Traditional Craft, Modern Perspective: A Quilt Show

(photographs by Alison McQuain Photography)

KMQG 2016 QuiltCon Charity Quilt (l) inspired by Sarah Shebaro's original print artwork (r)

After last year's artistic collaboration with Knoxville letterpress studio Striped Light in which the Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild was inspired to create our 2016 QuiltCon Charity Quilt (read all about it here), they were kind enough to offer us a First Friday spot in their gallery for our first official quilt show. An honest-to-goodness modern quilt show had always been a goal of our founding members, and our show, entitled Traditional Craft: Modern Perspective, would not have been possible without the support and guidance of the artists at Striped Light.

wall of mini quilts

Quilt entries were open to all KMQG members and we were able to include all 13 submissions in the show. We also filled a wall with any and all mini quilts made by our members. The quilts featured in the exhibition represent a wide and beautiful range of talents and perspectives within our organization.

created by Melissa Everett (l) and Emily Doane (r)

created by Taylor Opel (l) and Sarah Elliott (r)

A month before the show, members attended a class at Striped Light on modular linoleum block printing using the letterpress. We made geometric block shapes on linoleum and printed beautiful transparent colors to create the background design for our posters. In a second class, we applied the text for the posters, which were posted and distributed around Knoxville. One-of-a-kind posters and prints were available for sale at Striped Light during the show, and the remaining posters and prints will be available for sale via Striped Light's Instagram account (@striped_light) on Thursday, June 9 at noon.

2015 QuiltCon Charity Quilt

The show was advertised through social media, local newspapers and our beautiful posters. We had an amazing opening night for First Friday: May. We received so many encouraging comments throughout the evening, including one visitor who encouraged us to apply for an exhibition at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg.

created by Christy Cooper

created by Michelle Bolt

Unlike many shows, our quilts were not judged. Instead, each participant received a beautiful handmade ribbon made by members Elizabeth Rea and Emily Doane. Our goal is to make this show a true celebration of modern quilting in Knoxville rather than a competition.

Given the success of the First Friday opening and weekend, the exhibition was extended for another weekend to take advantage of Knoxville's Open Streets event, in which Central St. was closed to traffic and people came out to enjoy the arts and local businesses.

created by Pat Pike

created by Emily Doane

We can't say enough about the hospitality of Striped Light founders Sarah Shebaro and Bryan Baker. They have so much knowledge and generosity to teach and help others. Our quilt show would not have been possible without them, and their creativity lit a fire in us for next year's show!

Before the closing of our show, we were already talking about and planning next year's show! You won't want to miss it.  

(l-r) created by Mary Beth Meadows, Jennifer Grace, Michelle Bolt, Rosaline Woodard, Pat Pike

created by Carol Matlak (l) and Elizabeth Rea (r)

Thanks to everyone who came and supported us, who left their email, who told us they loved it, who said that it was the best art show they have seen in Knoxville. Thank you. It feels amazing to have our work be shared with the public and for people to see quilts in a new light, from a new perspective.

KMQG Happenings and Upcoming Color Theory Lecture

We've had an amazing response to our first quilt show. It was such an inspiring evening and day, and if you weren't able to make it down to Striped Light, we are happy to announce that the show goes on! Our quilts will remain on display through the Open Streets celebration in North Knoxville this weekend. You can visit Striped Light Saturday, May 14, 12-5 and Sunday, May 15, 12-6. Please come down and support our beautiful show. We're also going to make this a yearly event!

At our May 21 meeting, Ashley Pace will also be joining us from the University of Tennessee with a lecture on Color Theory. We have invited guests from the quilt show to attend this meeting and join in on the fun. We'll also collect payments ($75) for our July Workshop with Shannon Brinkley. All payments for this workshop are due at the May meeting (paypal to modknoxville@gmail.com also accepted). We will vote on our favorite mini quilt from the TN mini quilt swap, and the winner will receive a gift card! Remember that the minis made for this swap need to shipped before the end of May, so show them off and then mail them out.   

During our meeting on June 18, Merikay Waldvogel will lecture on 200 years of Tennessee Quilts. You can find more about her here. Her lecture will be $6 per member and $10 for non-members, so bring your friends! The weekend of our June meeting coincides with the Smoky Mountain Quilters Quilt Show at the Expo Center.

And finally, July 16 will be our workshop, Scrappy Skyline with Shannon Brinkley. There are still spots available to all interested parties (click here to reserve your spot). The Knoxville Skyline pattern, available here for $8, must be purchased before the workshop.

We're excited about all of these amazing learning experiences coming down the line and hope you will take advantage of these great opportunities!

