The 25th annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival (MAQF), the largest quilt event on the Eastern Seaboard, will be held February 27 - March 2, 2014, in Hampton, Virginia. Exhibits will include entries to the annual Quilt and Wearable Arts Competitions showcasing regional, national, and international artists. The event also features 27 teachers offering dozens of classes as well as 150 vendors, and demonstrations on the exhibit floor of traditional rug hooking, beading, spinning and weaving, and quilting.
Quilt entries compete in Traditional, Innovative and Wall Quilt Categories as well as for the "Best of Show" title, with over $17,500 in prizes. Event attendees can participate by voting in the Viewers Choice Awards - if they are able to choose one they like best!
Images shown here of quilts from the 2013 MAQF show offer a "patchwork" look at the exciting kind of artwork which event-goers can expect to see in the upcoming show. The 2014 show will feature over 500 quilts and garments.
As quilts evolve into greater acceptance as a fine art medium, more and more pictorial quilts are featuring the human figure, showing the combination of traditional art skills with textile techniques.
Windblown (25" x 39") by Maria Elkins of Beavercreek, OH, took first place in the 2013 Wall Quilt category. Her original design was hand painted and machine quilted. Maria says, "My goal for this portrait was to merge a contemporary art quilt with traditional quilt elements. I did this by using a traditional feather motif in an innovative way in order to suggest strong winds blowing across a stormy sky. I continued with a hint of feather motif in her hair to relate the figure to the background. In the sky, I also included the outline of a traditional quilt block called, "Windblown Star.'" Maria hosts the Lost Quilt Come Home website.
Sandy Curran of Newport News, VA, specializes in figurative quilts. "Human Beauty" (32" x 35" ) was her entry in the 2013 show.
Animal-related subjects are always popular at the quilt shows, and Carousel Stampede, (67" x 96"), an original design by Cathy Wiggins of Macon, NC, won Best of Show in 2013. It was painted on a large piece of cloth, then stitched.
In "Spirit" (88" x 100"), Georgia Spaulding Pierce of Seattle, WA portrays a group of Northwest Coast Native American animal imagery .
Backyard Entertainers (48" x 49") by Barbara Barrick McKie, of Lyme, CT, used digitally manipulated photos printed on cotton, which were then machine pieced and quilted.
Detail of U.S. History, Boston Terrior Style by Linda Cantrell
(Image by Linda Cantrell) Details DMCA
Many quilts have humorous aspects, such as "U.S. History - Boston Terrier Style" by Linda Cantrell, an instructor at the event. (Details above and below.)
Detail of U.S. History, Boston Terrior style by Linda Cantrell
(Image by Linda Cantrell) Details DMCA
Landscapes and florals continue to be favorite quilt themes.
"In the Bleak Mid-Winter" (32" x 32") by Donna Clauer Stufft, Temperanceville, VA, won Best Pictorial Quilt.
Town By the River (42" x 60") by Sally Rowe, of New Berne, NC depicts her hometown.
Eureka! is a group quilt by the Fiber Art Friends
(Image by Photo Credit Meryl Ann Butler for opednews) Details DMCA
"Eureka!" (45" x 104") was created by the "Fiber Art Friends" Donna Parker, Pat Durbin, Maggie Stimson, Diane May and Rosalinda Brainerd. A photo was sliced into several pieces, and each participant got a slice. Each quilter completed her portion before she saw the other finished pieces. It won Honorable Mention for Innovative Quilts.
The Monumental Way by Karlyn Bue Lohrenz
(Image by Photo Credit Meryl Ann Butler for opednews) Details DMCA
"The Monumental Way" (76" x 60") by Karlyn Bue Lohrenz of Billings, MT won honorable mention in the Innovative Quilt category.
Nancy Stanton (Clearwater, KS) included three dimensional details in her quilt, Bloom Where You are Planted (detail shown of a 39" x 39" quilt.)
Sampler-style quilts show a variety of different designs and techniques in one quilt, such as Fiesta Mexico by Renae Haddadin and Karen Kay Buckley (93" x 80") won first place in the Innnovative Quilt category.
Illusions Sampler (74" x 52") by Jennifer McKinney of Herdon, VA is a project made during Karen Combs' "More Patchwork Illusions" class.
Geometric designs have been the standard in quilting, and are still a popular design theme - although often with innovative touches!
Robbi Joy Eklow of Third Lake, IL, contributed "Spirals" (40" x 60".)
Lifelines III, (50" x 50") is by Ricky Tims of La Veta, CO. Along with Alex Anderson, Tims is co-host of the popular web TV site, The Quilt Show.
Themed exhibit groupings at the 2013 show included Tales from a Mayan Huipil: Art Quilts Inspired by Guatamalen Weavings, presented by the Textile Artists of Virginia. Quilts were exhibited next to the Guatamalen textile art that inspired them.
The Garden of Huipil by Judy Loope (right) and the huipil inspiration (left)
(Image by Judy Loope) Details DMCA
The Garden of Huipil by Judy Loope, Salem, VA, (right) and the huipil (left) that inspired it.
It Takes a Village by Gwen Goepel (right) and the huipil inspiration.
(Image by Gwen Goepel) Details DMCA
It Takes a Village by Gwen Goepel of Floyd, VA (right) and the huipil (left) that inspired it.
Not Your Grandmother's Nine Patch by Sherry Pryor
(Image by Photo Credit Meryl Ann Butler for opednews) Details DMCA
Another special exhibition, Not Your Traditional Nine Patch, was presented by the Signature Art Quilters of Virginia, and included Not Your Grandmother's Nine Patch by Sherry Pryor. The 2014 Festival offers 25 different themed exhibitions.
Marbled Magic by Dana Lacy Chapman
(Image by Photo Credit Meryl Ann Butler for opednews) Details DMCA
Marbled Magic by Dana Lacy Chapman was the first place winner in the Full Ensembles category.
Flaunt Your Wildside (Reversable Cape) by Jennifer Bernard won a 3rd Place ribbon in the Vest, Jacket or Coat category.
Teachers offered classes and lectures. Here Laura Wasilowski shows a charming landscape quilt project from one of her classes.
I took Dad, a 90-year-old WW2 vet, to see the 2013 show. Like most other people, he hadn't realized how artistic modern quilting has become. Here he is enjoying "Shape Shifter" (78.5" x 78.5") by Nancy Arseneault, which won "Best Interpretation of Theme" in the Traditional category. The train quilt on his lap is from my book, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon." When I asked him how he liked the show, he said he loved it, but, "I want to see one of YOUR quilts here next time!"
And so he shall. My quilt, "No Place Like Om" (34" x 53") was accepted and will be on exhibit at the 2014 show.
The 25th annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival (MAQF) will be held at the Hampton Roads Convention Center, February 27 - March 2, 2014, in Hampton, Virginia. Hours are 10 am - 6 pm on Thurs. Feb 27 through Sat., Mar. 1, and 10 am - 4 pm Sunday, March 2. In addition to quilts on exhibit and demonstrations, the show features over 300 vendor booths and over 150 merchants from 35 states.
$15 admission is good for all four days, or get a $13 ticket on Sunday only. More info here.
3
2
2
