Quilt from TCQC 02-13-22

Here is a quilt from early in the Collection.  Always interesting to see what Caryl has been up to.  Check out her website.  This is the post from May 3, 2009.

"Refractions #9 and #10" Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 Each quilt is 36"X36"

In the fall of 2003 someone sent me an e-mail saying there were Caryl Bryer Fallert quilts being sold on eBay. Of course, I had to check them out and it was true. There were about a half a dozen and among them were three that were a triptych. All these quilts and the other 90+ items were being sold by the corporate office of an international company that was relocating and selling all of their art collection. Amazingly, the bidding on these quilts started at $25!! After I won the bid on three of Caryl's quilts I talked to the person at the corporation who was in charge of the auction and I asked her why they sold everything so cheap. She said she was just told to sell everything, with no other information or instructions. I contacted Caryl to see what she knew about the disposal of her work and she had not heard a thing about it. I think it is so odd that they wouldn't offer the quilts back to her first. I know if I ever had to dispose of the TCQC on the open market I would contact each artist and tell them I needed to sell - they might want to buy them back or perhaps know of someone lusting after a particular quilt. I found such a "fire sale" rather peculiar.

Which didn't stop me from bidding! The 'hottest' bidding was for #10 - I liked it best of the triptych pieces and apparently so did a lot of other people. As the bidding for that one went up and up I thought I should bid on # 9, just in case I was outbid for #10 at the last minute. I had the high bid for #9 and when the bidding for #10 was over I also had the high bid for it. I believe that none of the items on auction went over their original selling price and most of them much less.  [less than $1500!]

These quilts are made with Caryl's hand dyed fabric in the style she was working in during the early 1990s. They are pieced in a log cabin order - VERY precisely. They look great hung together or individually, but it is too bad I didn't make the top bid for the third piece. I know that the lady who won that bid was thrilled with her purchase, as was I.

I have always admired Caryl's work and doubt if I would ever have been able to add her quilts to the Collection in any other way. She also has a fabulous website with much valuable information, check it out: http://www.bryerpatch.com/

And while you are there look for the triptych under General Railway Signal Corp the page for Corporate Collections:

http://www.bryerpatch.com/about/corporatecollections.htm

Monday Browsing on a Tuesday! 03-12-19

Sometimes we forget a resource, lost among the millions now available.  I recommend to you the web page of Caryl Breyer Fallert Gentry.  She has great images, directions, patterns, and all sorts in interesting things.  Check it out:  

Caryl Breyer Fallert-Gentry

bryerpatch.com

And here is one I just came across - a tutorial for the current popular bowls:

http://www.nanettesewz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/fabric_bowl_tutorial.pdf

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Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar 07-15-18

This is a re-posting from March 2010 .   It is so fun to look at this quilt and remember all my Asilomar classes and teachers and fellow students.   I've gone to classes for 27  years, sometimes just one session, but frequently two sessions.  Tried three sessions once, but it almost did me in! 

25th Anniv. of Empty Spools Seminars 03-22-10

Empty Spools Seminars is celebrating 25 years of great teachers, students and friendships. As part of the celebration the three women who run the seminars, Diana McClun, Suzanne Cox and Gayle Wells asked all those who have taught over the years to send spool blocks to create some anniversary quilts. Six quilts were created with the help of some of the teachers and many friends. At each of this year's five sessions all the attendees names are put in a box for a drawing for one of the quilts. The winner pulls a slip a paper with the name of the quilt she has won. At the end of the fifth session in June the names of all of the 2010 attendees will go in a box and a name pulled to win the sixth quilt.

On the last night of the first week I attended (Session III) I was the winner and the quilt I won is "Freddy's Polka Dots". So named because when the blocks were divided up Freddy Moran took this set home and assembled this quilt. I think it is spectacular and I feel very, very lucky. These pictures were taken at the end of Session IV when the quilts were taken down from where they hung over the edge of the balcony and placed on the empty chairs in Merrill Hall so all could see them close up. Not the best situation for photography. I had someone hold up the quilt for an all over shot and I took individual blocks while it was draped on the chairs. I cannot identify the makers of all the blocks. The one on the bottom row with the rainbow flying geese is NOT Caryl Bryer Fallert - she has not taught at Asilomar that I know of. But I cannot tell you whose contribution it is. (Addendum: I am wrong! Caryl taught a computer aided design class several yearss ago - but is still is not her block!! She will also be teaching in 2011. For a list of the teachers for 2011 go tohttp://www.emptyspoolsseminars.com/Teachers2011.html)

Here are the blocks I can attribute correctly.
Top left: Elizabeth Spanning Bottom right: Becky Goldsmith

Top: Gai Perry Bottom: Dale FlemingTop left: Freddy Moran Top right: Kathie Pasquini Masopust 
Bottom left: Peggy Martin Bottom right: Sylvia Einstein

This elaborate block was made by Louisa Smith.

