Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Lowell Quilt Show

On Saturday, August 14, a group of us met up at the 2010 Lowell Quilt Festival. We saw some absolutely amazing quilts, and there were also some fantastic vendors.


Although many of the quilts were not what we would call modern, it was impossible not to appreciate the work that went into them. This quilt was about 110" square and was entirely hand-quilted using a variety of techniques, including trapunto. Trapunto produces puffed-up areas like these:


Here's an interesting tidbit for you: the oldest known quilt, the Tristan & Isolde quilt, which is housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, was made entirely using trapunto. Here is a photo of one of its fourteen panels, courtesy of the V&A:


You can find a beautiful selection of images here and the quilt's museum page here.

But I digress.

There were quilts of every variety: art quilts, whitework, applique, antique, hexagon, embroidered/ embellished, and even a Ted Kennedy memorial quilt. This one featured a plain black top and backing, embellished with complex quilting in a rainbow of colors:


One featured enthusiastic owls:



Some used modern art as subject or inspiration:



The quilt that we universally declared the winner was not actually entered into the show at all; it was a part of a display of antique quilts. The tag did not list much information about its maker or provenance, but whoever she was, she knew how to mix fabric:


I think it is difficult to appreciate this quilt from a photograph, but it was incredible. There were seven different fabrics featured, but each blended so easily into the next for a very subtle and striking effect.


We had a wonderful time at the show, and I hope you all have a chance to attend next year!

1 comment:

  1. I was not able to go to the show so I appreciate your pics. I especially like the last quilt. Thanks

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