Author Archives: Maggie Ball

Mongolian International Quilt Show IV – Japanese exhibit

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A delegation of seven Japanese ladies attended the quilt show in Ulaanbaatar and helped us tremendously in setting up the show and packaging and pricing the products made at the Mongolian Quilting Center for retail. None of them were quilters, but they brought eight quilts and fifteen quilted purses with them, donated by members of the Japan Quilting Association. These generous gifts were all for sale, with 100% of the funds going to the Mongolian Quilting Center.

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The quilts and bags were all exquisitely hand pieced and hand quilted. Some of the bags had decorative applique and embroidery all in immaculate stitches. Enjoy this sampling. I particularly like the one with the delicate blue French knots, which my travel companion, Nancy Watts, purchased. The soft beige and brown tones are typical of the work of many Japanese quilters.

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Mongolian International Quilt Show III – Shiilge’s creations

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Shiilge Bat-Ulzii is one of the three talented designers employed at the Mongolian Quilting Center. Her work encompasses a wide variety and she is always excited to try new techniques. Here are several examples that were all on display at the quilt show. During the opening ceremony, we had a wonderful fashion show of garments and bags all designed by Shiilge. This tall model was stunning in the yellow dress with a contemporary dressy look including traditional Mongolian patterns pieced into the ruffles. She presented Shiilge with flowers at the end of the fashion show.

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The striking quilt, black and white, was made by Shiilge. It is queen-sized and made a bold statement hanging on the main large wall of the exhibit. Shiilge surprised Selenge, the Director of the Mongolian Quilting Center, by constructing this wonderful large crazy patchwork horse from blue and white silk scraps. This was very popular at the show, especially with the kids.

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Beautiful Queen is indeed beautiful. She is appliqued and embellished on this wall hanging depicting the traditional Mongolian garb of the princesses from Chenngis Khan’s era. I love this Rainbow Forest made from silk yo-yos. Such a creative colorful idea and well executed.

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It is so exciting for me to see the way the Mongolian women have taken the basic quilting techniques and are using them in their own unique pieces. Shiilge has a creative flare and is prolific in her impressive and original work.

Mongolian International Quilt Show II – Byamba’s Quilts

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Now it’s time to feature some of the amazing quilts made by women at the Mongolian Quilting Center. There are three designers at the Center and each has a unique style and flare for original work which is inspiring and exciting to see. Byambalaa Lhagvansuren designs and makes beautiful silk hand applique works of art. Her horses and Mongolian scenes, in luscious silks are truly magnificent.

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Mighty Three, on the left, won best of show and Byamba was awarded a Singer sewing machine, donated by the Singer store in Ulaanbaatar. Magnificent Horse, on the right, quickly sold in the early days of the quilt show.

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The horse on the left goes to a friend of mine who saw my picture of it on Facebook and asked me to purchase it for her. Darling, on the right has folded ribbon flowers on her back.

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I fell in love with this horse with such a gorgeous colorful flowing mane and a royal blue border. It was given to me as a gift from the women of the Mongolian Quilting Center at a celebratory barbecue we had just before I left Mongolia. Here I am with Byamba and this lovely treasure.

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In addition to the horses, Byamba made these two exquisite pieces, both of which sold during the quilt show. On the left, Farewell, depicting a young pair of lovers in traditional Mongolian costumes and on the right a mountainous Mongolian scene. This lady is extremely talented and I look forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

Mongolian International Quilt Show – Opening Ceremony, August 2014

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The Quilt show in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Mongolian Quilting Center took place in The State Department Store in the center of Ulaanbaatar from 7th-12th August this summer. At our 2006 show in the same place, we tethered the quilts with safety pins to beds in the furniture department on the 4th floor. This year we had a fabulous location on the second floor in a large space between the escalator going up and the escalator going down. People could see the quilts as they went up and down between floors. The picture shows the view from the third floor.

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Hanging the quilts the day before the show opened was challenging. Selenge’s brother owns a furniture company and his company provided large heavy wooden panels which stood on bases. These had to be covered in cloth after they were erected so that we could attach the quilts. It worked fine, but the problem was the length of time it took to put them all up. We began hanging half of the room at 5.00 p.m., but the second half wasn’t ready until 8.30 p.m. The quilt hanging went quickly with the help of the seven visiting Japanese ladies and my US companions. We had quilts from USA, UK, Australia, Japan and of course Mongolia.

