Form, Not Function Exhibit 2012

I had the opportunity to view the "Form, Not Function Quilt Art at the Carnegie" fiber art exhibit in New Albany, Indiana, this past week. This juried exhibit, in its ninth year, is available through March 3, 2012. All entries must be quilted (defined as two or more layers held together with stitches); and this year, twenty-four quilts (out of 278 entries) make up the exhibit.

I asked permission to take a few photographs (just to give you a taste of what is there). I took pictures of my favorites. Please go to see this exhibit in person if you get a chance. It is well worth the trip.

I'll start with a quilt I loved from the exhibit. I LOVE hand stitching, and this quilt did not disappoint. The ENTIRE quilt is hand stitched; all of the color is stitching. I really appreciate the time and talent involved in making this particular quilt. It is called Crossover and was made by Mary Ruth Smith from Waco, TX. The picture doesn't do it justice (of course). The texture of the stitches makes this piece very exciting.

I know you couldn't get a feel for the stitches in this full picture, so I took some close up shots.

I'd sure be interested to know how many hours were spent stitching this quilt. Oh (and I forgot to tell you) all the seams in this piece are French seams.

The Best of Show winner was this quilt by Betty Busby from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

This piece is called Fracture. Again, the picture doesn't do the quilt justice. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the pieces that have the black and white in them are each separate finished pieces. They have been added on top of the colored (red/orange) fabric making the piece have great depth. You can see that a bit better in the close up picture below.

Betty used crackle paste resist to achieve this look.

I liked Katherine K. Allen's (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) "Eventide" triptych. I thought it would look great in my house. I have deep red, rusty orange, and mustard gold in my living, dining, kitchen area. 

This entry was given an Award of Excellence by River City Fiber Artists. Katherine has hand and machine stitched this screen printed piece. It is made of silk fabric.

Pat Pauly's (Pittsford, NY) entry, Pink Leaf 4 (Yellow) is made of pieced cotton that has been stamped, screened, painted, and quilted. I like the vibrant colors used in this piece.

Virginia A. Spiegel from Byron, IL, created Boundary Waters 53. She used white cotton cloth, acrylic/oil paint, felt, velvet, cheesecloth, yarn, silk/poly/duck cloth, thread, paint, relief/screen print, burn, dye, crochet, and machine stitch to make this piece.

This is a VERY textural piece; it looks "thick" in person. It is "rich" in color, design, and texture and makes me think of very opulent, costly tapestries or rugs.

The Award of Excellence presented by the Louisville Area Fiber & Textile Artists was awarded to Julia E. Pfaff's (Richmond, VA) Contrast IX--Yellow. It is a whole-cloth quilt which has been painted, embroidered, and machine quilted.

The close up colors turned out horrible. Of course, I couldn't use a flash when taking pictures, so maybe that has something to do with it. I don't know, but the circles should be a vibrant yellow. The stitching around each circle is hand done. That stitching is so meticulous that it is hard to tell that it has been done by hand and not by machine.

Again, if you get a chance, you should definitely make a trip to New Albany and check out this exhibit. An upcoming exhibit that might be of interest to you is called Tools of the Trade: Fiber Art by Betty Levy. It will be open from March 16-April 28, 2012, at the Carnegie Center in New Albany. For more information about this exhibit check out the Carnegie website or call (812) 944-7336. You can see just a taste of Betty's work here--Betty Levy.