Quinobequin Quilters Show

Fractured, Linda Evans.

 

On October 21 and 22, Quinobequin Quilters held its biennial show, the first since the beginning of the pandemic, I believe.  (By the way, if you're wondering whatever "Quinobequin" means, I'll tell you at the end of the post.)

 

Over 130 quilts were displayed in the Needham Masonic Hall. It was nourishment for the eyes and the soul, to see quilts and people again.

Fractured, detail.

 This blog just features a few of the many lovely quilts, with some of their stories.

 

Quilts on exhibit.

Chocolate Layer Cake, Nancy Weinreich.

 

The quilt above was made from a "layer cake" packet -  a selection of precut pieces, stacked and bundled to form a "cake",  from a distributor's fabric range. Color choices will always be pleasing, as the textile designer has done the work of selecting for hue and value already. Love the warm neutrals with accents of toned blue and red.

Wild One Block Wonder, Jane Evans.

Next, a quilt of an entirely different color.  Ms. Evans made this quilt from fabric given to her by her mother. Unusual colors but I love it.  The fussy cutting and assembly for each hexagon displays a high degree of skill.

Wild One Block Wonder, detail.

 

Excellent piecing is demonstrated in the quilt below too, made by the artist for her granddaughter's "big girl" bed. The pattern was designed by Elizabeth Hartman.

 

Forest Friends, Beth Green.

Forest Friends, detail.

 

Hexies for All, Penelope Kulko.

 

We see hexagons again in the blue and white quilt, inspired by Katja Marek's book "The New Hexagon."  Blue and white is a traditional color scheme but works well in modern quilts too.

 

Hexies for All, detail.

 

Time to Smell the Flowers, Maxine Rosenberg.

 

Still more hexagons!  According  Ms. Rosenberg:

 

I constructed this English Paper Pieced Quilt during Covid from a picture on the Paper Pieces Website.  Unable to buy plants for my outside garden the basket and butterfly reminded me of the pleasure we got from winged visitors to our garden.

 

Block of the Month designed by Linda Evans.

Guild member Linda Evans designed the Block of the Month activity above - each month a pattern was sent out to participants featuring one of the quilt blocks. Choice of fabric, sashing and assembly are individual decisions. This is master class is variations on a theme and a revelatory look at the impact of color and contrast in pattern interpretation. Well done all!

Resilience, Robin Jaeger.

Flowers and gardens and other aspects of nature inspired more quilts.  The Resilince quilt above was based on "Whimsical Garden" by Tina Curran. This quilt is displayed in the Town of Needham's New Public Safety Building and was a "thank-you" present to Needham's essential safety workers.

Resilience, detail.

Country Journal, Marlene Thurston.

Can you hear the clucking? The nature theme continues with a flock of fowl, in the applique quilt. This quilt was begun in 2002 and finished last year.  I'm a firm believer in the Slow Fiber movement myself.

Country Journal, detail.

The Spirit of Aloha: A Hawaiian Quilt, Evy Megerman.

Ms. Megerman's daughter and son-in-law met in Hawaii and it is a special place for them.  I hope they appreciate the quilt.  The quilt below was also made for a family member. According to artist Kulko:

A few years ago my son opened a skateboard shop in his Brooklyn [neighbor]'hood.  I helped him get the store ready for opening by matting and framing way cool, totally hip skateboarding photographs and other skater paraphernalia.  Along the way I had the idea for this quilt, marrying motion, the boarder and graffiti.  In the end, my son gave me a sweet, sad look, saying, "Mom, it's great, and we will NEVER hang a quilt in the skate shop."  It was a long shot, apparently too long a shot.

Skater, Penelope Kulko.

Wheels are celebrated in the bicycle quilt below, an original design by maker Gotlib; a gift for her husband. This quilt evidently did make it onto a wall.

The Bicycle, Lorraine Gotlib.

For every show the guild makes a raffle quilt, seen below. Sadly I didn't win this wondeful quilt, as it's one of the best raffle quilts I've ever seen.

Snowdrops, the raffle quilt.

Finally, a cheerful little applique quilt with a little house and tree motif which just made me smile. 

What a great quilt show!

Temecula Sampler, Bryn Macy Wood.

So, the word "Quinobequin" - it's the Native American name for the Charles River, and it means "meandering river".  Needham is bordered to the east and south by the River.

