Quilt National '87

Quilt National '87

The whole collection is documented in Fiber Expressions: The Contemporary Quilt published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

Four hundred and thirty artists submitted 915 works. Jurors Gerhardt Knodel, Penny McMorris, and Jan Myers selected 84 quilts by 74 artists. The exhibitors represented twenty-six states and four foreign countries. There were five awards granted. Newcomers to the show included Jane Burch Cochran, Katherine Knauer, Robin Schwalb, Susan Shie, and David Walker.

Best of Show
Susan Shie
Neighborhood with Comet Scar, ©SS
98 by 88 inches. Acrylic paint and fabric dye on canvas and fabric. Stuffed and sewn painted forms, quilted silks and cottons, found objects.
Artist's statement: The blue "Vermont" ram in the center of the quilt is the comet scar, a sweatshirt which was burned when a firecracker exploded on me when I was viewing Halley's Comet. This is part of a series of six quilts documenting my life during the 1985-86 visit of the comet.

Award of Excellence
Patrick Dorman
Revelation, ©PD
83 by 92 inches. Cotton fabric, buttons and beads; hand quilted and hand appliquéd.
Artist's statement: Revelation is the celebration of the sacred mystery of life. The mandala of Earth, Air, Water and Fire is surrounded by the images which mark the passage of time: rising and setting of the sun, seasons of the year, cycles of the moon. My representational shadow floats within this place and time. The buttons and net are the mystery and spirit which bind the cosmos.

Domini McCarthy Memorial Award, co-recipient
Laura Lee Fritz
And Crown Her Good With Brotherhood, ©LLF
71 by 71 inches. Cottons and blends; hand embroidered and hand quilted.
Artist's statement: Freedom and Liberty: embroidered with single strands of thread, hand appliquéd 20 stitches per inch. Every man, woman and child is a hero, celebrated here, as are our forefathers standing besides us (the black silhouettes). We are surrounded by creatures of the wild quilted into the outer border.

Domini McCarthy Memorial Award, co-recipient
People's Choice Award
Judy Mathieson
Nautical Stars, ©JM
73 by 88 inches. Cotton blends, machine and hand pieced, hand quilted.
Artist's statement: I have been making variations of compass designs for seven years. A friend sent me a photocopy of a compass rose watercolor by an anonymous 19th century artist (possibly a sailor) that provided the inspiration for this work. The quilt came alive for me when I decided to use value gradations in the background. This causes the values in the central compass design to change as the points move around the center.

Most Innovative Use of the Medium
Virginia Jacobs
Krakow Kabuki Waltz, ©VJ
84 inches in diameter. Machine pieced and quilted cottons and blends, latex balloon armature.
Artist's statement: This work developed out of my interest in the sculptural possibilities in quilting. The work honors two of the visual cultures I find most colorful and graphically inspiring. I am concerned with the rhythms created by the repetition of colors and patterns. I want the viewer to become spatially involved with my work as he or she moves around it. I also just wanted to make something absolutely outrageous.

QN '79 QN '81 QN '83 QN '85
QN '89 QN '91 QN '93 QN '95
QN '97 QN '99 QN '01 QN '03
QN '05 QN '07
QN Prize Winners Home

	Best of Show Susan Shie Neighborhood with Comet Scar, ©SS 98 by 88 inches. Acrylic paint and fabric dye on canvas and fabric. Stuffed and sewn painted forms, quilted silks and cottons, found objects. Artist's statement: The blue "Vermont" ram in the center of the quilt is the comet scar, a sweatshirt which was burned when a firecracker exploded on me when I was viewing Halley's Comet. This is part of a series of six quilts documenting my life during the 1985-86 visit of the comet.
Award of Excellence Patrick Dorman Revelation, ©PD 83 by 92 inches. Cotton fabric, buttons and beads; hand quilted and hand appliquéd. Artist's statement: Revelation is the celebration of the sacred mystery of life. The mandala of Earth, Air, Water and Fire is surrounded by the images which mark the passage of time: rising and setting of the sun, seasons of the year, cycles of the moon. My representational shadow floats within this place and time. The buttons and net are the mystery and spirit which bind the cosmos.
	Domini McCarthy Memorial Award, co-recipient Laura Lee Fritz And Crown Her Good With Brotherhood, ©LLF 71 by 71 inches. Cottons and blends; hand embroidered and hand quilted. Artist's statement: Freedom and Liberty: embroidered with single strands of thread, hand appliquéd 20 stitches per inch. Every man, woman and child is a hero, celebrated here, as are our forefathers standing besides us (the black silhouettes). We are surrounded by creatures of the wild quilted into the outer border.
Domini McCarthy Memorial Award, co-recipient People's Choice Award Judy Mathieson Nautical Stars, ©JM 73 by 88 inches. Cotton blends, machine and hand pieced, hand quilted. Artist's statement: I have been making variations of compass designs for seven years. A friend sent me a photocopy of a compass rose watercolor by an anonymous 19th century artist (possibly a sailor) that provided the inspiration for this work. The quilt came alive for me when I decided to use value gradations in the background. This causes the values in the central compass design to change as the points move around the center.
	Most Innovative Use of the Medium Virginia Jacobs Krakow Kabuki Waltz, ©VJ 84 inches in diameter. Machine pieced and quilted cottons and blends, latex balloon armature. Artist's statement: This work developed out of my interest in the sculptural possibilities in quilting. The work honors two of the visual cultures I find most colorful and graphically inspiring. I am concerned with the rhythms created by the repetition of colors and patterns. I want the viewer to become spatially involved with my work as he or she moves around it. I also just wanted to make something absolutely outrageous.