Assemblage Art: The Utah Surface Design Group

The Utah Surface Design Group is a group of artists dedicated to the principles of surface design and fiber art. Their exhibit at the Brigham City Museum included fascinating 3D ssemblage pieces made with fabric, string, beads, and 'found' objects.  

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Mannequin Head (2023) by Quincy Davenport.

 

This is a truly fascinating piece! Quincy Davenport says, "Mannequin Head embodies an intersection of inspiration and materials, sparked by a simple gift - a tiered gold headband.  Placed upon a mannequin, it transformed into a regal symbol, prompting the addition of gold, black, and white beads." 

Rhinestones, mirror tiles, and pearls followed, enhancing its sparkle and allure... Each bead and embellishment reflects not only creativity but also the serendipitous nature of artistic creation."  The embellished Mannequin Head was set on a brass candlestick.  We love the pearl choker necklace placed around the neck.

The Vast Man (2022) by Julie Strong.

We found this piece to be both beautiful and evocative. Julie Strong explains the title of the piece: "Khalil Gibran's Vast Man is a wandering being who is open to the opportunities of each moment, unafraid of the intersections in life that may lead to a new road. He is open to the direction of the winds, travels with the sun and the moon, and moves through outer and inner realms."  

Made with a found wooden head and hands, the armature is hand made. The gown is made from linen and embellished with hand embroidery and hand beading. Passages from Kahlil Gibran's The Farewell were hand lettered on the wooden base.

 Marking Time with a Mud Stone (2024) by Kim Deneris Brown.

This framed piece is minimalist in its conception yet it highlights the beauty of the natural materials, including the stone and the string which has been woven to embrace the rock. The stone comes from a unique and ancient geological formation in north-central Utah. Kim Deneris Brown says, "Over 720 million years ago, mud and clay particles were deposited in shallow waters near the shore of an ancient sea.  The sedimentary layers were compacted and over time and movement along the Wasatch Fault, elevated to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon."  

Repeat by Lone' Vilnius. 

This assemblage art piece was made with old books and antique collectibles.  It was fascinating to see the materials take new appearances within the overal design.  Many intriguing details can be seen in the closeup photos.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the Brigham City Museum, Brigham City, Utah, August 2024.

Intersections: A Utah Surface Design Group Showcase (1)

Surface Design encompasses the coloring, patterning, and structuring of fiber and fabric. This involves processes such as dyeing, painting, printing, stitching, embellishing, quilting, weaving, knitting, felting, and papermaking. The Utah Surface Design Group is a group of artists who are dedicated to this genre. Here are some highlights of their 2024 exhibit — titled Intersections — at the Brigham City Museum.

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Crossed Squares (2023) by Roxanne Bartel. 

Crossed Squares is part of a series of quilts that explore the "intersection" of traditional quilting with abstract design. As Roxanne Bartel explains, "In this series, I am using four-patch traditional quilt blocks as a foundation paired with contemporary abstract design. My works are often color studies - here I am using the analogous colors red, orange, and yellow, with small accents of the complements (blue, purple)."

Roxanne creates her own palette of over-dyed fabrics through dying, bleaching, painting, and resist with cotton, silk, and re-purposed Japanese kimonos.

Girl in Tree (2022) by Rosanna Lynne Welter.

This evocative piece represents the intersection of time, memory, and childhood dreams. Rosanna Lynne Welter asks, "Those glorious, halcyon childhood days — was there magic in your life back then?  Special places you could go to dream your future?"   

Girl in Tree was created with whole cloth cotton, painted rayon, rayon thread, fabric inks, and beads.  The original artwork was sketched on whole cloth cotton, stitched, then painted with fabric inks.

The colorful autumn leaves were painted with fabric inks and hand cut, then attached with fusible and beading.

Becoming More Me (2021) by Judy Elsley.

The top left square of this quilt has the word "Becoming", and the bottom right square says "More Me".  Judy Elsley says, "The quilt documents my long, slow process of embracing and celebrating who I am, including my flaws and weaknesses. I see my job as a constant striving to become the best version of myself. It took me years to shift from the idea of perfection to this gentler and kinder approach as I make my way through the world."  

