By Patricia Belyea
BIRMINGHAM UK Yesterday afternoon I stewarded at the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) exhibit at The Festival of Quilts. With over 3000 members worldwide, SAQA offers a high level of support for the professional development of art quilters. As an emerging art quilter, I appreciate many of the benefits of the group.
Selected works from the international People & Portraits show hung in the busy booth. Visitors appreciated the high level of concept and craftsmanship of the art quilts.
Before my SAQA assignment, I strolled around The Festival and discovered two more art quilt exhibits that I’d never seen! Eszter Bornemisza from Hungary displayed intriguing quilts and hangings that took textile art to new heights.
In her This American Life exhibit, Susan Shie from the US hung her campy quilts that tell stories about current events or her personal life. Susan took the quilt universe by storm as a recently graduated art student who won Best of Show at Quilt National 1987. Today she continues to teach, exhibit and create non-stop.
Here are close-up from Susan’s Royal Wedding | Knight of Wooden Spoons quilt from her Kitchen Tarot series:
This is my last post from this year’s Festival of Quilts. It’s been a whirlwind and wonderful experience for me to meet so many new quilters and see so many great quilts. Tally ho!
