What's keeping me away from the sewing machine

Late in the Fall I found an email asking if we were interested in organizing a quilt/fibre arts show at the ArtSpace. Since the first round of my challenge to friends, The June Bride, had just concluded and I was wondering where those quilts might be exhibited, the email came at just the right time. With all the holidays in November and December it was a somewhat frantic scramble to get a show pulled together and hanging but we did it.

Our show "Quilts: Collaborative Art by Northern Virginia Quilters" opened on January 10 and runs until February 15. The opening reception was last Sunday and there was a gratifyingly good crowd there.

ArtSpace Herndon is a small gallery which is owned by the town and operates as a community space run by volunteers. It has been a wonderful opportunity to get our quilts into a venue which is more usually showing paintings and photography. I hope we have surprised the art community with our show. I know we have given the quilt community something to talk about.

This is what you see as you enter the gallery. To the left is Cheryl Kotecki's quilt, "Feathered and other Fine Friends", which was her quilt resulting from our most recently completed international round robin. Cheryl did a masterful job of quilting this and it shows very well in this location with the lighting and on the backdrop of the eggplant colored wall.

To the right of that is my Purple Passion quilt. I began that quilt in a class with Janice Gunner at a NZ quilt symposium quite some years back. This was one of the first quilts Cheryl quilted on her longarm machine.

And on the table are items for sale made by local art quilter Cindy Grisdela. Cindy is one of the participants in the June Bride challenge.

Here you see the first wall of quilts. Everyone is very pleased with how our quilts look in a gallery setting. That is my "Riverdance" immediately above and to the right of the flowers. And my "Massanetta Mystery" to the right of that. The pattern for Riverdance was designed by Jo Morton (named by her as Peppermint Twist) and the pattern for Massanetta Mystery was originally designed by Carol Doak.

Here is how the rear corner of the space looks. Oh, I was going to call this shot From Logs to Lilies as it begins with Prudy's Log Cabin quilt on the left and moves to my "Luscious Lilies" on the right. The Lily quilt was from an earlier one of our International Round Robin projects.

Carol Campanola's two small quilts show well on the eggplant wall. The top one, "It's a ChaCha" was what she made for the Dancing with the Stars Challenge in 2009. The lower one "Itsy Bitsie, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" was made for the Color my Quilt with Song challenge in 2011.

This is the June Bride project, part one, The Bridal Shower. I gave each of 13 quilt friends an old Dresden Plate Block and challenged them to make, from something old, the block, something new, their quilt. The something borrowed was the entire concept which came from Mary Kerr and the something blue was a color that must be used someplace in their 24" x 24" quilt. There is great variety on this wall. Some could not cut up the block while others have hidden it so well the average person does not even realise it is there. Some quilts used old techinques, yes, there is one handquilted, while others gave their quilt a very contemporary appearance and feel.

Hanging on the left (above) is "Thank You Emily" by Diane Kirkhart. This small beauty is a great example of how you don't have to make a Baltimore style quilt on a pale background.


This corner of the gallery pulsates with color as we hung three Cinco de Mayo quilts side by side.

One of my aims for the show was to demonstrate the results of when quilters collaborate as this is most often how I make quilts. My round robin quilts are a prime example as are various challenges but the main example is how Cheryl and I work together. We have fun.

There are quilts shown above that I have not identified (for space reasons) and there are other quilts in the show that are not seen in my photos. So why don't you try and go see our show?

You can find more details by going to www.artspaceherndon.com

This has been a very exciting interlude for me...even if it has cut into my personal time with the sewing machine.

Saturday 53 Union Shield

And at last, here is the final block in the Barbara Brackman Civil War block of the week project that I was following along with for the year 2011. Again, it was a block that was intended to be done in a red, white and blue colorway so was a challenge for someone working in a blue and grey scheme.

When it appeared I thought I would rather do it as an applique block but as the days passed I decided that I would make it a pieced block since that was the way BB presented it. It was enough that I was also going to take the liberty of including grey in what was called a Union block.

And now I must begin making the setting blocks. I see many participants have already completed their tops but I have had other thingss that needed my attention.

I have enjoyed doing this project; in particular I have appreciated the discipline of making a block each week but in addition I have discovered the value of fussy cutting when appropriate and I have honed my precision piecing skills. This is going to be a hard act to follow!

Doubtless, I can find many things to do this year in my sewing room. And those who know me and know how many half made projects there are in my room will just shake their heads and wonder which of those items will make it to completion. It's all about the process and having fun with it...right?