Although I am back from vacation, there is too much unpacking chaos for me to get back to quilting yet. However, that didn’t stop me from heading out to the annual NW Quilt Expo in Portland OR. I saw probably 3/4 of the 700 quilts hanging.
Three special exhibits caught my attention:Western Modern Quilt Guild’s Native American themed challenge, Cover to Cover’s interpretations from two novels, and Latimer Museum’s antique quilts. A couple photos from each.
From the Native American challenge, I appreciated most the quilts that though inspired by history didn’t closely reproduce traditional native images, rather creating new ones.
This one gave the traditional Crossed Canoe block a new meaning.
Fishing Hole by Nancy Schaefer
Schaefer described deriving her design while watching the fish ladders at the Bonneville Dam and thinking back to a time when salmon were so plentiful they could be speared from a canoe.
This quilt also referenced salmon.
Tails and Fins by Beverly Shoger
Shoger, noting that salmon linked the coastal tribes, chose to represent them by abstracted tails and naming the better known groups.
This quilt was based on a collaboration.
Shaman’s View by Kathy White
White’s granddaughter had done a senior project that included shamanism. She drew a sketch that White translated into fabric.
Cover to Cover Book Club Quilters is a group that designs quilts based on novels, usually doing two a year. One was Gone With the Wind. There were quilts showing Tara, quilts with abstractions in blue and gray, and quilts representing grand living and the Atlanta fire. This humorous one caught my fancy.
Flowered and Southern Fried by Patricia Goodwin Andrews
(Not so humorous from the chicken’s point of view.) Andrews says, “It’s Saturday and this chicken has another day till it is Sunday and southern fried chicken day.
The group’s second book was All the Light We Cannot See.
The Map in Her Head by Dianne Kane
Several of the quilts referenced Marie-Laure’s blindness; the fabric selection in this one appealed to me.
Last, but not least, are the antique quilts from the Latimer Museum collection.
Nine-Patch Medallion
This one was dated ~1840. It looked to be double-bed size.
Here is a closer view of the trapunta and hand quilting. Notice some of the old fabrics are beginning to shred. Those early dyes were harsh.
The next one was dated ~1880 and looked to be twin size.
Ohio Star
The center square in the Ohio Star blocks looked to be about 3/4-inch on each side–the blocks about 4 inches.
If you live in the area, you have one more day to see the show. I hope the rest of you enjoyed the sampling.
knitNkwilt 
Very cool! I love the black & white one with the lime green (and the others too). Another blogger I follow – Anna at Woolie Mammoth posted a great video too of what it was like to attend the NW Expo – I need to go someday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt4TYzYXibM
That show is on my bucket list. I enjoy the special exhibits that interpret a specific idea. Glad you to time to go and to share.
What a fun bunch of quilts, and so diverse. Thanks for sharing for those of us who didn’t get to go to the show!
Thanks for sharing, Claire.
another year I won’t be able to go enjoy the show, wonderful selection of photos and thank you for sharing!
What a great show that must have been. Thanks for sharing these pictures. I enjoyed the views of the Native American quilt inspirations quite a bit. I thought the chicken amusing, too, and I have read All the Light We Cannot See – quite a lovely, and well-written story, as well as terrific manipulation of the English language. I probably would have chosen that same quilt you did, as it’s very evocative of her mental maps and the things her father built for her. The antique quilts are beautiful, and such a shame they are fading and disintegrating in places. I know *I* will never be making a 4″ Ohio Star – not even ONE.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful quilts with us. I had fun looking at these. I love Fishing Hole and The Map in Her Head. I read “All the Lights We Can Not See” and Marie-Laure does say that there is lights in her head as sounds carry lights. It was a very good book. And I digress. Loved the show. ;^)
due to you adding a comment on my blog I have found your blog which is going to be so inspiring