Every year my small quilt group challenges itself with a theme and the results are shown at the library in Newtown, CT. We've been doing this for many years and started when our group was quite large, twenty-five or so members. Our group has sadly dwindled, mostly due to people moving away or illness or old age. We now number only six active members, so it gets harder to put on a show. Some of us did two quilts this year to make up for our small number.
We always choose the theme together and at the time we all thought this would be a great idea. Common Object, Uncommon View. But we all found it to be the most daunting challenge yet and had a difficult time coming up with ideas. Somehow we all came through and I think you will agree that it is a stunning show. If you are in the area, please stop by. You know that all quilts look better in person.
All of the quilts are squared and true (where they are meant to be) and any wonkiness or skewed corners are due to the poor photographer (me!) I apologize. Please click on each picture for a bigger view.
Lynne Croswell WITCH HOBBLE 25" x 25"
Lynne took a magnified view of the underside of the Witch Hobble leaf. She pieced very thin lines using Kathy Loomis' method. Yes, those tiny white lines are pieced!
Margaret Clayton-Amey BUTTERFLY "EYES" 25" w x 20" h
Margaret chose the close-up of a butterfly wing and depicted the overlapping scales of the wing with embroidery floss and dimensional paint.
Nike Cutsumpas PERCOLATION OF COFFEE 18" x 18"
Nike's common object was the coffee filter. She incorporated it into her design of a coffee plant with leaves and berries. She used ink-painting, stamping, acrylic paints and machine stitching.
Andrea Shedletsky JUNK MAIL-A THING OF BEAUTY? 33" w x 40"h
Andrea sliced strips of junk mail choosing interesting text, color or content. She sewed these into blocks and then the blocks into a quilt. She said that sewing on paper was tricky, leaving no room for error.
Detail of Andrea's Junk Mail quilt.
Carolyn Cooney BOTTOMS UP 20" w x 29" h
Carolyn, our resident landscape expert, chose a photograph she had taken of an old Sycamore tree, shot from the base of the tree looking up. She used stamping, fusing, and painting to achieve her three-dimensional trunk and leaves.
Norma Schlager IT'S THE BERRIES 20"w x 29"h
I changed a photograph of a common green berry into four different colors in Photoshop and printed them onto fabric. The outline of the berries was thread stitched onto black fabric. Small seed beads were sewn on for the blossom ends.
Norma Schlager CENTERED 20 " x 20"
A macro (very close-up) photograph of an echinacea flower center was printed onto fabric four times, all facing in. A border was added and the center was quilted in a half inch grid.
Lynne Croswell TROUT SPOTS 17" w x 24" h
Lynne's piece shows us a close-up view of trout spots, which are unique for each fish. She used hand dyed and commercial cotton, tulle and paint.
Barbara Drillick LET'S MAKE A POT OF TEA 25"w x 31" h
Barbara's quilt contains a schematic for constructing a tea pot and the panels around the edge illustrate the title. She used tea dyed fabrics and hand embroidery.
Andrea Shedletsky SLICED LEMONS 21"w x 33" h
Andrea created her own fabric by using a sliced lemon dipped in bleach on commercial cotton. She used vintage beads for her lemon seeds.
If you have been following my blogs about my Baltic/Russian trip, I will return to that in the next post.
Looking through the magnificent gilded gates at the palace, beloved of Catherine the Great, in the distance.
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Typical of the gowns worn in that era. Can you imagine wearing such a contraption?
The Gold Room. Note the blue booties we all had to wear to protect the beautiful floors.
Such splendor! There were many, many rooms to tour, one more sumptuous than the next. One of the most impressive was the Amber Room, made entirely of carved amber. It was spectacular. No photos allowed.
These gorgeous tile stoves were in many of the rooms. But they were not actually heaters, just for show.
Fabulous sculptures were everywhere, but I was especially won over by these darling marble cherubs, one facing left, the other right.
The grounds were also impressive with formal gardens, ponds and fountains.
We had lunch here at the Podrovie Restaurant with many courses of typical Russian food (delicious!) and our first opportunity for VODKA SHOTS. If you had told me earlier that I would be throwing back shots of vodka, I would have said you were crazy. But when in Rome..... There is a whole set of rules for drinking the vodka. I only had two that day, but some in the group had five or six. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and no one had to drive home. After that shots were offered at most meals, even the elegant restaurants. 
