A Day in San Jose 01-13-11

Here is a post from the past that was never posted!  I have no idea why not.  I was just cleaning out some old stuff and came across this one that I wrote in 2011!!  I still like these particular quilts and am glad I can share them with you - even 8 1/2 years late!   Del

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Written 01-13-11

I am still trying to learn the "new" Blogger, so I have done this post three times and still am not able to post all the pictures I planned to.  Maybe I'll compose something more tomorrow. 

The trip t o San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles was an easy drive and the exhibit is just great.  I hope that some of you can squeeze it into your schedule before the end of January.  "Quilts from The Marbaum Collection" and "A Retrospective of Yvonne Porcella's Quilts" are both showing.  The Marbaum Collection was put together by Marvin Fletcher and the late Hilary Fletcher who directed the Quilt National exhibit for about twenty years - Marvin continues to preserve the collection and add to it.  I have these few images of quilts that were included in the Marbaum selections.

"Sink or Swim"  #21 & #23  Sue Benner 1994 QNational '95 (Approx 41"W x 60"L)

Silk fabric, dyes, paint, fusing, machine quilted.

Sue's silk quilts are so vibrant, as if the light were coming from the colors themselves.  The dangling threads across the bottom are trademarks of her work.

"Kuba Kosmos, Too"  Charlotte Patera  2006  QNational '07  (34"W x 35"L) 

Cotton, machine piecing, direct and reverse hand applique, machine quilting.

When I went to Ohio to the opening of QNational '07 I was disappointed that some quilts were already sold, before the opening!  Later I discovered that there is a special showing for collectors and important people in the art quilt world.  I coveted this quilt in the worst way - I am somewhat mollified that it is in the wonderful Marbaum Collection and will, hopefully, be shown in other venues.  It is a masterpiece.  

"Light Comes from Inside"  Beatrice Lanter 2004 (43" Square)

Cotton and silk, dyed, machine pieced, hand quilted.

Long an admirer of Beatrice's work, I hope someday to add one of her quilts to TCQC.  This quilt is composted of zillion tiny log cabin blocks  - 3/4" to about 2".  When seen in-the-fabric the light does come from the inside and almost pulses on the wall. 

 
"Dance #2"  Caryl Bryer Fallert 1995 (24"W x 17"L)
Cotton.  Hand-dyed, hand-painted, machine appliqued, embroidered and quilted.
I wish I could should you a detail photo of this one - it is on Caryl's website, but I don't know if you can enlarge it enough to see the thread painting that gives the vibrant color.  Caryl is always growing and developing and discovering, making her quilts into almost an overview of quilting at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st Centuries.  This was a study for a larger quilt and is quite astonishing for its small size.  

 

After spending two and a half hours at the museum we were hungry, so drove a few blocks over to a restored hotel to have lunch.  This was one of the streets I drove down.  The bright leaves still on the trees in the middle of January were striking.  I imagine the wind blew down the cross streets where the trees were leafless.   Notice the grey sky, just recovering from a downpour.

 
This is a view down the corridor that leads to El Fornaio at the Hotel Saint Claire in downtown San Jose - it is just a few blocks from the museum and if it had not been raining while we were admiring the quilts we would have walked.  This enchanting hotel was built in 1926 and has been restored to the elegance of that period.  The El Fornaio restaurant is located to the left of this image.  The corridor is deceivingly long - there is an enormous mirror at the far end.

 
Elegant service, good food, lovely decor and the price wasn't too much.  The bread is some of the best I have ever eaten.