OK, last post about the quilts on display at the National Quilt Museum. After the excitement of a holiday weekend in the US and Canada, you might think “oh, yay, another quilting post” and move on. You can, but you’ll miss puffins and blocks and a wooden quilt if you skip this post…
Puffins
Look at those puffin faces! They’re adorable! I just loved this quilt so much for the way the artist captured the whimsy of these little birds. And that machine quilting on the background does look like fractured ice, so the puffins are clearly in their element.
Now that you’ve seen the details, here’s the whole quilt. She made so many puffins!
Tumbling Blocks
The classic block design works with color to bring a 3-D look to a 2-D artform (yes, quilts are three-dimensional but they are usually so thin that they appear flat). This artist did something a little different.
But before we get to the quilt photo, look again at the quilting of the block squares. Wow, tiny little quilting designs done by machine. I don’t have near enough the dexerity to think about doing something like that with a sewing machine!
Here’s the whole quilt. The artist has let her sense of humor show, making the top block be tumbling over, rather than just lined up like the rest of them. And you can see that she put each sech of three colored blocks as one side of a larger black-and-white block. Very clever and it makes for a fun and colorful display.
A Wooden Quilt?
This quilt, at the entrance to the exhibits, is actually way more amazing than a two-dimensional photo can show. It’s made of wood. Someone made a quilt out of wood. Now that is creativity at its finest, using a new medium in an old format.
The artist carved out of pieces of basswod that are painted, and took several months to make. I wish I’d taken a side-on view, because then you’d see how the surface ripples and flows, rather than laying flat like a fabric quilt would.
So there you have it, amazing creations from very talented people.
Sparking Creativity
Visiting the National Quilt Museum inspired me to start two projects, one a colorful four-patch bed quilt (which will take me months and months) and the other a smaller (and faster) wall hanging that I’m using to practice my four-patch sewing and then try out some hand quilting patterns. (Thanks to my quilting yoda, Peg, for creating the four-patch quilt pattern I’m using and for the encouragement to go wilder than my usual with colors.)
Osho
These quilts are amazing! Thanks for sharing them!
I know. Just standing in front of it made me feel like I was in Greenland or somewhere else way up north.
You definitely should get business cards, Quilting Yoda! (moo.com is great for that kind of thing, you can even put photos of your favorite quilts on one side of the card!). And yes, English paper piecing is probably something I’d learn faster watching and working with you. The videos were kind of overwhelming!
All hand sewing and quilting so far. I see it as a challenge, doing something completely by hand rather than use a machine and electricity.
I used to watch my mom plan and assemble quilts. It was fascinating. These are a level above of course, but I’m impressed with what she was able to accomplish, starting in her 70s. Of course, by 80, she had Alzheimer’s. Not sure if there’s a correlation or not. It was such a dramatic shift from her creating masterpieces to not remembering where she lived.
I’ve loved these reports from Paducah! Do you have a sewing machine in your Alto or will your projects be strictly hand sewing?Good luck, and keep up the great reporting from the road.
. Haha!
(I don’t know if those will come through but it’s a row of ROFL faces). I am definitely having business cards made that say quilting yoda.
When you visit, we will do English paper piecing. There is no try, just do.
!!! Spectacular collection !!!
Love that Puffin Quilt.