April Meeting Recap

Carving linoleum blocks

We had a wonderful workshop Saturday and enjoyed our printing time with Striped Light's Sarah and Bryan. We're excited to show off the handcrafted posters for our upcoming quilt show - stay tuned! If you are interested in learning more about the printing process or taking a class with them, their class schedule is available on their website, www.stripedlight.com. They've been so kind and generous sharing their time, supplies, tools, ink, paper, space, and expertise.

 

Sarah explains how to operate one of the presses

Sarah and Bryan get us started

The new QuiltCon East Charity Challenge for 2017 has been announced. You can find all the information here. Please start thinking about design ideas. We will be accepting design ideas through our June meeting. Please email us your ideas, with a sketch, so that we may put these in our meeting presentation. Then we'll vote to decide on which we'd like to become our quilt!

 

 

Local quilt shop Mammaw's Thimble continues its going-out-of-business sale, with 40% off and, at last check, still a good supply of solid fabrics.

Our quilt show, Traditional Craft, Modern Perspective, is just a couple weeks away, so be sure to get your hanging sleeves on your quilts. Mini quilts don't need sleeves, and we'd love to have as many minis on display as we can get. We want to fill a wall with minis! If your TN mini swap quilt is finished, it would be wonderful to have those as well! Quilts need to be delivered in a plastic bag or pillow case to Melissa's home or Emily's workplace (Educational Outfitters on Cedar Bluff Rd.) on Tuesday, May 3. (Contact Melissa at modknoxville@gmail.com for her address if you need it.) After the show, quilts need to be picked up Monday, May 9, from Melissa. Help us spread the word about the show so that we can share our quilts with a large audience! We'd love to turn this into an annual event.

Next meeting: Our next regular meeting will be May 21 back at Westminster Presbyterian. Bring your finished TN mini swap quilt for voting!

March Meeting Recap

Melissa's medallion quilt

We had a lovely meeting in March with a good size crowd sticking around afterward for the sew-in, during which Taylor assembled our 24" blocks for our long overdue Quilt of Valor.

KMQG Quilt of Valor

 

Jennifer reviewed the winning quilts from QuiltCon 2016. You can find that list with pictures here.

Pat's Gypsy Wife quilt in progress

The Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee Quilt Show is coming up soon -- June 17 and 18. The deadline for entries is May 3; here's the form and more information. Unfortunately, there will not be a Modern category this year, but we will continue to show support by sponsoring one ribbon.

Rosalind's Crackle blocks (pattern by 13 Spools)

We've booked Shannon Brinkley for the Knoxville Skyline: Scrappy Applique Workshop on July 16 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Spots are still available and open to all interested parties. Please use the form here.

Melissa's king-size quarter log cabin quilt

NEXT MEETING: Our next meeting will not be at the usual day and location but rather will be on Saturday, April 9 at Striped Light in North Knoxville. We'll work on a project for our upcoming Quilt Show. Please arrive no later than 10:30 and plan on staying for 3 hours. Bring water and snacks (if you think you'll get hungry) and a jacket if it's supposed to be cold. This will be a free, creative class for KMQG members that we hope everyone will take advantage of.

2016 QUILTCON Charity Quilt

We are excited to announce that the Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild has a quilt hanging in the QuiltCon Charity Quilt challenge this week in Pasadena. This year’s theme, was “Improv with Intent.”

In July 2015, the KMQG entered into an artistic collaboration with local artist Sarah Shebaro, co-founder of Striped Light, a letterpress studio in Knoxville. During a delightful guild meeting at her studio, Sarah gave a demonstration of her printmaking process and introduced us to her most recent series of prints. 

 

 

 

 

Inspired by the shapes and forms of Sarah's work, the guild took a limited challenge palette of white, off-white, sunflower, tomato red, light teal, grey, and black and let each member try her hand at improvisational 11-x-17-inch blocks, echoing the form of Sarah's prints. Members incorporated elements of the prints, triangles, stripes to create poster-sized blocks that were clearly inspired by Sarah’s prints.

Over the next several months and through a retreat and conversations on Instagram, guild members assembled their own improvisational blocks.

We gathered in November to assemble the quilt and settled on a design that echoed the form of posters hanging on a wall. Jennifer Grace pieced all our blocks together, Pat Pike did the quilting, and Emily Doane bound and labeled it. Thank you to all who had a hand in this charity quilt!

Inspired by our process, Sarah Shebaro is undertaking another series of work based on our quilts, and the collaboration will continue until a local unveiling with our guild’s show at the Striped Light Studio in May2016. Stay tuned for details on our show!