Ginger People

"Ginger People" made by Marcia Switzer, quilted by Chris Landis

Isn't this a fun quilt? I saw this at the Champaign/Urbana (Ohio) quilt guild's show in October.  Marcia Switzer is an amazing applique artist...her stitching is perfect and it is only enhanced by my friend Chris Landis' fantastic machine quilting.

My only regret was that I couldn't get back far enough to shoot the whole quilt. 

Champaign Quilter's Guild Show-the Small but Mighty!

Part of the exhibition hall at the Champaign Quilter's Guild show

On Sunday, October 21, I wrote about the Towne Square Quilter's Guild show in Greenville, Ohio and mentioned that I took in a second show that day in Urbana, Ohio.  I usually don't take in two shows on the same weekend, but this day I took in two on the same day...separated by an hour and half's driving.

I went to the Urbana show in order to see the work of the guild and what they were interested in since one of their member's contacted me to give them a lecture next spring.  I try to tailor my lectures to the interests of each guild.  I have to say that I will put the Urbana show on my calendar from now on.  The work was exquisite and the show facilities were very pleasant. I also didn't mind my drive through rural Ohio on a gorgeous fall day...I didn't even mind getting caught in a Ohio Parade....driving slowly behind a seeder until it was safe to pass.

Outstanding applique work at Champaign show.

Here you can get a sense of the absolutely exquisite applique work.  The rows were filled with incredible applique and very fine piecing with a couple of antique quilts thrown in for fun.  The first applique quilt you see on the left is Marilyn Hiltibran's rendition of Edyta Sitar's pattern, "The Laundry Basket Chorus."  Sharon Vitt machine quilted it.  The second piece is Marcia Switzer's "Ginger People", excellently machine quilted by my friend Chris Landis.

I love Birds, by Emily Miller

This nicely done fussy cut pieced quilt was Emily Miller's first quilt.  I have to say, she did an excellent job for a first attempt.  My friend Joan Sterr machine quilted it on her HQ-16.   I included a detail so you could see how she matched all her points, and didn't cut off a single one!

"I Love Birds," detail

Marily Hiltibran's "Sunflower Hill."

Marilyn Hiltibran did this wonderful hand appliqued piece, "Sunflower Hill," designed by Julie Popa and machine quilted by Janet Amlin.

I am going to show a couple more pieces from Urbana over the next couple of days.

Dayton Landmark Art Quilts: Mendelson's

Nestled in the north end of Dayton, just opposite 5th/3rd field, home to the Dayton Dragons, a farm team for the Cincinnati Reds, stands Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet.  Old industrial buildings fascinate me and I loved Ronnie Doyal's shot of Mendelson's....although there were a lot of people who complained that we picked it as a "Dayton Landmark."  When we thought of the project, it was things which were recognizably Dayton, not that it was a point of pride, a long time standing institution or whatever...and since you see the name emblazoned on the building when you drive past, or when you are at the ball park...well, it fits the bill, not matter how much people complained about it.
I felt that the shot offered lots of interesting tidbits for people to try.....but of course, I lusted after the water tower.


Chris Landis got the first slice.  I loved how she handled this.  Chris is a consummate quilter and has a machine quilting business, Feather Creek Quilting.  For her segment, she took the sky and interwove pieces.

you can see her quilting and what I mean a bit better here in this detail. I also loved the way she handled the trees.















Carroll Schleppi drew the next segment and had some really lovely graphic elements to play with.  Carroll chose a batik with an overprint of a metallic...sort of lightening bolt fabric. It is fairly subtle until you see it up close.

 The next segment belongs to Liz Schneiders.  The really cool thing about Liz' piece is that she bought all the fabric for her piece at Mendelson's!  Work clothes, etc. On the back side of it, she included labels and price tags for her purchases, and made a pocket to hold a card about Mendelson's in it.  Pretty cool!












Here's the front.  I love how she made the smoke rising out of the stack, even though in the original photo  it wasn't present.  That graphic smoke broke up the sky and gave it a lot more interest.  I love the shading and the lines made by the stacks and the windows.

The lucky bum who landed the water tower was Sue DeSantis.  Her tower is extremely faithful to the original photograph.  I love the contrast of the back ground of the sky to all the other artist's skys....and I especially like how it references traditional quilting.  Like Chris, Sue also does custom quilting on her long arm and like Chris' work, her quilting is to die for!  We are so lucky to have so many talented people in our group.

