The National Quilt Museum is Expanding the Vision, Advancing the Art during AQS QuiltWeek – Paducah.
The National Quilt Museum Features the World’s Most Valuable Quilt
Art is often a catalyst for social change. On display at the National Quilt Museum is Innocence, a quilt valued at $170,000. It is the world’s most valuable quilt.
Innocence, created by fiber artist Hollis Chatelain, is a contemporary example of how art captures the human spirit and exposes the demons that seek to destroy it.
“In one quilt, Innocence tells a universal human story,” says Executive Director, Frank Bennett. “The diversity of adolescent experiences portrait causes the viewer to experience mixed emotions. On one side, many of the images take us back to our own youth. On the other side, we are forced to deal with some of the worst of humanity, such as human trafficking. You just can’t take your eyes off of this piece.”
Alexandra and Loeb Exhibit Blends Two Worlds of Art
At the center of the modern art and art quilt movement are international quilters, Regina Alexandra and Emiko Toda Loeb. Their work is currently exhibited at the National Quilt Museum. Though both artists’ work is rooted in a traditional method of quilting, the expression of their work takes on a modern aesthetic.
Alexandra’s quilts represent the modern quilt movement. Her work incorporates bold colors and prints using a minimalistic approach. Viewers are intrigued by her use of improvisational piecing and her modern take on classic quilt designs.
Loeb takes a playful, yet intimate approach in her use of the traditional Log Cabin block. Her work invites viewers to engage with it on an emotional level. Subtle colors and subdued elements seep into each piece represented in her collection of quilts, including Playful Abundance, Sounds of the Seasonal Winds and Roundness.
New Quilts From an Old Favorite: Jacob’s Ladder
The National Quilt Museum inspires quilters to transform familiar quilt blocks into marvels of artistic design with the “New Quilts From an Old Favorite” competition. Each year the Museum hosts this national competition to honor quilters who excel in design, creativity and innovation.
This year, quilters were challenged to create an new design using the Jacob’s Ladder block. Quilters demonstrated their own creative vision for this traditional pattern, using a variety of techniques and styles, and five winning quilts were selected. The entries from this year’s competition are on display at the Museum hanging in the gallery alongside antique Jacob’s Ladder
