Last Friday I had the chance to visit a quilting display at the Springville museum. There were some delightful quilts and I saw that there are quite a variety of quilts which show a rich display of talent. My mother would do tie quilts and I really love the feel of a warm, homemade and fluffy quilt. My old one wouldn’t be worn out and I’d want a new one. These quilts on the walls of the museum were of the type that they make very nice wall hangings. I’m going to give you some highlights and observations. Since I’ve only done tie quilts, I don’t know the terminology that quilters use so the following is expressed in layman’s terms.
On the three dimensional quilts, I learned there are some delightful ways to add depth to a quilt. I am already aware of layering where one pieces of cloth is sewn on top of the other. What I observed in these quilts were additional ways to obtain depth. On one, someone had done crocheting where there were flower buds that rose off the main surface of the quilt. There was also some delightful use of beads and buttons that would add texture to various quilts. I also enjoyed how the sewing on the material would create tucks and pinches in the material that would contribute to the design. Some quilts had designs sewn on the opposite side where their pattern would show up in the front and be seen by the attentive eye.
My favorite quilt was one I didn’t think was a quilt. A friend and I are walking down the displays and I see a piece of rock art on the wall. I thought they shouldn’t hang rock art amongst the quilts. It’s a distraction. I get up close and realize, my gosh, it’s a quilt! Someone had tucked the shape of various sized rocks as the highest level material on the quilt and then has as a second dimension of smaller pebbles and plant designs leaving dirt as third level. Wow! They looked like real rocks. It was quite impressive.
Some of the designs I had seen before when I’d go to a local fair. But there some of the subject matter was a fish and hook that had various types of silk material to add texture and beads for the hook. There were several paper doll pattern quilts. Also in the collection where some that had the colors of material bleed into one another or dyed colors to merge together. Several were devoted to just the needle work on cloth to provide very complex designs such as one devoted to witches and others that had various homes as their subject matter. There were a lot of square quilts where complex designs were in the squares and they were combined to the less complex area of the quilt that would combine them. Often the area outside the squares would have their own complex designs through the needle work.
Another enjoyable component of the show was the little notes by the quilter. One told about the trail and error in making her quilt. When she realized that something was done backwards, she had to adjust the rest of her quilt accordingly. Several talked about the length of time it took to quilt. Some gave personal stories to their quilts. A King size, tied quilt, can only take a couple of hours when multiple people are working on it (mom and my sisters). But these—would take hundreds of hours to complete. Wow!
It was a very instructional and enjoyable visit. Congrats to the superb talents of the quilters and thanks to the staff who put it together.
http://smofa.org/exhibitions/exhibition_details.html?exhibition_id=21&name=35th_Annual_Quilt_Show
