Dear Jane Returns!

"Dear Jane" quilting craze began three decades ago (my, how time flies!) The original civil war-era quilt was made by Jane A. Blakely Stickle in 1863. Jane's quilt received scant attention until it was 'discovered' by Brenda Papadakis. One of our first posts, titled Crazy about Jane, covered the challenges of this design with its 225 blocks (169 squares, 52 triangles, and 4 corners.) We were thrilled to see THREE outstanding Dear Jane quilts at the 2024 Springville, Utah quilt show.  

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It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (2023) by Katrina Crane, quilted by Debbie Lee.

There are so many gorgeous details in this quilt. Winner of a Blue ribbon (Award of Excellence), Katrina Crane says, "I took a class to reproduce my own "Dear Jane" which seemed like a good idea while, at 50 years old, my eyesight and faculties were in working order. Having never done much applique, and no foundation piecing, this was terrifying. But with a class and a deadline to guide me I vowed to complete it in a year or less. Things will take as long as you give them. Please enjoy!  If I can do it, so can you!" 

 

 

Some of the blocks are appliqued and some are pieced; each one is a work of art.

 

 

Debbie Lee's beautiful quilting especially stands out in the border triangles, as shown below.

Dear Jane (2024) by Lisa Delora, quilted by Tonya Colbert.

Lisa Delora says, "I attended a wonderful class that aided me in creating this quilt.  It was fun to work on each block and learn new skills." The bright, saturated colors come from a variety of prints including many Kaffe Fassett classics. Tonya Colbert's quilting stands out in these closeup photos.

My Dear Jane (2023) by Gay Jackson, quilted by Gay Jackson.

We love this dramatic black-and-white version! Gay Jackson says, "I was invited by a friend to take a quilting class. I had no idea what I was in for! I decided to make the pattern my way and used a monochrome palette I also wanted to finish it, so I chose to do raw edge applique when called for.  I used double batting for the free motion quilting."

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the Springville Museum of Art (Springville, Utah) in August 2024.

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.  

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt materials, collectible items, and new and vintage jewelry! We also invite you to follow us on Twitter ! 

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 (3)

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

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt materials, collectible items, and new and vintage jewelry! We also invite you to follow us on Twitter ! 

she said 'no' by Lone' Vilnius

This lovely framed portrait was made with fabric collage, constructed with machine and hand top stitching and stamping.  The stamped lettering includes many positive words such as 'exceptional', 'glorious', and 'pre-eminent'. The portrait itself was made with several lines of stitching in black thread, creating an elegant profile.

A series of intersections with native species, and engaging conversations  (2024) by Debbi Sigg.  

This lovely piece is a tribute to biodiversity and a plea to preserve native plants and animals. Made with Jacquard silk and supont french silk dye, which was hand painted using the Serti method. Debbi Sigg says, "I cherish childhood memories of wandering through lush grasslands alive with insects, ampibians, and birds.  Sadly such experiences seem elusive now... Through my art, I aspire to ignite conversations and advocate for restoring biodiversity.  The journey ahead is not linear; it's a series of intersections where those who plant native species intersect with the species benefiting from our efforts."

 Haute House Couture (2024) by Kandace Steadman.

Kandace Steadman says, "I enjoy juxtaposing, or intersecting different media in my collages.  For this piece, I used watercolors of Paris in the background, overlaid with fashion sewing pattern pieces to soften the edges. The figures are composed from women in magazine advertisements from the 1950s and watercolors of exotic, hot house flowers from the 1700s.  I titled this Haute House Couture as a playful nod to the haute couture found in Paris and the flowers which clothe the figures."

Sketched and Stitched 2 (2024) by Jen Tarchin. 

 Jen Tarchin says, "My goal is to create a dialogue between myself and the fabric, color, and texture."  This intriguing piece was made with ice dye on linen and cotton.  The top was hand sewn with applique, and hand embellished with custom dyed embroidery floss, creating movement from the curved and intersecting lines.

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

Intersections: A Utah Surface Design Group Showcase (2)

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 dedicated to this genre. Here are some highlights of their 2024 exhibit — titled Intersections — at the Brigham City Museum.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt materials, collectible items, and jewelry! We also invite you to follow us on Twitter ! 

Stag Quilt (2023) by Quincy Davenport, quilted by Jami Herndon

Stag Quilt was inspired by a love of kaleidoscopes, quilting, and the challenge of using fabric panels innovatively.  Quincy Davenport says, "By stacking and cutting six stag panels into vertical strips, then further dividing them into sets of equilateral triangles, a transformative process unfolds... The resulting hexagons, the kaleidoscopic windows, encircle the original panel, offering a glimpse into a world of vibrant symmetry and intricate design." 

The piece was created with cotton fabric panels from the Whispering Pines collection by Northcott Fabrics.  The One Block Wonder technique used 6 panels to create hexagons which are arranged around one of the panels.  The closeup photo below shows the intriguing kaleidoscope patterns.

Black Vase (2020) by Susan Reese.

Black Vase is wonderful still life bouquet, made with collage and commercial fabrics, which were machine stitched and appliqued. Susan Reese says, "In our vegetable garden we have a section for flowers - a cutting garden. My husband makes beautiful bouquets (his art) that fill our home all summer.  So once again, it's an intersection of nature and fiber and family. I find that I'm inspired to express my work series."

The Mother Tree: Keeper of Wisdom (2023) by Jane De Groff.

The Mother Tree is a beautiful piece created with shibori on cotton, dyed with juniper, curly dock seeds, and indigo. Shibori is an ancient, shaped resist, dyeing technique that involves manipulating cloth by stitching, folding, binding, and compressing it before dyeing. Quilting and applique were also used.

Jane De Groff says, "This piece represents a tree but is also symbolic of the divine feminine, who connects us deeply to the earth... Using my hands, the tactile and magical nature of shibori, and harvesting plants for dyes, all help create a stronger intersection between earth and heaven." 

Ancient Connection (2024) by Polly Masaryk.

Here is a fascinating piece made with reclaimed cotton dish cloths and the artist's daughter's baby diapers. Raw edges, embroidered patches, and frayed edges add to the visual interest. The full title of the piece is Ancient Connection: Mother's Blood and Children's Tears, Children's Blood and Mother's Tears.  The artist's description begins with a poem by Herman Hesse, including this phrase: 'This is our way of listening to it, the huge serene heart, and it is the heart of the mother whose children we are." 

Polly Masaryk says, "The act of patching, stitching, and mending my old dish towels and my daughters diapers is my way of listening to it."  

A large embroidered outline of a human heart is in the center, shown above. In addition to the reclaimed clothing and cotton dish towels, this piece used cotton embroidery floss and cotton batting. The materials were cut, pieced, patched, layered, mended, and stitched.

Paper Quilt (2020) by Judy Elsley.

This alternative quilt is composed of 25 individual collaged pieces. As Judy Elsley says, "The piece invites the viewer to ask such questions as: What constitutes a quilt? Is a quilt always made from fabric?  Can we make quilts without sewing?"

Judy Elsley used fabric paints, stamps and stencils to create works on paper. Each piece of geli-printed paper was created with stencils and wood blocks, using fabric prints on paper.  The papers were then cut up and collaged onto canvas frames. 

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

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.

p.s. Check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt materials, collectible items, and jewelry! We also invite you to follow us on Twitter ! 

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).