National Quilting Day 2023

Happy National Quilting Day!

As in the past few years, I hung a quilt outside today for National Quilting Day as prescribed by the Quilt Alliance organization. This is a vintage feed sack quilt that definitely employs a "make do" attitude.

Vintage feed sack quilt hanging outside for National Quilting Day, 2023.

A few other favorite quilts hanging inside are:

"What to Put in the Soup" that won Best of Show at A Mountain Quiltfest in 2004. If you know my husband, you'll recognize the subject of this quilt.

"What to put in the soup?" 2003

"Guitar Strings Improv" was featured in "The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters" by Sherri Lynn Wood.

"Guitar Strings Improv" 2014

Exhibits at the National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY

From the Kaffe: 85 and Fabulous exhibit.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. 

The current exhibits include Kaffe: 85 and Fabulous with selected quilts from Kaffe Fasset's longtime career in textiles;. 

To Fill a Field, an exhibit of contemporary quilts by Canadian artist Justin Ming Yong;

A stunning exhibit of the large-scale floral quilts of Velda Newman called Larger than Life; 

And an international collaborative exhibit of quilts from Chili Quilting and textile artists from southeast Ohio (TSAO) called Flora, Fauna and Landscape/Paisaje.

Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House presentation focuses on community care

Today, I attended an online presentation, Craft as an Embodied Care Practice that was sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation at the Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House. The presentation was a panel discussion about the intersection of craft, care and community, and about community art projects that show how crafting can nurture well-being and healing for individuals and communities. The talk was in conjunction with the Woodlawn Needlework Show, Craft as Comfort: Joy in Needlework. 

Craft as an Embodied Care Practice presentation.

It's been a weekend of textiles, needle arts and crafts.

Quilting Inspiration from the Old [and New] Masters

Following on the heels of my quilt guild's Challenge exhibit, I was extremely fortunate to have an opportunity to visit the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. If you're looking for inspiration, go see a quilt exhibit... or visit a museum—especially one focused on the fiber arts!

"Vases with Fruit" by Jane Dunnewold
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

Exhibits at the National Quilt Museum
There are always several concurrent exhibits at the National Quilt Museum. This time, the pieces included contemporary quilts and art quilts [a Studio Art Quilt Associate (SAQA) 25th anniversary trunk show], vintage quilts, miniatures and a Quilts of Valor—50 State Salute to Old Glory patriotic collection. Some quilts were by current quilt artists, some by renowned quiltmakers no longer with us, and some resurrected quilt tops by anonymous quiltmakers were finished by 21st century quilters [from the Old Glory collection curated Mary Kerr]. All the quilts were amazing and the exhibits were impeccably displayed.

A New Master is inspired by the Old Masters
As I wandered through the exhibits, I came upon the museum's "The Corner Gallery" exhibit. The bold colors, complementary color scheme, and a somewhat "painterly" look of one of the front-facing pieces caught my eye. As I approached, it became apparent the piece was mixed media, collaged and incorporated vintage textiles and needlework. Then I saw the placard... the artist was Jane Dunnewold!

Having taken a workshop with Jane in 2018, I was thrilled when I saw she was the artist featured in this exhibit! The exhibit is called, "Inspired by the Masters—Jane Dunnewold."

There are 14 pieces in this exhibit. Going from piece to piece, things clicked for me. I saw and was reminded of all the techniques Jane shared with the workshop participants through our week-long experience with her. In this exhibit, Jane cohesively blends multiple techniques and materials into beautiful, thoughtful and playful compositions that are inspired by works of the Masters—such as Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo and Mary Cassatt.

Mixed Media with Vintage Needlework
My favorite part of these pieces was the incorporation of the vintage needlepoint, hand embroideries and miscellaneous hand stitched pieces by "anonymous" needlewomen. I am a rescuer of vintage needlework and have a small collection of embroidered dresser scarves, pillow cases, orphan quilt blocks and the like. Do you see the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt blocks in this piece?

"Grandmother Matisse's Flower Garden" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

Detail: "Grandmother Matisse's Flower Garden" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

 These are details of "Vases with Fruit," shown above.

Detail: "Vases with Fruit" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

The filet crocheted edging is left to dangle freely from the table and beyond the edge of the composition.

Detail: "Vases with Fruit" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

The vintage textiles are seamlessly blended with the painted areas. It's difficult to see where one starts and the other stops.

"View of the Harbor" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

Sometimes Jane uses hand stitching to bridge different elements

Detail: "View of the Harbor" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

The "Still Life with Cat" incorporates a needlework canvas with longer, bargello-like stitches.