The quilt is composed of a harmonious selection of hand-dyed and printed fabrics.  It was machine quilted and beautifully embellished with beads, along with hand stitching with embroidery thread.

Bittersweet (2024) by Sheryl Gillilan 

Sheryl Gillilan says, "In the Buddhist tradition, the so-called "eight worldly winds" swirl around us all, buffeting our lives with an ever-changing cycle of positive and negative influences. There is no way to escape these bittersweet winds, or to know when they will intersect with our lives to foment chaos or engender bliss."  

The central portion of this quilt "represents my personal encounters with the winds, which have both gently wafted over me and unleashed ferocious storms." The chosen Scrabble words give a fascinating portrait of the personal identity, values, and conflicts that have influenced Sheryl's life and work.

Sheryl says, "As in the game of Scrabble, my life is an ongoing practice of using the letters and words that have blown my way to piece together a life that... ultimately anchors me in this world." 

Sheryl used commercial and hand-dyed fabrics, with stamped ink letter printing.  This piece was machine pieced and quilted.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the Brigham City Museum (Brigham City, Utah).
 

It's Modern Quilt Month! (3)

We're celebrating Modern Quilt Month at Q.I. This is the third of FIVE posts. According to The Modern Quilt Guild, modern quilts often use bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and/or expansive negative space. Enjoy!

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Garden Gone Wild, made and quilted by Sherrie Spangler

Splashy colors represent an exuberant untamed flower garden, with quilting lines adding a wind blown feeling. Sherrie Spangler says, "I painted much of the fabric, including sheer silk for color depth.  Feathers, yarn and beads scattered across the surface add to the wildness." The raw edges also add to the soft look of this quilt.

 Ripples in a Crayola Sea, made by Mimi Pollow, quilted by Quality Quilterz

Mimi Pollow says, "This quilt was started on a quilting cruise. Yes, it is from a kit, but it was far from easy.  In fact, it took me almost a year to finish." Pattern source: Strippy Double Diamond by Carol Morrissey.  

 Woven Wonder, made and quilted by Jana Knutson.

What a fantastic woven-look quilt! Jana Knutson says, "Only 400 squares to match up points! One and done pattern but it was fun." Pattern source: Over and Down Under by Bonnie Sullivan (available at many sources). 

It All Comes Together by Peter Adams, quilted by Kathy Harris. 

A graphic contemporary look was achieved with this two-color quilt. Pattern source: Modern 180 (Deb Tucker's Studio).  Peter Adams says, "This quilt was created following the Modern 180 Tumbling Triangles pattern, which uses the Studio 180 V-block tool. A V-block unit contains a centered triangle.  I was intrigued that the triangles appear to be suspended and in a free-fall motion."

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2024 Tucson Quilters Guild show.

It's Modern Quilt Month! (2)

We're celebrating Modern Quilt Month at Q.I. This is the second of FIVE posts. According to The Modern Quilt Guild, modern quilts often use bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, and/or expansive negative space. Enjoy!

Also check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, books, fabric and jewelry items !
You can also visit us on Twitter. 

Silk Parquetry Impression #2, made and quilted by Joyce Kaiser. 

 Original design.  This piece was created using a grab bag of silk strips from "Leilani Arts".  The raw edge strips were sewn to batik units onto a muslin foundation using Holoshimmer or gold thread. Beading of opposite corners [was] added to enhance the silk rectangles.

Gamma, made and quilted by Maria Barr

This quilt seems to vibrate with motion! Maria Barr says, "[This is] such a cool optical illusion, I almost changed the name to "Warp Speed Ahead"! Pattern source: Devon Iott (Miss Make). 

 Gridlock, made and quilted by Karen G. Fisher 

This quilt appears to glow from within, thanks to the creation of intricate dark-to-light gradients.  Karen G. Fisher says, "Gridlock combines all six "grids" I've designed over several years (five of them are in my book*): Triple Sudoku, Matrix, Miriam's Grid, Triaxial, Graduated, and Herringbone." *Pattern source: Karen Fisher's own book, titled "Easy Grid Quilts".

Embellishing, a controlled color palette, and fussy cutting control the chaos. Above, you can see large beaded spirals; other parts of the quilt (shown below) are embellished with metallic buttons and gold trim. Southwestern design fabrics add to the intricate textures. 

