Threaded With Green Seasons

With the recent big snow still uppermost in everyone's minds around here it seems timely to show you quilts about seasons.

But first, after much delay



Please do come to our reception on Sunday. It's a great chance to shake off the cabin fever and get out and meet the quilters who have made these pieces of fiber art hung for your enjoyment.

In 2014-15 a group of twelve quilters were asked to make quilts for the "There is a Season" challenge. Each participant was given a vintage quilt block and asked to turn that block into a finished piece measuring 24" x 24" representing one of the four seasons. Green had to be used somewhere on the face of the quilt. Many of the quilts resulting from that challenge are now on view in the "Threaded With Green" exhibit and are shown below.


Beginning with Spring - everyone received a sailboat block (original block, uncut, is used in the lower left corner of the lower left quilt).

Upper row, left to right: Carol Campanola "Spring in D.C.", Rebecca Owen, "Mother Nature Follows Her Own Rules", Lynn Purple "Waiting for Spring Break".

Lower row, left to right: Dorry Emmer "Sailing Into Spring", Prudy Traut "Butterfly = New Life", Cheryl Kotecki "Trillium".


More Spring.

Upper row, left to right: Annabel Ebersole "Spring Graces and Grasses", Virginia Hodge "A Non To Wynken & Blynken".

Lower row, left to right: Sarah Entsminger "Sailing Into Spring", Barbara Wise "Heralds of Spring".


Moving into Summer participants were given an unusual Carolina Lily block as seen, uncut, in the center of three of these quilts.

Upper row, left to right: Dorry Emmer "Full Bloom of Summer", Rebecca Owen "Bouquet of Summer", Cindy Grisdela "September Solstice".

Lower row, left to right: Prudy Traut "In My Mother's Garden", Cheryl Kotecki "Watermelon", Sarah Entsminger "Summer Bright".

Summer continues with the six quilts on the left and Fall begins with the two quilts on the right side.

Upper row, left to right: Annabel Ebersole "Summers Bright Blooms", Virginia Hodge "Carolina Lilyfish", Lynn Purple "What Was in Those Seed Packets?" and for Fall, Prudy Traut "Autumn Splendor".

Lower row, left to right: Barbara Wise "Happy Butterfly", Carol Campanola "Happy Flower", Gayle Maisel "Beach - a Time For Shovelling Sand" and for Fall, Gayle Maisel "Time for Leaves".

Now for Fall when participants were given an Ohio Star block with a vivid solid orange background. There was much angst about that orange and several artists disguised that orange as best they could.

Upper row, left to right: Rebecca Owen "Signs of Autumn", Annabel Ebersole "Autumn's Grace Notes", Cheryl Kotecki "Maple" and Cindy Grisdela "Autumn Neighborhood".

Lower row, left to right: Seasons Challenge description, Virginia Hodge "Indian Blanket", Carol Campanola "Fall in D.C." and Lynn Purple "Leaf Fall".


And at last, we finish with winter, the season of snow which is when all of this beauty is on exhibit for you to see! Participants were given a dark blue and cream Monkey Wrench block - see it uncut and on point in Cheryl's quilt and uncut,straight on in Rebecca's and Annabel's quilts.

Upper row, left to right: Rebecca Owen "A Long Winter's Sampler", Virginia Hodge "Winter Wonder", Cheryl Kotecki "Moonlit Midnight", Prudy Traut "Snow Swirls", and Lynn Purple "Snow Fell".

Lower row, left to right: Gayle Maisel "Time for Snow", Annabel Ebersole "Winter's Sparkles", Sarah Entsminger "Dark Night", Barbara Wise "B'rrr" and Cindy Grisdela "Migration".

"For everything there is a season, turn, turn turn..."

As always you can click on the photographs to see them in a larger size.

Threads at the Exhibit Part II

Here we are back again to showcase the lower row of quilts in the "Threads" installation at the "Threaded With Green" exhibit.

But first, let me take time out for an important public service announcement:



Yes, we have a little weather event happening outside right now and the reception for our exhibit, planned for Sunday January 24 2pm thru 4pm has had to be cut out of the schedule i.e. abandoned. But, fear not, we hope it will be re-scheduled for Sunday, January 31, 2pm thru 4pm at the same location. Watch this blog and/or the ArtSpace webpage www.artspaceherndon.com for confirmation of this.



Earlier this week the upper row of quilts were featured. Below we have five quilts beginning on the left with Lynn Purple's entry.



"DIY and Save Some Green" 36"h x 12"w is the title for Lynn's very creative piece. She is making a statement about modern women who have skills ranging from DIY projects around the home to creating art to display in that home. Clearly Lynn spent some entertaining minutes in the hardware aisle collecting items to embellish her piece with.



