American Quilter's Society show underway at Chattanooga convention Center TODAY THRU SATURDAY
More than 12,000 visitors are expected at QuiltWeek in the Chattanooga Convention Center today through Saturday, Sept. 15-17, according to the American Quilter’s Society website.
QuiltWeek, which is sponsored by the American Quilter’s Society, covers all things quilt-related in one convenient location. This weekend’s 77 vendors will display the latest in fabrics and quilting tools, everything from books and Bernina sewing machines to thimbles and threads. There also will be quilt contests, quilt displays, classes, lectures and demonstrations.
Fifteen quilting experts from across the country are leading classes at Chattanooga QuiltWeek, which began Wednesday. Among them are Bernina ambassador Frieda Anderson, who hand-dyes her fabric and has been quilting for more than 40 years; Karen Combs, known for her 3-D quilts; author and teacher Nancy Mahoney, who has been featured in more than 175 national and international quilt magazines; and Paula Nadelstern, whose work was chosen for “The 20th Century’s 100 Best American Quilts.”
Many quilters come to QuiltWeek to shop the vendor booths. Others want to learn from the celebrity instructors. Visitors are advised that special event/class/lecture tickets are sold separately from admission tickets; event tickets do not include show admission. Purchase admission tickets at the admission counter; special event/class tickets at AQS Information Center.
American Quilter’s Society is the biggest quilting membership organization in the world. It encompasses all ages, design styles and methods of quilting.
AQS sponsors QuiltWeek events in multiple cities across the country each year. This is the last year of a three-year run in Chattanooga.
SPECIAL EXHIBITS
› SAQA: People and Portraits: Celebrates the expressiveness of te human face, focusing on both emotional states and the ways in which people interact. The 40 quilts represent two each from the 20 artists featured in the companion book “Art Quilt Portfolio: People and Portraits.”
› AQS Authors Showcase: The displays feature the latest books from well-known authors, along with interactive opportunities as the quilters offer quilts, projects and demonstrations.
› Presidential & Patriotic Collection of Sue Reich: The quilter and collector shows how quilt history has honored the U.S. presidents and patriotic events.
› Patriotic and Presidential Quilts: The featured display is a hand-pieced and hand-quilted Mariner’s Compass Quilt, circa 1850, done in red, white and blue.
› World Painters Challenge: This display compares the techniques and styles among quilters of three nations: Japan, France and the United States. Thirty quilters in each nation
were tasked with designing and executing a piece of fiber art that represented either the work or the style of one of 30 world-famous painters.
› Build a Barn: Julie Sefton’s passion for barns inspired a quilt version of “See Rock City” and a book about her process. From this book sprang the Secret Society of Barn Builders,
an international group of quilters who test the process by creating their own original free-pieced barns.
› New Quilts From an Old Favorite: New York Beauty: From the National Quilt Museum comes this selection of 18 finalist and award-winning quilts by quiltmakers who responded to a challenge to create works from the classic New York Beauty block pattern. Their creations modified those block designs in imaginative ways.
› Simple Quilts — Complex Fabric: This premiere exhibit, based on a new book, “Fabricadabra,” by Paula Nadelstern, promotes the idea that simple quilt patterns can be transformed into visual spectacles by using charismastic prints.
› Jacobean Appliqué: Patricia Campbell Quilts: From the National Quilt Museum comes this collection from a quilt artist known for her nontraditional style of patterns and use of bold colors. A fan of the fantasy botanicals of the Jacobean style crewel embroidery designs, Campbell adapted the graceful curves and stylized leaves to her appliqué designs.
› Cherrywood Challenge: The Lion King: Cherrywood Fabrics and the Disney Theater Group challenged quiltmakers to be inspired by the artistry, colors and choreography of the award-winning Broadway musical “The Lion King” to create a 20- by 20-inch textile.