Creative Adventure Into Contemporary Design Workshop

Quilts by Students of

Bonnie Lyn McCaffery - Quilt Artist

As a result of the Jewel Pearce Patterson Scholarship, I was required to come back from International Quilt Expo and teach a class based on some of the things I learned while there. After a year, I was required to send 10 quilts to Houston to be displayed at the International Quilt Festival. Up to 3 of these quilts could be my own, the rest had to be the works of my students. The other requirement was that they would have to measure at least 50" (no mini quilt submissions here).

Well several people signed up the for the workshop and committed to complete quilts by the July 1 deadline. I taught the class in three evening sessions. The classes included various exercises to release some creativity and open the channels for design. We also covered color and fabric selection as well as enlargement of the design, pattern making, and discussed how each student would execute her design. It was so exciting to see these quilts develop. I hope you'll enjoy looking at the results. Keep in mind, that many of these ladies never ventured into contemporary design - so it was a stretch. All came away with a new appreciation of contemporary art quilts.

These quilts will be on display at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX in October 1999.