If You Love Textiles...

 

There is a lot to see and love in Ocala, Florida, this December! An exhibit titled "Homemade, Handmade, The Natural: The Transformative Nature of Fiber Art" is on display all month at the Brick City Center for the Arts in downtown. This hanging by Kevin Mierez-Galo features yarn, roving, faux fur and rope combined into "Brown is the Warmest Color II", hung on driftwood. So much inviting texture that it's hard to comply with the "Please do not touch" sign!

"Where Style is a Pleasure" by Stephanie Mutarelli is a humorous take on Publix Supermarket's slogan, "Where Shopping is a Pleasure." She crafted her garment from 8 reusable shopping bags plus a sub wrapper. Would you wear it? I think I might enjoy a runway twirl in it.

My "Homage to Menswear" was accepted into the exhibit. This crazy-quilt style wall hanging was pieced using men's ties, tie labels, and fancy machine stitching. My husband was a banker and he and a coworker contributed old ties to my collection. One tie provides a clue to their careers, while another  features a child's drawing that was featured in UNICEF merchandise some years ago. Can you spot both?

A riot of colorful acrylic yarns combine to make Charlita Whitehead's "Curves of Escape", a rug hooking art piece.

"Timber (Log #1)" is the entry of Charlita Whitehead and Jordan Shapot. It features hand tufted yarn on a handmade wood armature. So creative! And again, it invites touch. But I restrained myself with effort!

"Denim Portrait of a Horse" presents denim in a whole new light! Combined with painting on canvas, this piece was made by Stacie Pedrick. Ocala being "The Horse Capital of the World", it's always fun to see equine art, especially in fabric. There are more fiber items to see in this exhibit and a fun gift shop that features the work of local artists. Many of those items also feature equine art.

And just 10 minutes or so east of downtown, you can find more fiber art on display at the Appleton Musuem of Art. They are featuring the work of Betty Ford-White in an exhibit titled "Under the Cover of Knowledge". Her specialty is Pine Cone quilts- bed coverings or wall art made by stitching concentric rings of folded fabric pieces known as Prairie Points.

Also referred to as Pine Burr, Target, or Cuckle Burr quilts, they reflect a tradition dating back to African American culture in the Carolinas. Made by hand, this style of quilt is heavy! 

One of her quilts, "Betty and Butler Cuckleburr", designed by her husband, features 20 two-dollar bills folded and stitched into the piece. I challenge you to find them when you see the quilt. I couldn't. This exhibit is on through January 2026. And the museum also has a delightful gift shop with unique items.

So, it's a fiber two-fer in the heart of Central Florida. Come visit if you can. If not, I hope you enjoyed this armchair visit! Happy holidays!

You NEED This Field Trip...

 Welcome to Whimzeyland! What is that, you might ask? It's a bit hard to describe, so I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Artists and partners Todd and Kiaralinda have teamed up to create an outdoor art space at their home and studio in Safety Harbor, Florida. They've packed it brimful with a fun, colorful celebration of recycled and upcycled art. Just my kind of place!

Lots of mosaic works on sidewalks, walls, and everywhere. Creativity does indeed run wild. The hours of work that have gone into creating everything here is astonishing to contemplate. And the space has that "curated chaos" feel that might be challenging for anyone who prefers organized, predictable places.

Have some old discs? Suspend them from trees and branches on bead strands.

Blue bottles and whimsical plant spikes are found around every turn.

The venue is also known as "The Bowling Ball" house because of these, the many painted bowling balls that accent the foot paths. I read that this is how it all began- the owners received a large selection of bowling balls for free. They began to paint them, and things grew from there.

Find some new friends as you wander the grounds. And let the creative juices flow as you take in the many ways the most humble of materials have been repurposed. The mobile is crafted from assorted bottle caps. Clever! Cheap!

Do you have any idea what these colorful things might be, or once have been? I'm clueless. But they are imposing and dominate the garden. Let me know if you recognize them.

This dog is clearly barking up the right tree! A closer look at the twirly things on the upper right reveals that they are spiral strips cut from products that come in covered bottles- think coffee creamers and the like. Clever! Cheap!

You can tell from the plant leaves that this eye is no small thing! Another mosaic, it adorns the wall of the guest house next door to the main attraction. Collections of everything have found their way to Whimzeyland on their way to the landfill. Old copper jello molds decorate a kitchen ceiling, mid-century modern ashtrays (atomic age colorful ceramic) accent the wall outside the art studio. Something to delight the eye everywhere you look. A visit here has been on my list for a long time, so I was happy, happy to get there at last. Whimzeyland is free to visit (there is a donation bucket if you'd care to support), or you can arrange private tours for a fee.

