On the one hand, I am so glad that nontraditional techniques have been embraced by the quilting establishment. This is a little internal war I have with myself whenever I go to a quilt show. I have to say, a lot of the art quilts just were not doing it for me this year. The bodies of the bees were made of corduroy and velveteen to create that lush, matte fuzziness of real-life bees the juxtaposition of the realism with the fanciful pieced designs was really delightful. I usually enjoy the Hoffman challenge, but the 2009 challenge fabric was, shall we say, more challenging than usual? A mint green and brown paisley wouldn’t be my favorite fabric ever under the best of circumstances, and being confronted with a wall of it bordered on nauseating. The “Tri-State Quilt Competition” was actually only a fraction of the quilts on display as with other Mancuso shows I’ve attended, the bulk of the display quilts were from various touring collections and special exhibits. Maybe I’ll be ready to see them again in another ten years or so. Now I feel like too many quilts took a tumble through the Swarovski factory on the way to the show.
When Sharon Schamber and Renae Haddadin put them on the front and back of their multi-award-winning quilts starting about six or seven years ago, I thought they were gorgeous.
Plus, I admit I’m just sick of those heat-fix crystals. The metallic thread couching was well done, and the color and design were lovely, but it’s one of those quilts that’s been quilted so densely that it hung like cardboard. The Best of Show quilt, “Butterfly Dance” by Anna Faustino, just wasn’t my cup of tea.
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