For my creative buddies—especially quilters
1. ‘Glacial run-off’ by Lee Nancarrow
Our first day in Alaska started with a RoadScholar educational session at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Centre in Fairbanks.
Over several days, we had many fascinating sessions at the center, but I still remember that first day and seeing the incredible quilts and textile creations by people who had been artists-in-residence over the years in Fairbanks.
2. ‘Threading through the gravel bars’ by Linda Beach
It’s wonderful that the works are prominently displayed and acknowledged.
I know a lot of people who quilt or work with other textiles, so this post is a way share these images with them and anyone else who is interested.
3. ‘Quiet Magic: East Fork’ by Charlotte Bird
4. ‘East Fork Toklat River #2’ by Rebecca Voris
A tiny bit more about each image and artist
1. Lee Nancarrow has lived in the Denali Park area since 1965 and was an artist-in-residence 2006.
2. Linda Beach spent 10 days, mostly on the East Fork of the Toklat River. She was artist-in-residence in 2005.
3. Charlotte Bird especially appreciated living without a timetable. She was artist-in-residence on the East Fork in 2014.
4. Rebecca Voris was artist-in-residence in 2003. Her piece is of woven yarn. She says colour is added after the piece is woven.
5. Karin Franzin’s fiber piece depicts eagles nesting in Denali Park. She was an artist-in-residence in 2009.
But wait, there’s more!
If quilting and textiles aren’t your thing, please feel free to check out my cooking blog. Lots of yummy things there.
5. ‘At Home in High Places’ by Karin Franzen
Where to next? 
These are absolutely stunning! Nature inspired quilts have a special quality to them that I think resonant with many people who often don’t feel that way about more abstract quilts. Will definitely share this post Peggy!
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I thought you’d be tempted. 🙂
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Marvellous stuff
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I know.
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Wow! These are gorgeous. I love seeing textiles used to create art. My fave is the second one, but they are all very inspiring
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I’m having trouble picking a favourite. Probably two and five.
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Beautiful amazing works of art
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They sure are.
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Wow what beautiful work. I will certainly share this with a couple of crafty people I know. Dorothy
dorothysstories.wordpress.com
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Thanks for sharing. I hope your crafty friends enjoy it.
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These are an amazing artwork.
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I think so too and had to share.
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I am glad you did it 😀
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Stunning, especially ‘At home in High Places’ by Karin Franzen.
I’m one of those ‘crafty’ people (in the past), but only have one piece left now (of 17thC Blackwork), so can appreciate how much time goes into one of these pieces.
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I can only imagine the hours that go into these pieces—probably more like months.
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Beautiful works of art.
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They sure are.
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Gorgeous. Going to share this on my Facebook page – many of my friends and followers are creative crafters who will appreciate these. Happy Easter, and happy travels.
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Thanks Fiona. Hope the crafters in your life enjoy them. And Happy Easter to you too.
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So beautiful!
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Yep, and inspiring too.
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YES!
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OhMyQuilts
These are artworks, absolutely ❤
Ciao
Sid
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Such creativity. I wish I could do something like these.
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Peggy, don’t underestimate yourself . . . You COULD make a quilt for each country you visit. It might be a problem stuffing all the supplies and a sewing machine into your luggage though – I don’t think needles are allowed on carry-on.
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These days I’m not even sure if a thimble is allowed in carry-on. That said, maybe one quilt covering all the countries. Guess I should have been buying fabric as I went.
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Wow so beautiful! Thanks for sharing Peggy!
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My pleasure. I had to share.
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So gorgeous!
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Amazing quilts Peggy – a lot of time and patience went into these. Thanks, happy day to you! 🙂
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Hard to imagine how much time these magnificent pieces took. Thanks for stopping by. Happy day to you too. 🙂
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Each of those artists/quilters must be so incredibly skilful to be able to produce work of this quality. I’ve never tried quilting, but I imagine it takes some time to perfect the skill. Such beautiful scenes they’ve created, too – bringing Nature into a home. Quilting’s evidently not a dying art form in Alaska.
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I have many friends who quilt and their efforts are true labours of love.
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Such beauty and talent coming from one of the most beautiful places on earth.
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So glad you like them.
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Beautiful work.
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I felt lucky to see them.
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A lot of imagination and a great deal of skill, too.
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I only know quilts as blankets, how lovely to use the art to create canvases like these! my favourite one is the magic tree 🙂
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I’ve seen so many magnificent quilts over the years—real works of art.
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These quilts and Alaskan nature themes are absolutely beautiful. As said it takes time to create just one of them. I guess in sub-zero and snow conditions, the quilters must stay inside all winter.. so have the time to do quilts. I wonder if some of the quits are stuffed with warm duck/goose down ? And I am quite sure they are not for displaying on walls!
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Actually, I would say all of them are designed as wall hangings and not as ‘bed’ quilts. The first one looks like it is already in a frame and I am guessing that most of them would be at the very largest a meter/yard square. A quilt you use, even if treated with care, can take a beating and would require washing at some point. I doubt these beautiful pieces are constructed for washing.
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Second thoughts, the quilts shown in this blog are too beautiful to be used on beds for warmth.. maybe just as a top cover.. but now that I think about it more for a wall display or for shows.
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All of the quilts and weavings were framed, and seem to be on permanent display at the cultural centre. That confirms to me that all are meant to be works of art only and not for use on a bed.
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I can imagine the hours of work that went into these beautiful pieces! Thanks for sharing them.
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My pleasure indeed. How could I not?
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Beautiful!
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🙂
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What a fantastic place to visit! Thanks for sharing.
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My pleasure.
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I love these. We often forget just how intricate and mind-blowing a “simple” quilt can be. To guide the thread and fabric, where one stitch can throw an entire section asunder…most impressive. Thank you for sharing this!
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So glad you’ve enjoyed seeing them.
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Very nice photos/quilts! As an ‘fyi’ there is a company here in the Denver suburb of Golden that publishes 2 or 3 national quilting magazines, including:
http://www.mccallsquilting.com
http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com
http://www.quiltmaker.com
On the walls of their open space designed headquarters they have a dozen or so quilts hanging from all over country with a short biography of the quilter each quilt alone quite impressive. From my memory they rotate new quilts every quarter or semiannually giving quilters from everywhere an opportunity to inspire their writers, editors, etc.
If you ever or any of your blog readers pass through Denver again I’d recommend at least a stop by as its just blocks off the main freeway Denverites take to the mountains.
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Thanks for the links to the the quilting magazines and the advice about their headquarters. I hope it helps people to find them. You can take me there next time I’m in Denver. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing these quilts. They are simply stunning. I love them. I am going to show them to my nurse when she comes in today 😀
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So glad you like them and hope your nurse does too.
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They’re all simply beautiful. Alaska has its share of talented artists!
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I was so impressed with all these pieces. Glad you like them too.
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Very talented to be able to put the vision into art.
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We loved seeing them.
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How did you start using the fabric for your art?
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I wish I could say these are my pieces, but these beautiful works hang in a visitors’ centre in Fairbanks Alaska.
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Amazing art 😊
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Yes, it is wonderful,
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Gorgeous quilts!!!
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Yes they are. So glad we saw them.
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