When you receive this email, I’ll be flying back from Washington DC, where I attended the opening reception for ‘Sewn in America – Making-Meaning-Memory’ at the DAR Museum. My quilt ‘Stardust Mothers’ is hanging in this exhibit, next to a quilt made by fellow artist Dr Carolyn Mazloomi. The exhibit will be open through December 31st. I hope you can see this beautiful exhibit if you are visiting DC, which has both historic quilts and contemporary quilts illustrating ‘craftivism’.
You may have heard that we got about a foot of heavy wet snow on Thursday. I was supposed to fly to DC Thursday morning, but was able to switch my flight to Wednesday to get out of town ahead of the storm. Here in Washington, the magnolia trees and daffodils are in full blossom, and the cherry blossoms are just starting to open. DC is about one week from ‘peak blossom’. Of course with the cherry blossoms come the huge crowds. They seem to get bigger every year. I am getting out of town just in time.
I also learned this week that my ‘Uncompahgre Fritillary’ quilt has been accepted into the SAQA ‘Camouflage’exhibit, which will open at the Intl Quilt Festival in Houston this Fall. Also just finished an article on color trends, that will be in the July/Aug issue of Quiltmaker, which we will of course have in stock in a a few months.
Do you remember the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976? That is the year that I graduated from high school. It was also the Centennial year for our state of Colorado. When I went to the AQSG seminar last year, I heard a lecture by a historian studying a Bicentennial quilt from 1976. Well guess what? We have the semiquincentennial coming up: 2026 will be the 250th anniversary of the American experiment. Start working on your semiquincentennial quilt now, and maybe in 2076 somebody will give a lecture on the history of YOUR quilt! If you have a centennial or bicentennial quilt in your family, send us a picture and I might know a historian or curator who would like to know more about your historic quilt.
The quilts we make today will potentially become part of history some day. Be sure to label your quilts today, for those who are curious tomorrow. Always put a label on the back of your quilt, with your name, date, town, and any other pertinent information. Was the quilt made to celebrate a wedding or a baby? Was it for a kid going off to college, or graduating? Is it a friendship quilt, a memorial quilt, or to document another important event in your life? Some day, that information will fascinate someone admiring your quilt. For myself, I am starting to plan a semiquincentennial quilt!
sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul
Travel/Quilt Dates:
April 7-12 Allegre Retreat
May 1-7 – England
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