NATIONAL QUILT MUSEUM: VELDA NEWMAN (Cheri)

We chose to go to the National Quilt Museum the day after the American Quilt Society show in Paducah closed.  Good timing!

As the young woman took our entry fee said, there had been 400 attendees waiting in the the lobby the day before.  We saw three or four people while we were in the museum.  In addition to the fact that everybody had already left town, it was also Sunday in the South.

The primary exhibits were of quilts by Velda Newman, Marilyn Badger, and Kaffe Fassett.

For Monterey friends, Kaffe Fassett was born "Frank" and grew up primarily in Big Sur, made his first "name" in textiles in London, is a wildly popular fabric designer of quilting fabrics known throughout the U.S., and has co-written approximately 39 books of quilting patterns, photographed throughout the world.

The title for his exhibit was "Kaffe:  85 and Fabulous."  Yes, age helps when you are developing a body of work.  I'm going to feature some of his comments on creativity in another post.

Unfortunately, Marilyn Badger's extraordinary machine quilting won't show too well on this blog, but here is her quilt Marie's Treasure.

So, I'm focusing on Velda Newman's "Larger Than Life" show.  It just filled my soul with happiness.

When Newman says "larger than life," she means it.  You may want to go back up to the first picture in this post.  Did you notice Mark on the right edge of the picture?  It was his brilliant idea to get in the picture to give it perspective.

Oh, yeah, that quilt, entitled Roses, is 30' long!  Here are some detail shots from it:

She paints her fabrics, but also uses folds, pleating, and hand-stitches to provide texture.

Here is Newman's statement from my favorite quilt in the exhibit.  It's no surprise that she lives in Nevada City, California.

The texture of this cantaloupe blew me away!

North Carolina is a big producer of agriculture, but I really miss California's produce markets!

Here are three more of Newman's quilts.  I missed the statement card for the first quilt, which is entitled Shorebirds.

This was my second-favorite - a very difficult decision - due to the use of those "parrot colors."  Newman says "Chartreuse is my neutral . . . ."

(I think the museum may have taken this quote from one of Newman's three books, because it is no longer her biggest quilt.)

If you find yourself in Western Kentucky, all of these exhibits will be open until at least June 6, and one is open until August 1.