Quilts at Empty Spools/Asilomar 04-22-24

I took about 30 quilts to show as Collector in Residence.  At the last minute before leaving home, I decided to add a few more very large pieces that would show well in the large space of Merrill Hall.  Some of the smaller quilts I changed out daily, including the 12"X12" bird quilts.  These are the pieces hung from the balcony at the back of Merrill Hall.   More tomorrow night.

     "Not Even Solomon" (Eucalyptus bloom)  Ruth de Vos  Australia  2009                   This is entirely machine pieced and quilted. 

L  to  R   "Through the Lens"  Marianne Burr - WA  2012  

"Copper Tree" Joan Colvin - WA   2003

"An Exaltation of Larks"  Mary Quinn  CO  2010

"Purple Reign"  Deb Cashatt   CA  2024  Machine pieced and quilted.

L to R   "Arnold Marathon"  Yvonne Porcella  CA  2006

"Getting My Ducks in a Row"  Pamela Allen  Canada 2005 

"Desert Nights"  Terry Grant   OR 2014

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Monday Browsing 06-22-20

In the past I have used the Monday post to list sites of interest - I least I think they are interesting!  I haven't browsed much the last six months, too much news gets in the way.  But there is a lot of content due to the limitations of actual quilt museum visits, quilt shows, etc.   Here are just a few online features that you might find of interest.

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Textile Talks:

https://www.saqa.com/resources/textiletalks

Shipping art quilts a video  with SAQA's Bill Riemer:
https://www.facebook.com/100008080862979/posts/2664401377172532/?sfnsn=mo

Ruth de Vos, an Australian quiltmaker talks about and shows her method, which is similar to that of Ruth B. McDowell.  This video is over an hour long, but I found it fascinating to see how this Ruth works,  especially with her hand crank sewing machine!   One of her large quilts is in TCQC, check her name in the right sidebar. 

https://www.facebook.com/katherinejohnentertainment/videos/1437299876472477/

Info and bio on a famous African American quilter: 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/26/arts/design/rosie-lee-tompkins-quilts.html

International Quilt Museum and Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska:

www.internationalquiltmuseum.org

Many pages of quils and information about what may be the largest collection of quilts in the world.  Traditional, Art, Modern, International, Old, and New - they have everything. I subscribe to the Quilt of the Month and delight in the great variety of quilts they have featured over the years.  Check out "Quilt of the Month" files.  

This comes from Luana Rubin of eQuilter.  Nice exhibit with meaning.  In case you missed the Virtual Exhibit Opening of "For the Love of Gaia" last week (I am a guest curator for the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln NE for this project) here is a link to the video recording - Enjoy!

And a textile artist using a different tool and method:

https://www.wimp.com/artist-uses-rug-tufting-gun-to-paint-with-yarn/

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Quilt from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection go traveling 06-16-19

I'm sending  both of these quilts off for exhibits.  I will miss them and hope they have safe travels. 

"Douglas Fir Cone"  Terry Grant - Beaverton, OR  2010 27.5"W x 34"L

This quilt will be part of a special exhibit of Terry's work at Houston this fall. 

You can read more about this quilt at:

https://delquilts.blogspot.com/2018/08/quilts-by-terry-grant-08-26-18.html

"Not Even Solomon"   Ruth de Vos - Australia  2009  71"W x 58"L

This quilt will be in the SAQA traveling exhibit "Layered and Stitched" and won't come home for three years!  But think of all the people around the world who will be able to enjoy it during that time.  I'm so glad they asked to borrow it.  
The first time I saw this quilt I didn't buy it, but I did post about it on this blog:
http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2009/10/piqf-15-last-of-world-quilts-10-29-09.html

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Look back at exhibit at VAM 02-11-14

This is the only place I can add text to the pictures on my blog - weird, huh?   Some of you may know Loretta Armstrong from Greenbrae, CA.  I know here from Empty Spools classes at Asilomar.  These pictures were taken at Visions Art Museum last month when Loretta drove all the way down to San Diego to see the exhibit of quilts from Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  I was so flattered and wished we could have enjoyed lunch together, but I was already committed to a group.  In the top picture we are standing in front of "Not Even Solomon" by Ruth de Vos of Australia and in the bottom image we are standing in front of Ruth B. McDowell's "A Rash of Flamingoes".  