Up next is "Blush Garland"  40.75" h x 11.75"w by Anne Smyers. Beginning with a base of a vintage damask table runner Anne appliquéd the garland on top to create her quiet piece.



"Nuance" 48"h x 12" w by Cindy Grisdela is a very successful combination of the  hand dye fabrics that Cindy usually works with and batiks. Her embellishment is achieved by the wonderfully textured effect created by her quilting.



Another full length view...



"Pale Memories" 46.5"h x 12"w by Dena Brannen. For several years now Dena has been incorporating pieces of handwork from her personal collection of textiles made by her grandmothers. As you can see she chose to feature crocheted doilies in her entry.



"Virgo in the Fog" 39.5"h x 12.5"w by Shoshana Spiegel. Shana tells us that this is the second in a series using woven strips of grey fabrics, anchored by a hand embroidered running stitch and finally embellished with grey buttons, green beads and more embroidery.  In common with most all of the entrants making a "Threads" quilt Shana says the biggest challenge was meeting the requirement to work with pale fabrics.

Now I have given you a preview of this portion of the exhibit I hope you will come to the gallery to see the real quilts - they are so much more interesting than you can imagine from merely seeing these photographs.



To close, here's a view of my "Green Man" in the backyard this morning.

Threads at the Exhibit

The most recent post here was about hanging the exhibit "Threaded With Green".  For tonight I would like to focus on one portion of that exhibit; a challenge titled "Threads".

And before we progress any further let me just reassure you that this post is provided so you can be excited about the quiltart, particularly if you are not going to be able to visit the exhibit. It is not exhibit grade photography; indeedy there are all sorts of challenges for an amateur in taking photos in this location with this level of contrast and with the proportions of the quiltart on display.Now, with that qualifier out of the way let me show you what's on exhibit:


This is the first view visitors have of our exhibit. The aim in inviting quilt artists to make a piece for this installation was to showcase the variety of styles of work being made by quilters today. That style ranges from traditional right through transitional to the level of art quilts. The design concept was for it to appear as a number of quilt threads hanging together. The brief to the artists asked for works to be very pale in appearance so as to "pop" against the dark grey front wall of the gallery, to be longer than 36" but shorter than 60", up to a maximum width of 12" and to likely be embellished. Green was required to be the focal or pop of brighter color among the sea of pale.

Fourteen artists responded to the call. The entire collection is shown above but for this post we are going to focus on the upper row of quilts. That hopefully means you will come back to see, up close and personal, what is hanging on the lower level (most of which you can see but not in detail) in another few days.

In upclose detail from each of the pieces of quiltart starting from left to right on the top row:



This first piece is by Suzanne Meader titled "Swimming Thru the Pale" 51" h x 11" wide. Suzanne comments that she was inspired by the Susan Carlson book "Free Style Quilts".


Suzanne clearly had a lot of fun with her piece and took to heart the direction to embellish - check out the shells and other fun extras. Pictured above is the top portion of her piece where she has a jellyfish that is a wonderful 3D addition.

Next along is "Pop of Green" by Carol Campanola, 47" h x 9.5" wide. A late entrant to the challenge Carol told me that she immediately knew how she wanted to produce her piece and she followed through with that vision in the fabric selections, piecing and quilting.



"The Mechanics of Nature" by Cecile Batchelor, 36.5" x 9.5", 36.5" x 6", 36.5" x 6". Cecile first told me that she was making three pieces. Wow. Then that it was a triptych and she was making it for her daughter-in-law. Although Cecile said they did not have to be hung all together we all agreed it looked so much better that way.

Cecile's piece is well quilted and embellished with unusual "findings" that serve to emphasize the title of her work. The green leaves give it a bright pop of color on the wall.

"Building Blocks" by Virginia Hodge 41.5"h x 8.5"w. A nicely minimalist entry, Virginia carefully followed instruction to create her piece. The pops of color from the green ribbon, the two rows of green quilting lines and the lower edge embellishment create a very successful Thread.


"Green: Gracious Hope" 43"h x 9"w is the work of Annabel Ebersole. Definitely a piece that falls under the heading of fiberart Annabel had a grand time working with silks, cottons and other sheer fabrics embellished with threads of wool, rayon, silk and cotton. An artquilter Annabel is one of our out-of-area members of the Center Street Cotton Collective.

Arriving in the mail from NC was "Green Weaves" 44.5"h x 8.75"w by Cheryl Kotecki. An intricately paper-foundation pieced work Cheryl then quilted her piece to mimic the topography of the landscape in the area of her home in the hills outside of Asheville


"Emerald Reigns" 45.25"H x 12" w was entered by Gayle Maisel. A series of tumbling blocks Gayle had this comment for the catalog "extended play with multiple sized cubes. The quilt's triple entendre name enhanced the fun for me". Gayle stepped outside the usual realm of cotton and included some glitter and non-cotton fabrics to fulfill the embellishment requirement.


