Quilt National 2011 Prize Winners :: Quilt National

Bonnie Bucknam
Crater ©BB
60 by 81
Cotton, dye; machine pieces, machine quilted.

Artist's Statement: I find inspiration in the landscape of the many places where I have traveled and lives. Each location has its own unique character, colors, and mood.

Katie Masopust
Con Brio--With Spirit ©KM
64 by 64
Cotton, cotton blends, synthetic suede; machine appliquéd, machine pieced, machine quilted.

Artist's Statement: I have returned to my painting roots, working with acrylics while listening to music. These paintings are then translated into quilts that feature the original artwork as a centerpiece. The flow of my brushwork and the colors and patterns of my fabrics are the notes floating in the air.

Lisa Call
Structures #113 ©LC
39 by 86
Cotton, fiber-reactive dyes, cotton batting, cotton thread, hand dyed fabric; freehand cut with rotary cutter and/or scissors, machine pieced, machine quilted

Artist's Statement: The Structures series, which investigates the boundaries we use to divide our world, originated as an exploration of human-made structures for containment, such as fences and stone walls. Lines of posts, negative space created between odd shaped stones, and uniform rows of bricks are all of interest.

As the series matures, focus has shifted to the psychological barriers humans use to protect themselves emotionally, exploring how we hide our true thoughts and feelings with these imagined roadblocks.

Naomi S. Adams
Greek ©NA
72 by 54 by 2
Cotton, dye, adhesives, batting, cotton thread; adhesive reconstruction, machine quilted

Artist's Statement: Greek speaks to my fascination with communication struggles in relationships. Our individual and shared experiences and influences affect how we understand and convey meaning. I am interested in exploring how constant change in our lives influences how we emotionally process emphasis, content, and context. I am intrigued with the process of creating, deconstructing, and then redefining a new composition from the parts of the whole to communicate the depth of our complex and evolving relationships.

Sue Cavanaugh
Ori-Kume #20 ©SC
41 by 52
Organic cotton sateen, 4-ply spun silk, beading cord, fiber-reactive dye, cotton batting, cotton backing; whole cloth, shibori stitch resisted (ori nui and a variation of mokume), dye painting, shibori stitch texturing, layer, hand quilted.

Artist's Statement: Life ebbs and flows, much like a river. We're ever changing, yet, once a path is chosen, we tend to stay within the comfort of our boundaries. Bits of the environment rub off on us and enrich our journeys. And once in a great while we might escape our imaginary banks and forge a new path. Those times can make all the difference.

Katherine K. Allen
Glass Garden (Diptych)©KA
54 by 108
Silk, buckram, ink, acrylic paint, screenprint inks; painted and stencil printed on whole cloth, hand stitched

Artist's Statement: My art is a meditation on nature. From garden, wetlands, and woods, I gather the raw materials I use in creating my soft paintings. These imaginary botanicals and abstract landscapes are created by painting and printing in successive layers on un-stretched cotton canvas or silk. Marks made by hand, brush, and stitch interweave with natural forms from the earth to communicate time, memory, emotion, and my philosophy of coexistence in harmony with nature. My goal is to create an evocative artwork that nourishes mind, eye, and spirit in equal measure.

Judy Kirpich
Circles No. 4 ©JK
39 by 35
Cotton, dye, cotton and polyester thread; machine pieces, machine quilted

Artist's Statement: Circles No. 4 explores the tension I have felt during the last two years of economic turmoil in our country. While my compositions may appear to be a random assortment of circles and lines, they are all placed quite deliberately. The technique I use involves cutting over and over into a "finished" top--my version of Russian roulette, since one false cut can, and has, ruined months of work.

Mary Stoudt
Equilibrium ©MS
55 by 35
Cotton, silk, velvet, unidentified fabric; raw edge revere appliquéd

Artist's Statement: Since the 70s, I have been stitching, weaving, painting, and exploring a wide variety of media. In 2003, I started layering fabric in a grid-like fashion. I visualize the quilt composition, its colors and forms in my head and then as I move through the process, I improvise the details.

Shoko Hatano
Color Box #13 ©SH
54 by 79
Silk, cotton, tulle, dye; painted, airbrushed, hand-dyed, machine pieces, direct appliquéd by machine, machine quilted

Artist's Statement: I have expanded my image of the transformation of the social condition and environment with color, light, and shadow. The joy of machine quilting also took part in creating a scene of the mysterious and eternal cosmos. I am concerned about the destruction of the natural environment due to global warming.

Judy Rush
Portrait of the Youngest Girl 1 ©JR
39 by 25
Silk, cotton, and silk/rayon fabric, woman's handkerchief, perle cotton, and silk thread; stamped, screened, layered, and cut

Artist's Statement: After many years of learning how to be a mother of children, I have yet to figure out how to be a mother to my adult children. This quilt is part of a series that explores my children in their adulthood.

Kate Themel
Dandelion ©KT
46 by 33
Cotton, acrylic tulle, rayon thread, dye; raw edge machine appliquéd, machine quilted

Jean Evans
My Space ©JE
68 by 46
Cotton, polyester batting, paint, embroidery thread; hand appliquéd, hand quilted, hand painted and embroidered

Artist's Statement: As a fiber artist, I work with enthusiasm and patience, drawing from experiences and things imagined. Inspiration comes from within and from the observation of color, light, line, form, texture, and pattern on faces, figures, ordinary things, and nature. This quilt depicts "my imagined space" with chairs, dresser, fancy mirror, iron and ironing board, a window with curtains, a figure, and a table with a bouquet of flowers; it's full of color and abstract shapes.

Elin Noble
Fugitive Pieces II ©EN
78 by 40
Cotton, silk, cotton thread, dye; itajime shibori (clamp resist); discharged, over-dyed, machine quilted with hand-dyed thread

Artist's Statement: Fugitive Pieces II is a whole cloth quilt. It is itajime shibori, which for me involved layering patterns by repeatedly adding and subtracting colors, leaving hints and marks of what was there before. This method of dying allows me to juxtapose soft and hard edges, revealing an unexpected dance of solid and diffuse contours. Through machine quilting I accentuate color nuances, playing cloth and thread against one another. Overall, I aim for subtle narrative spaces.

Daphne Taylor
Quilt Drawing #13-for Maureen ©DT
46 by 39
Silk, cotton, polyester batting, cotton thread; whole cloth, hand quilted, hand embroidered

Artist's Statement: In my Quilt Drawing series I honor my love of drawing. Lines reminiscent of landscape are quilted and embroidered with open white spaces. The rich visual language of these lines and markings is influenced and restrained by the power of simplicity. Hand quilting is of great importance in my work because it is equivalent to the act of drawing. The quilting is a loose, spontaneous act. My hand responds to the cloth, creating a loose rhythm of shadow line that is simple, clear, and meditative.

Kate Themel
Dandelion ©KT
46 by 33