Circle Mania...

Since completing the "Eye of the Beholder" quilt (seen here in an earlier post), my eye goes right to quilt designs based on circles. I recently visited QuiltFest Jacksonville where I saw some beauties. Come to the quilt show with me and I'll show you a few of my favorites. This quilt, coincidentally, is also titled "Eye of the Beholder" and is the entry of maker Tori Drew. I was impressed with how she controlled the many improvisational pieced curves in her quilt.

 This is Paula Fuqua's entry titled "Time Passages" which was quilted by Laura Bezares. Pieced fabrics are cut into curves and pieced into the blocks. It's full of color and fun fabrics.

Pieced scraps and project leftovers also appear in "Orange Marmalade" by Candi Lennox, a ribbon winner in the Intermediate Pieced category. She used the same set of Giant Nested Curves templates to create her quilt.

Big and bold is how I'd describe this Bulls-Eye pattern by Karen Kimmel. It earned a Judge's Recognition award.

Tori Drew pieced "Strawberry Tide Pool" using indigo prints and a novelty strawberry print together in traditional Drunkard's Path blocks. To me, it's somehow a soothing, calm quilt.

"Circle in Motion" is the entry of Karen Kimmel (quilted by Nimmi Kroos). She used a pattern by Karen Friedlander in this bright happy quilt to which she added her own applique elements.

A paper-pieced pattern by Karen Stone made for perfect points in Caroline Moegenburg's "Untitled" entry (quilted by Susan Melarvie Sturgeon). The quilt looks to contain many different necktie silks.

Acrylic templates like these arcs and Drunkard's Path pieces go a long way in helping accurate cutting and piecing of curved units like those used in some of the quilts.

I use them to cut the pieces for Drunkard's Path units from scraps, and keep a stack of them by the sewing machine. When I finish a seam on a project, I sew a unit to avoid cutting the thread between piecing runs. Eventually I'll have a quilt-worth of them. I use them in a manner similar to quilt teacher Bonnie Hunter's popular "leaders-and-enders" piecing.

I was intrigued by the Radiant Suns templates and borrowed a set from a quilting friend just to try them out. I'm doubtful I'll make an entire quilt from them, but it might become a center medallion in a future project. Most of the fabrics in the block are ones I purchased at the quilt show- a new release called Story Board by artist Seth Apter. I think I'll just keep the wheels spinning in the sewing room for awhile.

Step Into the Textile Cocoon...

 

What to do with vintage textiles that are tucked away in closets and drawers? Bring them together in what is known as installation art. That's what artist Susan Lenz did in a recent exhibit at the Webber Gallery in Ocala, Florida. Installation art is defined as "large-scale mixed-media constructions designed for a specific space or temporary period of time." This display actually featured three installations by Susan. This one, titled "The Cocoon", was the largest and it was one viewers could walk through. Isn't this entrance a most inviting sight for textile lovers?

Susan stitched old quilt tops, tablecloths, doilies, quilt blocks, christening gowns, gloves, crochet pieces and more into panels and joined them all to form the cozy surround of vintage textiles. You can see a glimpse of a second installation, The Clothesline, suspended above Cocoon. She appliqued hands on the old dish towels and linens for this installation and used wooden pegs to hang them. 

A Carolina Lily quilt block became the seat for this folding chair placed invitingly in the exhibit. And we saw the many of the old calendar dish towels included. Remember those? At one time it was the go-to gift for children who saved their money to buy their moms a Christmas present every year. It was fun to see so many of them incorporated here.

Even Grandma's apron became part of the installation, displayed on a special tablecloth.

This stunning old wedding gown was gifted to Susan to add to her collection of vintage pieces and makes a wonderful focal point in Cocoon.

The variety of vintage pieces was impressive in the two-sided, surrounding Cocoon. I count at least a dozen different textiles just in this corner view. More if you count every yo-yo! Viewers could easily get lost in time as they became absorbed by the needlework on the individual pieces as well as in the body of the work. So much to see.

This poignant display may have been my favorite- The Loss. It's the third of Susan's installations in the gallery and it speaks to all losses in families from stillbirths and crib deaths to age-related deaths. Each garment is hand embroidered with redwork and the empty cradles are filled with bundles she fashioned from the scraps cut while making the many textile art pieces.

You can see how the light coming through the walls of Cocoon adds to the nostalgic feel of the installation. Susan added applique hands to the already intricately embroidered dresser scarf. The grand scale of installation art for textiles was truly impressive.

I got to meet Susan Lenz, right, when she presented an artist's talk at the college. Plenty of quilters along with art students from the college were in attendance while she told about her background and growth as a studio artist and answered questions about her installations. You can see a short video on The Cocoon on YouTube when it was presented in another, smaller venue. It's a treat. The beauty of the Webber Gallery is the space her work was given to be seen and appreciated.

Eye of the Beholder...

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I'm told. So that's what I'm calling this quilt. It may not be every beholder's cup of tea, but I'm loving it. We had a tutorial at our Quilter's Day Camp sessions earlier this year and learned to make these blocks. They are so fast and so much fun to make that I had a hard time stopping to assemble them into a quilt!

The arcs are free-cut from a stack of four 10" squares, then the pieces are swapped around and sewn back together. You can see in the photo that each block winds up with one piece from each fabric, but in a different position within the block. It's so random that pretty much any fabric works in these. All you need is a sharp new blade in the rotary cutter. And one of these turn-table cutting mats is also useful when it comes time to trim the pieced blocks to 7 1/2" square.

Merri, our instructor is on the left, and group member Joyce is holding the pillow I also made on the right. We're having show-and-tell at our Fiber Art Bee meeting. Merri is also holding Sal the Southern Sass doll I showed here on the blog previously. I made a tote bag, too. AND I have lots more blocks made, plus squares cut for more. I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt.