I wasn't able to get much piecing done this week on my 'bright' quilt, as I needed to attend to quilt business. I'm basically retired from the business side of quilting, but occasionally I get a request I feel a need to fill.
A little back story -- we grew up in the 1950s in a small farming community in SE Colorado. At the time it was a thriving community of 5000 people with lots going for it. But, alas, over the years the economy has deteriorated to the point that it is sad for us to return and see how the town has gone down hill. However, there are a dedicated bunch of inhabitants working hard to reverse the trend. One of the things they are working on is to promote the arts. They have taken an old building on Main Street, and with grant money have restored it to usefulness turning it into offices for start-up businesses, a meeting place, and an art gallery. They asked me a year ago if I would consider mounting a one-woman quilt show for them. I finally said yes as we received such a wonderful education and had such joyous growing-up years in that small town. I hope my quilt show will help in some very small way. The date was set for the month of August 2015. Over the years, I have curated and worked on many quilt shows. I've always tried to elevate the quilts to an art form in the execution of the display. This one is going to be a challenge, as they haven't had enough money to install a proper hanging apparatus. They prefer that I don't put any nail holes in the walls either. As you can see in the two photos below there are ledges to hold framed art work, but are not very conducive to hanging quilts especially large ones.
I have some ideas -- hope they work! More on that in a future post. For this week, I've been working on layout thinking about sizes, colors, etc. I made drawings to scale of the eight walls I will be hanging quilts on. Then I did scale drawings with pictures of 39 quilts of mine that I intend to hang in the show. This way I can move the little quilts around on paper to get a pleasing arrangement. I seem to still have to drag out quilts to check colors with their neighbors.
My dining room is a mess, but things are looking up. I'm about ready to make lists of boards and hanging rods we will need to supply.
I'm going to get back to my patchwork project, and let the quilt show ideas simmer in my brain for awhile.
When attending a quilt show, what do you enjoy besides looking at quilts? Do you like info on the inspiration for the quilt? How about statistics such as techniques, number of pieces, hours spent in making, etc.? Do tell!!
I'm joining the following:
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
When attending a quilt show, what do you enjoy besides looking at quilts? Do you like info on the inspiration for the quilt? How about statistics such as techniques, number of pieces, hours spent in making, etc.? Do tell!!
I'm joining the following:
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
2 comments:
At huge shows I never have the time to peruse the statements about the quilts. No, I don't do much more than admire the quilts, take a few pics of either piecing designs that strike me or excellent quilting designs. Smaller shows I would be more inclined to actually read what is written about a quilt. I'm more of a process person as I'm getting much more controlled regarding starting new pieces and how big any new piece might be. Good luck getting all your quilts hung efficiently. Is there any guild anywhere near your town that you can rent poles from?
I am so happy for your small town that people are willing to work together to try to improve things. There are some things that I really appreciate seeing at quilt shows: the title of the quilt, the size, and the date or year of completion. Those are the least, of course.
I am a quilter and as such I like to read the artist statement and I appreciate a listing of fabrics and other items used. I generally analyze quilts to try to figure out the pattern, unusual fabrics and such. If there's an interesting story behind the quilt, I'll read every word! So as you consider what info to add to the quilt, try to think of what you would tell another quilter who is really interested in that particular quilt. I wish I could attend the show...you'd be sorry (lol) but I'd have a blast shadowing you. Oh, also congrats! It's an honor that your townsfolk consider your work so highly.
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