Quilting Traditions Revisited -- Silver City NM

A lot of guilds have quilt shows; NOT a lot of guilds have quilt shows that last almost two months!

The Southwest New Mexico Quilters Guild show, "Quilting Traditions Revisited", opened at the Silver City Museum on October 9 and will last through November 29. When Jude, one of the ladies who picked me up from the El Paso airport on Thursday, asked me if I wanted to see the show, there was only one answer from one who loves quilts -- Yes, of course!

Here is the front of the Silver City Museum taken from across the street...



And here is the sign in front advertising that it is open. The gift shop is pretty nice and I did have to spend a few minutes browsing, especially looking at the necklaces and pins made from silver tableware. A few of the silver patterns looked recognizable and the ones I liked were shaped into hearts before being slipped on chains or pin backs.

This is the sign just at the entrance to the show. One of these days I have to figure out how to turn the flash off....


There were 34 quilts, so this wasn't a large show. The room is small, so even getting those quilts up was a challenge. The smaller ones were hung down on floor level with the bed and the larger quilts were folded before being arranged on display.



At left, "Spanish Lanterns" by Kathleen Cole is machine pieced and quilted. There were two of these and they are hung as decorative drapes in her home.

Below, Kathleen also made "Mosaic Floor, San Marco, Venice"; also machine pieced and quilted. Both of these quilts were inspired by trips Kathleen has taken.

This is one of two quilts that Claudia Toenies contributed to the show. This smaller one, "Ohio Collection" measures 48"x48" and is both pieced and quilted by hand. As you can tell by the ribbon at the upper left hand side of the quilt, it won "Curator's Choice", one of the two awards given at this show.

The second of Claudia's quilts, "Quilt in the Round", was also hand pieced and hand quilted. This one measures 95"x95". I took a close-up so you can see how even and small her hand quilting is.

"Irish Eyes" by Caroline L. Miller measures 90"x108" and is "hand-quilted and mostly hand-pieced" according to Caroline. I only wish that I could have seen it unfolded.

This was the quilt that earned my "Viewer's Choice" ballot....and not just because it was pink! The piecing was incredible...and here's a close-up so you can see for yourself.

This quilt took the "Director's Choice" award.

"Stars & Chains" was machine pieced and quilted by Twila De Vinney from 1930's reproduction prints. I took a close-up of the unusual border. Rather than using prairie points as an outer edge finish, Twila used them as an intermediate border with the three-dimensional points laying against a solid final border.

Overall, I thought the show was a good mix, both in techniques and in the varying styles and sizes of quilts on display. If you happen to be in the Silver City area between now and November 29, don't miss it!