Aullwood 2011: Fairies and Ruth Powers

Ruth Powers "Foxglove Fairy"  41" x 42" price negotiable

Ruth Powers almost always submits a quilt or two to the Aullwood show and I have to say I really admire her technique.  For those of you who are not familiar with Ruth's work, she almost always does nature scenes and her quilts are machine pieced bits of commercially printed fabrics.  I am in awe.

Here we have "Foxglove Fairy."  Ruth has been working on a series of fairies and this particular one was constructed to explore working with water reflections.  Ruth felt that the quilt didn't have enough "oomph" and so added the foxglove fabric.  I love how the water looks.  Take a look on her blog and follow the construction of this piece....just start with Friday, February 11, 2011 Another Fairy" 

Foxglove fairy detail

You can see here, I hope, a little of how she does this and the water reflection.  Ruth is from Carbondale, Kansas and exhibits a lot.  I think my most favorite fairy piece Ruth has done is "Don't Piss Off the Fairies".  Ruth did this for one of the SAQA 12" x 12" auctions, and Del  Thomas snagged it for her collection in 2009.  Take a look at it at Del's blog.  It just tickles me because we don't usually think about things like this. 

If you're not interested in negotiating with Ruth in order to buy this quilt, you can make one from one of her patterns in a more traditional ...or rather restrained view with her Fairies in My Garden pattern. 

I don't have fairies in my garden...but I have lots of the next best thing...ruby throated hummingbirds.

Aullwood 2011: Sandra Palmer Ciolino

Sandra Palmer Ciolino Crevasse 24" x 16" $485

Sandra Palmer Ciolino is another art quilter from Cincinnati.  Sandra's work is primarily geometrically based, although some of her other pieces are more organic.  I know this sounds contradictory, but if you look at her galleries on her website, you'll see more geometric pieces than you do the others...but she does both and she has a link to a you-tube retrospective  as well as galleries of her work.


Sandra has two pieces in the show both from a series based on photographs of the Herbert Glacier in Alaska. This one entitled "Crevasse" and the other called "Glacial Runnoff".  

Sandra Palmer Ciolino Crevasse Detail

Here's her artist statement:  "Crevasse is based on an aerial view of glacier fields in Alaska.
Fabric is my medium.  My ongoing connection to the tactile quality of fabric and its potential to be transformed into objects both utilitarian and beautiful is undeniable.  My quilts express the relationship between my intuitive sense of line, shape, color, value and texture.  I am passionate about meticulous craftsmanship and am obsessed with machine quilting for it is this phase of the creative process that presents opportunities to add additional layers of character, texture and structure to the composition.  As my eyes focus less on actual images and more on the infrastructure of  my surroundings, my body of work has naturally evolved from a representational to an abstract viewpoint.   Materials:  hand dyed cottons by Virginia Keiser, wool batting, cotton threads, rayon, metal and glass embellishments."

Sandra Palmer Ciolino, "Glacial Run-off"  20" x 28.5"  $700.

Sandra Palmer Ciolino, Glacial Run-off detail

Her second piece is entitled "Glacial Run-off."    I was a little puzzled by her color choice as the glacial run-off I'm used to seeing in Montana and in the Olympics in Washington state are turquoise, not the blues that she uses in this piece. But, that's just my observation as her chocolates and true blues and blues with a violet cast certainly work.

Aullwood 2011: Maude Haeger and Joan Hershey Traditonal but not

Maude Haeger "Lake Michigan Memories All Day Long".

2 panels total size 56" x 54" $2,000

Maude Haeger is someone I've had the pleasure of "meeting" through the Quiltart message board.  I had hoped to meet her in person in June since she's from West Chester, but that didn't work out.  Maude's piece "Lake Michigan Memories All Day Long" is loosely based on traditional patterns.  If you look closely, you can see the log cabin block and of course the New York Beauty.

Here's the text of Maude's statement:

"Lake Michigan is my favorite body of water.  I have been going to the Lake since I was a child.  Growing up in Urbana, Illinois,  it was a big treat to go to my grandfather's farm in Indiana, pile into the car with my cousins and go off to Three Oaks, Michigan and the Warren Dunes.  We would stop at Drier's Meat Market and get bologna for sandwiches and then go off to the Dunes.  We were there from sunrise to sunset and it was wonderful.  Later, I introduced my husband to the wonders of Lake Michigan and then we shared it with our children.  By then we would camp up on Holland, Michigan and again get to stay all day and and swim and sun and just enjoy the water.

