The crazier the holiday season, the more I yearn for the quiet beauty of nature. The more I get stuck in holiday traffic, the more I crave a quiet walk in the snow. The more I am bombarded with multiple emails, the more I wish to escape to my studio, for the simple pleasures of color and creativity.
This year I have seen thousands of beautiful quilts, from New Zealand to Mexico, from Texas to England, ranging from Modern to intricate Traditional, to Abstract Comtemporary. I have tried to capture the nuances of these quilts, to share in photos, to inspire and inform.
Some things just can’t be captured in a photo, like the shadows of three-dimensional textures, the shimmer of vintage silks, and the subtle variations of color in pastels or inky dark tones. Photoshop is my friend, and I work over the photos to try to tell the quilt’s story more accurately, when the lighting of an exhibition hall is spotty. Ultimately I want to share a bit of the “Aha!” moment that I feel when I first behold a brilliant quilt.
So here I wanted to share a quilt from Quilt National at the Dairy Barn, by Janet Windsor. Her work “Crumbling” has cotton, silk, velvet, wool, felt, and rayon. Her vertical banner quilt depicts striated rocks, and the pebbles formed by the crumbling stone. She collected these fabrics all over the world, and describes the process of creation as “magical” as the stones and striations emerged under her needle.
You can see how she was happily carried away by the creative process.
I have set this three-dimensional quilt into a collage of richly colored fabrics that depict the textures and patterns of Nature. Perhaps you are craving some of Nature’s organic and geological textures as well. As you race through the holiday celebrations, knowing that the Winter sewing months are almost upon us, carry the quiet patient resilience of Nature in your heart…
Here in Colorado, we have a special song to celebrate the quiet of a snowy Christmas morning in the mountains, and I’d like to share a couple versions with you.
We wish you a beautiful holiday season, full of the love and warmth of family and friends,
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
Check out our videos from international quilt festivals, Quilting Arts TV and more, on our eQuilter Video Page. (5 NEW Videos from Houston!)
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