Intersections: A Utah Surface Design Group Showcase (2)

Surface Design encompasses the coloring, patterning, and structuring of fiber and fabric. This involves processes such as dyeing, painting, printing, stitching, embellishing, quilting, weaving, knitting, felting, and papermaking. The Utah Surface Design Group is a group of artists dedicated to this genre. Here are some highlights of their 2024 exhibit — titled Intersections — at the Brigham City Museum.

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Stag Quilt (2023) by Quincy Davenport, quilted by Jami Herndon

Stag Quilt was inspired by a love of kaleidoscopes, quilting, and the challenge of using fabric panels innovatively.  Quincy Davenport says, "By stacking and cutting six stag panels into vertical strips, then further dividing them into sets of equilateral triangles, a transformative process unfolds... The resulting hexagons, the kaleidoscopic windows, encircle the original panel, offering a glimpse into a world of vibrant symmetry and intricate design." 

The piece was created with cotton fabric panels from the Whispering Pines collection by Northcott Fabrics.  The One Block Wonder technique used 6 panels to create hexagons which are arranged around one of the panels.  The closeup photo below shows the intriguing kaleidoscope patterns.

Black Vase (2020) by Susan Reese.

Black Vase is wonderful still life bouquet, made with collage and commercial fabrics, which were machine stitched and appliqued. Susan Reese says, "In our vegetable garden we have a section for flowers - a cutting garden. My husband makes beautiful bouquets (his art) that fill our home all summer.  So once again, it's an intersection of nature and fiber and family. I find that I'm inspired to express my work series."

The Mother Tree: Keeper of Wisdom (2023) by Jane De Groff.

The Mother Tree is a beautiful piece created with shibori on cotton, dyed with juniper, curly dock seeds, and indigo. Shibori is an ancient, shaped resist, dyeing technique that involves manipulating cloth by stitching, folding, binding, and compressing it before dyeing. Quilting and applique were also used.

Jane De Groff says, "This piece represents a tree but is also symbolic of the divine feminine, who connects us deeply to the earth... Using my hands, the tactile and magical nature of shibori, and harvesting plants for dyes, all help create a stronger intersection between earth and heaven." 

Ancient Connection (2024) by Polly Masaryk.

Here is a fascinating piece made with reclaimed cotton dish cloths and the artist's daughter's baby diapers. Raw edges, embroidered patches, and frayed edges add to the visual interest. The full title of the piece is Ancient Connection: Mother's Blood and Children's Tears, Children's Blood and Mother's Tears.  The artist's description begins with a poem by Herman Hesse, including this phrase: 'This is our way of listening to it, the huge serene heart, and it is the heart of the mother whose children we are." 

Polly Masaryk says, "The act of patching, stitching, and mending my old dish towels and my daughters diapers is my way of listening to it."  

A large embroidered outline of a human heart is in the center, shown above. In addition to the reclaimed clothing and cotton dish towels, this piece used cotton embroidery floss and cotton batting. The materials were cut, pieced, patched, layered, mended, and stitched.

Paper Quilt (2020) by Judy Elsley.

This alternative quilt is composed of 25 individual collaged pieces. As Judy Elsley says, "The piece invites the viewer to ask such questions as: What constitutes a quilt? Is a quilt always made from fabric?  Can we make quilts without sewing?"

Judy Elsley used fabric paints, stamps and stencils to create works on paper. Each piece of geli-printed paper was created with stencils and wood blocks, using fabric prints on paper.  The papers were then cut up and collaged onto canvas frames. 

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the Brigham City Museum (Brigham City, Utah).

Modern Quilt Month 2018 (4)

What makes a quilt modern? According to The Modern Quilt Guild, the characteristics may include the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and expansive negative space. We hope you enjoy our selections!

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In Awe of the Beauty and Power of Water by Pat Hilderbrand (Missouri)

Fascination with the wildly changing attributes of ocean waters led to this portrayal of water's sparkling beauty, along with its incredible power.  This piece was created with hand-dyed cotton, shiny and metallic-finished fabric, production print fabric, batik, invisible polyester thread and metallic thread. Pat used machine piecing and applique in the construction.

Neuron, 37 x 53", by Hope Wilmarth (Texas)

This original design was inspired by a sculpture, Neuron by Roxy Paine, at the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 
She says, "A neuron is beautiful when seen abstractly as it might appear through the lens of a microscope.  A sense of connectedness is created by random [quilted] thin lines behind the artist's reproduction of this vital nervous system cell."

Hope Wilmarth created Neuron with cotton fabrics and acrylic paint.  Her techniques included machine piecing and applique, fusing, painting, and burning with a hot knife.

Red Violet Structure by Cheryl Costley (Florida)

This contemporary art quilt was inspired by the children's book Mr. Pine's Purple House, which Cheryl Costley used to read to her children.  Streaks of golden yellow provide dramatic focal points amidst the red violet, periwinkle and green background. The design was created improvisationally, using machine piecing and quilting. 

Dialect by Lyric Kinard (North Carolina)

Echoes of Asian and contemporary arts are reflected in this black, white and red art quilt by Lyric Kinard.  She says, "I have explored circular shapes and grids as part of the visual language, techniques such as shibori and paint on cloth, and ideas such as order versus chaos throughout my career." Dialect was machine pieced and quilted, painted, and dyed.

Pole Dance by Claire Victor (Arizona)

Pole Dance received a blue ribbon for First Place in the Pieced-Small Quilt category at the 2018 Quilt Arizona show. It is an original design by Claire Victor, who wanted to create a 3-dimensional effect.  Note the expert fabric shading which creates a sense of dimension in the tumbling blocks. The quilt was English Paper Pieced and domestic machine quilted by Claire herself.

You can see another quilt by Claire Victor, called Entanglement, in a 2017 post at Quilt Inspiration.

African Dance Free, 72 x 60",  by Ann Robinson (California), quilted by Pat Bailey

Ann Robinson says, "My African fabric collection is growing... I needed to get busy and use some of it.  So, when I saw the pattern which was perfect to showcase my collection, I picked out ten fabrics and went for it.  [I am] feeling good about the results."
We recognize this design as one of the BQ (Big Quilt) patterns at Maple Island Quilts.

Image credits:  Photos were taken at the 2018 Quilt Arizona show (Pole Dance), the 2017 Pacific International Quilt Festival (African Dance Free) and the 2017 Houston International Quilt Festival.