CURRENT EXHIBITS

Feathered Star; Theresa Allen Kurtz Saunders, c.1855

Seeing Stars
A Celebration of Star Quilts, Old & New

August 1 - October 28, 2018

Ever since Sarah Sedgewick Everett, wife of the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, stitched one of the first quilts in North America in 1704, thousands upon thousands of American quilts have been completed in all manner of shapes, sizes, and patterns, at all economic levels, and for any number of reasons, from economic necessity to the pleasure of artistic expression.  But, regardless of their source, intended use, or inspiration, quilts made in the nearly three centuries since Sarah Everett’s have featured star patterns more often than any other.  Stars have appeared on American quilts from the very beginning and continue to be the most-utilized design for quilts today.  Thousands of quilts contain this motif, either in the “starring” role or in a supporting part.
    excerpt, Star Quilts, Mary Elizabeth Johnson, Lincolnwood, IL (Quilt Digest Press, 1997)

This exhibit of twenty Star Quilts features pieces from the permanent collection as well as some contemporary quilts.  The collection pieces range from c. 1885 to the present.  Also featured are quilts using Judy Irish's original Star design.  The ones on display were made by Judy Irish herself, Diana Smith, and Mary Ann Musgrove.   Two other quilters, Vera Nunnally and Marilyn Sollers, also have some examples of Star Quilts in the exhibit.

Threads of Diversity

Pacific Northwest Needle Art Guild
August 1 - September 2, 2018

Civil War Quilts: 1850 - 1865

American Quilt Study Group
June 6 - August 26, 2018

The biennial Quilt Studies are an increasingly popular part of the American Quilt Study Group’s activities.  Responding to a selected theme for the year, each AQSG quilter who wants to participate chooses an existing antique quilt (from family heirlooms to museum exhibits), and uses it as the inspiration or template to create their own quilt. 2014’s Quilt Study theme was the Civil War Era, from 1850 -1865.

All inspiration quilts must be recognizable as quilts from the period, regardless of the techniques used to make the original quilts.  It is up to each participant to determine their own construction methods for their projects, based upon information available about the original quilts.

Each participant shares a picture of their inspiration quilt, and a statement describing why they chose that particular inspiration, the techniques they used to construct their own quilt, and what they learned in the process.  All of the completed quilts are displayed at an AQSG seminar, at which time a three-member selection committee determines which of the study quilts will travel throughout the United States for up to four years.

The Princess of Weaving II; Emiko Toda Loeb

Fabric Poems
Quilts by Emiko Toda Loeb &
New Zephyrs Quilt Group

June 27 - September 30, 2018

Before coming to America I had taught piano, and when I arrived here in 1977 I had intended to deepen my studies in music.  However my husband is a composer of classical music, and when I saw the commitment of his students and colleagues, I began to realize that I was not really a musician.  Thus began the painful process of searching for my true field.  As a child I had enjoyed working with my hands, so I tried many different things, but only quilting seemed natural to me. In 1981 I decided to only do quilting, and in thirty seven years since then I have never thought of giving it up.  Every day I derive happiness from thinking about my quilts and working with them.  
   
In 2000 I established the "New Zephyrs" Quilt Group, an association of student-members who share my love of quilting and my dedication to it.  For fourteen years we have held annual exhibitions in Kyoto and Tokyo, and special exhibitions in Yamagata, Matsumoto, and Fukuoka.  Although I have had solo exhibitions at the Museums at Stony Brook, NY; the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY; the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, NE; as well as at the International Forum in Tokyo; we are delighted to have this exhibition at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Art Museum as the first overseas show for the New Zephyrs Quilt Group.  The quilts in this exhibition were selected from work done over many years and thus comprise a kind of retrospective show.
                                     Emiko Toda Loeb

I would like to explain briefly about the unique New Zephyrs Quilt Group and its history.  In 2000 I was one of seventeen quilters who joined a group founded by Emiko-sensei.  All of us had taken workshops of hers and had seen exhibitions of her work.  The group did not have a name until Emiko's husband suggested the name that we have used ever since.  Her plan of instruction is based on six full-day classes each year.  The first two are lectures concerning design, concentrating on a particular theme or pattern that was decided for that year.  The remaining four sessions are master classes in which Emiko offers suggestions to each student on a one-to-one basis, with other students observing and benefitting from her comments.  Each student brings her own design, so that even with a common theme the quilts in the annual exhibitions are highly varied.
                          Noriko Misawa, Chief of Staff
                          New Zephyrs Quilt Group
 

UPCOMING EXHIBITS

September 5 - October 10
Imagine. Create. Inspire.
Quilt & Fiber Arts Festival Challenge 2018

October 3 - December 30, 2018
Contemporâneo-Contemporary: Brazilian Art Quilts

October 17 - November 18, 2018
Award Winners: Quilt & Fiber Arts Festival 2018

October 31, 2018 - January 27, 2019
Art Quilt Exhibit
Contemporary QuiltArt Association

PAST EXHIBITS

Water Lily; Reynola Pakusich

PAST EXHIBITS