Modern Quilt Month: A Study in Fillers

It's Modern Quilt Month here at Quilt Inspiration! We'll be posting a new modern quilt each weekday... we hope you enjoy our photos! Today's art quilt highlights the techniques of ice dying and circular quilting designs.

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A Study in Fillers by Athena Taylor

A Study in Fillers was made and quilted by Athena Taylor, using a quilting design inspired by Bethanne Nemesh. This stunning quilt won the Quilt Show Chair's Choice award. Both the front and back were custom ice dyed by Athena Taylor.

Athena says, "The quilting was done in overlapping double circles of various sizes, each filled with a different design.  This was very fun to do!"  

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2023 Quilt Fiesta (Tucson, Arizona).

World Painters Challenge / 2

If you were asked to create a work of fiber art representing a work of a famous painter, or to make a design of your own choice in the style of that painter, what would you create?  This World Painters Challenge was issued to groups of quilters in Japan, France and the U.S (for details, scroll to the bottom of this post.) This outstanding exhibit is touring AQS QuiltWeek throughout 2016; here is Part 2.

Pablo Picasso

Jan Potter, Oregon  

Jan Potter selected a portrait that Pablo Picasso did of  his friend, the photographer Dora Maar, in 1937. Jan tried to feature the simplicity of style that Picasso used in creating two aspects of the face simultaneously: both facing the viewer and in profile. Jan's techniques include raw edge applique, hand and machine stitching, textile paints, stamping, and surface embellishment.  

Claude Monet

Mireille Schaal, France

In this interpretation of Monet's "Water Lilies", Mireille Schaal focused on placing bright spots of blue and green hues, with a touch of pink here and there to capture the look of blossoms on the pond. Mireille's techniques and materials include silks, laces, ribbons, tulle overlay, free motion quilting, machine applique, hand embroidery, and acrylic paint.

Alphonse Mucha

Linda M. Steller, Oregon 

Linda M. Steller writes, "I chose Dance from Mucha's The Arts series. As a longarm quilter, I love the long flowing lines of many of Mucha's works, especially the hair of many of his female subjects. I used powdered pigments mixed with fabric medium for the base painting and then shaded in with Derwent Inktense Pencils.  I love how the color blooms when those pencils are exposed to moisture."

Edgar Degas

Bethanne Nemesh, Pennsylvania

Bethanne Nemesh states, "Many of Degas' ballerinas were painted at practice, at rest, or when they were socializing before a performance. My ballerina captures this same feeling in her resting stretch. I used a two tone wholecloth approach: one to capture the ballerina and the other to place her, as if she were actually.....a painting, in a gilt frame. The fabric is silk dupioni with polyester and silk threads. "

Utagawa Hiroshige

Maki Shimada, Japan

For her subject, Maki Shimada chose the cherry blossoms featured by the artist Utagawa Hirosige. Because Maki lives close to the house where Hiroshige used to live, she feels as if she and the painter have seen the same cherry trees. Maki notes that in creating this work, she felt the superb elements of nature.

Kanou Eitoku

Kuniko Saka, Japan

Kuniko is impressed with the ability of the painter Eitoku, who lived from 1476 to 1559 and created Chinese-style figures of lions. Eitoku was an artist on retainer to two warlords, Nobunaga Oda and Hideyosi Toyotomi; and his works flourished in their service. Eitoku was given both Oda's and Toyotami's crest of family in appreciation for his work. Kuniko admires the heroism of both warlords in this turbulent time in Japan's history.

Marc Chagall

Daphne W. John, Oregon

Daphne W. John explains, "I begin a project with a specific idea or theme in mind. The final result may be quite different as the fabric has a way of shaping itself and saying to me, 'Nope - try it another way!' I find it very difficult to define 'art'. If pundits throughout the ages haven't been able to agree on a definition, why should I try? My hope is that my work will cause the viewer to think, to laugh, to feel something!"

Joan Miro

Ginny Steller, Oregon

Ginny Steller says that although some of Joan Miro's artwork is childish with a sinister twist, she wanted to represent his work in a lighter moment. She used dark lines, solid colors, and defined shapes. Ginny wishes a very happy day in the garden to the kitty cat shown here.

Paul Cezanne

Yolande Guibert, France

This work by Yolande Guibert features the French post-impressionist painter Paul Cezanne, who painted  Mount Sainte-Victoire, in the Provence region of southern France.

Raoul Dufy

Chantal Gruais, France

Chantal Gruais wanted to highlight the tastes and themes of the French painter Raoul Dufy, who liked to depict music, horses, racetracks, and open-air scenes of nature, such as golden wheat fields.

