Power Suit Challenge part 2

A quick shot when no one was standing there....amazing!  Today, I'm going to share a few of my favorite quilts...and trust me, it is hard to pick favorites!

Because I know a lot of people don't like wordiness (but then, I suppose they aren't the ones following MY blog), I'm breaking this up.

One thing which amused me at this show was that one of the cousins said "I noticed that a lot of the ladies here were wearing quilted jackets.  Why don't you have one?"

Umm...because unlike this woman, I never have gotten around to making one.  I have patterns...I have ideas...but. . . .

A number of the quilts not surprisingly had comic book character themes, particularly ones showing women.  The one on the upper right here is Patrice Smith's "The Ultimate Power Suit".  Patrice is from Livonia, Michigan and had this to say about her quilt:
"Having just spent 40 years on the corporate world I struggled with the concept of power suits!At work, when I needed to solve a problem, I donned my Nancy Drew persona, but when the problem was solved I often hummed the Wonder Woman theme song!  So, the 1940s Wonder Woman image with her muscles and great outfit seemed to me to represent the ultimate power suit! Now if only I had one when I was working...hmmm....."

The little penguin quilt on the lower right is Alison Lang's "Pictures of Penguins in their Power Suits."  Alison is from Muskegon, Michigan and pointed out "If you want to see a being in a power suit, look to the birds. No other creature I know uses its suit (constructed of plumage) as much to impress, acquire, protect, and procreate than the birds. I chose penguins that wear suits that resemble human tuxedos. Humans wear tuxedos at gatherings of power such as displays of wealth, stance in society, political power, respect for accomplishment, ritual, and to honor passages (marriage.)"

As I mentioned earlier, a number of these quilts were done with memories of particular individuals.  This one is Lesly-Claire Greenberg's "Black Tie."

I like this one for the starkness and graphic quality.  While it is a very stable piece, your eye does continue to move around the piece.  It was extremely well made as well.

I also liked what Lesly-Claire had to say:  "When Dad wasn‘t on the road he went into the City, New York City, along with thousands of other men. Every morning freshly shaved and crisply pressed they lined the platform of the LIRR. Each night they returned a bit more rumpled. Dad sold Formal Wear. Those Tuxedos fed, clothed, sheltered us and sent us to college. That‘s a lot of power in a suit."

Lesly-Claire Greenberg's work may be seen here

Similar to Lesly Claires in commemorating an individual, this is Mary Ellen Simmons "Make Way for the Great."  I admire anyone who can use Ruth Power's method of drafting images into pieced works..I don't think I have it in me.

Mary Ellen is from Fairfax, Virginia and here's here statement about this piece: "
 This quilt, a portrait of a young man on the brink of his future in a new suit with his new car, is in memory of my father, a man who during his 95 years lived up to the caption under his senior picture in the high school year book, "Make way for the great!" When I heard of the power suit challenge, I immediately thought of the caption, the picture of him as a young man, and of his long life lived in kindness, love and devotion, service, with great generosity, patience, humor, and dignity. Hey Dad, 'you were the greatest!'"

Not surprisingly, many quilts had a political side.  I loved this one.  Like my quilt, Sherry Boram (Pendleton, Indiana) used mostly the fabrics from her packet, piecing the sky.  Her little men with their button heads are extremely well done and their fiery pants are exquisite!

Here's her statement: "The days of skepticism about the powerful are upon us. Too bad we continue to trust appearance as a mark of character when many in positions of power are dishonest -- why else would their pants be on fire? Money in some questionable form seems to be related to the powerful, though you have to look hard to find it. It‘s a part of this piece (completely respectable!) but can you spot it?"

Other than her men are standing on the green....no, I couldn't.  But then, I may have just been obtuse that day.

Since it is getting close to the Day of the dead, I had to include Julie Schlueter's "Working Stiffs."  Her little working "stiffs" are all attired in their own little power suits...whether a power necklace or power tie.  Julie is from Orange, California and here's her statement:

"What fun to use suiting, shirting and silk tie fabric to make a quilt. I wanted to make my Power Suit entry a tribute to Dia de los Muertos. I enjoyed sewing pieces of suiting fabric randomly to make the background and used the shirting fabric and tie silk to "dress" the calacas. I have plenty of rusted fabric, so I used that to make the bones and finally used, for the hat, some fabric I bought years ago to someday make a Dia de los Muertos quilt. That someday is here and the quilt is made."

You can find more of Julie's work here. You may also recognize her as a Dinner at Eight artist.

If you are interested in seeing the whole collection of 108 quilts (I thought there were 107, but one more was added), you can order a $10 CD from Artistic Artifacts.  This CD will help cover the cost of shipping these pieces to the venues as well as back to their owners as there wasn't an entry fee for this challenge.