"Still Life with Cat" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

Detail: "Still Life with Cat" by Jane Dunnewold.
"Inspired by the Masters" exhibit #nationalquiltmuseum

In Jane's artist's statement, she describes herself as "the bridge between fine art and craft—linking them inextricably together in a dance of old and new—paint, thread and intention." In the list of materials, she includes, "Techniques are all my own—based on 25 years of fidgeting, fudging and making do."

Jane's work is truly inspirational!

Need inspiration? Go to a museum

Need inspiration? There are abundant resources to crack a creative block and take your imagination and focus to a new place. Recently, I had an infusion of inspiration that I found in Kentucky museums. 

Freehand Patchwork exhibit at the National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY.

The National Quilt Museum has a collection of wonderful and stimulating exhibits. Currently on display is the amazing "freehand patchwork" work of Danny Amazonas. Stand back to get the full impact of these colorful fabric collages.

Detail of "Goldfish" by Danny Amazonas.

From the archives of historical textiles is a beautiful exhibit of carved block resist shibori textiles. The "Love Stories" Jiaxie exhibit features blue and white cotton bridal coverlets with images that depict Chinese dramas about love, marriage and wishes for a good life.

Love Stories exhibit of Chinese wood block resist dyed textiles.

Jiaxie "Love Stories" exhibit at the National Quilt Museum.

I found the wooden dyeing boards interesting artifacts of the traditional clamp resist dye [shibori] technique. Often, when the image began to deteriorate and the boards began to wear out, they were burned as firewood. So these 19th century dye boards are quite rare to have survived.

Wooden dye boards used for the Jiaxie dye technique.

A retrospective of the quilts of Victoria Findlay-Wolfe is also on display a the Quilt Museum. These quilts, like the ones by Danny Amazonas, are a contemporary counterpoint to the blue-and-white Jiaxie textiles.

Quilt retrospective of Victoria Findlay-Wolfe and pieces from books she has written.

It was fun to see a few of Victoria's first quilts—with sizeable hand quilting stitches, cotton/poly blend fabrics, and one attempt at painting on fabric—among her more current work and quilts made for the projects and techniques in her books.

Quilts by Victoria Findlay-Wolfe at the National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY.

Traveling east from Paducah is the Lincoln Museum, located in Hodgenville, KY. Life size wax figures in dioramas depict the life of Abraham Lincoln, the country's 16th President, form early cabin life though the civil war and the fateful night at Ford's Theater.

The Lincoln Museum, Hodgenville, KY.

Outside the museum in the center of the historic town square are two bronze statues of Lincoln. One depicting him as a boy, with his voracious appetite for reading and books, and the other as an adult, a statesman and presidential figure. The museum also includes civil war artifacts and a few quilts commemorating the President and the times.

Abraham Lincoln bronze statues located in the town square in historic Hodgenville, KY,
about 3 miles north of Lincoln's birthplace at Sinking Spring.

Contemporary quilts, historic textiles, ancient dye techniques beside masterful machine quilting, and a look back into US history can clear the cobwebs from the brain and be an impetus for a new course. From the placard beside one of Victoria Findlay-Wolfe's 2018 quilts: "... let the path unfold before [you]... love sitting in that place of discovery... wonder what will be next... and have fun finding out."

End of summer respite in Paducah

What better place is there for a quilter to spend a few days at the end of the summer than in Quilt City, USA—Paducah, Kentucky??? My friend, Cathy, lives in Paducah and I decided to get away for a break to meet up with her, take advantage of a less-crowded time of year to visit the quilt museum, and enjoy the sites of downtown Paducah and the Ohio River riverfront. 

The National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY.

This year, the National Quilt Museum is celebrating 25 years! In addition to the rotating exhibit of quilts from the museum's private collection showing in the main gallery, there are two special exhibits currently running. The quilts from the museum's permanent collection—winners from previous AQS shows—are a sight to be seen as you can get practically nose-to-nose with them to see all the details. This time, a piece by Michael James was on display and I learned that Michael James got his MFA at my Alma Mater, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where I got my MS. (The world gets smaller all the time.)

The two special exhibits are "Art Quilts of the Midwest" which runs through October 11, and "Here and There: Works by the Manhattan Quilt Guild" which is on display through November 15. Both of the special exhibits were of particular interest to me as they included art quilts and work by quilters pushing the quiltmaking and patchwork boundaries in creative and exciting ways.

The special exhibits included work by quilters you may be familiar with such as Susan Shie, Paula Nadelstern, Beth Markel and Victoria Findlay Wolfe, but the other exhibits introduced me to the work of artists such as Ludmila Aristova (and her dimensional cityscape that incorporates prairie points, pleats and pin tucks), Shin-Hee Chin (who does amazing threadwork pieces), Barbara Schneider (who uses stiffened fabric pieces to create sculptural fabric art) and Diane Núñez (who incorporates metal rods and other non-fabric elements from her training as a jeweler). Quilts from the "Art Quilts of the Midwest" exhibit are also in book form, written by Linzee Kull McCray. (If you can't see the show, get the book!)

