The members of Uncommon Threads and Quilt Odyssey recently were asked to display art quilts at the Round Bobbin Quilting and Sewing Expo Exhibit in Springfield, Missouri. In April the thirty four art quilts submitted by fourteen artists varied in subject matter and technique. Piecing, fabric collage, appliqué, painting, stamping, colored pencil, beading, free-motion embroidery, and quilting were often combined to create pieces illustrating natural elements, social and cultural issues, and abstract designs. These two- and three-dimensional pieces were received very favorably by those attending the expo.Featured below are selected pieces by the ten Uncommon Threads artists and the four members representing the Quilt Odyssey group.
Love my Tattoo by Maureen Ashock , UT
Media: fabric collage, machine appliqué, beading, water color crayons on cotton/nylon netting; free motion quilting with monofilament and metallic threads. This tattooed fish is not your average “Joe”. May we all be content in our surroundings knowing we are all originals.
Penetrating Planes by Carol Bormann, UT
Media: appliqué on cotton, machine quilting. Created for a challenge to interpret luminosity, the artist depicts shafts of color passing through planes that increase in opacity through layering.
Elvis’ Fan Club by Eleanor Bronnenberg, QO
Media: piecing, appliqué, quilting; cotton with glow in the dark embellishments. Having lived in Japan, the artist witnessed Japanese young adults impersonating Elvis for weekend entertainment in the Harajuku section of Tokyo. Elvis never performed in Japan, but the Elvis Presley Fan Club –Tokyo currently has about 3000 members. The pieced mini-blocks represent an “audience of fans”.
Ruby’s Red Socks by Dianna Callahan, UT
Media: Oil stick on fabric; drawing, appliqué, machine quilting.
The artist’s mother is sitting in front of the neighbor’s barn. She often walked around outside in her stocking feet looking for four leaf clovers.
Shirt Waist by Judith Ferguson, QO
Media: fabrics (mixed) on muslin base over 3D form. Using her term “deconstructed/reconstructed fabric”, the artist describes her randomly cut and reassembled fabric into a shirt form and basted onto a muslin foundation stretched over batting and a torso mannequin.
CSI by Cathy Jeffery, UT
Media: painting, appliqué, machine quilting on mixed fabrics. The artist’s inspiration came from reading and watching TV stories about crime in the streets.
Log Cabin Building Blocks by Donna Olson, UT
Media: piecing of cotton fabric, machine quilting. The artist’s foundation is in traditional quilting and this is included as an integral part of her designs.
Peacock in Color by Cher Piché, QO
Media: free motion machine embroidery (thread painting) on cotton, colored pencils, quilting. The artist’s original drawing was created using a long arm machine, then colored to enhance the stitching.
Iris and Friends by Roberta Ranney, UT
Media: appliqué, machine embroidery on cotton, quilting. The big blue iris is surrounded by her more colorful friends but she is still the star. This work celebrates the rich colors of nature.
Star Gazer by Emmie Seaman, UT
Media: machine appliqué, quilting; cotton. Photograph of the artist’s garden flowers is translated into fabric. The artist likes to portray her flowers as small quilts.
Focused by Lucy Silliman, UT
Media: aper piecing of cotton and hand-dyed cotton, machine quilting. Triangles diminishing in size and graded in color draw the eye inward to focus at their converging point.
Journey by Diane Steffen, UT
Media: piecing, quilting on cotton, silk dupioni embellished with metallic thread, glass and wood beads. Australian fabric inspired this piece. Movement and contrast are created with the use of glass vs. wooden beads, dupioni vs. silk fabrics and quilted curved lines vs. a straight grid pattern. The varying paths represent the journey through life with various contrasts we experience.
Organic III by Vivian Terbeek, QO
Media: collage; raw silk, polyester and satin; ribbons, yarns and beads; free-motion machine embroidery. A non-representational study of motion and color. Throughout the organic form the eye moves without chaotic, jarring motions, and color soothes the viewer’s senses resting on the one bold color. Who ever thought of orange as a place to rest your eyes?
Maggie’s Nest by Merrilee Tieche
Media: appliqué using silk, synthetic sheers and cotton; quilting. Like the magpie, I bring home shiny things to my nest – love bright colors and clear skies
Obviously it was as much fun to hang the exhibit as it was work!
