Recent Quilt Adventures
I’ve had some adventures lately! Saw interesting things and met wonderful people. Here are some highlights.
International Quilt Study Center & Museum held its International Advisory Board meeting June 9 and 10, and because I’m involved with Friends of the museum, I attended. It was an opportunity to meet well-known people in the quilt world who are not necessarily quilters but are esteemed for other reasons.
We viewed all the current quilt exhibits, starting with Elizabeth Ingraham’s Regarding Nebraska. As a dyed-in-the-wool Nebraskan myself, I am probably biased, but it was amazing. It has garnered impressive awards, and Ingraham has a lovely blog with insightful posts about her experience in creating these pieces.
She is a sculptor and poet. As I type, I’m realizing that this deserves its own post sometime soon. For now, just know that this exhibit at IQSCM is not to be missed.
Next up was Bill Volckening’s Off the Grid exhibit, taken from his collection of polyester double knit quilts mostly from the 1970s. In the photo above, do you see how the quilt has luminescent qualities? It’s as if a light is shining on or through the quilt. It’s remarkable.
This hexagon quilt was hand pieced and hand quilted. The texture is unbelievable. I couldn’t resist snapping a selfie.
Museum staff members (from left, below) Eduardo Jimenez, Jonathan Gregory and Carolyn Ducey made comments about this and other exhibits, to help us more fully appreciate what we were seeing.
Off the Grid just knocked my socks off. Who would have thought that polyester double knit could be so cool?!?
Sacred Scraps has been much anticipated as it celebrates quilt and patchwork traditions of Central Asia. Marin Hanson spoke briefly about the exhibit, which is extensive, and includes numerous patchwork items.
Children’s talismanic garments from Turkmenistan, mid-20th century
The small scale of the patchwork was unbelievable.
The exhibit takes up one huge gallery at IQSCM. It could take hours to closely inspect each item!
Patchwork and applique hanging, Uzbek people, possibly made in Afghanistan, mid-20th century
If you have a chance to visit IQSCM, don’t miss it. And if you can’t visit, you can view high resolution images of many quilts in the collection, which is searchable. Really a wonderful tool if you need ideas or inspiration!
If you live near a different quilt museum, go there instead. Museums house incredible treasures and it’s important to support them in any way we can. I am so grateful to have International Quilt Study Center & Museum in my own backyard.
Tags: International Quilt Study Center and Museum, quilt exhibits, quilt museums