CURRENT EXHIBITS

Blue Square; Flóra Carlile-Kovács

How I Felt...A Woolistic Approach

Flóra Carlile-Kovács
May 2 - July 29, 2018

Flóra Carlile-Kovács is an award-winning fiber artist whose work has been shown throughout Europe. She began making felt in Hungary, where she learned both the ancient, nomadic ways of felting and the urban styles. She has successfully combined the two into a creative practice and developed her own style, producing wearable art garments and accessories. The exhibition features new wearables, her fantastic architectural hats, and her newest work, a series of large wall pieces.
These panels illustrate how she felts -- her approach recognizes the endless possibilities of working with wool to create color, surface textures, and densities in both two and three dimensions. Extensive experimentation with different grades and qualities of wool, using multiple processes, adds depth and subtlety to her work. From the soft, silk-and-merino layers of nuno felt to the hard, durable raw-wool felt, Flóra manipulates wool as an expressive material, in an instinctive and astute creative process.

 

Quilted Joy Too, Sandra Starley

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.

A Clockwork Orange; Jim Vander Noot

Material Men 2:
Contemporary Masters

Invitational Group Exhibit
March 28 - June 24, 2018

MATERIAL MEN 2: Contemporary Masters is the Museum’s second invitational exhibit organized by guest curators Kathleen Kok and Geoff Hamada of quilts and fiber art made by men. MM2 will present a wide range of work from six extraordinary artists, showcasing quilt and fiber art masterpieces running the stylistic gamut from traditional to cutting edge.
Despite being only a small percentage of the larger quilting and fiber arts communities, men are to be found everywhere today in these worlds as guild members, fabric designers, and teachers, running fabric stores and websites, writing books on technique and history, all the while exhibiting their work locally, nationally, and internationally. As MM2 will amply demonstrate: artistry, master craftsmanship, creativity, and innovation are not gender-based.

Men making quilts is not a new phenomenon: the first professional quilters in Europe were exclusively men, a tradition which continued well into the 19th century. There have also been non-professional male quilters in Europe and the U.S. since the mid-19th century, many of whom gained notoriety for their quilting prowess. In the 1930’s, Nebraskan Ernest B. Haight (1899-1986), invented a technique he called “speed piecing” (now known as “strip piecing”) and in the 1960’s re-engineered a home zig-zag sewing machine so it could be used for free motion quilting, subsequently publishing a “Practical Machine Quilting for the Homemaker,” the first guide to free motion machine quilting. The rest, as they say, is history.

Meet the artists of MM2:

Jess Berry (Walla Walla, WA) is known for his highly colorful, awarding-winning appliqué and wholecloth quilts, all based on his own original designs which feature extraordinarily intricate needlework, including exquisite hand appliqué and hand quilting.
Jack Edson (Hamburg, NY) is rapidly gaining national notoriety for his stunningly beautiful quilt portraiture, using an innovative technique incorporating figuration within traditional quilt blocks. His work was featured in the September/October 2016 edition of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine.
Michael Michalski (Brooklyn, NY) makes highly original quilts incorporating unusual materials and many unique, specialized sewing techniques. He is the founder of the Broadway Gentlemen’s Quilting Auxiliary, a group of Broadway backstage professionals who make art quilts for auction to benefit Equity Fights AIDS and Broadway Cares.
Shawn Quinlan (Pittsburgh, PA) is internationally re-known for his highly colorful designs incorporating a dazzling array of pop culture, religious, and other non-traditional imagery. In the past decade, the fine art world has started to pay attention, bringing him many solo shows as well as group shows at the Andy Warhol Museum.
James Vander Noot (West Chester, PA) is an all-around fiber artist, producing a wide range of original, improvisational work from unique blocks, to masterful free motion quilting and thread painting.
Ben Venom (San Francisco, CA) has gained an international reputation for his arresting quilt designs utilizing vivid heavy metal and punk rock imagery. He was Artist-in-Residence at the de Young Museum (San Francisco) in May 2015, and in April 2016 was named one of the13 Emerging Urban Artists Who Are Making Their Mark Around the World by the Huffington Post.

UPCOMING EXHIBITS

Civil War Quilts: 1850-1865
American Quilt Study Group
Jun 6 - Aug 26, 2018
Opening Reception June 6, 4-6pm

The "Telephone Game"
Fidalgo Island Quilters Challenge Quilts
June 6 - 24, 2018
Opening Reception June 6, 4-6pm

Making It My Own II - Creative Knitting
Guest Curator Carol Harrington
Jun 27 - Jul 29, 2018
Opening Reception June 27, 4-6pm

Fabric Poems; Quilts of Emiko Toda Loeb & New Zephyrs
Jun 27 - Sept 30, 2018
Opening Reception June 27, 4-6pm

PAST EXHIBITS

Water Lily; Reynola Pakusich

PAST EXHIBITS