This piece is actually a part of the "Thinking Outside the Box" series I have been working on for the past year in which there are central motifs framed with color using the log cabin pattern.  Being at the Lake helps one "Think Outside the Box"  and we need to "Think Outside the Box" in order to preserve this wonderful water heritage."

Having grown up in Michigan and spent a fair amount of time at the beach in South Haven, I have to agree with Maude.  In fact, this section of quilt reminds me of the sun setting on the water and the sparkly diamonds it makes.

You can see in this detail as well as the above how Maude heavily quilts her pieces.  You can see more of Maude's work on her website.

One thing which was bothersome about the installation was that they separated the two pieces.  I understand the need to do so because of the balance of the space, but the section on the right has no label to indicate that it is Maude's and that it is a diptych.  Only the left side has a label.  I also understand that it would make the label too low for easy viewing, but to my mind, even though it would be 4" below the lowest to the right, it should have been done.

Joan Hershey "Dangerous Waves",  29" x 31" $524.00

Another quilt based on the log cabin pattern is Joan Hershey's "Dancing Waters."  The colors and textures are just wonderful. It makes you want to invest is a surf board, doesn't it?

I don't really think it needs any explanation.  I also think it is great that she used commercially printed batiks.  Sometimes I think we get really wound up in dyeing our own....which is fine, especially when you can't find the right shade or color...but when commercially printed material is out there readily...then it is great to use that.  I don't think we should shun one over the other, except of course if you have concerns about the environment and want to ensure that the method used in dyeing is environmentally friendly.

Joan Hershey, Dangerous Waves detail.

Cool quilting job, No?

Aullwood 2011: Bonnie Askowitz

Bonnie Askowitz Back to Basics Green 21" x 17" $400

Since yesterday I ended with Kathleen Hughes' piece which used photographs in her work, I thought I would pick up on the only other artist who used photographic prints in her work at the Aullwood Show.  Bonnie Dubbin Askowitz is a quilter from Miami, Florida whose style reminds me somewhat of Jane Dunnewold's work...although the piece at left doesn't leave me feeling that way as much as her Turtle Island piece below.

The piece at left is entitled "Back to Basics Green".  It's part of a series that Bonnie started approximately fifteen years ago using the same or similar image in different ways.   Bonnie told me that Susan Shie started her on this path with a project Susan called "Green Quilts"  which was intended to have the environment as a focal point and to send love and healing to the universe.

The concept stuck with Bonnie and has influences much of what she does. 

Bonnie Askowitz Back to Basics Green detail

You can see on this detail the interesting combination of the appliqued organic shapes which strongly remind me of the sea morning glory leaves you often find on Florida beaches.  She's highlighted these with golden and metailic colored threads.   She has used netting over the image which gives it a sort of shimmering quality. 


You can see on the second detail the dimension she's achieved with the straplike leaves. 


Her statement for this piece is as follows:  "Part of a series using these images, the quilt tells a story that only the viewer can determine.  Is this the woman's daughter? Is she the woman when she was a child?  Is she real or is she imaginary?  What is happening is for the viewer to decide."

  To see other pieces in the series, you can see them here on her website. 

Bonnie Askowitz Back to Basics Green detail

Her quilt entitled Turtle Island is interesting because it uses images which have been reversed in order to create a new image, sort of a kaleidoscopic effect. 

"A collage of heat transferred photos that included turtles and marine visuals which was compiled but sat unfinished until the border was added and all was machine quilted.   The border fabric was hand made by an island woman and purchased in Tortola adding to the mystique of turtles and the serendipity of quilt making.

Turtle Island is the name used by Native Americans for North America.  The quilt is not about turtles even though the turtle factor predominates.  It is about keeping our waters pure and our continent clean, beautiful and fit for habitation."

Bonnie Askowitz Turtle Island 26" x 29.5" $700

Bonnie Askowitz Turtle Island detail

Bonnie Askowitz Turtle Island detail showing border

Aullwood 2011: Georgie Cline and Kathleen Hughes

Gerogie Cline Naples Florida *1 25.5" x 18.5"  $500

Georgie Cline, from Columbus, Ohio, offers us some detailed glimpses of piers on the beach in Naples, Florida.   Georgie uses hand-dyed cotton, organza and acrylic paint to concoct realistic and evocative images.

Detail Naples Florida I by Georgie Cline

Naples Florida #5 by Georgie Cline.  22" x 20" $450.

Kathleen Hughes Water Lily Fountain 41.25" x 41"  $2,500.00

You can see little slivers of fabric that Georgie has stitched down.   She uses free-motion zigzag stitch to add more texture in her work.


