They aren?t the quilts your grandmother used to make.
Instead, the quilts on display at the Not Quite Quilts exhibit at the Carroll Arts Center include pieces of all shapes, sizes and colors.
The exhibit is meant to show visitors that quilts are used in many different ways. “Everybody seems to think that a quilt is something for bed covering. This exhibit has more to do with the quilting process,” said curator Susan Williamson. “There are 31 quilts in all, with everything from very traditional quilts to small works of art that utilize hand-dyed pieces of fabric.”
The artists featured include Helen Englar, Floris Flam, Cathy Kleeman, Laura Russell, Marilyn Russell, Mary Scales, Linda Thomas and Millie Tracey. “It?s a great exhibit; you will not find a better sampling of quilts of all different varieties with high-quality workmanship,” Williamson said. “The stitching, the precision of the channeling, the precision of the cutting to make the edges is phenomenal.”
Quilter Cathy Kleeman started out as a traditional quilter, making log cabin quilts. “Over the years, I decided I didn?t like making the same block 50 times,” she said. “I started making my own designs and from there progressed.”
Kleeman now dyes and paints all of her own fabrics, as well as designing and making her quilts by machine. One of her quilts on display at the exhibit is called “The Ides of March,” a fractured circular nonfunctional wall-hanging quilt.
“I?ve always liked circles; they have appeared in my quilts for many years. This is just another way of working with them,” Kleeman said. “[The quilt] has an energetic quality because the edges don?t match, so it jumps from one piece to the next.”
Linda Thomas? quilts are being sold to raise money so that she can adopt her eighth child from China early next year. “It?s not your typical quilt show,” Thomas said. “People will be amazed at the variety of quilting there.”
“[Quilts] have broad appeal, this exhibit has appeal to people who take a more contemporary spin on the art of quilting as well as traditional quilters,” Williamson said.
Not Quite Quilts
» Location: Tevis Gallery,Carroll Arts Center, Westminster
» Times: Through Feb. 3. Monday to Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
» Cost: Free
» More info: www.carr.org
