A Fan-tas-tic Quilt Show!

There's nothing like a really great quilt show to get me out of a deep blue funk. A funeral, a sinus infecton, and a lot of rainy weather have combined recently to make me feel like not doing very much. But I managed to get out in the rain today over to Burlington so see a show called Fibre Content: 100% Fibre Art.  This was a truly beautiful show, in a wonderful venue.

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre has a huge atrium, with lots of natural light flooding the works of art. I saw 125 pieces, by 65 artists. Some of the artists were on hand to speak about their creations, and their stories are very interesting.

This show was a collaborative effort of five of Ontario's fibre arts groups, assembled specifically to showcase the artworks of Ontario fibre artists. The fibre arts groups are:

• Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) Central Canada
• Connections Fibre Artists
• Grand Guild of Fibre Artists 
• Burlington Fibre Arts
• Group of Eight Fibre Artists

Quite often in my travels to these shows, I will see works of art that I have seen before, but in this case I was delighted to see all new works.  Many of the names of the artists were familiar, but their works on display were new to me. Some of these included Maggie Vanderweit, whom I wrote about here, Sandy Simmilink, whom I wrote about as well, here. Others I recognized were Elaine Quehl, Margaret Notar and Beverley White. 

I was intrigued by the details in many of the quilts, so I will show you a selection, including thread painting, fabric painting, beading, embroidery, applique, and other techniques.

Poppies (detail)
by Anne Sullivan
Studio Art Quilt Associates

Jay's Nest (detail)
by Judy Makinson
Burlington Fibre Arts Group

Cellular Aqueducts (detail)
by Mary Cope
Studio Art Quilt Associates

Spring's Golden Glory (detail)
by Ann Totten
Group of Eight Fibre Artists

There was not a single traditional pieced quilt in the show, which was fine with me! This show rivalled any I have seen, and may be compared with the Interational Quilt Festival in Houston. And the most amazing thing is that there are a lot of  very talented art quilters in this area, and it is a great honour to see so many of them in one exhibition. Well done, I say, to the organizers and the artists.

An excellent program booklet containing photos of all the quilts, and a well-rounded market completed the whole experience.