Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Show

The show at Island Quilter was a huge success! The opening was well attended and despite my last minute panic, the show was cohesive, hung well (thanks to Anja) and a lot of fun! For all of you who are over seas and far far away I hope this will give you a closer look! For those of you in the area, the show is open through November 1st.
As promised here are some pictures all courtesy of my very good friend Sue Tamcsin: Thanks Sue!#iloveher.

 View of the middle of the room

Vintage quilts, machine quilted from far left, far right by Irene Campbell


 Frankenquilt with quilts by Katie, Maggie, and Krista


Frankenquilt
Quilted by Krista Withers
Pieced and Designed by Krista Withers
2012
Where to begin? On a dark stormy night …......in the Frankenquilt Lair.
Ha ha, no it’s not quite that dramatic.
 I started this quilt with all good intentions of it becoming a traditional flower garden using Anna Maria Horner’s Good Folks Voile. Hugely inspired by Katy’s (aka Imagingermonkey) Hexie MF,  I envisioned a delicious soft Hexie quilt made just for me.
Seven million hours later and a huge pile of hand stitched hexagons I unknowingly began piecing improv flowers which would merge with the hexies to become what you see here.
Who knew that you could improv English Paper piece? Who knew that using safety pins to keep hexagons in order was a horrible idea? Who knew WTH I was doing? Not me. Who knew I was creating a monster? Who knew at 3a.m.when I was frantically hand sewing hexies and turned on the television to the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, that this quilt had to be called Frankenquilt?
 I knew.
And Frankenquilt grew. A traditional flower garden grew and from it grew flowers that were not traditional at all and from those grew more traditional flowers. And somehow I pieced them all together and tried my best to get it in square, and then tried some more.
I quilted it and quilted it and quilted it, then I quilted it some more.
I even had to quilt a pleat into it because my haphazard piecing is enough to make any judge cry.
 I made it work.
 It was recommended I change its name for show purposes... you see that I could not.
 I present to you, Frankenquilt.
I love Frankenquilt with all my heart.



From far left:  Katie's Seattle Stars, Alison Robins's Extreme fabric diary. Joanne Roth's Running in circles, doll quilts by me, and yet another opposing triangle by Katie

Rainbow wall makes me smile. Quilts by Katie, Maggie Downing, me and my alter ego, Krista.



The third opposing triangles quilt by Katie

Sun quilt by Maggie Downing

And here's Me! 
I am not a huge fan of being photographed, but there I am. 
Quilter’s Statement
I come from a very traditional place in quilting and piecing. As I have evolved as an artist and quilter my work has changed. I have grown and found a place where I can express myself through fabric. Painting is my first love and always will be, but I am thankful to finally see my ideas translated in quilts. I love the modern quilt movement, it has such a vibrant energy and bright future. I feel honored to be part of this movement and thankful to have such talented friends and customers to collaborate with.  This show would have been impossible to put together without the vision of these friends and their gorgeous quilts. Quilts, that have been my privilege to quilt, created by friends who have generously allowed me to share in this exhibit.


25 comments:

  1. Fabulous Krista. I felt quite emotional reading it. Very well done. Virtual hug from me. Xx

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  2. Wow! I love the frakenquilt. If I ever ever manage anything anywhere near like that I will have reached my quilting life goal! The quilting, the colours, the piecing, all amazing!

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  3. Hooray. Great post. Thanks for all the pictures. Amazing. Love frankenquilt...

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  4. amazing wonderful beautiful YOU!!

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  5. I absolutely love everything about this post including and especially Frankenquilt. Or perhaps the gorgeous photo of beautiful, talented YOU. xoxo

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  6. I love Frankenquilt more every time I see it and now that I know the story I love it even more. What a perfect name for it too. Your show looks spectacular - bravo! When is the book coming out? :)

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  7. Thanks for sharing the photos, as I am far far away. (in Australia) I think your Frankenquilt is SO STUNNING! I can't remember how, but I am sure I saw a small photo of part of this quilt...on another blog perhaps? I just had to follow the crumbs/link, so that I could see the whole quilt. You also have some amazing talented friends producing wonderful work.

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  8. of course your show is a success - how could it not be with your fabulous quilting? Love your story of how the marvelous Frankenquilt grew and grew, love seeing all the quilts hung for everyone to enjoy. Just wish I was going to be able to make it down, but alas, not to be - but I will see you in November!

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  9. So beautiful! You should be very proud! I would so have loved to see these in real life but the pictures are great :-)

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  10. Congratulations! Everything looks wonderful. I found you via stories by Alison and Krista ("K1") and am happy to be following along now :)

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  11. Wonderful looking show! And I love the Frankenquilt!!
    I am not in town, but I am forcing my mother to go see in on my behalf! She will also be toting some friends along, and surely there will be fabric purchased!

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  12. I love your quilting. I loved it on Alison's quilt and then on more. I have to say I love Frankenquilt and so enjoyed your story about her too.

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  13. Wahoo! Great job, Krista! Thanks for sharing photos of your wonderful show.

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  14. Well done Krista! Such a fabulous array of quilts, love them all. So nice to see our bee quilt there too :) Danielle xxx

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  15. Love, love, love Frankenquilt! Pushaw on the judges, I love the name- completely unorthodox and completely surprising. It makes me smile.

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  16. You are a true ARTISTE!!! Love Frankenquilt and you make me feel much better about "making things work". I do it all the time and feel guilty...no more!! Frankenquilt has set me free!! You're quilting is superb. May I ask what machine you use?
    Blessings
    Gmama Jane
    Where do you live? BTW, would you consider turning off the word ID?? My eyesight is so poor and I have had to stop looking at sites with Word ID but your's was so beautiful I had to respond even though reading those letters was so difficult

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  17. wish i could have seen the show! looks like it was a blast.

    i watched frankenquilt come to be on instagram, the process was exciting and i'm glad i managed to stumble upon your blog now, too!

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  18. I really like it! Love the neutrals, the small bits and the graphic quality combined with traditional piecing.

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  19. First time to see Frankenquilt and it's really beautifully detailed and thought out. Well done.

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  20. wow a double wedding ring quilt withOUT the curves.... amazing!!
    love all the pics you provided.
    how do i find out about the quilt show?
    where, times, $
    vashon wa..... i can drive there....
    xo
    eva

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