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In the Fabric’s Path: Orna Shahar’s Spiral Quilt

In the Fabric's Path Quilt by Orna Shahar
In the Fabric’s Path Quilt by Orna Shahar, Pennsylvania Quilt Extravaganza, XXI, 2014. Photo by Wayne Stratz.

In the Fabric’s Path was one of my favorites at the 2014 Pennsylvania Quilt Extravaganza.  Orna Shahar belongs to the Israel Quilters Association, and also to Encounters Art Quilt Group, with 16 Israeli quilters who meet to learn from each other, and learn from other art forms such as origami, ceramic, metal, papercutting, and glass. Quilting has been an inspiration to me as a mosaic artist, so it is cool to find quilt artists who explore other art forms.

Red Tail Rainbow Mosaic by Margaret Almon, glass on slate, 8 inches.
Red Tail Rainbow Mosaic by Margaret Almon, glass on slate, 8 inches, ©2011

My mind is percolating on how to make a spiral with bundles of vertical lines.  The Red Tail Rainbow Mandala I made in 2011 has a black background.  I just had to look up what the name of the shapes I used ~ apparently I am partial to scalene and right-angled triangles and quadrilateral polygons of the kite and trapezoid shapes.  In the process I found Paul Calter’s Squaring the Circle: Geometry in Art & Architecture, the chapter on Polygons, Tilings and Sacred Geometry.

Looking at the etymology of geometry, it originates from “measurement of earth, ” or Old English “earth-craft.”  I imagine the idea of surveying the land in the service of beauty.

Miyabi Quilt by Matsuko Shiraishi

Miyabi Quilt by Matsuko Shiraishi: Elegance in Orange

Miyabi Quilt by Matsuko Shiraishi
Miyabi Quilt by Matsuko Shiraishi at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, 2014. Photo by Wayne Stratz.

This quilt introduced me to the concept of Miyabi, a traditional Japanese aesthetic combining elegance and sorrow.  Matsuko Shiraishi describes how the quilt is made of wedding Kimono fabric, and that wedding ceremonies are a combination of those two emotions.  To see the whole quilt, which takes on the shape of a Kimono, there’s a great photo of Matsuko Shiraishi’s work on the gladiquilts site.

Having words to describe different forms of beauty helps me look at things more closely and contemplatively.  I have written about Wabi Sabi and Hozho, and the beauty of imperfection,  but Miyabi was new to me.  The Kimono fabric is definitely elegant, with metallic thread and a silky sheen.

What defines elegant for you?

Quilt by Carolyn Carson

Flowing Through Orange with a Quilt from Carolyn Carson

Quilt by Carolyn Carson
Quilt by Carolyn Carson at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XX, 2013.  Photo by Wayne Stratz.

Carolyn Carson in her words:

Quilts are my medium of choice because they exemplify women’s work historically. In addition, I incorporate yarn that I have spun from wool and other fibers, also exemplary of women’s traditional work. I believe that utilizing traditional techniques in a contemporary way helps to draw attention to the lives of women. On a more personal level, it gives me a sense of continuity with other women – historically and globally. 

 

W is for Kathy K. Wylie and Her Hexagon Color Wheel Quilt: A to Z Challenge 2014

atoz [2014] - BANNER - 910

Trinity Color Wheel Quilt by Kathy K. Wylie
Trinity Color Wheel Quilt by Kathy K. Wylie

This is color play at its most exquisite.  Kathy K. Wylie created this quilt for a competition with the theme of color.  She wanted to create a color wheel using hexagons, but finding enough fabric to do all the gradations of hue was a challenge.  I love her solution of printing the hexagons onto fabric sheets, using the power of the computer to mix colors.  Wylie started with cyan, magenta, and yellow, the classic three colors of digital printing, and named the quilt Trinity in their honor.

Making the Quilt Trinity

 

Q is for Quercitron: A to Z Challenge 2014

atoz [2014] - BANNER - 910

Summer Chintz Spread from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum
Summer Chintz Spread(circa 1830)from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum

 

When I think of drab, I think of dull, but it actually refers to a color scheme made from quercitron dye, which includes shades of yellow, brown, orange and green.  Quercitron was derived from the yellow inner bark of the black oak tree, and an Englishman observed the process in the US in 1785 and took out a patent in Britain, naming it after Quercus(oak) and Citrina(yellow).  The type of mordent used to fix the quercitron dye produced the array of colors.

Let There Be Light by Linda Dixon.

Let There Be Light: Quilt by Linda Dixon Inspired by a Mosaic

Let There Be Light by Linda Dixon.
Let There Be Light by Linda Dixon, at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XX. Photo by Wayne Stratz.

 

When Stratoz and I went to the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XX, this quilt was one of the first to catch my eye.  When I looked up Linda Dixon, I discovered a post on her blog where she describes being inspired by a mosaic dome at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.

 

Mosaic Dome at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC
Mosaic Dome at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC. From IntangibleArts on Flickr.

 

I have often been energized by quilt designs in my mosaics, so it was very cool to discover a quilter inspired by a mosaic.