Cincinnati glitterati 2

More on my observations from the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati last week in which we found glitter, gleam and shine everywhere.

In case you're wondering, I have no photos of Swarovski crystals, not because they weren't present but because I couldn't get my camera to record the glitter.  But I was glad to see they weren't in a huge quantities made infamous by some quilts of years past, such as a big winner at Paducah that had 130,000 crystals ON THE BACK.  Perhaps this is a result of the still-troubled economy -- who can afford them in bulk?

paint /  Rita Summers, doorkeepers (detail)

metallic ribbon / Frances Holliday Alford, Capital Hardware (detail)

ribbon with metallic trim / Kathy Johnson, For My Love (detail)

and would the show be complete without angelina fibers? / (oops, forgot to get the artist's name)

Cincinnati glitterati 1

We visited the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati last week and on the way we agreed that our mission, among others, was to detect trends in the quilt world.  It didn't take too long to identify the big one: glitter and shiny things!  In fact, it became a quest to note how many different ways you could choose to accomplish that end.

metallic thread hand quilting / Rita Summers, doorkeepers (detail)

metallic thread machine quilting / Pam King, Transition (detail)

glitter tulle / Naoko Hirano, Beautiful Japanese Lily (detail)

satin / Amanda Onchulenko, Blossom (detail)

copper lamé / Karen Linduska, Swamp Girl Goes Prada (detail)

blue and green lamé / Anna Faustino, Empire Star (detail)


Too much glitter and gleam for one post -- I'll show you more on another day.  You might want to wear sunglasses.

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