A Day At The Museum

                                                           Lee Malerich

On Wednesday I had a lovely time, with friends, attending a fabric/fiber exhibit at the Pickens County Museum of Art and History in Pickens, South Carolina.  The museum itself was lovely with its historic displays from long ago times.  

Upstairs however was a wonderland of fabric and fiber.  There were weavings, and stitcheries, some paper work and quilts, even some handmade avant-garde clothes on display.

I loved these little spools which had pictures of family members on the ends and stitchery surrounding the center.  I was picturing punchneedle (of course) circling the middle of larger spools.

We all came home inspired by the creativity and talent of the exhibitors.  The pictures I show can't begin to capture the intricacies and textures of these wonderful fabric/fiber creations.

"Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them". - Henry David Thoreau

Lots of Stitches

Some thoughts on the recent quilt show that I visited...  Remember the story about the Blue Ridge Parkway and the tunnels?  Here is one tunnel represented in fabric and stitch.  It looked like one could just walk right into that tunnel.

There were traditional quilts...

...there were fantasy quilts...

...and there were contemporary quilts.

I later thought about the numbers -- the teeny, tiny stitches (both hand and machine); the fabrics - in all the colors of the rainbow and beyond; the shapes and patterns.  Last but not least the hours, days, months of stitching.  It was an honor to be able to see all of this beautiful work in one place at one time.

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way -- things I had no words for." - Georgia O'Keefe