Sunday, June 22, 2008

Creativity adds spice to anything

Karen Schreuder of Bellingham, WA, made this entry for the Association of Northwest Quilters' traveling exhibit: Spice of Life. She titles it: Creativity Spice and comments, "Any aspect of life can be spiced up with a little creativity."

I like the simple, basic, flying birds pieced pattern in shades of browns and golds. As you can see she spiced it up with ink stamp, graphic and just enough embellishment to change the focus and meaning of the quiet little original quilt.

This quilt and 49 other imaginative and diverse quilts representing the 'Spice of Life' can be seen at the site or requested for a slide show at your own group. You might want to check out what is happening in quilts in the Northwest.

If you venture toward Seattle, Washington, maybe you will want to time the trip to coincide with the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest 2008. On the website they state:

Since August of 1994, every two years Seattle is host to the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest, a biennial juried and judged international competition among quiltmakers of Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Northwest Territories, Oregon, Washington and Yukon. The quilt show takes thousands of man hours, hundreds of volunteers and showcases over 300 of the finest quilts in the Pacific Northwest region.

This year the event will take place from August 8-10.


Friday, June 13, 2008

Exhibit displays subversive streak

My kind of exhibit -- Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting -- will showcase approximately 40 works, at the Indiana State Museum, from now through August 24. The museum is located at 650 West Washington Street in Indianapolis.

According to the museum's statement: "Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting explores the phenomenal rise to prominence of knitting, crocheting and lace making in the work of contemporary artists from around the world. Blow torches, fiber optics, digital technology, shredded currency, video, chocolate, and even knitting needles the size of telephone poles are hallmarks in the work of these artists, who have reinvented traditional handicrafts through their introduction of new materials and unorthodox techniques."

For a review of the exhibit, visit the New York Times. The photo is taken by Michael Falco for the New York Times featuring a huge hand-knotted nylon net by Janet Echelman. It evokes the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion.