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Piecing together a fabulous quilt show
There's more to this show than admiring the many works of art. Visitors can bid on miniquilts, try to win a quilt in a raffle, get appraisals and browse the quilting mall.
By JENNIFER CONWAY
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 22, 2001
To those who paint with a needle on a canvas of fabric and use "applique" in everyday conversation, quilting is an art with all the elements: line, texture, pattern, color, value and contrast.
The combinations tell stories. They are personal signatures of the artist. Or they are just beautiful designs.
Yet this art has an advantage over more traditional forms.
"If you screw up, you can pull out the stitches and do it again," says quilter Yvette Zien, 32. "It's paint without the mess."
You can experience the art of quilting at 2001: A Tampa Quilt Odyssey, sponsored by the Quilter's Workshop of Tampa Bay, on Friday and Saturday at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa.
"We bring in mostly quilters," says Zien, an organizer. "But we also bring in people who have an interest in quilting or have just dabbled in it before."
More than 180 quilts will be displayed, including special traveling collections from Hoffman Fabrics and Sulky of America, one-woman shows by Florida quilters June Colburn and Pauline Salzman, as well as the Quilter's Workshop Challenge Quilts.
Kathy Fountain, an anchor at WTVT-TV Ch. 13, will help auction handcrafted miniature quilts, with proceeds benefiting the Shriner's Hospital transportation fund.
Quilts range from "cozy country to very chic and modern," says Zien. One miniquilt at the 1998 show went for more than $250, she says.
Miniquilts, like their larger versions, are constructed from pieced blocks, appliqued pieces (a process where small pieces of fabric are sewn onto larger pieces) and other methods popular among quilters today.
2001: A Tampa Quilt Odyssey also includes a Quilter's Mall, featuring vendors presenting the latest machines and fabrics, a wearable art fashion show, demonstrations, a quilt appraiser, door prizes and a drawing to win an appliqued quilt.
Quilters from across the nation are expected to show up for the event, which has been listed in trade publications and on the Web.
Zien, who's had calls from Idaho and Pennsylvania, expects about 2,000 people at this year's event, up from the 1,200 who attended the last show.
At a glance:
WHAT: 2001: A Tampa Quilt Odyssey
WHERE: A La Carte Event Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
COST: $5
CALL: (727) 540-9319 or (813) 287-0379
WEB SITE: http://www.2001quiltodyssey.com
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