Quilt National at the Foundry/Cedarhurst

For the last two days, I have been in St. Charles, MO, a beautiful little town on the Missouri River situated a short drive northwest of St. Louis. A friend and I went to see Quilt National being held there from September 25-October 29, 2009. Quilt National is a biennial, international, juried and judged quilt art competition. For more than 26 years, Quilt National has showcased the most exciting and innovative trends in the medium, demonstrating the transformations taking place in the world of quilting. Its purpose was then, and still is, to carry the definition of quilting far beyond its traditional parameters and to promote quilt making as what it always has been--an art form. The entire exhibit is in St. Charles but afterwards it will be divided into three smaller exhibits and begin its two-year world tours. I don't have any pictures to show you, because photography is not allowed; however, I can tell you it is an exhibit you definitely don't want to miss. It consists of 85 art quilts (chosen from a field of over 1,000 entries) and is held at the Foundry Art Centre. This facility has 5,000 square feet of exhibition space in four galleries that features an on-going rotation of special touring exhibitions, curated exhibits and juried competitions. 21 studios for artists have been built on the mezzanine level of the building that allows visitors to see and talk with the artists as they work.

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend a luncheon on Thursday which featured Kathy Loomis (a member of LAFTA--Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists). Kathy has her quilt, Postage 3: Memorial Day in this exhibit. It is made up of over 4,000 individually quilted small flags and was awarded the coveted Quilts Japan Prize during the opening ceremonies. Kathy says, "On 5/26/08 - Memorial Day a year ago - the U.S. military death roll was 4,083. I thought about all those flag-covered coffins and realized they would work well in the "Postage" format (referring to size and shape of individual pieces), which I had already used for non-political quilts. Making it was a terribly emotional experience and I shed more than a few tears as I stitched." To read more of Kathy's thoughts on her art quilts visit Terry Jarrard-Dimond's blog at http://studio24-7.blogspot.com/2009/05/kathy-loomis-awarded-quilts-japan-prize.html.

In addition to being a great place to see quilts, St. Charles has been designated as a Lewis and Clark site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. If you would like a GREAT getaway, where you would be able to see some stunning art quilts, eat at some wonderful restaurants, shop in some very unique shops, and enjoy some beautiful scenery, pack the car and head for St. Charles. (Oh, and if you stay at the Country Inn and Suites, you get warm cookies and hot tea and coffee in the evening and a very nice breakfast in the morning.)

While we were driving back, we stopped at Mt. Vernon, IL. We visited a much more traditional quilt exhibit at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts. Check out Cedarhurst at http://www.cedarhurst.org/. They are hosting their 20th annual Gathering of Quilts from August 8-October 18. They are featuring quilts made by members of the Cedarhurst Quilters Club. Here is a small preview...I'll include more pictures in my next blog entry.

Bits of Broken Glass was machine pieced and hand quilted by Dorothy West Folsom from Mt. Vernon, IL. It is Dorothy’s original kaleidoscope pattern.

Studio Kandinsky--My Wall Quilt for the Studio

I have worked on picking out the fabrics, tracing the fusible pieces, and making some of the fusible appliques for the Kandinsky-style quilt I'm making for my studio. I don't have enough pale blue fabric for the background; I guess I'll have to go fabric shopping! I chose fabrics for the appliques from these stash fabrics.The pieces I have finished so far are shown below. I'll have to stitch around the layered pieces and cut excess fabric from behind them. I won't be able to do much more without the background fabric. I'm going to try to pick that up tomorrow. I'd love to have a hand-dyed piece of light blue for that, but I have a zero chance of getting that around here. If I can't find a suitable commercial fabric, I'll have to make an Internet order.
If you'd like to see my rough drawing of what the quilt will look like, check yesterday's blog entry. See if you can match my appliques to the drawing.

Art for the Studio

I guess I'm really excited about "seeing the light at the end of the tunnel" in my quilting studio, because I worked all afternoon on a full-sized drawing of the art quilt I want to make for it. I LOVE Kandinsky, and it seems I always go back to him when I want to make art for my space. I drew on some Kandinsy pieces and on the art of Frank Lloyd Wright for this drawing. It will take me some time to gather the fabric to make it. My collection of solids is not very big, and this quilt will be made of all solids. I'm thinking I'm going to have to get busy and do some dyeing. Anyway, here is the rough drawing. It will be hung on a navy wall. In the drawing, the background is white, but the background in the quilt will be a very light blue. What do you think?

Another Studio Update

My son-in-law was here ALL day--6:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m.--working on the studio. Anyway, the room looks much more "finished." I'll be getting an estimate on the floor on Monday. I'm hoping they can get that put in sometime within the next two weeks. After that, Scott can put up the floor trim and the cabinets and shelves for my coffee/food nook.I worked on getting the bathroom (to the right--just out of this picture) painted today. I'll be putting another coat on later tonight and hope to finish it up tomorrow.

Quilting Studio Progress Update

The quilting studio work is slowly coming along. My son-in-law (who is doing all the work except the flooring and painting) works a full-time job and is doing this every other weekend and every other Friday. I'm amazed at how much he gets done each time he is here to work.

I got all the painting in the main room and the bedroom finished last week. I still have to paint the bathroom walls and bathroom cabinet. I have to finish that before the flooring is put down. Home Depot is coming on Monday to give me an estimate on the floor. What I'm hoping I can use is a product called Allure. It is a "floating, resilient plank flooring" that has the look of wood. It is 100% waterproof, which is a necessity for me in the basement (just in case).

This picture shows the "nook" in my quilting studio. I'm planning on putting some cabinets and shelves here. I want to put a small refrigerator under the countertop. I'm thinking I'll also locate my "coffee station" here too. I thought it was a good picture of the ceiling. I just love it--it looks really industrial and the light reflects off of it (which is an added bonus). As you can tell, there is still a lot of work to be done. As for any quilting/textile projects I'm working on...the only thing I have worked on lately is my last UFO (unfinished object) for the UFO Challenge. It is due in November. I like a lot of quilting on my work, so I marked it with lots of quilting lines. Now, I'm not so sure how wise that was! It is just taking me "forever" to get it done.

I Won! I Won! Check out "Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts"

I went to my mailbox this morning, and look what was waiting for me--the Turkish Delight fat quarter bundle of fabric I won from Maria Peagler (the ColorMaster herself) author of "Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts." Here it is...I thought I'd separate it and take another pic, so you could see the fabrics a little better. I really like them. Thank you Maria!

By the way, you should check out her Color Mastery book. It is really a good book on the use of various color schemes in quilts. She has lots and lots of useful tips to help you choose colors and develop your own sense of color style. There are exercises to do and patterns for several small quilts to illustrate color concepts. She also has a website--www.colormastery.com. You might check out her blog too; it is a good one--http://quiltsandcreativity.com. Let me know what you think.