I apologize that this is taking me longer, but I have been having a very tough time with this round of chemo and find that I am often just too tired to sit down and right...in some cases, I've sat struggling with the photos and my stupid very old computer trying to get the posts up, but fail when my eyes are just too weary!  The quilts will continue at the Schuster Center through June 24th.  I can't wait until we can actually put them up WITH the photographs which inspired them.  So far, you are the first people seeing them together, so you should feel very special indeed.

Miami Valley Art Quilt Network at the Dayton Metro Library

Yesterday, Carroll Schleppi, Maxine Thomas, Christine Landis and I hung the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network's show at the Dayton Public Library.  Carlette Baynum, the library's coordinator asked us if we wanted to hold the show now in order to coincide with a special even at the New Lebanon branch on March 12.  Normally, we have a little more time to get things co-ordinated...but I think the show looks pretty good. Nine members of MVAQN have items in, for a total 21 pieces. The show will run from March 2 through April 13. All of the photos on this post are ones Carlette took.

It is an interesting show and might be appropriately named "Old and New."  Some of the artist put in early pieces while mine literally had the sleeves sewing in while waiting to hang.

Here is Chris Landis' "Lone Maple," my "Gold Bars," and Maxine Thomas' "East Meets West Friendship Quilt."   Here's the information from Maxine's label:  This quilt is a rich combination of collage, beading, embellishment, patchwork, appliqué and quilting folding. It is both hand and machine quilted. Hand and machine quilting, charms, and buttons provide further improvisational embellishment.

 

This quilt grew out of my experience in Japan. While there my quilt group put together a friendship quilt using traditional patchwork and with all of the club members’ names in Japanese. When I returned to the US I asked my quilt group to sign squares to put into this Japanese inspired quilt. I now have two friendship quilts one in Japanese using traditional patchwork designs and another in English with Japanese inspired designs.

I think you've seen this one before...but it is my Redwing blackbird....and I have been hearing the spring calls of the birds so I think that my beloved friends will soon be back...

Chris' "Spent Coneflowers" which she did as her answer to MVAQN's Coneflower challenge.

 

Kate Burch did this piece entitled "On Walkabout" in 2008.  Here's her descripton:  

Applique, machine quilted.  Cotton and polyester fabrics; machine embroideries embellished with glass and bone beads; footprints stenciled with Shiva Paintsticks.

This quilt was inspired by Australian commercial prints with Aboriginal designs.  The "walkabout" is an Aboriginal rite of passage in which a youth goes alone into the bush for six months, retracing the paths of his ancestors and recreating legendary historic deeds.

All but one of the embroidered Aboriginal animal and symbol designs were digitized by the artist, guided by copyright-free clip art from Dover press.  One design, the "bush onion," was pre-digitized by John Smigh Gumbula, an Aboriginal artist.  

I am afraid that the present course of chemo therapy is really throwing me for a loop.  My eyesight is blurry enough that I was having trouble threading my needle to put on the sleeve even with a needle threader. In addition, my fingers just don't work right.  They are tender, but the tips are also numb...a strange combination which doesn't make for easy sewing.  After hanging this show, I went home and had lunch then slept for 2 hours; made dinner, then went to bed at 9:30 and didn't get up until 8:30.....most annoying. 

Miami Valley Quilters Guild Show and thoughts on art quilts

Last week was the first day of the Miami Valley Quilter's Guild show in Xenia, Ohio. I helped hang it on Thursday, and vended Friday and Saturday (selling my used books), and helped with take down on Saturday.

The guild is an extremely talented one, with a large number of art quilters in addition to those who do traditional works. You can find more information on the show, the guild and photos of the winners here.

One of our members is Maria Elkins. Here you see a corner of the art quilt section which was one of the largest in the show. Dead on you see Maria's "Wedding Dreams" quilt (the little girl in maroon) next to the wonderful blues in "Teacup." On the left "wall" are examples of pieces done by other guild members in a workshop Maria led.

Here are two of Maria's on the upper left, and her journal quilts (a portrait of her daughter in segments). Fran LaSalle did the sunprint with Seta color and the blue celtic inspired piece.

