Scraps, Stitched and bits and pieces

I don't do many scrap quilts...at least not the traditional ones like this one.  This is a 1950s foundation pieced quilt top in the pattern called "Spider Web."  It used bits and pieces in the string quilting method to make the brightly colored segments.

Lately on the quiltart message board, people have been talking about how small the scraps they save are.  I have found that I am much more likely to use scraps and to quickly find what I need by keeping them ironed and in see-through plastic boxes labeled by color.  Then, when I need something, all I have to do is  flip through them and I find what I need.

For years I've been saving the smallest of scraps, thinking I'd make sort of an impressionist style quilt. At the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati, I took a class from Noriko Endo who takes strips of fabric and cuts them into slivers using her rotary cutter.  A little different than what I had in mind, but it works.  Other people in my guild save snivels and snavels and use them to fill pet bed cushions.

Caryl Bryer Fallert, one of the current Quilting Divas (Queens? Rock Stars???) surprised me by posting one of her recent scrap quilts.  I thought "Caryl Bryer Fallert made a SCRAP QUILT?"  Well...I should have known.   Her scrap quilt has her signature style all over it.  Take a look here and I think you'll see what I mean. 

While at Cincinnati, I attended the world premier of "Stitched:  The film".  "Stitched is a documentary following Caryl Bryer Fallert, Hollis Chatelain and Randall Cook as they prepare, send off and attend the Houston Show.  It's more than that though....it talks about quilting and how big a deal it is...It talks about art quilting and the divide, at least on one side, between traditional quilters and art quilters.  It talks about process and procedure and it's very well done.  It is amusing at times and breathtaking when you look at the inspirations and process. 

 Here's a trailer which I don't think really does justice to the film.






I have to say, I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy of the DVD to show at my quilt guild and to lend to the neighbors who really don't understand what I do...heck, to show to my husband who doesn't really "get it."  I didn't feel that $19.95 was too much to pay as it was really good, really funny and really riveting.  I talked to Jenalia Moreno about when it might be coming to television.  She said not for a while because they couldn't get enough from putting it on PBS (who is interested) to cover even a small amount of the production fees. 

I strongly suggest that you buy a copy for yourself, get one for your guild or local library.  It's a keeper.  You can got to their Facebook Page or buy it on their website (which has some great information on it as well.)  No, I don't have any relationship with them...hey, I bought my own copy for heaven's sake!

I've been working on getting my sewing room cleared out and the fabric stowed (and I was able to avoid buying a single piece of fabric at the IQF show. I think I deserve a badge...I did buy paint, thread and some batting. :) ).  I am trying to finish a couple of small things for the exhibition at the Marianist Environmental Education center's show and will take some things over to the Piqua arts council today.  In the meantime, I'm struggling with extremely blurry vision. 

Vivien Zepf has being doing some remarkable things.  Her work on a homeless person was mentioned in a review of the Northeast Regional Fiber Exhibition in the City Newspaper.  You can see it here.

Now, for the chuckle of the day:  Overheard at the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati:  "I thought this was supposed to be a QUILT show not an ART show."  Amusing to me because the show included a segment of historical quilts, another on contemporary Baltimore Album Quilts, in addition to traditional quilts in the general exhibition.   Yes, Studio Art Quilt Associates were well represented by the Sightlines Exhibition and the Creative Force 2010 Exhibition (the link includes Luana Rubin's video-tour of the exhibition). Also, the "Oh Canada" exhibition had tons of work by Pamela Allen and others who do contemporary quilts as well as ones which are more traditional...It is worth noting that the lines between some contemporary quilts by traditional quilters and art quilts are getting more and more blurry.  You can see the quilts from "Oh, Canada" and the "America Collects" on this weblog.