The World Painters Challenge

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2016 AQS QuiltWeek in Phoenix, Arizona.

Best of AQS Quilt Week 2014 - Part 2

From February 5-8 the American Quilters Society held a Quilt Week® in Phoenix, Arizona. What a spectacular show! Here is Part 2 of our photos of our favorite quilts from the show.

Hurricane, 78 x 68”, by Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga (Kollumerzwaag, Friesland, Netherlands)

The amazing Hurricane won the AQS award for Best Wall Quilt.  Janneke says:  "Every year all over the world, people are afraid of the deadly destroyer, the hurricane."  You can see the "eye" of the hurricane in the upper right, next to the award ribbon. The applique work was so expertly done that it was difficult to discern the fabric edges.  The overall effect, with its explosions of color, reminded us of a painted composition. 

close up, Hurricane by Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga

The machine quilting was fascinating; different areas of the composition were expertly quilted in different textures and colors, as shown in this close-up photo.  Janneke is a professional art quilter in The Netherlands; you can see more of her incredible compositions at Janneke Quilt Studio.

Cycles 2, 37 x 39”, by Leanne Chahley (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

Cycles 2 won the award for First Place, Wall Quilts - Modern. It was the quilted texture that really drew us to this otherwise simple quilt.   Leanne Chahley explains, "The colors reflect sun-bleached sand, sky, and the ocean at the beach, while the modern, industrial, matchstick quilting evokes the weathered driftwood and rock textures."

close up, Cycles 2 by Leanne Chahley

The quilting lines, which were approximately 1/8" apart, appeared to be done improvisationally with a medium stitch length, creating the enticing texture of wood on the surface of the quilt.

The Spirit of Many Moons, 42 x 58",  by Sue Kluber (Guernsey, Iowa)

Sue Kluber says:  "The moon in its phases amazes [me] with its beauty, mystique, and ability to affect everything."  We enjoyed this original art quilt, which was done with raw edge applique in a collage style with interesting fabrics, many of which look to be hand-dyed.  The large blue circle was textured with pebble quilting, reminding us of the craters on the moon.

close up, The Spirit of Many Moons by Sue Kluber

The Spirit, with its serene, womanly face, has large, expressive eyes.  She is surrounded by trees, and her hair is made of autumn leaves.

Gilding the Arbor, 60 x 60", by Bethanne Nemesh (Allentown, Pennsylvania)

Made with dupioni silk, Gilding the Arbor by Bethanne Nemesh won First Place, Wall Quilts - Computer Aided. Despite the modern colors, the feeling created by the quilting was one of an ancient tapestry.  This quilt was inspired by Bethanne's love of wholecloth quilting, Asian silk embroidery and antique botanical prints. 

close up, Gilding the Arbor by Bethanne Nemesh

The design elements can be recognized in her garden photography, as well as images from gardening catalogues and Dover design books. On her website at White Arbor Quilting, Bethanne explains that all the flora and fauna was free drawn on the quilt with chalk and refined with a wash-out pen before quilting.   Bethanne explains:  "While a stitch regulator was used periodically, all the designs in this garden fantasy were completely hand-guided free motion quilting."

Upper Body Workout – Improved, 45 x 50”, by Laura Trendeath (Pavillion, WY)

Winner of First Place for Wall Quilts-Traditional, we were intrigued by the intricate quilting on this whole cloth quilt.  The quilter, Laura Trendeath explains:  "Victorian scrollwork has always appealed to Laura for its elegance and graceful lines. Using metallic thread on a black background, she attempted to re-create the beauty of craftsmanship from a bygone era."

close up, Upper Body Workout – Improved by Laura Trendeath (Pavillion, WY)

With its extensive and exquisite quilted surface, we could easily see why this quilt was named Upper Body Workout !

620 – Keep It Simple, 48 x 60”, by Jodi Robinson (Enon Valley, PA)

Winner of the AQS award for Best Modern Quilt, Jodi Robinson pieced this original, simple quilt and added some interesting and unique texture with her quilting designs. We liked the Asian-inspired feeling of the quilt along with its attractive, minimalist design.

close up,  Keep It Simple by Jodi Robinson

Jodi Robinson is the author of Modern Simplicity – Machine Quilting Designs for Modern Quilts.  As you can see, she divided the plain gray areas into a grid, then filled each element of the grid with concentric circles, which echoed and complemented the yellow circles in the pieced panels. 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.