Author: Leah

I thought I’d mostly be showing the backs in this post, but I still have a few fronts to share. This is the mirror image and reverse placement of the quilt Luke and I are standing in front of. The one I started the previous post with.Log Condo with a stronger use of red.I think I see old fashioned TV screens.And now for the backs, as you can see here, bright big patches made out of old sheets.Yoch and Leah were thrilled to find Voltron, a reminder of their childhood. They told me that Voltron is for the poor kids who couldn’t afford transformers. You learn something new every day.If you are buying old sheets, it is no surprise that many of them reference kids shows. I wish I could find this one, my new Grandson will have a space themed room, this would be perfect.One of the fun things was peeking through the backs of the quilts to the fronts on the other side.Or through the fronts to this wonderful Disney Sheet, one Aytan and Shira would love to have.The backs with plain sheets yielded some very interesting information. All the light quilting lines are vertical and the dark ones are horizontal.This would be a quilt with very few dark stripes.I had fun with this one trying to find the hearths, since they were always left un-quilted.The daylight streaming through gives the quilts an etherial look. Luke isn’t known for ironing, one can see the wonky seams inside, so what?  And here we have a sheet that actually had holes in it, he still used it in a quilt.It is the backing of the quilt he made in honor of all the people who worked on the project – using their leftover blocks.Luke has made quilts with his name writ large on the surface. Accuquilt made him this die and using only plaids, he made quite a signature quilt.Two things, I like how they are affixed on top of the quilting. I also really like how here and there the lines aren’t straight. Even working on a long-arm machine, it is a human who is doing the work, not a robot.  Also nice to see the human hand. Did the phone ring, did she get distracted somehow and only notice later?  Either way, I love this.

I know Luke is working on getting the show in other venues, if it comes anywhere near you – run! Go see it.  This is a unique way of looking at both old and new in quilting and I for one applaud his efforts.

Here I go again, too much information for one post. So I’m splitting it up.

On Sunday I went to the exhibit The Log Cabins of Donald Judd.  Wow! Luke mentions that people will be overwhelmed, I was in a good way. The quilts are amazing, the way he hung and displayed them is new and unique. He likens the experience to walking through a Richard Serra Sculpture, he is right, but this is better, it’s fabric, not iron.Aside from the works themselves, Luke is a delightful young man. He was more than happy to talk about the quilts, he also has great fashion sense – note those shoes!!!  Only to be found in DTLA, perfect for the ensemble.Let’s start with a traditional basic log cabin quilt. This layout is called Courthouse steps.  If you look in the lower left corner, you will see the standard log cabin block.  Starting with a red square – signifying the center hearth of the home, strips of fabric of equal width are built around it, two sides light, two sides dark.  Then you play with the layout of these blocks and here is one version.Side by side, on the left another very traditional layout of the log cabin block. I probably did this myself on my first log cabin quilt.  On the right, Op Art!  Those four large blocks are built the same way, but the width and layout of the colors has changed, and so has the effect of the quilt.Here he has taken that idea to one large block.  This is a close up, because the strips get so long and wonky, the quilt won’t lie flat – that is the nature of this one. A word about the fabric, Luke buys old clothes and sheets by the pound at Goodwill and uses as much as he can.  I love how the pocket remains from this shirt.  This isn’t an original idea, but it’s fun to see whenever a quilt maker veers away from traditional quilting cottons.  Also, as the strips get longer, each one is composed of many fabrics pieced together.Here we have the Richard Serra affect, creating a spiral of hanging quilts to walk through. First you see the fronts, then go around again looking at the backs. The hearth is centered, the strips are of equal width, but he has played with the placement of darks and lights.I know this block well – Log Condo, this is what he taught us at Quiltcon. We used these dimensions, in a later post I’ll share that block.  I love how the red is playing a more dominant part in these quilts.Instead of the block being a square, how about changing it to a rectangle?There is a lot of play where the light and dark strips are very different proportions.  As well as using the Courthouse steps layout or simply stacking the blocks.The other other Leah is studying a quilt.  A nice thing about this show, Luke had no problem with us touching them – which is something every quilter wants to do!  The fabrics have already been through a lot – it’s not like we’ll destroy them. Although these are displayed as art, they are quilts that Luke sleeps under.  I get frustrated when the art world treats ephemeral art like an Old Master. Sorry, some things need to be preserved and others, not so much.
Luke is bridging art and craft so well here. These quilts live very comfortably in both worlds.  So here is our Log Condo block again, look closely, the block itself is a square, by alternating colors and placement we no longer see the square. The batting is wool, which is much lighter in weight than cotton. One of these days, I will use wool batting as well.Log Condo again, this time the darks and lights do not switch places. The block with the narrow light and wide dark was used in the previous quilt – to a very different affect.  Luke is also an architect – it certainly shows!That’s it for the first installment.  Another post tomorrow.