Will She Go Round in Circles...

Round and round- I'm so drawn to quilts with circles. This is "Cosmic MoonPies"- a quilt title I like better than Drunkard's Path, which is the name of the curved, pieced block units. Mine began when I cut scraps using acrylic templates, paired the pieces up, and then used them as "leaders and enders" between seams of other quilt projects. The leaders and enders, as you likely know, are great for keeping seam ends from getting sucked into the needle hole and causing thread nests. And they allow for smooth chain piecing, saving time on projects. The bonus is that once they pile up in numbers, you have another entire quilt. Win/Win. Longarmer Debra Johnston quilted this one and used such a pretty swirling motif.

 Of course my eye goes to round things in the environment, too. I find these round bales just so pleasing to look at. It's that time of year here.

And at the Quilt Fest in Jacksonville, FL, this fall, I snapped photo after photo of circle quilts. This is "Star Jet" pieced by Deborah Krajkowski. Her statement explained that she is currently exploring movement in quilts using circular shapes.

"Modern" by Adriane Elwood is simple and so effective. The colors she selected add to the appeal.

"Taking a Shot or Two" is a play on words by Julia Chervoni. She made her quilt using Kaffe Fassett shot cotton (a special type of weave) fabrics in solids and striped.

Pam Everitt combined a scrappy pieced background with extra circles leftover from previous projects in "Orange Peel." Quilters don't let fabric go to waste!

This is "Turnabout" made by quilting friend Linda of Flourishing Palms blog. She appliqued her improv quilt and used Big Stitch for the quilting. So many pleasing curved lines. It received a Judge's Recognition ribbon. Apparently I'm not the only one who loves curved quilt designs. They're everywhere! 

Finest in Fiber Arts, Part 2

 

There was so much to see at the Dunedin Fine Arts Museum's exhibit- four separate displays in one exhibit. This was the sight upon entering the exhibit room for Double Vision: Wendy Bruce + Meg Pierce. Beautiful lighting, airy space, and so much fiber inspiration. The hanging baby dresses were all altered with indigo dyes and shibori techniques. It was enough to make my heart beat just a little faster. 

Altering infant gowns with stitch and dye is something that fiber artists seem to shine at. The delicacy and nostalgia of the gowns and dresses paired with surface design is just so appealing. This one is "Blue Shift" by Meg Pierce.

Also part of this exhibit were some fiber webs and intricate stitchery.  The detail in "The Twelfth Summer" by Wendy Bruce was quite astonishing.

I understand the concept of soluble stabilizer and stitching, but these pieces are definitely next level. There is a coffee filter in "1 A.M." by Wendy Bruce. Can you spot it? I wonder if some of the areas were needle-punched, or are just intensive machine stitching.

Yet another child's white nightie became something special with the indigo dye.

Many of the pieces were displayed as wall art, but the hanging dresses really caught my eye as they twirled with even the slightest movement of air. Better to appreciate the front and the back!

Leaving the gallery room, I traveled down a hallway to view the Deborah Snider: Full Circle exhibit. Deborah makes beautiful use of commercial fabric motifs and figures to create her dynamic quilts. This one is titled "Saints and Sweeties Ride the Range."

I recognized and recalled some, but not all, of the fabric motifs she incorporated into her Mandala style quilts. This one is titled "Color Wheel: Stereotypes" and has a beaded edge. I'll put this annual exhibit on my calendar for next year! It's worth the drive.

Finest in Fiber Arts...

 

What a treat to visit the Dunedin Fine Arts Museum in Dunedin, Florida, in August. They hold an annual fiber arts exhibit, this year titled "Fierce Planets". It is a space-inspired display sponsored by Studio Art Quilt Associated and Johns Hopkins University. This powerful quilt is titled "Storm" by Paula Rafferty, Ireland. She created the image digitally, printed it, and free-motion quilted. 

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Julee Coffman, New Mexico, made "Rabbit in the Moon" to depict a Japanese folk tale about the subject. She used cotton and silk in her collage-style peice.

Claire Passmore lives on a volcanic island in Mauritius. The vertical lava tube inspired "Hot Stuff", a mobile fiber assemblage. A close look reveals that she used almost every fiber and technique you can imagine in her show-stopping piece!

Betty Busby, New Mexico, imagined clashing storms of "Coriolis" in her silk and cotton quilt. Coriolis force is a physics concept that applies to motion. See? In addition to appreciating the beautiful quilts on display, I learned a new word, too! Plus I found Mauritius on a world map.

Margaret Abramshe, Utah, made "A Sense of Wonder" and employed her grandson as the subject studying the world of science through his magnifying glass. Her piece was digitally printed, painted, and free-motion quilted.

