A Visit to the New England Quilt Museum

This has not been one of our best foliage years, but yesterday morning after church I happened to drive by Legion Field and did a double take. The entire parking lot is ringed with these gorgeous red maples. I’m afraid they have been planted a bit too close together, but it creates quite an impact. 

Today, my friend Edith and I attended a “Meet the Teachers” event at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. We collected brochures and cards from each teacher and learned about lectures and programs that each offered to guilds. 

I asked the museum director if I might share a few photos of quilts that caught my eye. She readily agreed and also asked me to encourage my readers to do come visit the museum in person. :-)

Aren’t they wonderful!!!

My wool applique piece is nearly done as I only have to sew on the backing layer. I will share the completed piece in my next post.
 

Downton Abbey and a Very Quilty Month

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, drop everything and go see the movie. It's wonderful in every possible way, and it is as if you were visiting dear old friends (albeit those who live and work in a house a bit fancier than mine.) I saw it yesterday with a friend, and we both loved it!!! It was delightful seeing it all unfold on the big screen. I cannot wait to see the next movie which I imagine Julian Fellowes is already in the process of writing.

It has been two weeks since my last blog post, but I have been happily very, very busy. The only finished stitch piece was this wool applique, autumn themed vintage truck scene which was a pattern from Buttermilk Basin.

So, what else have I been doing quilt-wise? On Monday, Sept. 16th, I attended  "Meet the Teachers" at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell. This program allowed representatives of quilt guilds to hear from teachers who are eager to speak at our guild meetings. I'm mentioning this because there is currently at the museum an exhibit of the work of the late Sue Garman which is not to be missed. Her daughters have allowed the museum to host an amazing collection of her work. Her Baltimore Album quilts were exquisite and the range of her other quilts is definitely worth a visit. I first became aware of Sue Garmen when I made her Old World Santas quilt in 2012. Here is my quilt. I apologize for a not so great photo as it was was taken while it was hanging at our 2012 guild quilt show.

Sue Garman had designed many of the BOM quilts for The Quilt Show.  Her patterns are still available from her daughters on their website, Come Quilt.

At our first meeting of the year at the Herring Run Quilt Guild, I took a class taught by delightful, energetic Beth Helfter of Eva Paige Designs.  Beth has developed a fun technique for creating very scrappy "Accordion Sewn HSTs." She has a number of instructional videos on Youtube and a new book, OOMPAH! which explores her method.

On Friday, Sept. 20th, I took a class with award winning, improvisational quilter Marge Tucker at her Rockland studio. The class was "Eel Grass and Eddies (Long Layered Curves,)  and I have been addicted to making these blocks ever since. :-) [Marge was at the "Meet the Teachers" program at the Quilt Museum, and each of Marge's quilts was met with audible gasps. Her work is fresh and exciting, and she is an excellent instructor.]

Finally, at Tuesday's meeting of the Crosstown Quilters, our speaker was award winning quilter Pat Delaney whose trunk show was perhaps the most impressive trunk show that I have ever seen.  It was beyond words.

All of these lovely ladies have trunk shows and offer classes and workshops.  Click on their names to go to their websites for more information.

And now it is time to finish this up and take ever patient Emma for a long walk . . .

A Lovely Day in Lowell - The New England Quilt Museum

This morning I headed to the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA, to hear a Gallery Talk by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry. The museum is exhibiting a retrospective of her thirty-year career as an art quilter. She spoke about her design inspirations and detailed her process of working. Her talk was truly wonderful!

I have seen many amazing quilts at other shows and at the Houston Quilt Festival, but none more magnificent than hers which are on exhibit through October 31, 2015. For me, her most iconic piece is On the Wings of a Dream.

Just look at this incredible machine quilting.

Click here,  to read the story behind this quilt.

Above is Celebration #2.  As you can see, Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry's quilt are a glorious symphony of form, design, and exuberant color. If you live in the New England area, it is definitely worth traveling to Lowell to see this amazing exhibit. If you can't make it to the museum, then be sure to visit her online gallery.

While in Lowell, we also visited the Whistler House, the home of the artist James Whistler. More about that visit in my next post.