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The quilt show opened with much pomp and ceremony the next morning. At 10.00 a.m., the time at which people were invited to the opening ceremony, balloons were being blown up and a bed was being constructed in one corner to display quilts for sale. Products were still being arranged in the sales area and there was much activity. We began at 11.00 a.m. with some Mongolian music. Then there were speeches from Selenge Tserendash (Director of the Mongolian Quilting Center), me and Ogawa-san Hiromi from Japan, with translations. A fashion show of amazing dresses followed, all designed by Shiilge Bat-Ulzii, one of the Mongolian designers at the Center.

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The show was declared open after an elaborate ribbon cutting ritual. Four of us participated including me and were each given white gloves and scissors that came on a silver platter. I was joined by Selenge Tserendash, the Mongolian Minister of Labor (who also presented Selenge with certificates) and Ogawa-san Hiromi from Japan. After we had cut the ribbon, the silver platter reappeared with four fancy champagne flutes filled with milk for us to drink. Traditionally this would be airag which is fermented mare’s milk and not a delicacy that I would choose to drink! Fortunately, they used ordinary milk! I just copied the others and drank about half of the milk. TV and radio people were there and a good number of people watching and there was much applause.

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On the left, are the Japanese ladies in their area of quilts. On the right, we have the teachers, designers, seamstresses, and the manager from the Mongolian Quilting Center with their fearless leader, Selenge Tserendash. It was a joyful occasion and a great start to the show. My next blog will feature some of the wonderful quilts!

Traveling in Mongolia

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I have recently returned from a three week trip to Mongolia to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Mongolian Quilting Center. We spent a week traveling in remote Eastern Mongolia before assisting with preparations and hosting the second International Mongolian Quilt Show in Ulaanbaatar. More on the show in later blogs. Now I’ll share some photo highlights from our travels in the area around the birth place of Chinggis Khaan. I traveled with Vicki Schmall and John and Nancy Watts, all from Portland, OR. Selenge Tserendash was our guide and we had a Mongolian driver.

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We spent our first night in the ger (Mongolian yurt) at a nature reserve where we saw wild sheep and very rare White-naped Cranes. For much of our journey we enjoyed beautiful carpets of wild flowers and an abundance of butterflies. This year there was an unusually high rainfall and the flowers were exceptional. The increased moisture also made our travels challenging and we got stuck in the mud twice. On several occasions we had to get out of the van and wade through boggy areas on foot.

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Here’s our van after we got out of the first spot where we had to spend over two hours digging and searching around for branches to put down to improve our traction. Fortunately, the threatening rain cloud veered away just before reaching us. The other view shows the lush countryside around the Onon river valley. We ate our picnic lunch on this knoll with this spectacular view.

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Here is a deer stone, a sacred standing stone carved hundreds of years ago and thought to be important in ancient Shamanistic rituals. This is a particularly fine example. The little ferry boat was quite an adventure and a huge contrast to the enormous Washington State boats that cross the Puget Sound. We crossed the River Onon in our van on this ferry which just took one vehicle at a time. This crossing saved us 40 kilometers of driving which doesn’t sound like much but our average speed in this area was only about 20 km per hour! Here we are with the Buddhist monk who gave us a tour of this remote monastery. It took us four hours to drive the last 30 km to get there, but it was a wonderful place.

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Foot Pedal Get-A-Grip

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I recently discovered a useful new gadget when I was teaching at Quilt Revolution in Gig Harbor. It’s a very simple idea – a wooden tile with plush ultra-suede like fabric on either side. Put this under the foot pedal of your sewing machine to stop the pedal from scooting away from you. I wish I’d had this for the last 13 years in my studio with a wood floor. I now have carpet, but will still use this.

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Martelli’s manufacture this product and it retails for $14.99 in the stores.

Lecture and stay in Mukilteo, WA

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In June, I had an enjoyable trip to the small town of Mukilteo, WA, just across the Puget Sound and a little to the north to lecture for the Lighthouse Quilters. Mukilteo is well known for its lighthouse in a beautiful park which attracts many visitors. It is right next to the ferry terminal for the ferries to Whidbey Island. Just up the road is the enormous Boeing plant of great economic importance in our area.

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The Lighthouse Quilters is a small group of about 35. The picture was taken during show and tell. My lecture was Creative Quilting with Kids. I’m not often asked to do this talk and it was fun to pull out several quilts made by children during my years of doing projects in Bainbridge Island elementary schools. The tree quilt in the background was made at Blakely Elementary by first grade students and is featured on the cover of my book, Creative Quilting with Kids.

