The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

I juried into Houston!

So, my piece “Prairie Conversation” juried into the World of Beauty show at Houston-yippeee! Ah, but there is an interesting story behind all of that-read on.

“Prairie Conversation” was inspired by a quick photo I took while visiting my hometown in north central Illinois, in farm country. The wind is eternal there and I love the way it tostles the crops and roadside weeds. After I took the photo, it just seemed to me that they were in conversation, hence the title.

A closer look shows the quilting a little bit better. For most of its life, this piece did not have the black underlay, it stood alone. Having seen my work hanging with others, I noticed that it seemed to lack presence and importance without some sort of surround. I love the way the black surround gives it that extra boost and I think the quilting continues the theme.

The Houston show consists of the World of Beauty (WOB) exhibit, a judged and juried show, as well as a huge variety of other exhibits, some juried and some submitted as a whole. I actually first entered this into the Landscape Quilts exhibit and it was rejected! In a what-the-heck-do-I-have-to-lose moment, I entered it into WOB along with another quilt that I feel is a much stronger quilt. I actually forgot that I entered this quilt into WOB!

I won’t show the other quilt I entered in its entirety here-I’ll wait until it juries into another exhibit. I don’t think I have to do that but it seems respectful to the venue to keep the image under wraps until its first showing. I wrote about it here and here’s a peek:

The working title of this piece is Moonlit Garden and I desperately hope I come up with a better name before it shows. I stink at naming my quilts! It is wholecloth, with an interesting border, beading, trapunto and just a wee bit of free motion quilting. I am actually quite disappointed that it did not jury in. It will be interesting to see how well it does once I get it out there. I really like it!

One more thing. If you follow my work, you may think this quilt looks familiar and even the name is familiar….for good reason. The piece below has been traveling internationally with the Studio Art Quilt Associates My Corner of the World exhibit.

Yes, it’s based on the same photograph so it is very familiar. See how different it looks without the black surround? I did make a few minor changes for the “new” Prairie Conversation that juried into WOB. I have never before duplicated a quilt, but in this case I wanted to. With the SAQA exhibit, it was to be gone for over 2 years traveling. I felt like it was an important part of my Trunk Show and that’s why I made another. I don’t think I’ll do this again, but it is nice to have it back in my Trunk Show.

I actually like the back best, but it does not show well from afar.

There are all sorts of mysteries to the jurying process. I know of one major quilter whose piece did not jury into the WOB show and went on to be a highly-ribboned piece that ended up in the permanent collection of The National Quilt Museum in Paducah. You really never know why some pieces jury in and some not. You roll with it.

Detail from “Still Waters” entered in 2009

I am thrilled to have a piece in the WOB show. In the past I have had 2 garment ensembles and 2 quilts hang in the show. Although I am partial to art quilt shows, I love to be in the Houston WOB show because of the world-wide audience and the pure prestige of it all. And I love the way the show is judged-you receive 3 separate evaluations, one from each judge. The feedback is so much more meaningful that way.

The first year I hung in the show, I was shocked at some of the judge’s comments. It would have been easy to dismiss the comments if they came from only one person. But when you hear it 3 times over, you’d better listen!

I’ll be linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday-check out all the great links there!

 

Comments

  1. Congratulations, Jenny, on your quilt being juried into Houston! I love your piece. I had to chuckle a little when I saw it, as I was just looking at the weeds growing beside the road yesterday, and they included Queen Ann’s lace.

  5. Totally agree about getting multiple feedback. When all the comments are mooshed into one, you often get statements that flat out contradict each other! And sometimes you can see that one judge just didn’t get it. Well done, Jenny! Can’t wait to see you, have dinner, and drool over quilts together.

    • Yes, ain’t that the truth? The first year I got pummelled by all 3 judges and that was a wake-up call! We’ll do Ninfa’s and you can flirt with the manager, get us a table!

  7. Congrats on the acceptance! Well deserved. And thanks for mentioning that even you don’t always get into shows. That’s a good lesson for us all to keep entering and not let one disappointment slow us down.

    • Thank you Diane! I am picky about where I enter and it’s a personal decision. I don’t enter AQS because I found the judging comments to be so minimal that it wasn’t worth it for me. It may have changed and perhaps I should try again. My focus is not on showing but on teaching and lectures so whenever a quilt goes to show it comes out of my Trunk Show and I have to think carefully about that. I am also much more interested in art venues-galleries and juried exhibits. They are generally much harder to jury into than quilt venues but that is my preference. I usually have a good idea whether my work will jury in or not but of course I am sometimes surprised and disappointed. I really don’t spend much energy on rejections-you never know why you’re rejected so it’s not worth it to ponder it too long. My motto has always been-Onward! I’m making what I’m making and I’m not thinking about what the judges will think!

  8. You know how excited I am to be going to Houston for the first time. I will be looking for Prairie Conversation. So proud for you. Congratulations.

    • Good idea Monica! But I can’t find them. Ugh. I keep them all in one spot and they are not there. I would remember it if they said something I was not aware of. I suspect they might have commented on my tension. I used very thick 12 wt cotton on the top and Aurifil 50/2 in the bobbin and it’s hard to get perfect tension with that combination. Thank you for asking.

  12. This is wonderful! How large is it? The dark frame really works. I have always loved Queen Ann’s Lace. Congratulations on having it displayed in the Houston show!

  13. Well, why didn’t I think of that! Love the simplicity and your ability to
    record natural objects we may have overlooked, so that we appreciate
    our surroundings. I’m pumped! Thank you!!!!

  14. Congratulations. This is so beautiful. I too love the beautiful weeds. Infact anything that grows and nature in general. I’m curious about your process. Did You quilt the piece then thread paint or embroider the weeds on after. I’d love to see it in person. I’m hoping it might be at the Chicago or Grand Rapids quilt show.

    • Hi Diann; I did the background first, then laid in the black plants. This is an older piece and won’t be in either show but I will be teaching at the Grand Rapids Show. I’d love to meet you if you’re there!

  15. Thanks for responding to quickly. Your quilt is beautiful and I’m sure amazing in person.

    I’ll have to check the class list to see what class you’ll be teaching at the show in Grand Rapids. It would be fun to take a class and meet you. Have a nice evening.