Here is a better image of Sylvia Einstein's block with one by Dale Fleming on the right.

Freddy Moran's colorful block.

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Revisiting a Caryl Bryer Fallert quilt from 2003 03-19-17

I posted this quilt in December 2008 and have copied the caption I wrote then.  I remember that I was surprised when it arrived in the mail that it is so heavy, but all those seams really add up.  I like the name "Reflection" as it looks like that to me. Caryl's website is still one of the best - I recommend it. 

 

 

Reflection #9 Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 36"W x 26"L

In 2003 someone alerted me to art quilts being offered on eBay. Of course, I had to look! There were a number of quilts, plus paintings and, if I remember correctly, some sculpture, all from a corporate collection and all up for auction. I checked with Caryl, who had not been advised of the sale and she confirmed that some of the quilts on the listing were those she had made in 1993 for the corporate client. Now the corporation was closing one of their locations and was selling the art. The starting prices were ridiculous - this quilt started at $25. Low prices like this are bad for the artist and bad for the market because they warp the value of art quilts. I ended up with three of her quilts. This one uses the 3-D tucks that, as far as I know, she invented.

If you have not been to Caryl's website, put aside a day to wander through it. She offers more information than any other quilt maker/artist - it is a great website.

http://bryerpatch.com

 

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Visions Art Museum current exhibits closing 09-18-14

"Hanging Gardens of California"  Arline Fisch

An installation of brightly colored floating wire forms and jewelry from the artist's collection.

 

This is one of the three exhibits currently at Visions Art Museum.  There are also "30 Quilts for 30 Years" by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry, and six quilts in "Tracings" by Deidre Adams.

 

All of these exhibits will close this Sunday, September 21st.  So, if you have been planning to go, now is the time.   Liz and I will be there tomorrow for one last look.

 

The International Biennial Quilt Visions exhibit will open on October 3rd and the artists reception will be on Saturday, October 11 from 5pm to 7pm.  It is always great to meet the artists who make these wonderful quilts. 

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Exhibits in San Diego 08-07-14

I drove to San Diego today to see the new exhibit at Visions Art Museum.  And, of course, to have lunch at my favorite sushi place, Ikiru.  They were ready to send out a search party since I haven't been in for over three weeks, or maybe a month!   Their food is so good, I have really missed it.  Didn't even look for a sushi place on this trip and ate a lot of meals out of my cooler and "lunch" box in my room at night.  Too tired to go out looking for a place to eat.  I can have a big breakfast at any motel these days (although I prefer HIE), so don't need much lunch; a piece of fruit, some cheese and crackers. 

Orange Blossom (front) and Real Crab Rolls

Orange Blossom - see the parchment slice of lemon?  Yummy.

Anyway, if you can get to VAM you are in for a treat.  Caryl Bryer-Fallert-Gentry's "Thirty Quilts for Thirty Years" (which are all thirty inches square) look spectacular.  They ARE spectacular.  She has revisited the designs she has done in the past and created new versions for this traveling exhibit.  Very impressive.  She has had such an influence on contemporary quilting over the years - so many innovations.  She was the first artist to have a machine quilted quilt win Best of Show in Houston.  In the Alcove Gallery Deidra Adams 
has six quilts from her "Tracings" series and all are gorgeous.  I like them so much that I bought two for TCQC, but they will hang in the gallery until the end of September.  The Valya Gallery is filled with Arline Frish's "Hanging Garden of California" which is composed of dozens of flowers knitted with multicolored metal wires and hanging upside down from knitted tubular stems.  They are quite beautiful and they dance when the oscillating fans are on.  Some of Arline's  neck pieces are hung on the end wall - again, beautiful. 

