A Great Quilt Show

The Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph, Michigan has a wonderful exhibit of art quilts from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. The exhibit lasts until April 6, and is worth a drive. Any one within several hours might well consider going. There are works by Ann Johnston, Carol Bryer Fallert, Mary Mashuta, Michael James, Yvonne Porcella, and others less familiar to me. There's a range of technique also, although they lean toward the traditional, with lots of piecing and applique, but there's some photo transfer, contact printing, non-traditional materials. Sorry no photos for the post, but photography is not allowed. The Krasl's web site does give you a taste though. St. Joseph is a charming little town on the hill above Lake Michigan, with a pedestrian downtown area. Other attractions include The Box Factory for the Arts, a former factory which now contains a display area and artists workshops, and area quiltshops, which you can find here.

Since I was feeling sour after my last quilt show visit, the quilts in this exhibit were a breath of fresh air, and also brought about one of the more memorable comments from my husband, the quilt critic. Not "Why don't you make quilts that are works of art like those?" which I could understand, but "Those quilts have lots of little pieces. When are you going to make one with lots of little pieces?" I didn't hit him because I was driving at the time.