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I was fortunate to stay overnight in Mukilteo at the home of Ann Lindquist and she gave me permission to share her beautiful quilts. The bed in which I slept was covered with a colorful vibrant quilt. Here’s Ann with a quilt she recently finished. I love the striking spiral design created by the placement of the dark and light values in this monochromatic piece.

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These two quilts were hanging in Ann’s dining room. I was particularly drawn to the Snail’s Trail quilt made using a wonderful variety of blues and limy greens. The smaller scale blocks in the border really add to this quilt and make the perfect frame around the larger center blocks. Thank you Ann, for a warm welcome and a delightful stay.

 

 

 

Northern California Inspirations at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles

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Continuing from the last blog on my visit to the San Jose museum, here’s a small sampling from another exhibit entitled North California Inspirations. The exhibit reflected the visions of twenty Northern California textile artists inspired and influenced by the diverse and visually rich region where they live. Here are four of the quilts that particularly resonated with me.

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Urban Reflections by Ann Sanderson is on the left. Ann hand-dyes her own fabric and likes collecting just the right fabrics to express her ideas. The piece seemed to shimmer and I could see the lights reflecting on a wet surface. On the right, Turbulence by Pat Durban. This mosaic of fabric is covered with tulle overlay and embellished with rocks from the beach, beads, and tiny marbles. One of Pat’s favorite places is Agate Beach in Northern California, where the waves crash against the rocks. She likes to capture this mood in her work.

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The three dimensional effect of Morning Mist, San Joaquin Valley by Sue Siefkin was stunning and Sue’s quilt really captured the atmosphere perfectly. She used hand-dyed and commercial fabrics, and textile paint to create this raw edge, fused collage. Breeze II by Jenny K. Lyon was beautifully composed and executed to create the feeling of the gentle motion of the grass. Jenny used cotton and silk thread for the machine quilting on cotton sateen.

Ros Cross Exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles

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In late June, I went to California to teach at the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association. I was fortunate to spend a wonderful afternoon at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. The main exhibit was from Visions 2013 and no photographs were allowed. In the entrance hall, where photographs were allowed, there was an interesting exhibit entitled Now and Then: Early Art Quilts by Ros Cross 1973-1976. Broken Quilt, made in 1976 is made with cotton, unbleached cotton muslin, polyester batting and polyurethane. Some of the fabrics are hand tea-dyed and the quilt is machine quilted with a double lined grid in the background.

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As you can see the fragments of quilts are stuffed adding to the visual imagery and making them look like shards of broken pottery. Ros Cross works in a variety of media including sculpture, drawing, painting and monoprinting. Early in her artistic career she moved from her native home of England to America and began working with textiles. She was fascinated with and inspired by the American quilt tradition and her art work evolved and digressed into quilt making, but without reference to traditional quilting techniques. She connected the worlds of contemporary art practice with the more historical quilt tradition and was way ahead of her time.

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Flags, made in 1975 with polyester cotton blend fabric and machine quilting reminds me of mortar boards at a graduation. These three-dimensional black flags cast interesting shadows on the quilt and their appearance changed as you walked past. I find it inspiring and refreshing to see such an innovative approach to quilting and these quilts were made almost forty years ago!

Off to Mongolia!

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By the time this blog posts, I will have just arrived in Mongolia to help celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the Mongolian Quilting Center. We will be hosting the Second International Quilt Show in Mongolia at The Department Store in the center of Ulaanbaatar, 6th-12th August. Several nations will be represented with quilts in the show including, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Turkey, USA, Japan, and of course Mongolia. I am taking some quilts to exhibit and will also be teaching while I’m there. Here is Tribute to Mongolia which I will be giving as a gift to Selenge Tserendash after the show.

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This is the largest quilt I have ever made, 103″ x 103″ and occupies a great deal of space in my suitcase! The big Olzii patterns are 20″ blocks and are the same as those used singly in my Gateway to Mongolia quilts (pattern available in my on-line store). This Olzii symbol is prevalent in Mongolia and often painted on the doors of yurts to bring long life and prosperity to the occupants. The border design was copied from a Mongolian blanket, but looks just like a Greek Key pattern.

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Here are two more quilts for the show. Fiesta is one of my template-free Kaleidoscope quilts and I will be teaching this technique to the Mongolian women. Mind Games was made for a guild challenge to make a quilt using black and white prints and 30% of a solid color. The design was inspired by Christine Porter’s book, Tessellation Quilts .

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I am writing this a week before my departure and am in the thick of preparations, planning and packing. It will be an exciting trip and I’ll be posting more blogs on my return.