"Green With Envy" 49.5"h x 9.5"w comes to us from the talented embellisher Prudy Traut. Once she had begun to embellish her piece Prudy reports that she had difficulty knowing when to stop.

Finally on the top right we see "The Flight of the Green Goose" 56" x 8.5" which is my entry. Quilters will recognize the flying geese undulating through a pale grey sky. Beads and sequins help light the way along their journey.

Come back here and visit later in the week to see the balance of the "Threads" pieces.

To better appreciate these lovely original pieces of quilt art I do so hope you will come visit our exhibit "Threaded With Green" now on show at ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center Street, Herndon VA 20170. Check their website http://www.artspaceherndon.com/
paying close attention to opening hours particularly with the upcoming forecast for some winter weather. Our meet and mingle with the artists receptions is scheduled for this coming Sunday from 2 thru 4pm.

Cross your fingers for good weather and a fine time for visiting the gallery!

Hanging a Quilt Exhibit

It really has been months since I last posted hasn't it? Oops. Reality is I have been doing more organising than stitching.

For many months now I have been working on the planning for an exhibit, the third biannual, at ArtSpace Herndon. And today ,at last, I can say, it is open and ready for viewing.

 "Threaded With Green" comprising 80 quilts presented by the Center Street Cotton Collective is on exhibit at ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center Street, Herndon VA from today thru until February 14, 2016.  Above is the view above the reception desk. You might recognize my "TOM Flies Free" quilt on the left and on the right are two small pieces, framed and under glass, by Anne Smyers. Below that is the poster showing the title of the show and the names of the nineteen participating fiber artists.

 For the front wall, facing the front door, I came up with the concept of hanging long "threads" of quilts as a way to, on one wall, showcase the myriad of styles of contemporary quilts that might be seen in the exhibit. This display is much more vibrant in person than my photo above suggests.

The heart of the exhibit is the collection of 41 wall quilts from the "There Is a Season" challenge. This is divided into four sections beginning with Spring (on the left) and moving round  through Summer, Fall and Winter. Each participant was given a vintage block (sourced as a collection of blocks that had been completed but never used in a quilt top or finished quilt). The requirement was to create a finished 24" x 24" wall quilt, use as much of the original block (in whatever form) as possible, use green somewhere on the face of the quilt and depict the assigned season. Above, beginning from the left, we see 6 spring, 12 summer and 2 fall quilts.

In addition to the two main collections there are 23 other quilt works to round out the show. My aim with these exhibits is to present a representational variety of the styles of works being created in this area currently. Thus quilts range from traditional style all the way through to art quilts. Above is an example. Beginning on the left we have "Groundhog Day" by Cheryl Kotecki and the Remarkable Robins, one of two round robin style quilts in the show. Next are two mounted art quilts by noted local fiber artist Cindy Grisdela  http://www.cindygrisdela.com/about.php.

Continuing on the long narrow piece (above) is "Road to Jerusalem" originally created for the "Sacred Threads" exhibit in 2015 by Sarah Entsminger http://www.studioatripplingwaters.com/

And on the far right is "Everett's Ties" a poingnant memory quilt made by Gertrude Sherman to honor her late husband Everett. Featuring his neckties it also includes photographs of Gertrude and Everett as a couple and some lovely ribbon embroidery. When the gallery lights are fully on you may better apprecaite this piece.

Moving out of the main gallery space and into the front/blue room we hung Pat Wyatt's big bed sized quilt "Mystery Maiden Voyage:Celtic Solstice" which was the November 2013 - February 2014 mystery quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter. On the left you  might recognise my small "Uluru: Star of the Outback".

It is all on display at ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center Street, Herndon VA 20170. Open hours are: Tuesday thru Thursday 10am to 2pm, Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm and Sunday 1pm to 5pm. Admission is free.  For more information look here http://www.artspaceherndon.com/

This is the third quilt exhibit I have had the priveledge of being able to hang at ArtSpace. It is a huge thrill to see our quilts in a gallery presentation and I do most sincerely thank all at ArtSpace Herndon for inviting we quilt/fiber artists into their space.

My thanks also go to my co-curator Sarah Entsminger and all the hanging team (most particularly Gayle Maisel for driving me and the quilts there and back and helping all day long) these past two days.

More photographs may appear in upcoming days. As always, clicking on the photos will show them in a larger form. Later I will hope to have time to give you better quality photographs. But I was so excited today to finally have the show hung that I wanted to share it with you right away.

Now do me a favor and go see our show!