I made a packing faux-pas in preparing for the 2009 Chicago International Quilt Festival. I forgot my camera. Lesson learned: when doing photography at a quilt show of this magnitude, your cell phone camera is not an acceptable substitute. It cannot cope with the varying sources and intensities of light and other challenges. And it's much harder to tell whether you managed to get a good shot before moving on.
Many of the quilts on display were marked forbidding photography, but there was still much to see and record for memory. I'd like to share with you a few of the "friends" I met at the Festival and a little bit of information about their background.
Click on any photo to see a larger version in another window.
This striking portrait quilt is "Mandrill" by Martha Brown. Martha says of the piece, "A few years ago I became interested in creating a series of works depicting African endangered species. The Mandrill is a colorful mammal and is red-listed for endangerment. This piece was a challenge in that the piecing and fabric selection didn't provide quite the effect I was looking for. However, the successful depiction of the animal's eyes compelled me to keep working on it! I added further definition and shadows with fabric paints and threadpainted whiskers."
My niece's sheep flock has been blessed with three ewe lambs this spring, so I couldn't help but like this next quilt, "Little S'Tinker", based on a photograph of a young kid. The artist, David Taylor, says "In the spring of 2008, I visited my friend Cheryl's farm to meet her new arrivals. This little kid, named Tinker, stole my heart. He was a natural ham for my camera. I knew I needed to turn him into a quilt when I caught this expression on his face." It's not hard to see why the artist named him "Little S'Tinker"!
This amusing animal portrait is named "Inside There's a Person." The text around the dog's head says, "Yesterday, I was a dog. Today, I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh. There's so little hope for advancement." Of course there's a great story behind this. The artist, Pauline Salzman explains. "Lucy is a therapy dog, who visits the elderly three times a week. I had this applique of her set in a different background... it just was not working. While observing Lucy, my friend said, "inside, there's a person." She was right, so I removed the background, gave her a crown, jewels and a dress."
I loved this striking landscape, "Egret" not only for its visual effect, but also the creative use of techniques and materials in its creation. The artist, Maureen O'Doogan, says "Watching egrets is a treasured part of my morning walks. I wanted to capture their grace and lightness, as well as the rich texture of their surroundings." To make this piece, she used needle felting, fusing and free motion quilting with cotton, cheesecloth, thread, yarn and wool roving. Wow!
If you've never been to the Houston, Chicago or Long Beach International Quilt Festivals, I hope you will put it on your 'dream travel' list. Although I do not consider myself a "quilter", I certainly do find many sources of inspiration as well as a deep appreciation for the many different expressions of creativity and hard work on display by the artists. As many of the people I met at the show expressed, it makes you want to run to your sewing machine!
For more information about these festivals or to order class catalogs (yes, you can take classes, too!), visit the Quilts, Inc. website.
--Katrina
wow...great work
Posted by: andrea | May 08, 2009 at 10:30 AM