Quilts

This week we return to the Go Tell It at the Quilt Show series from the Quilt Alliance and are introduced to Kathy York's quilt, i Quilt, which took home Best in Show at QuiltCon 2015. It is a two-sided quilt, and both sides have a story of why they were constructed the way they were.

Join world-class Batik artists Jonathan Evans, Chairman of the Batik Guild, and his wife Beth, as they invite you to the BatikUSA Art Exhibition, the very first All-American batik show opening at the Estelle Creative Art Center in La Veta, Colorado on August 31, 2024. Click through to find out more about this stunning show and its collection of "15 of the most talented batik artists from across the United States" work.

Today marks the closing ceremonies of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. To commemorate the moment, we thought we'd squeeze in one more story related to the games as reported by the University of Wisconsin that we just loved. Grace Latz, a former Olympic rower and artist who was just featured in Monday's Textile Talk, "was chosen by the Olympic Museum to lead a workshop for senior citizens, transforming recycle sports materials into a piece of art. With the help of a BERNINA, they created this stunning quilt together!" Click through to see the full quilt and to learn more about how this heartwarming collaboration came to be.

In this second video from The Quilt District, Sewn In America exhibit curator Alden O'Brien takes us through the rest of the exhibition at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington DC.

Find out why Quilters Hall of Fame member Merikay Waldvogel found this quilt so interesting as Michele Muska talks about the quilt her Aunt Sadie made in the 1930s in another "Go Tell It" interview from the Quilt Alliance.

In this first video from The Quilt District, Sewn In America exhibit curator Alden O'Brien takes us through her latest exhibition at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington DC. This is the first of a two-part video tour of the exhibition, filmed April 25 and April 26, 2024. Stay tuned for Part 2.

It's always interesting when a quilter talks about her quilt, and in this "Go Tell It" interview from the Quilt Alliance, Linda M. Roy talks about Redbud Ramble, a very "decorated quilt", including a NACQJ award in 2019, Best of Show AQS Knoxville 2011, and more.

Paula Nadelstern​​, the Kaleidoscope Quilt Queen, has an exhibition of over 22 pieces of her collected kaleidoscope quilts on display at The New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA. Come and see this very cool collection of kaleidoscopic designed quilts while you still can, now through September 14, 2024.

Learn how bestselling and critically acclaimed author Frances O'Roark Dowell was inspired by another artist to make her quilt, Sit-In. See how her work changed as she began to explore different design options in this "Go Tell It" video from the Quilt Alliance.

Susan Carlson, past guest of The Quilt Show, is receiving the honor of having an exhibit of her work on display at The National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. The exhibit, Susan Carlson: Specimens, will take a look at smaller quilts made earlier in her career that showcase the specimens of the title, such as insects, fish, and other creatures.

From The Festival of Quilts: "We're delighted to present The Quilt Collection exhibition from The Quilters' Guild of The British Isles - Patchwork: Pattern and Print: 1780-1840.This year's exhibition by The Quilt Collection showcases a stunning array of late 18th and early 19th-century patchworks. Featuring fabrics dating back to the 1780s, it's a unique opportunity to view historically significant pieces, some never before publicly displayed."​

Once in a while, our TQS Photographer and Newsletter editor steps in front of the camera, but it has to be a very rare occasion. In this instance, Mary Kay Davis got to see her quilt live and in person at the National Quilt Museum as part of the New Quilts from an Old Favorite: Roaring Twenties exhibit. Click through to see Mary's quilt quilt and learn about it and the exhibit.

From The Festival of Quilts: "For over fifty years, Lynne Edwards MBE has been making quilts, and now that retirement looms, it’s time to showcase that enormous body of work and find new homes for them all in her 'Swan Song' exhibition at The Festival of Quilts 2024. It will also be a great opportunity for Lynne to bid a public farewell and thank the hundreds of amazing people she has met, taught, and laughed with over the years​."

From the Smithsonian American Art Museum: "Explore the creative practice of Amish quilters in the United States. Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women looks beyond quilting as a utilitarian practice. It reveals historical quilting among the Amish as an aesthetic endeavor that walked a line between cultural and individual expression. The quilts paradoxically twin the plain with the spectacular, tradition with innovation, and a dismissal of personal pride with objects often seen as extraordinary artworks."

Today there will a total solar eclipse occurring over North America, with the path of totality (when the moon completely covers the sun) crossing over the state of Texas in the cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas. One of the last times a total solar eclipse happened in North America was in 2017, where the path of totality crossed over the state of Oregon. The artists in Oregon were very inspired by this Great American Eclipse and created some quilts based on it. Here are a few of the quilts that were on display in the LaSells Stewart Center at the Oregon State University campus a few days before the big event took place.

From the International Quilt Museum (IQM): "Have you seen “A New Deal for Quilts” yet? Set aside some time to join us before the exhibition closes on April 20! With quilts from the IQM collection as well as historical photos and documentary sources, this exhibition tells the stories of quiltmakers in the United States and how they coped with the hard times of the Great Depression. It also explores how quiltmaking was used by government agencies as an emblem of American perseverance and frugality, and to promote new vocational and homemaking skills for women."

Now through July 30, 2024, the National Quilt Museum is featuring Karen Nyberg's work as part of her exhibition, The Stars Are Aligned, which celebrates her time as an astronaut, living in space, her family, and her interest in Earth conservation. The exhibition also features a set of Astronomical Quilts that were commissioned in 2013 by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration to honor Karen's mission on the International Space Station.

From Blue Box Auction: "Join us as we unveil the Kaye England Quilt Collection in our Featured Quilt Auction on March 9, 2024 at 12:00pm EST. This exclusive event presents a remarkable selection of 20 antique quilts from Kaye’s collection, and 20 additional quilts created by Kaye in honor of some of the most important women in history including: First Ladies Washington, Taft and Coolidge, and others including Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller and Lucille Ball. The collection also includes photos and autographs of some of the featured women in the collection."

Last week we featured an exhibit of Gee's Bend quilts that were on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In the same gallery was a collection of furniture covered with digitally reproduced designs of those quilts. Learn about this exclusive furniture collection celebrating the work of Mary Lee Bendolph, Delia Bennett, Annie E. Pettway, Loretta Petway, and Magdalene Wilson of Gee's Bend.