Slept really well, but woke up to storms, thunder and lightning. Talk of tornados in the area too! Mark went off to a Bison ranch. I was very happy I had chosen to go to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. I had to run the gauntlet of the storm to get to the bus. Trousers were soaked but fortunately they were a light cotton so dried pretty quickly.
The National Quilt Museum has a huge collection of quilted artwork representing today's quilters from the US and around the world. All are made after 1980 and represent the best of contemporary quilting in a wide range of styles, techniques, inspiration and unique artistic voices. The collection has over 650 quilts with more being added every year.
I like 'Confabulation', a very modern looking quilt with herons and cranes made by Caryl Bryer Faber-Gentry. Made in 2023, it is 61" wide and 84" high. The design began as a series of pencil drawings of herons and cranes on paper. These were scanned into Corel Draw and arranged into a single design. Each bird was digitally painted in a different colour or hue. The colours of the birds form a colour wheel with warm colours on the right and cool colours on theleft. Each individual feather was quilted in a traditional quilter's feather pattern in contasting shades. The background was quilted in long looping meander patterns suggesting water. The backing is a one of a kind, dype-painted fabric.
'But can he Sing' is a beautiful quilt of a peacock and round the border are smaller birds. The quilt was made by Roberta Williams and it was hand appliqued and machine quilted.
I liked 'First Ladies' by Caryl Bryer Fabert-Gentry. It was inspired by women's suffrage and produced for a Quilt Exhibition called, 'Deeds, not Words': The Power of Persistance. Celebrating 100 Years of Women's Suffrage. The Exhibtion celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution (18th August 1920), granting American women the right to vote.
Gentry did lots of research into the women's suffrage movement, looking at old photos and documents. One photograph in particular resonated, depicting officers of teh National Women's Party standing in front of the Washing HQ before leaving for Chicago to take charge of the suffrage attack on the convention of the Republican Party. The photo reminded Gentry of quilters holding up a quilt.
She started making a list of women who had made significant contributions. She came up with a list of 162 name. The quilt comprises the photos of some of the women and she embroidered all their names.
'On the Wings of a Dream', also by Caryl Bryer Faber-Gentry is about starting a new life in a new place. In 2005 she and her husband left Fox Valley in Illinois, whee she had lived all her life, and moved to Paducah in Kentucky where her husband could the the rural farm he had always wanated and she could build a studio and workshop centre in the nearby arts district. Shortly after her studio was completed, her husband died. Her loos closed one chapter but opened up a whole range of new ones. She had wanted to dance all her life but had never learned. Dancing felt close to flying. This quilt is of a dancer and a white bird merging to represent freedom, a new freedom she felt.
All the quilts were truly incredible. Here are just a few that I particularly liked:
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