Tuesday, August 2, 2011

SPECTACULAR STIMULI


Among the many and varied quilts offered for our delight at Quilt Odyssey this year were several from a group of artists who meet monthly to network, share and critique their work.  These women call themselves Fiberistic Journeys, and they have produced truly wonderful quilts that are perfection.  The one above by Denise Havlan is called "Ringmasters."  Be sure to click on it to see it more closely.  The work is beautiful.


Denise also produced this lovely work, "O" (for orchids).  She certainly has an eye for color and form.  There were many more by the other members of the group, but I didn't want to devote my narrative to just the Fiberistic Journeys, even though their body of work is stellar.


This stunning portrait of a lion was fashioned from a photograph taken on a river trip in Africa by artist, Barbara Barrick McKie.  In her work entitled "Eye to Eye," she transferred the image to cloth and then used trapunto and machine embroidery to adorn the photo.  I'm not sure how I feel about using a photo, or even painting on cloth and calling it a quilt.  Somehow, it seems like it's not the same as taking pieces of fabric and cutting and sewing until you come up with the design you want.  This thread painting is interesting fiber art, but I don't think of it as quilting and would prefer that it be assigned a special category all its own that does not have the majority of the quilt pieced or appliqued.  In my not so humble opinion.


I'll leave you with the most intricate and perfectly made quilt (as far as I'm concerned) at the show.  This hand appliqued and home machine quilted scene was made from 123 different fabrics by Kathy McNeil from Tulalip, Washington.  She named her masterpiece "Natural Wonders."  If you look closely, you will see sea life, starfish and the like in various spots on the quilt.  This design was inspired by the San Juan Islands but was not a photograph, springing from the artist's imagination and her gifted skills.  Now THAT'S a quilt!  Her quilting, by the way, is also exceptional.  She won First Place in the Best Pictorial Machine quilting category.

By the way, in case you are wondering what that smoky "X" is in front of some of the quilts, it's nearly clear tape that is put up so that the viewers don't touch the quilts.  There are white gloved ladies who will handle the quilt for you if you want to see the back.

Tomorrow I'll show some more traditional quilts that caught my eye.


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