Circle quilts- they just draw me in every time! And piecing half-circles into the quarter-circles is not for the faint of heart. Aren't these fabrics in  "The Beauty Chaos" just fabulous? It's pieced by Maria Eugenia Corbella, Spain and depicts hot and cold, explosions and implosions, all the chaos we don't see in what appears to be a peaceful and quiet universe.

Doilies! I know you have some. I do, too. Whenever they appear on our guild's free table, they are likely to come home with me. I consider it rescuing them. What a creative concept Rena Wood came up with to embroider on them! These pieces are mounted behind glass and hung for display in the Embroidered Reflections: Rena Wood section of the exhibition. 

This doily is actually tatted I believe. And the intricacy of the center just makes the entire piece seem so delicate yet with plenty of presence. Guess what? Embroidering on a doily is not easy! I came home and tried it on one. Mine is NOT pretty! There were many more of these small works of fiber art to see. And two more exciting parts of the exhibit which I'll share in the next post. See you then!

Let's Go Downeast for a Quilt Show, Part 3

 

Here's our final look at the wonderful Maine Quilts 2025. This special display of miniatures by the late Dorothy Bosselman were on loan from the collection of the New England Quilt Museum. Dorothy began making miniature versions of historic Amish quilts in the 1990s, and hand quilting these small treasures. This Lone Star mini measures just 12" x 14", so imagine the size of those pieces and Dorothy's meticulous hand stitch! Her border quilting is called "double rodding" and is a hallmark of traditional Amish quilts.

It was a challenge to photograph these minis because they were mounted on canvas display boards and hard to shoot straight-on. I love the dusty purples in her Sunshine and Shadow, 10" square.

Square-in-a-Square is a traditional Amish design. Clearly it was one of Dorothy's favorites to piece and quilt. It's one of mine, too. Many years ago I took a class with Catherine Anthony on making Amish-style quilts. This was the pattern we used in class, and could fill the center with any number of designs such as squares-on-point or bars. The piecing was simple and left plenty of space to showcase the quilting. We learned to make traditional templates for our own "pumpkin seeds" and "tear drops" which became complex cables, feathers, and wreaths when we duplicated them and marked them on our quilt tops. You can see some of those designs in Dorothy's work, too. Hers are just 15" square.

This is not one of Dorothy's quilts, but I included it with the miniatures because that is pretty tiny piecing! This is Kimberly Minns' entry in her local guild's challenge. The group used wrapping paper designs as the basis for each quilter's inspiration. A novel idea. Next posts coming up are from another quilt exhibit. I'll save you time, gas, and money to "armchair travel" to see this wonderful show at an art museum. Stay tuned...

Let's Go Downeast for a Quilt Show... Part 2

 

As usual, with a quilt show, there was so much eye candy at Maine Quilts 2025 that it cannot be contained in a single post. Hence, part 2 with part 3 yet to come. There's both complexity and simplicity in "MegaStar" by Mary Ann Cugini, quilted by Kevin McMurry. She used a design by Brigitte Heitland for her Modern Quilt design. 

I just want to open the door of Celeste Poulin's "Secluded Garden". Right after I admire the flora and stonework, plus the texture she achieved with her quilting and fabric choices. 

Beatrice Gilbert notes in her artist statement that "Surf's Up" is "a riot of color and graphics". She got that right! And she earned ribbons for her artistry and workmanship.

The colors, and of course the horse print, really caught my eye in this round robin quilt project. It was made by Ruthann Fox and is a celebration of the wild horses that live in the Salt River area of Arizona near her home.

Now for the show's theme quilt display- the Log Cabins. This simple quilt design is where so many quilters got their start. It was among my first quilts. And yet the variations of the design are endless. Maine 2025 included antique Log Cabins as well as modern interpretations. "Les Lanternes du Palais" is the display piece made by Elisabeth Nacenta de la Coix, made in 2015.

Log Cabin, Courthouse Steps Variation is a vintage quilt from the collection of Ardis and Robert James. It's believed to be a Massachusetts quilt, maker unknown, circa 1870-1890. 

Another vintage quilt- Log Cabin, Barn Raising, also from the Ardis and Robert James collection, is possibly a Pennsylvania quilt, maker unknown, circa 1870-1890.

And a third, Log Cabin, Straight Furrow, from the same collection, is also possibly a Pennsylvania quilt, maker unknown, circa 1880-1900.

Lastly, this series of art quilts by Brenda Saller was appealing for its coloration and the detailed hand stitching. The final part of this blog series will have something astonishing for the miniature quilt lovers! Stay tuned.