"Textural Rhythms" Quilt Exhibit

Last week my husband mentioned that the Cincinnati Reds were doing pretty well this year, and would I be interested in going to a game? "Actually," I responded, "There's a quilt exhibit at the Freedom Center that I'd like to see, and it's only going to be there for another week."

So we got our tickets and yesterday we went to The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which is located next to Great American Ballpark where the Reds play in Cincinnati.

"Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition" unites two artistic forms, quilts and jazz. The exhibition features 64 quilts from African American quilters. This show is FANTASTIC! If you like art quilts and can get to Cincinnati by this Sat., Aug. 14, I strongly recommend it.

The Freedom Center is open Tues.-Sat. from 11 am-5 pm and ticket prices are $12. The quilts are in the changing exhibit gallery on the third floor. The admission price includes all the exhibits in the museum.

There is an enormous raganon quilt by Aminah Robinson titled "Journeys I & II" that is a permanent part of the museum's collection and is located on the second floor across from the elevator. If you've read my blog, you might remember that I was a docent at the Springfield Museum of Art last fall when they had an exhibit of Aminah's quilts and paintings.

If you don't live in Ohio, there are two more venues coming up:

The Hub-Robeson Galleries at Penn State University, in University Park, PA.
Sept. 24-Dec. 6, 2010

The Museum of the African Diaspora, in San Francisco, CA.
Jan. 20-Apr. 3, 2011

And if you're wondering, the Reds lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 8 to 4. Oh well, at least the quilts were good.

Art on the Lawn, this Sat. in Yellow Springs

This Saturday, Aug. 14, is "Art on the Lawn" at Mills Lawn, 200 S. Walnut St. in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It goes from 10 am-5 pm. It will probably still be hot, but there is a lot of shade at Mills Lawn, and hopefully I'll be in some of it!

I'll be bringing the 3 Glen Helen art quilts that are still available, as well as "Twilight Descends" which was displayed at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Oregon last month.

One of Many: My Art Quilt at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

This is me and my quilts "Twilight Descends" at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon on July 10, 2010.

They had over 1300 quilts and hung them all in 1.5 hours.

One thing that might have made the hanging task easier was that they don't use hanging sleeves, they use clothespins. I appreciated that because when I shipped my quilt to them, I didn't have to worry about shipping the hanging rod. So that makes the above quilt "Every Quilt MUST Have a Sleeve" by Karen Flamme even more humorous.

For you non-quilters, the sleeve is a piece of fabric on the back of a quilt that allows you to put a hanging rod through the back and hang it on a wall without any of the hanging hardware showing. In the above quilt she shows a pattern and a sleeve like you'd put on a shirt or a dress. And for those of you who don't know me well, I have NO idea how I'd make a sleeve for a shirt or a dress.

One of the things I noticed was that some of the quilts were grouped by color or theme. I especially love the colors of the quilt on the right, with a little appliqued flower on the bottom left corner.

Other quilts were arranged by the quilt block used. It was really neat to see how different some quilts can look even though the quilter used the same quilt block. Here's part of the Log Cabin section.

This quilt was really impressive. I didn't get an actual measurement, but I think the individual blocks were about 3" x 3", and they seemed to be mostly applique.

To see more photos of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, visit my travel blog Pack Up the Car.

Fireflies at DVAC, First Friday event this week

My art quilt "Fireflies" is in the 19th Annual Open Members' Show at the Dayton Visual Arts Center. The show runs until Aug. 19.

Since I wasn't able to go to the artist reception last month, I am planning on being at the August First Friday event at DVAC this Fri., Aug. 6 from 5-8 pm, although I will likely be there for the earlier part.

The event includes back-to-back, 5-minute gallery talks by weveral local artists. It is also Game Night, and they will have the ping pong table up in the street if it's nice, or in the backroom if it's not. DVAC is located at 118 N. Jefferson St., Datyon, Ohio