two of the biggest quilts in the room.

Arturo Alonzo Sandoval, Pattern Fusion No. 18: Motherboard 9, 84 x 97" (detail below)

This quilt is hard to photograph because it's made of shiny plastics: microfilm, mylar, holographic film and I don't know what all else.  But in person it shines and glows and blinks and changes color as you move past it and the light hits a new angle.  Zigzag stitched on an industrial machine in a very large studio, the quilt is perfectly flat and industrial-looking, more like a machine-made flat surface than a quilt.  It's spectacular, and when you get up close you can see that the microfilms show newspaper pages from the past.
    

Emily Bellinger, S h a t t e r e d  (detail below)

As I wrote last week, this quilt has many, many, many pieces.  Each one is made of subtly different shades and patterns of mattress ticking, then finished with a traditional half-inch binding.

The artist statement explains: "Made to look like shattered glass, the work is crafted from traditional mattress ticking fabric to convey the intimacy that once was, the fragility of human connections, and the emotional impact of ending a relationship.... every time the quilts are installed, the layout and scale change.  This speaks to the varying ways in which individuals enter and leave our lives." 

Two big quilts, each with big impact and presence!