Big day for TCQC 10-22-13

Sorry, I am too tired to finish this post tonight. Check tomorrow afternoon for all the text.

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10-23-13 Noon - I'm BAAAACK! And Corky is also - he'll be at Camp Del until Saturday. Text for pictures has been added. Del

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I was in San Diego again today, this time with my friend Liz Williams along. We delivered the quilts to VAM for the exhibit "New Acquisitions from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection". These are quilts I have purchased since the previous exhibit at VAM in the summer of 2007. They were not necessarily made after 2007, but purchased after that date.

It is very exciting to see so many of the TCQC quilts on the wall at once - I can only hang about six at one time in my house, and not all in the same room. The exhibit is curated by Beth Smith, Director of Visions Art Museum: Contemporary Quilts and Textiles. It has been interesting to see which quilts she selected out of the 100 or so that I submitted and to hear her reasons why. Some of the quilts are included because I especially wanted them to be seen.

 

 This will be the view from the gallery entrance - minus the tables holding the quilts that are yet to be hung. The hanging process will take about two days, so the installation committee will be back tomorrow to complete the job. On the far left is "Desert Sands" by Dena Dale Crain of Lake Baringo, Kenya, Africa. The small quilt in the center is "Quenching Rain" by Melody Johnson of Palmer, Tennessee. The large quilt to the right is "Not Even Solomon" by Ruth de Vos of Perth, Western Australia.

 

 

Up on the scaffold are Installation bosses Kay Laboda and Kris Herman, and helping line things up is volunteer Ann Pitzer. They are hanging "Structured Chaos #14" by Beth Carney of Yonkers, NY. To the left is "Strip Tease #1" by Mary Leakey of San Juan Bautista, CA.

Ann Pitzer, volunteer, and Debbie Tatz, intern from the museum studies program at Mesa College, hang the triptych "Cowville" by Lisa A. Yoder of San Diego, CA.

 

Museum director Beth Smith stands in the main section of the gallery.  The scaffold is needed to hang these large pieces and adjust them so they are level.  Quilts for the other two walls are on the table.  On the left is “Not Even Solomon”  by Ruth de Vos of Perth, Western Australia.  Behind Beth is “Balance #19” by Ann Johnston of Portland, OR, and to the right is “Cataclysm” by Judith Content of Palo Alto, CA. 

 

 

Here are all eight of the Ruth McDowell quilts that will be hung together in one "room" of the gallery. Laying face down to protect the front of the quilt and the labels are more easily found and read. The latest acquisition is a 2001 Ruth quilt that recently came up in an estate sale and I was the lucky buyer. I have never seen it hanging and I hoped they would hang it before I left today, but no luck there. It is a very wide quilt, as you can see from the hanging slat on the table - 100". I can hardly wait to see it on the wall.

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PIQF #15 Last of the World quilts 10-29-09

We see the damage from the pine beetle everywhere I have been in the last few years. There are many species, both native and invasive. Invasive species are carried onto this continent via all wood products and those little souvenirs that thoughtless travelers hide in their luggage.

The color change from green and brown at the upper left to the blue/white/grey in the lower right is interesting. piecing diagonals in the borders gives a hint of the light shining through. Coreen has created very effective depth with her colors and values.

This is the block at the upper right with the pine needles in a golden green and the borers' tracks in a light thread on the dark trees.

I wish Ruth had identified the type of tree - I believe they are eucalyptus, but which of the over 700 varieties I haven't a clue.

This quilt and the next one are pieced using a complex piecing technique such as taught by Ruth McDowell. Ruth de Vos has learned her technique very well, no matter where she learned it.

I wonder how she created the shadows. If they are a printed as part of the striped fabric, she has cut them amazingly well. I suspect they are stamped or screened.

I don't know which quilt I covet more the one above or this one. Actually they would make a great pair, even if one is vertical and the other horizontal. The color is delicious.

This detail shows just how complex the piecing was. Even though the quilts are large keeping these thin lines in order takes concentration.

Part of the depth of these pieces is the change of color or value where the images overlap - leaf over leaf, flower petal over flower petal, etc. Very nice work all around.