David Kiernan of the Mandel Group approached me back in April to organize the event. We played with dates and formats and after a crazy May we finally were able to put together an event June 3rd.
The event allowed us to showcase local artists as well as the talent of some of our very own Quiltie Ladies. It also provided the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the fancy condos in town.
As we hung quilts in preparation, I dreamed of living in this fantastic space, just blocks from the shop. I was envisioning my sewing studio in the living room area and relocating Frank's handmade cabinets to the walls of the unfinished kitchen. Outside of the price, Frank said we can't live there right now as he knows I would never come home if we lived so close... OH WELL, it is fun to dream.
It was delightful to see many of our customers as well as equally as many faces I did not recognize. Watermark residents, prospective residents, as well as diners in downtown Elm Grove who just wanted to come to the party all took in the creative inspiratioin of our quilts.
Standing back and listening to the chat, one non-quilter commented "Wow, this is a very exciting time for quilters!" It IS a very exciting time for quilters! Between the freedom to experiment with non-tradional techniques to the vast array of available materials, we are fortunate to be quilting in 2011.
Many visitors commented we did not feature artist tags by each quilt. I must confess, it did not occur to me to create artist tags. Not that identifying artwork is not important, at the shop we identify quilts by pattern, not by maker! Since we weren't selling anything, I did not make tags.
We featured the art of Southeast Wisconsin talent (in alphabetical order):
Kim Schaefer (author, fabric designer, quilt maker)
Bruce Seeds (mosaic quilter, web designer)
Carol Turznik (contemporary quilter, illustrator, designer, blogger)
Roberta Williams (applique artist, designer and Patched Works instructor)
As well as the work of our very talented Patched Works staff:
Diane, Jane, Jen, Lisa, Shirley, Susie and ME!
For those of you who had the opportunity to attend as well as those of you who did not, the FLICKR show below details the artist of each piece of a sampling of the pieces displayed. ENJOY!
After the event it was great fun to walk back to the shop and see the village lined with attendees going to or finishing up dinner at one of the Elm Grove fine eateries. As Diane's husband Kevin commented, "What next, close down Watertown Plank Road for Quilt Festival 2012?" Only time will tell!
***A special thank you to Cindy Vick for letting us hang her Civil War version of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I did not have all the pictures and left out mention of Cindy in the original late night post. Thank you!!!***
Happy quilting!
Julie
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