I particularly love the colors that Georgie has used in Naples Beach #5. Georgie often works in series and has a website which shows some of her works here. Her works are all nature oriented, but I  think you'll enjoy going to her site and taking a look of some of her more abstract works. 





Kathleen Hughes of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin also depicts scenes from nature.  Hers are realistic views which are rendered in commercial fabrics, hand dyes and whatever it takes to make a natural view. 


Frequently, Kathleen uses photographs printed on fabric to make her pieces even more realistic.  In Water Lily Fountain you can see that she has done just that.  The water lily pads are made from photographic prints.  Kathleen also made her water lily flowers and some of the pads dimensional.

She writes:  "I love floral quilts and always look for more ideas for them.  With Water Lilies, I wanted to capture the floating evanescent quality.  A photograph I took of the lilies growing in the fountain outside the mission at Santa Barbara (CA), inspired me to think in layers of fabric, just as the rock layer is overlaid with shadows, waterlilie pads and lilies. " 

Her shadows are great and if you look closely you can see the coins she used in the piece. You can see more of her work on her website.

Aullwood Nature Center 2011: Martha Lee Burleson and Robbie Porter

Martha Lee Burleson, Moutain Stream  14.25" x 11.75". NFS

Martha Lee Burleson "Mountain Stream" detail.

As I've said before, much of what draws me to quilting as my preferred form of artwork is texture.  The texture of the fabric, threads and whatever else we choose to add to the piece.

Martha Lee Burleson did a wonderful job with found objects in this little piece called "Mountain Stream."  Martha Lee Burleson is from Charlotte, North Carolina and unfortunately, I cannot find a web presence for her.


This is a small piece which she has mounted on a linen ground and framed without glass. Martha Lee was inspired to make this piece by a trip to the Georgia mountains.  "The rocky river reminded me that the ocean once covered the earth far inland of today's shoreline. "  Martha pieced her own hand-dyed fabrics, then embellished it with silk, cotton, beads, and shells found on the North Carolina beaches.  She then hand quilted it.




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Robbie Porter, "Shore Excursion" 46" x 28".  $600

Haning right next to it, but much larger, is Robbie Porter's "Shore Excursion."  Robbie quilts in Batavia, Ohio.  I really like this piece. I think a lot for the colors in it and the richness, but also for the texture.  Robbie used printed commercial cottons and a decorator fabric.  She sliced and off set the background, then  added a swash of filmy fabric to indicate the little burble of water as the waves wash back to the ocean. 

She also embellished it with specialty yarns, sequins, shells, sea glass and shell beads.  She added a fringed beaded element to the irregular edge which makes it all the more rich and pleasing to the eye. 



Her artist statement reads as follows:  "'The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy or too impatient.' Ann Morrow Lindbergh Gifts of the Sea.  Shore Excursions was created as a celebration of quiet walks at the water's edge and the joy of finding even very small treasures washed up from the sea.  The waves washing across the rocks  were created with a layering of netting and organza fabrics with shells and sea glass embellishments."

Robbie Porter, "Shore excursion" detail.

Aullwood 2011: Liz Piatt

Liz Piatt, Ocean Life, 46" x 42" NFS

Although in many respects, this is a traditional quilt (primarily in layout and the fact that is uses applique), I think that it is wonderfully designed and executed and it happens to be one of my favorites.  Liz Piatt from Orinda, California made this quilt and unfortunately, she doesn't have a website although she does seem to do a lot of teaching, and lecturing.

Liz wrote this in her statement about this piece:   "When one swims in the ocean off Oahu, Hawaii, there is indeed 'Water, Water, Everywhere.'  On out last dive there, my daughter and I were thrilled to see both an octopus and a spotted Eagle Ray.  Of course I had to remember this with a quilt."

The quilt is balanced, yet has  a great sense of rhythm.  Her workmanship is absolutely fantastic.  The limited palette is arresting.  I love the reds, blacksn and the blue is a nice counterpoint. 

Liz  Piatt, Ocean  Life, detail

Liz Piatt, Ocean Life, detail.

While I don't ordinarily like using machine embroidery,  Liz has used it well in the mariner's compass and the seashell.  I don't know if she digitized them herself or if they were programed by someone else.








You can see here that she also used satin stitch or machine embroidery to make the octopus' eyes.

I'm sorry that this isn't a better photograph, but I was trying to show you all the hand stitching.  The stitching on the fins and the quilting is all done by hand.

I thought that this piece used net bags from the produce section, but her daughter recently (08/23/2012) informed me that the piece had no net bags, but was all hand embroidered.  Mea culpa and  I will also note that when I was writing this, my eyes were suffering greatly.

It's just a great piece!