"Freedom" 2nd Irish Quilters' Showcase

It's my second year organising this exhibition and already it is at its second location, the Hunt Museum in Limerick.
The first venue although remote was very suitable, The Mitchel Hall on Spike Island, which was a prison until ten years ago and has a very rich history. It is open as a tourist site now and well worth a visit!

View from the Mitchel Hall looking out over the inside of the old prison on Spike Island

Starting to hang the exhibition

Veronica Hoen pretending to do some work!! 

Veronica is the Visual Arts Coordinator for the Irish Prison Service and an old friend of mine.

Veronica was an art teacher on Spike when it was a prison and part of the new visitor centre features some of her students work. 

Veronica has always supported me 100% with any ideas I've had around exhibitions and I can't thank her enough for all the help she has given me.

There was actually a double opening, two exhibitions, the first five quilts by an ex student of mine from Limerick Prison and the 2nd Irish Quilters' Showcase Exhibition

Here's Kevin's quilts with details of each one, enjoy!

"Devil in a Dress"

I got the idea for this quilt from a Scottish story teller who told a tale about an old woman who tricked the devil. The centre of this image represents the devil. The devil in this story stalks the old woman seeking revenge.

Materials and techniques:

I hand dyed cotton fabrics for this piece. I machine pieced the background together.  The centre panel was assembled separately using appliqué technique. The background section was then hand quilted while the centre panel was machined. I used cotton embroidery tread for the hand quilting.

"Beauty and the Bull"

Artist statement:

The background for this piece I drew myself. I like the way the green and red interact with each other. I got the idea for the centre piece from a book. The book had all kinds of creatures in it but I chose this one because it was ugly and beautiful in my eyes at the same time.

Materials and techniques:

I did the background of this quilt in 12 pieces. There are 4 different blocks repeated 3 times. The centre piece is attached to the background with a satin stitch. The quilting pattern is my own design of straight lines with big and small circles.

"Angel"

Artist statement:

I watched a nature documentary about spiders that weave webs across rivers. They can catch small birds in this web. When I saw this picture of a girl with wings I wanted to be the one to catch her. 

Materials and techniques:

I cut and shaped the centre piece before using a satin stitch to bind it together with the background. I used red tread for the satin stitch around the outside of the piece. I used blue tread and I free machined the detail in the wings. I used red tread to quilt it together so the webs would stand out.

"Sleeping Beauty"

Artist statement:

I was inspired to do this piece by a picture I saw in a book showing a particular version of sleeping beauty. I choose this image because it was different. I personalised this by adding in some greys and yellows.

Materials and techniques:

I cut and shaped the yellow first and then the grey and then the black. The yellow was first to be placed down then the grey the black was last I wanted it to be the top layer. I used white tread to quilt the black so I could make it look like her hair was flowing. The rest was quilted using clear tread.

"Girl with Gun"

Artist statement:

I chose this quilt to do simply because I like the way black and white work together. I got the image from a flash book. There is no real thought behind it other than I liked it.

Materials and techniques:

I used bondaweb to place and shape the centre piece. I then placed it on the white background and just stitched it together.

I machine quilted this on a small Brother machine.

I'l post the details of the Irish Quilters' Showcase exhibits in the next post.