National Quilting Day Redux

Last Saturday, March 15, I had the opportunity to attend National Quilting Day festivities at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The museum had opened a new exhibition, Design Dynamics of Log Cabin Quilts.  Although flash photography is not allowed in the galleries, Nebraska quilters had decked the stairwells with homegrown log cabin quilts:

I love Maralee Meyer's scrappy log cabin set in the barn raising design.  The traditional small red square in the center of each block symbolizes the hearth in the log cabin.

Sheila Beans chose 1930s reproduction prints based on feed sack fabrics for this adorable crib quilt.  Each of the "logs" in this log cabin is 1/2" wide.

At the top of the quilt-lined staircase I found part of Shelly Berge's antique toy sewing machine collection:

And sponsors' booths - the Studio Art Quilt Association had a wonderful display of miniature art quilts.  And this beautiful feathered star quilt was the backdrop for the Aurifil Thread booth:

I wasn't able to take flash photos in the gallery, but I was able to get a picture of this Quilted Robe, possibly made in Syria circa 1900.  These robes originated in Levant, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

This closeup shows some of the exquisite hand quilting that has survived for over 100 years.

The robe was part of another exhibition currently on display, Expanding the Collection: Recent Acquisitions.

A favorite quilt from that exhibit was Event Horizon by Joy Saville (USA 2008).  Joy is a UNL graduate who is now a widely-acclaimed textile artist.  The quilt depicts her emotions mourning the death of her husband.  Her son named the quilt.  He described an Event Horizon as "the surface of a black hole when light and objects can pass through ...but no light can come out."  You can take a virtual tour of that exhibit by clicking on the Exhibitions Link - Current Exhibitions on the IQSC home page at www.quiltstudy.org.

You can also take a virtual tour of past exhibitions.  Two of my favorites were Quilts In Common, the premiere exhibition, and a tribute to Jean Ray Laury, Getting It All Together.  The IQSC also has several quilts that can be viewed online through the Google Art Project.

Leaving the museum, I was happy to see sunshine dancing off the metal "threads" in this sculpture.  To cap off a pleasant outing, I treated myself to a dish of Scarlet & Cream ice cream at the UNL Dairy Store, and brought home a half gallon of Raspberry Chocolate Chip to share with my scrap cutting hubby.

All in all, a pleasant afternoon off on one of those "teaser" days that made us thing Spring might be here. We had another blast of Winter this week, but, at least on the calendar, Spring arrives today.

TTFN
LeAnn