Crosscountry Quitters Stitch Artsy Quilts
Quitters’ Heritage Celebration holds fast to traditional
methods of piecing and patching but utilizes the newest
materials and technologies for innovative work. In the pic
torial quilts competition, this “Garden Variety” by Marcia
Krupe, Mich., placed first. The juried show is rated one of
the top five quilt shows in the country.
Best workmanship went to Jen Lohmar, Illinois, for Pride
of Prairie. The tiny stitches enhance the pattern and show
how quilting is an artistic design in itself.
These prize-winning miniatures feature the equisite
detail of full-size quilts. Best-of-show miniature, “Golden
Melody,” was stitched by Cheryl Kagen, W. Seneca, N.Y.
“Summer Rubies” by Nancy Wagner Graves, and “A Bit of
Sunshina H .by Marte.MPOse,.Houston,Texas,.., .v.v.v.v.
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©
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) “I can’t think of anyone
who comes through these doors
who wouldn’t be impressed, no
matter what their age.” said
Sally Carpenter about the 14th
annual Quilters’ Heritage Cele
bration.
About 16,000 people attended
the show March 15-18 at the
Lancaster Host Resort and Con
ference Center.
Although the quilts on display
attract the attention of the
crowds, Hetty Wengert, Leba
non, said, “They like to see the
quilts, but they’d be lost without
the vendors. They want to see
what’s new on the market.”
What’s new on the market is
inconceivable unless you’ve
browsed the merchant’s mall,
which is part of the annual
show. The techniques and
gadgets to create works of
beauty can inspire even the most
untalented fiber artists.
In addition, free workshops
offer sewing lessons and instruc
tions in machine quilting.
Jason Pollen, quilt juror, said,
“What strikes me deeply is the
overwhelming number of quilts
that embody a strong point of
view, both visually and concep
tually. Sometimes humorous,
sometimes profoundly intros
pective, sometimes somewhere
in between, the marjority speak,
sing, shout or whisper with indi
vidual voices.”
The most unlikely subjects
such as cars, animals, people,
profiles, and fashions are
often incorporated into the quilt
designs.
The stories that accompany
antiques are often as fascinating
as the items themselves. One dis
play of antique quilts included
the story of a woman who re
fused to let her husband sleep
beneath a quilt pattern called
Wandering Foot for fear he
would run off. However, she felt
safe when she renamed the quilt
Turkey Tracks.
Renaming a quilt pattern is
part of the reason the same quilt
pattern varies in name from
area to area.
“Come, you must see this,”
are the most often overheard
words spoken with a sense of
awe while more than 16,000 visi
tors crowded the exhibition area.
The Lancaster show is rated
as one of the top five quilt shows
in the world.
Rita Barrow Barber, pro
ducer, said, “In celebrating the
quilt, we learn, share, and enjoy
the splendor of expression
shared by so many quilters,”
Before the 19705, Barber said,
artists who used fabric to create
works that were pieced, layered,
stitched, and stuffed were not
accepted in traditional quilt
shows. Instead they needed to
display their art quilts in mixed
media fiber shows, which damp
ened their impact. In the 19705,
several volunteers preserved an
abandoned dairy barn to display
20th century creations in
Athens, Ohio.
Quilt National was intended
to demonstrate the transforma
tions taking place in the world of
quilting.
“It’s purpose was then, and
still is, to carry the definition of
quilting far beyond its tradi
tional parameters and to pro
mote quilt making as what is
always has been an art form,”
Barber said.
The plan is to hold fast to the
traditional methods of piecing
and patching but utilize the
, materials and techpolo
’ gits fot irttrovatiVe-vrork/ 8 • 8 8 8 8
Fiction in quilting? That’s exactly what Jennifer Chiaver
ini offers with three novels she has written and had pub
lished by Simon & Schuster.
“Flaming Flowers Brightly Blaze’’ is a three-dimensional
quilt by Robin Haller, Illinois.
The stiff entry requirements the juried show is gained by sub
state that works must possesss mitting two slides of the original
the basic structural characteris- quilt, one showing the full view
tics of a quilt, be predominantly of the quilt and the other detail
fiber, and composed of at least of the front. However, the work
two full and distinct layers held is not accepted for the show
together with stitches. Work until seen by a jurors’represent
must be original by the entrant, ative
not a copy of a traditional design
nor a variation of that of another
artist. Celebration is scheduled for
Preliminary acceptance for April 4-7,2002.
“Moody Hues” in shades of blue shows many different
guUbngtechrjrques designed by Candy Groff, Montana.
The next Quilters’ Heritage