FIBER ART 101: QUILTING
We love quilting! Hence our name. Featuring contemporary quilter Bisa Butler @bisabutler.
A quilt refers to a textile composed of three layers of fibers: a quilt top, batting, and a layer of fabric as a backing material. Quilting refers to sewing through all three layers to make one fabric, using a needle and thread or a sewing machine in a functional or decorative stitch. Historically, quilting goes as far back as 3400 BCE though remnants of these quilts don’t exist.
Portrait of Frederick Douglass,
Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilted and appliqueìd
Approx 4ft x 9ft
2020
Quilting is an art form from around the world! In the United States it took off starting in the late 17th century. Quilting has a wide history with many lenses! At its beginning quilts were made for warmth but have transcended to an exquisite form of artistic expression.
One contemporary Quilt Artist we love is Bisa Butler (@bisabutler on Instagram). She creates incredible quilted portraits that both honor the African American tradition of quilting and reveal a vision of her own expression. This piece, The Storm, The Whirlwind, and the Earthquake, is of the American abolitionist, social reformer and statesman Frederick Douglass. This artwork is 100% quilted fabric, zero paint. Acquired by @toledomuseum and will be a part of their upcoming exhibition in November, “Radical Tradition: American Quilts and Social Change”.