For more on Maria's work and her view of the show, go here.









I was snapping these shots before I left on Thursday....you can still see the boxes of our hangers and the tables left out. Most of these are art quilts as well.









The piece which most of the people who visited my booth talked about was Maria's piece called "Captivated." It won viewers choice in the art quilt category. I think one of the things which struck a chord with people is that many of us who are avid readers can relate to being transported by the written word.

One of what I think of as Maria's trademarks is the use of patchwork in the quilt in some area...sometimes it plays a major role, and sometimes it is more subtle as in this piece where it is the counterpane in the front.














This dahlia quilt is one which my friend Chris Landis did. I love the colors she used in it, and I should have taken a close up so you could see both the green embellishment she used in the center (which if I remember correctly was a green, hairy yarn).








Here's a full view of Fran's celtic quilt. One thing which is different about this show, is that for the last couple of years, it hasn't been judged by an independent judge. While the categories are loosely described in the forms, it is up to the exhibitor to decide which section the quilt should be in.

The pieces only win viewers choice awards.

The art quilt section was one of the largest, although in general art quilts are smaller than regular quilts (thank heavens! or we would have run out of space). Some of the quilts in the art quilt section are done with kits, some of them are done with patterns, some of them are done in workshops. A couple of us were talking about how perhaps there should be greater definition, although I do admit that the boundaries between contemporary quilts and art quilts are often blurred. One item for thought is that perhaps only original designs of non-traditional work should be in the art quilt section. What do you think? What would you do under similar circumstances?

Making the cut or not

I have an unusual opportunity to share some of the quilts which were submitted to the Aullwood show, but were not chosen. I am friends with two quilters, Chris Landis and Fran LaSalle who are very talented quilters.

Both of them submitted works for consideration. Fran had her Forest Fantasy accepted, but two other of her pieces did not make it in.



Chris submitted this one. At the time we took the photograph, it wasn't quite finished...the binding had to be finished. Chris was trying something different. While this piece is made of three separate panels, the birch branches cross over into the other frame and are finished on both side as the reach across the opening.

This caused Chris to do some real head scratching in order to figure out how to do this. She also struggled over what color to make the binding. My instinct was to knife edge or face them so there wouldn't be the bar between them, but your eye would go across. Chris wanted to use the darker color (we were trying to figure out then whether to use black or a dark brown) in order to frame it and play up the fact that there was an edge there. Personal preference.

Here you can see the Cardinal she did in this detail shot. His beak is really wonderful and I love the work she did on the branches. The background was snippets of fabrics which were then trapped under tulle in order to make a forest floor. Her work is quite innovative. It's hard to believe that Chris has only been a member of the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network for just a year.

Chris lives in New Lebanon, Ohio and does professional long arm quilting. She has been quilting for quite a while and does a lot of her own patterns, but also enjoys doing traditional pieces.


Fran LaSalle is also a member of the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network...and I should also say that both Fran and Chris belong to the Miami Valley Quilters Guild in addition to other guilds (I just happen to be in both of these groups with them). Fran has a background in biology and plant science.

She likes to do applique and much of her work is done by hand. This particular piece is called Resting Parrot. It also was submitted but not chosen.

This last one Fran did especially for the Aullwood show, but it wasn't accepted either...perhaps there were too many crows, blackbirds and ravens submitted! I find this to be a humorous piece. It's called Corn Watchers.


All three of these pieces have merit. Perhaps when you look at them you might think they should have gotten in with the rest of the pieces I have shown you.

The Aullwood show is quite small. Space restrictions make them limit the number of pieces which are selected. In addition, the Director of Aullwood, who is also a quilter, and the guest Judge make the decisions.

Selecting pieces is always subjective. The judges (or in this case judge) have criteria that they are looking for. Sometimes it is just down to personal choice.

Therefore, if you don't make it into one show, try again someplace else. Sometimes you won't make it in one year but you'll try the same piece another year and get in.

All work, however, should be of the highest quality when you enter shows. To me, hanging straight, whether an art quilt or not, should be important, unless, of course, in the case of the art quilt is isn't MEANT to hang straight.

Give yourself plenty of time to get it done. Don't rush yourself. Make sure it fits the theme as well as the criteria (in other words, don't ignore the rules).

Now, if only I could pay attention to my own advice!