I'm a fan of the
American Craft Council and managed to find time to read their latest email. It linked to a blog about the American Craft Council show that was held in late February in Baltimore and the Awards of Excellence given to a chosen few participants. The Baltimore show is a granddaddy among these amazing juried craft shows—when I lived in Northern California I used to attend the show at Fort Mason in San Francisco and was always knocked out by the creativity and workmanship of the participants.
At any rate, this year's awardee in fiber is a weaver named
Gretchen Romey-Tanzer. As a former weaver, I'm always interested in seeing what's new in the world of warp and weft, so I clicked on her website. The jeweled colors and simple elegance of her work make it evident why she's a winner. It's also an example of the way using quality materials pays off: the reflective quality and depth of color in her cotton yarns makes the pieces glow.
All this is to say that when I saw her multiple-paneled pieces, I was struck by how that technique might be translated into quilting. I've been writing about m
odern quilting of late, and the graphic quality and use of solid blocks of color in Romey-Tanzer's weavings echo the sensibilities of many contemporary quilts. Make sure to check out her other work for inspiration! (All images by Gretchen Romey-Tanzer, reproduced here with permission.)
