Quilt Show 2009

Posting has been kinda slow for me lately. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I'm trying to focus more on house projects and cooking rather than crafting lately. I am still crafting, but I'm not really getting anything done..

This week my Mom and I are going to the BIG quilt show in Paducah, KY. We've never been, but I've heard good things!

This past weekend was the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. This is the first year I took my daughter and she was super excited to get to come along. My friend Donna also brought her crafty daughter and we had a great time.

Here the girls are coloring quilt squares with fabric markers at the Project Linus booth:

We went on the last day and were racing around a bit to see everything. I didn't notice until I got home that I had some blurry pictures. A large part of the exhibition doesn't allow photographs so I really recommend that you try to attend and see things with your own eyes!

I don't even know where to begin! I think this quilt was one of the most impressive that I photographed. This is "The Breath of Life" by Harumi Asada:

I love this one called "After the Rains" by Betty Busby. each stone is a gorgeous batik:

Traditional patterns are really wonderful. This one is "Two-Color Pineapple Quilt 2007" by Anita Grossman Solomon and Miriam Janove, Quilting by Janice Petre. Red and white is somehow always seasonal:

I'll keep posting my pictures, but I'll be away from my computer for several days when I'm in Paducah.

Gees Bend Quilt Book

Do you all know about Gee's Bend and their stunning quiltmaking history? Mom and I went to the first museum exhibition when it came to Milwaukee in 2003. I think it has toured again and there are several art books and even a play (that we also saw) about the story. The play was mostly the civil rights history of the little isolated island visited by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I like civil rights history themes, but I wanted the play to be an examination of the artistic process of quilting and it didn't occur to me that such a theme might not have a broad appeal...

Above is a corduroy quilt by Arcola Pettway, 1934-1994 done in a flag style for the Bicentennial. It seems appropriate to post a flag today since our patriotism was stirred after yesterday's historic events.

I find that as I sit here to share this with you, I don't want to write an essay about the story of Gees Bend since others have already done that. Mom gave me this wonderful book Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt as a Christmas gift and I am only just now diving into it and revisiting the glorious inspiration I got 6 years ago when I saw these quilts the first time.



These two quilts are by Annie Mae Young (b. 1928)


I make nice things, but I am a pattern follower. I like the way that patterns make decisions for me and I can predict how things are going to turn out. I don't like to "unsew" seams if I don't like how things look. I often wish I had the freedom of these talented artists to know all the rules about quilt block making and then just toss them aside to create works of such modern originality. Make no mistake. These artists have carefully composed these fabrics into pleasing compositions regardless of wonky lines and uneven edges.

This quilt is by Annie Bendolph (1900-1981) I have a book on this flying geese patch that I simply must use.


Here's Annie Bendolph's photo taken by Arthur Rothstein in 1937. Image from Wikipedia:



This one is by Mary Lee Bendolph (b.1935). The colors are aqua, black and dark brick red.


I remember this one by Annie E. Pettway (1904-1971) from the exhibition. I love the way the section of wonky striped triangle dances in the center.



Lousiana P. Bendolph (b. 1960) does quilts that are variations on the housetop pattern which is concentric squares.



This one is made of old work clothes by Annie Mae Young (b. 1928)


This book is full of photos and detailed stories of the quiltmakers and the discovery of these treasures. It's a perfect gift for me! Thanks, Mom!

New Fine Art

I have a wonderful new object in my home! I am very happy to be keeping this for a short time for some friends. It looks fantastic in my living room.


Many thanks to my friends who have loaned this to me for a time.

Back to the Art Institute of Chicago

I tried to see the Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, but when I went with my mom, it was WAY too crowded. Alas... now it is gone... Mom saw it three times and I guess it was hugely popular, probably because people really like to see realism in paintings. I don't happen to care that much about realism in art, I like all the periods... It was disappointing to miss this popular show, but we didn't count on the crowds!

We took the time to go through the modern section of the museum and looked at a couple of our favorite periods. Last time we went, we saw the impressionists, so we skipped them this time. I only took a couple of photos. I love the fauvists. This fauve painting is by Vasily Kandinsky:


My favorite is Matisse. I think he liked fabric patterns just like me:


This playful one is Paul Klee:


This one interested us. It's by Marc Chagall whose work is full of exuberant storytelling. This one is called Birth, but I don't think it was a happy day for this family:



Finally, these two beauties are by Pierre Bonnard. You must make a trip to Chicago to see these paintings in person. My photos don't capture their beautiful, intense, deep color.


My mom always tells the story of her first year of teaching second grade back in the early sixties and she had a lovely modern art poster up in her classroom. I think she said it was by Kandinsky... Anyway, she enjoyed the painting for awhile until it suddenly occurred to her that it was a big painting of a naked woman. No one ever said anything to her about it and she quietly took it down. Whoops!