Shafer Gallery Exhibits New Quilts
From Old Favorite: the Dresden Plate

In 1906, the Ladies Art Company catalog offered quilt block pattern No. 408, titled “Chrysthanthemum.” The construction of this block was identical to the Dresden Plate blocks marketed during the 1930s by Ruby McKim, Prairie Farmer, Wallace’s Farmer, Home Art Studios and Successful Farming.

As seen in Barbara Brackman’s “Encyclopedia of Appliqué,” the pattern is a circle of blades with rounded tips. The pointed tips of the similar Aster and China Aster blocks published during this same period echoed the earlier fan motifs of crazy quilts from the late 19th century.

Innovative variations of the Dresden Plate pattern will be exhibited in “New Quilts From an Old Favorite,” opening in Barton County Community College’s Shafer Gallery with a reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21. The exhibit features the winners of the 2006 Museum of American Quilters’ Society’s quilt contest. The show will continue through Dec. 9.

“Vive la Marguerite,” “My Psychedelic Garden” and “Dresden Fanfare” are among titles of the 18 winning quilts. Each year this international MAQS contest sponsored by Fairfield Processing Corporation, Janome America Inc. and Clover Needlecraft Inc. challenges quilt makers to create innovative quilts based on a specific quilt pattern. Using the traditional Dresden Plate pattern, this year quilt makers modified the design in unique, imaginative ways, providing a wonderful look at the skills, techniques and creativity of today’s quilt makers. Quilters from 14 states, Canada and Germany created the quilts that will be in the exhibit.
First place was awarded to Cathy Sperry of Cincinnati, Ohio, for her quilt titled “Can You Feel the Spirit?” Sperry utilized machine and hand appliqué, paper piecing, bobbin writing and hand beading to create her winning entry. In her eye-popping quilt, a three-dimensional checkerboard, in turn surrounded by a wave border, frames Dresden Plate images on a swirling ground of Flying Geese blocks.

The second-place quilt, “Reinventing the Wheel” by Sherri Bain Driver of Tucson, Ariz., incorporates ikat, batik and hand-dyed fabrics. Her intricately pieced Dresden Plate rosettes are created by machine and hand techniques.

The third-place winner, Nadine Ruggles of Gerlingen, Germany, sewed “Paisley Pavane.”  She pieced spinning Dresden Plates by a bargello method and accented them with machine-quilted paisley motifs sparkling with crystals.

Fourth-place winner was “A Plate of Pineapples,” by Julia Graber of Brooksville, Miss., and the fifth-place winner was “The Dazzling, Dresden Doodle” by Polly Dawn Yoder of Greenwood, Dela.  These quilt makers exhibit the best of creativity and imagination in quilting today.

Other quilts in the exhibit and their creators are: “Dresden Fanfare” by Barbara H. Cline, Bridgewater, Va..; “Royal Poincianas” by Margo Ellis, Key West, Fla.; “A Midsummer Day's Dream” by Ann Feitelson, Montague, Mass.; “Twenty-Three Plates” by Barbara Oliver Hartman, Flower Mound, Texas; “My Psychedelic Garden” by Barbara H. Holtzman, Holyoke, Colo.; “Tribal Feast” by Ann Horton, Redwood Valley, Calif.; “Vive la Marguerite – Daisy Chain” by Agnete Kay, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; “Dresden Plate Glass Window” by Chris Lynn Kirsch, Watertown, Wis.; “Dresden Flying Carpet” by Carolee Miller, Centennial, Colo.; “Service for Twelve” by Claudia Clark Myers and Jessica Torvinen, Duluth, Minn.; “Dottie Dresden”by Judy Sogn, Seattle, Wash.; “Soiree au Jardin” by Nancy Stewart, Pitman, N.J.; and “Guatemalan Wildflowers” by Jane K. Wells, Fort Wayne, Ind.
A book featuring full-color photos of the 18 finalists and award winning quilts is available from the American Quilters’ Society. The book also includes biographical information about each quilter, and tips, techniques and patterns. This exhibition was organized by the MAQS headquartered in Paducah, Ky., and sponsored by Fairfield Processing Corporation, Janome America, Incorporated, and Clover Needlecraft Inc.

All Shafer Gallery exhibits are presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1-4 p.m. Sunday; closed on Saturday. Guided tours are available by appointment. The gallery will be closed Nov. 21-25 during the college’s Thanksgiving Break.

	“Can You Feel the Spirit?” Cathy Sperry, Cincinnati, Ohio First Place
	“Reinventing the Wheel” Sherri Bain Driver Tucson, Ariz. Second Place
	"Paisley Pavane" Nadine Ruggles Gerlingen, Germany Third Place
	“A Plate of Pineapples,” Julia Graber of Brooksville, Miss. Fourth Place
	“The Dazzling, Dresden Doodle,” Polly Dawn Yoder, Greenwood, Dela. Fifth Place