Cool Porte Cochere, made and quilted by Kathy Kutansky

Here is an original quilt showcasing fabrics created through surface design! Kathy Kutansky says, "This spring I took a week long Zoom workshop with Pat Pauly.  Using screens, rubbings and direct painting, I created most of these prints. It's really fun to work with these unusual fabrics."

 Kites over Cabin at Night, made by Russ Beasley, quilted by Kris Neifeld.  

This original black and white quilt is the essence of modern design, forming a tessellation. Russ Beasley only used black & white solids because he "loves simplicity".  He says, "I saw a similar picture on Google Art and thought it would be a great quilt. I configured a template for the kite and the square.  I concluded that partial seams [were] the only way to go. I then decided the rows would need to be constructed from the center out also with partial seams."  

The photo below shows the "kites" that make up the design.  Check out the perfect piecing!

Image credits and awards: Photos were taken at the 2024 Tucson Quilters Guild show. Silk Parquetry Impression #2 won 1st Place in the Art Abstract category, plus a Judge's Choice award. Gridlock won 1st place in the One Person - Large Pieced category. Kites over Cabin at Night won 2nd place in the Modern Quilt category. Cool Porte Cochere won an Honorable Mention.

Quilt Fiesta! The annual Tucson Quilters Guild show (2)

It's quilt show time!  The annual Quilt Fiesta, held last weekend by the Tucson Quilters Guild in Arizona, is an outstanding show. We're rolling out some of our favorite photos.

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Helen Hardin - Between Two Worlds by Karen G. Fisher

 This original art quilt by Karen G. Fisher was awarded First Place in the Art Pictorial category.  Karen explains, "Painter Helen Hardin (1943-1984) was half Pueblo, half Anglo. Her Pueblo roots inspired her imagery and color palette. I’ve included her face, and the motifs and colors she used throughout her works, which are in museums all across the U.S."

We enjoyed this amazing detail, from decorative stitches to turquoise buttons and silver feathers, in these closeup photos. 

The Guardian by Stephanie Nordlin

The Guardian was award First Place in the One Person Small Pieced Machine Quilted. The design is semi-original with 3 rows from “Simply Seminole” and block from “The Seminole Patchwork Book.” We love the colors and the design, which highlights the Gambel's quail that live in the Sonoran desert. A male quail is shown watching out for the female and her chicks.

Stephanie Nordlin explains, "The Guardian started as a row-by-row challenge, but I added extra sections of desert, night sky and original appliques." The quilt was beautifully embellished with beads.

A Cactus Garden by Manya Powell, quilted by Creative Lines Quilting, LLC

What a wonderful quilt! Manya Powell entered A Cactus Garden in the Two persons – primarily pieced - hand or machine quilted category.  She says that the multiple types of cactus were fun to make!  The finished quilt was quilted by Creative Lines quilting. (Note: The pattern source was not identified, but the blocks resemble the Greenhouse quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, which has 5 different cactus blocks.)

Heart & Soul in a Quilt by Athena Taylor

Winner of First Place in the One Person Large Pieced Machine Quilted category, here is a gorgeous double wedding ring quilt featuring 42 fabrics. Athena Taylor says, "The applique is needle turned, with some of the birds having more than 50 pieces! The machine quilting was done on my sit down Q20 using ruler work." The closeup photos help show Athena's expert piecing, applique, and quilting.

Celtic Horse, Sleipnir by Jeanne Deloria

Jeanne Deloria says, "Sleipnir is Odin’s eight-legged horse birthed by Loki. It was not the Norse mythology that led me to choose this design, it was the feeling of movement that it evoked and its suitability to reverse applique." The border design is a perfect complement to the crossed motifs in the quilt's center.

 Copper Mountain Springs by Melanie Harris, quilted by John Harris

The colors, precise piecing, and stunning machine quilting really drew our eyes to this quilt. The colors and shapes were chosen to represent the beautiful Huachuca Mountains and big sky in Cochise County, Arizona. Quiltworx (Judy &Bradley Niemeyer) was identified as the pattern source; we recognize this as the inner section of Quiltworx' Iceberg Ridge design.

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2023 Tucson Quilters Guild show.