Rising Star Quilt Guild Show

Coneflower Boogie Woogie, detail.

On October 4, 2019, family and I went the Rising Star Quilt Guild show, held in a church in Lexington, Massachusetts. Here's a selection from the 118 quilts on display. The lighting is a challenge in this venue, so there were some quilts I loved which were just too hard to photograph.

Coneflower Boogie Woogie, Judy Botsford.

 

Every style of quilting was on display, including modern quilting, generally characterized by a lack of borders, lots of negative space, tonal or solid fabrics, and intricate machine quilting.  Often modern quilts are based on traditional designs, such as Flying Geese or Pinwheels. Another genre of modern quilt is the map quilt, an fiber interpretation of geography.

Prisms, Corinne Steigenwald.

Gregarious Greylags, Kathleen McCormick.

Gregarious Greylags, detail showing quilting.

The Main Event, Laura diNapoli.

Coins, Louise Rains.

Coins, detail.

Etoile pour Oliver, Carol Miller.

Autumn Tumbling Blocks, Barbara Salamy.

Blossom, Christina Crouch.

Baby Quilt #2, Kate O'Leary.

Baby Quilt #2, detail.

Boston, Peggy Boning.

Boston, detail [note Logan airport.]

Vendors at the show.

Some of the quilt designs are very personal.  The image below is of the artist's mother.  Atara Halpern's quilt Synapse, following, is a visual exploration of the work of neuroscientist Santiago Roman y Cajal.

Trudie, Denise Konicek.

Synapse, Atara Halpern.

Synapse, detail.

The thread-painted quilt below captures a calm moment with two beloved pets.

Fredlet and Tommy, Betsy Habich.

The floral fabric used in the floral portrait below was made by the artist decades ago - in a class where she first met her husband.

How We Met, Cathy Papazian.

How We Met, detail.

Waterfowl Pond at San Francisco Botanical Garden, Amy Breiting.

Waterfowl Pond at San Francisco Botanical Garden, detail.

The quilt above doesn't try for photographic realism but rather an impression of shapes and color; the irregular border adds to the feeling of observant improvisation.

Some quilts celebrated a rainbow of colors; other works have an Asian theme.

Ombre, Christina Crouch.

Scrap Bag Fiesta, Bonnie Newman.

Speak Softly to Me, Evelyn Rossin.

Asian Harmony, Missy Shay.

Several quilts combined piecing and applique.

Field of Poppies, Tamara Jessiman.

Dresden, Dorien Keusseyan.

Dresden, detail.

Prosperity, Nancy Wasserman.

Prosperity, detail.

According to Nancy Wasserman, in Victorian times occupants of a new home would place a tomato on the mantle, for good luck. If no actual tomato was available, in those pre-Wegman's days, a tomato pincushion would substitute.

Enjoying the quilts.

Two of the quilts were both made in a Block of the Month (BOM) series offered by the Cambridge Quilt Shop. Precut packets are sent out to participants; the completed blocks are set and bordered as desired. The pattern is Vintage Farm Girl, and it's neat to see the two interpretations, and the sheep block is adorable.

Farm Girl in Shades of Blue and Gray, Susan Dresley.

Cambridge Quilt Shop Block of the Month [Vintage Farm Girl], Lolita Elverrillo.

Cambridge Quilt Shop BOM [Vintage Farm Girl], detail.

Of course, there are all sorts of intriguing color combinations.  Some classic, like blue, white and yellow, and some more unexpected but powerful, like the teal and fuschia quilt below, which includes blocks with fussy-cut centers.

Green and Pink Stacked Posies, Phyllis Maddox.

Green and Pink Stacked Posies, detail.

Moody Blues Hunter's Star, Laura diNapoli.

Reach for the Stars, Evelyn Rossin.

Some quilters have decided that the more, the merrier, when it comes to color - delightful - while others employ a monochromatic tonal palette, calm and elegant.

Postage Stamp Quilt, Peter Stringham.

Have Fun!, Nancy Soyring. (partial view)

Leaves, Clare Gordon.

Leaves, detail.

Another view of the show.

The quilt below, a tour de force of the kaleidoscope-style of quilt-making, won the People's Choice Award.

Kaleidoscopes, Margaret Hallisey.

Kaleidoscopes also appear in one of my personal favorites, below. All in all, a tremendous show.

Kaleidoscope Kats [sic], Becky Toland.