Italian Grill on Broadway, Paducah, KY.

On a previous trip, Cathy recommended the Italian Grill on Broadway. I had eaten at the Grill on a previous trip, but that was quite a while back so a return visit was in order. We arrived 10 minutes before the restaurant opened so got a table before the crowds moved in. By the time we finished our Margherita artisan pizza, the place was hopping!

Cathy suggested we "walk off" dinner by heading down to the riverfront. Passing the shops, art galleries, boutiques and eateries down to the river, we noticed several street-level renovations in progress in a few of the buildings. No doubt, other small businesses will soon be part of this eclectic historic downtown. 

View of the Ohio River nearing sunset,  Paducah.

The riverfront accommodates car and pedestrian traffic. There are plenty of benches beside the sidewalk for sitting, conversation and enjoying the view. While we were there, a few cars pulled up and parked along the water's edge—presumably for a bit of recreational fishing before sunset. The gentle breeze along the water made for a bug-free evening but there was a hint of Fall in the 75-degree evening temperature.

It was a lovely visit with lots of inspiration. I'll write about two other stops during my visit in my next post.

Quilt Week 2013 in Paducah

Even though the AQS quilt show in Paducah was about a month ago, I did want to reflect on this fabulous show and provide some tempting morsels to entice you with what's in store when it comes to Chattanooga in 2014.

Ricky Tims (center) and Alex Anderson rally the crowd for the photo shoot
of the cover of The Quilt Life October, 2013 issue.

My quilting friends and I arrived on Thursday in time for the photo opp with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson in front of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. Ricky and Alex asked participants to each bring a quilt for the photo. I brought my latest Fabrications Skidoodle strip quilt for the occasion. With probably 100 - 200 quilters sprawled across the lawn, however, we'll all look like a bunch of colorful specs in the photo. Watch for us on the cover of the October 2013 issue.

Cristy (front) and I with our quilts on the lawn in front of the
National Quilt Museum awaiting the photo shoot.

The historic landmark sign for the Quilt Museum.

The pieces in the museum's exhibits are phenomenal. If you've not been, it's worth the trip whether you are a quilter or not. This is an art museum!

(addition: Here is an article on the museum from the National Business Times, a non-quilting publication.)

Cristy in front of the National Quilt Museum. Yes, we are here!

Strip Queen, Eleanor Burns, was meeting and greeting visitors and signing books. She had 5 different locations around town that were selling her fabrics, patterns, books and notions.

Eleanor Burns at QuiltWeek in Paducah.

One of the amazing exhibits and demonstrations at the show was the Tentmakers from Cairo. These appliquéd masterpieces were used to decorate the interiors of the tents of Egyptian nomads.

Two of the artisans were demonstrating their technique in the vendor area. Surprisingly, they were using large shears to cut the fabrics and a tapestry needle that looked to be 2 - 3 inches long. They appliquéd chunks of solid fabrics at lightning speed with hand-drawn chalked lines as a guide (no templates, pre-cut shaped pieces, basting or any kind of prep work for these guys!). The wall pieces in the exhibit were being auctioned.

The appliqué work of the tent makers.

The two artisans demonstrating their process were very friendly and enjoyed the attention and interest of the show attendees. Here is a YouTube video interview with one of the tentmakers.

The tent makers at work. The fabrics beside them is what they 

One of the other exhibits in town was the antique Signature Quilts exhibit at the Rotary Club.

Signatures were done in ink on quilt blocks.

Signatures were embroidered once a colorfast thread was devised.

Redwork signature quilts served as fundraisers for various causes.

Sue Reich, the curator of the exhibit, did a walking tour of the quilts that were on display. Sue has written a book, Quiltings, Froliks and Bees: 100 Years of Signature Quilts, that documents the exhibit with detailed photos and information. 

Sue Reich, curator, author and quilt historian at the
Rotary Club exhibit on antique Signature Quilts.

Although photography is allowed at many of the exhibits at the AQS show, the photos you take are strictly for your personal enjoyment. The show program specifically prohibits any digital dissemination of pictures you might take, therefore, I cannot share photos of the Paducah show quilts here. (Please respect this request if you have been to the show.) If you are a subscriber to American Quilter magazine, however, there are articles about and photos of the winning pieces that you can enjoy.

Finally, no visit to Paducah is complete without a visit to Hancock's of Paducah quilt and fabric store. We stopped in twice!

Hancock's of Paducah sign.

Quilters flock to Hancock's of Paducah during QuiltWeek.

Hope to see you in Chattanooga in September 2014!