Photography is not permitted in the galleries, but you can see examples on the Visions website:  www.visionsquiltmuseum.org  And you can visit the artist's websites to see more of their creations. 

Caryl Bryer Fallert quilt is new to TCQC 01-08-12

"Feather Study #19"  Caryl Bryer Fallert  2001  26.5" x 26.5"

This quilt is from the Visions Art Museum auction in November, donated by a patron.  I wasn't able to attend the auction, so I had a surrogate bidder.  Thanks, Beth.  I think the actual quilt is brighter than this image - just what we need to brighten our winter days.   The design, the values and the color all combine to lend a curved feeling to the feather - when I stand back to look it almost becomes 3-D. 

Caryl is such a fabulous designer and a great technician.  Would that all our piecing and quilting were as precise as hers.

She applies a sleeve both top and bottom, although I can't imagine any of her quilts not hanging perfectly straight and perfectly flat without weighing the bottom. 

On all the CBF quilts in TCQC the label is on the top sleeve in the middle.  It is a style I find annoying when I am looking through a pile of quilts with the labels all on either of the bottom corners.  However, it would be hard to not recognize even the back of her quilts.

Caryl's website is www.bryerpatch.com

To see more of her feather series:   http://www.bryerpatch.com/gallery/feather_study_quilts.htm

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. 



Quilt from TCQC - Fallert 05-03-09

"Refractions #9 and #10" Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 Each quilt is 36"X36"

In the fall of 2003 someone sent me an e-mail saying there were Caryl Bryer Fallert quilts being sold on eBay. Of course, I had to check them out and it was true. There were about a half a dozen and among them were three that were a triptych. All these quilts and the other 90+ items were being sold by the corporate office of an international company that was relocating and selling all of their art collection. Amazingly, the bidding on these quilts started at $25!! After I won the bid on three of Caryl's quilts I talked to the person at the corporation who was in charge of the auction and I asked her why they sold everything so cheap. She said she was just told to sell everything, with no other information or instructions. I contacted Caryl to see what she knew about the disposal of her work and she had not heard a thing about it. I think it is so odd that they wouldn't offer the quilts back to her first. I know if I ever had to dispose of the TCQC on the open market I would contact each artist and tell them I needed to sell - they might want to buy them back or perhaps know of someone lusting after a particular quilt. I found such a "fire sale" rather peculiar.

Which didn't stop me from bidding! The 'hottest' bidding was for #10 - I liked it best of the triptych pieces and apparently so did a lot of other people. As the bidding for that one went up and up I thought I should bid on # 9, just in case I was outbid for #10 at the last minute. I had the high bid for #9 and when the bidding for #10 was over I also had the high bid for it. I believe that none of the items on auction went over their original selling price and most of them much less.

These quilts are made with Caryl's hand dyed fabric in the style she was working in during the early 1990s. They are pieced in a log cabin order - VERY precisely. They look great hung together or individually, but it is too bad I didn't make the top bid for the third piece. I know that the lady who won that bid was thrilled with her purchase, as was I.

I have always admired Caryl's work and doubt if I would ever have been able to add her quilts to the Collection in any other way. She also has a fabulous website with much valuable information, check it out: http://www.bryerpatch.com/

And while you are there look for the triptych under General Railway Signal Corp the page for Corporate Collections:

http://www.bryerpatch.com/about/corporatecollections.htm

And look at her Quilts for Sale page, there are some wonderful pieces at quite reasonable prices.

Quilt from TCQC 12-07-08

Reflection #9 Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 36"W x 26"L

Five years ago someone alerted me to art quilts being offered on eBay. Of course, I had to look! There were a number of quilts, plus paintings and, if I remember correctly, some sculpture, all from a corporate collection and all up for auction. I checked with Caryl, who had not been advised of the sale and she confirmed that some of the quilts on the listing were those she had made in 1993 for the corporate client. Now the corporation was closing one of their locations and was selling the art. The starting prices were ridiculous - this quilt started at $25. Low prices like this are bad for the artist and bad for the market because they warp the value of art quilts. I ended up with three of her quilts. This one uses the 3-D tucks that, as far as I know, she invented.

If you have not been to Caryl's website, put aside a day to wander through it. She offers more information than any other quilt maker/artist - it is a great website.

http://www.bryerpatch.com/