Black & White with a little bit of Red

“Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error. It is these mingled opposites which people our life, which make it pungent, intoxicating. We only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash.” -Louis Aragon

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. 

But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”
― Ted Grant 

From the Garden State Quilters' Guild Show in Morristown, New Jersey, June 1st and 2nd, 2013, comes this powerful display of black and white quilts. The first is "Zig & Zag" by Betsy Vinegrad. She writes, "'Zig & Zag' are a pair of quilts made in a color class at the City Quilter (NYC). The challenge was to use black, white and gray plus less than 10 percent of any other color."

 "Private Lessons with Karen Jack" by Wannetta Phillips uses the Twister Tool from CS Designs which I featured in my March 4, 2012 post titled "Change."

Mary Ames, "Black & White" was a small group group created from the members swapping of nine identical blocks.

Below is JoAnn Lepore's "Posie #7." This is the seventh in the four-patch stacked posie quilts JoAnn has made. It earned her Second Place in the Pieced Quilt, Machine Quilted- Large category.

 "I love you more than you know" is seen below. It is Wendy Sheridan's answer to a two-color quilt challenge. She writes, "This quilt reproduces a 'QR-Code' which can be scanned by a smart phone or other reader and encodes any sort of text. This code scans and the text encoded into the pattern is 'I love you more than you know.'"  This was my personal favorite of the Black and Whites in this show.

 Below is another beautiful black and white, but I was remiss in photographing the description, so I can't tell you anything about it. Sorry.

 "Two Faces" by Elsie Sienkiewicz is the result of an art quilt group challenge. Elsie writes, "It was inspired by a black and white sketch of two faces. Each quilt had to be constructed of five or more sections, each which highlighted a different technique. My interpretation includes hand applique, ink, hand reverse applique, machine applique, thread-work, embellishment and machine quilting."
WOW!

Finally, from the two-color category using red instead of black, come "I am a Woman" also by Elsie  Sienkiewicz. It is the story of her life of 74 years through all the roles she has played as a woman. Elsie so beautifully writes, "Creating this quilt was like walking down memory lane of my life. As the quilt progressed, I realized it is actually a love story of my life with Anthony. We married in 1957, when women's roles were strictly defined by society and definitely subservient to men's roles. I was lucky enough to have married to a man who worked two jobs so that I could stay home with the children when they were young, who encouraged me to go back to college in my 30s and who understood when I had to work long hours after I had a career. During our 56 years of marriage, I have been his wife, mother of his children, a businesswoman, and now an artist, and the one constant I have always been sure of, I am the woman he loves."

Thank you for the inspiration, Elsie.

Thanks to all the quilters of The Garden State Quilters' Guild.

 What a lovely show!

"Orion's Star"

Once upon a time, I was asked to make Eleanor Burns "Orion's Star" as a sample for The Joyful Quilter in Glenville, New York. This is the beauty which came from that request. Unfortunately this photo has muted the rich teal blue, orange and tan colors.

 

Here is a close up of the large 16 inch blocks which are a star set within a traditional log cabin of darks and lights.

So, this sample led to a class which I taught early in June.
Here is my table runner (teaching tool) from the class. I can't quite decide how to lay it out. Do you prefer this arrangement or the one below?

These beauties are Dawn's. She intends them to become a soldier quilt. Aren't they just stunning?

Mary Beth made these beautiful and rich blocks all from her stash fabrics. I can't wait to see how the large quilt looks with those beautiful blue stars.

Finally, the following "Orion's Star" quilts were featured at the Garden State Quilter's Guild Show the first weekend of June in Morristown, New Jersey. This first one is called "Secret Garden" and was made by Grace Walsh and professionally quilted by Jeanne Bancroft. It was made as a high school graduation gift for the maker's granddaughter.

My personal favorite, "Butterfly Kisses" was also made by Grace Walsh and professionally quilter by Jeanne Bancroft. Another gift, Grace Walsh writes about her granddaughter, the recipient "Since she was a little girl, she has had a great love for butterflies. She believes that when a butterfly lands on you, you have been kissed by an angel."

Lastly, "My Spring Orion Star" was pieced by Mary Ames and was professionally quilted by Sister's Choice Longarm Quilting. The unique setting sets it apart from the rest of the collection. I love the "piano keys" border treatment.

Garden State Quilters' Guild Show (BEST OF Quilts)

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to New Jersey to visit old stomping grounds, "old" friends and take in the Garden State Quilters' Guild Show in Morristown. This beautiful show had a huge variety of quilts of all types and techniques. Over the next few posts I will share some of the highlights, beginning here with the "BEST OF" category.

 "Happy Clams" by Anna Macaluso began as a friendship group fabric swap. She made this quilt from the 120 pieces (size 7 by 9 inches) which she received. "Happy Clams" earned a blue ribbon and "Best Use of Color" prize.

 The "Best of Show- Machine Quilted" went to this beauty- Megan Johnson's "Aunt Millie's Garden--Brown Is the New Black." What an amazing display of applique. and professional quilting.

A lovely surprise of this show was the number of big prizes which went to smaller sized quilts. This lovely round quilt, titled "non e altro che un sogno" by Carla Condori, earned "Best Machine Applique" for this Alice in Wonderland inspired piece which has a diameter of only 23 inches.

Returning to the garden theme, "Garden Trellis" by Mary Gruszecki earned "Best Professional Quilting" by Cheryl Simonis. WOW, you can see why in the close-up pictures below.

"Peptobismol" earned quilter Anna Macaluso the prize of "Best Machine Quilting."  I believe those little tiny blocks are 1/2 inch or less in size. Amazing work.

 My personal favorite of all the "BEST OF" quilts is "Baby Bella" by Dawn Hayes.  Seen below, she measures only 24 inches square and is both machine pieced and hand appliqued. "Baby Bella" earned not only "Best Piecing" for the show, but also first place in the Miniature Quilts Category.

From the more whimsical category, the "Best Quilt That Tells a Story" is Shar Kennett's "Bunnies do Multiply in the Corner of My Garden."  It was a challenge from the quilter's small group which had exchanged 1930s fabrics. What fun!

 Last but by no means least, is "The Cutting Garden" by Dawn Hayes. Silks and cottons make the miniature dahlias in this amazing work. "The Cutting Garden" earned "Best of  Show- Hand Quilting" and a first place ribbon. The quilt measures 72 inches square.

More inspiring quilts from this show to come. Stay tuned!