My husband who has a passion for baseball and wants to visit 100 ball parks before he can’t, planned his own minor league baseball tour in the Pacific Northwest this summer. To give credence to his claim that it is a Baseball and Quilt tour, he finds something quilt related. Thus, we visited the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, Washington.
The museum is located in the beautifully restored Gaches Mansion in La Conner, WA. La Conner is a small town on the Skagit Bay. When we turned off the main highway and traveled through the flat valley to get to La Conner, we noticed the farm houses are built several feet of the ground. Then we saw the signs-“Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone” Being from Kansas I did not expect to see this! The bay is lovely, the weather was perfect and the small town has lots to see.
The museum has three floors. The restored trims, stairs and floors complimented the white painted walls that showcase the different exhibits. Each floor had a different artist or artists. The front side parlor and dinning room was home to a small gift shop.
One the first floor, small wall hangings from the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild were displayed.
Members had created a design to reflect a song they remembered from the radio- I Heard it on the Radio.
The second floor was totally dedicated to the work of Terrie Hancock Mangat. Her quilts were colorful and accented with a lot of embellishments, embroidery, and hand reverse appliqué.
This one was my favorite. It is difficult to see in this photo, but in front of the quilt is a frame supporting brightly colored spikes/ slates. The quilt is one of a series titled FIREWORKS.
Look at all the embellishments used to created coconut frosting on the birthday cake! This was in remembrance of the cakes her mother made from her.
The third floor was devoted to Virtual Voyage: Pixels and Patchwork by Victorian Findley Wolfe –a very recognizable name in the world of quilting. She has ” cleverly merged the techniques learned in the 90’s–painting, photography and digital skills–with her expertise in sewing, patchwork and layering of color for a display that evokes a variety of emotions.” https://www.qfamuseum.org/
This is a good example of her mixed medium –an tribute to her grandparents.
Each quilt on display had a very personal significance to the artist. Shows such as this one reminds me of the difference between a quilt artist and a quilt crafter–I definitely belong to the second group but I have so much admiration for the first!!
The Museum has another site for their permanent display items but we didn’t find until it was time to travel north to our grandson’s soccer game.
I want to spend more time in La Conner. Since it is on the Skagit Bay, sea food restaurants line the water’s edge. Many of the huge original warehouses still remain; some re-purposed, many not. Due to the mild climate the floral displays were amazing. But there were soccer and baseball games to be seen!
Due to my “Fabric Diet” I only allowed myself to visit one quilt shop. Quiltmania in the Tri-Cities area in southeast Washington had no visual appeal from the street but had soooo much fabric. The manner in which it was displayed did not over whelm me as it can in a very full shop. The perfect stripe for a binding of a quilt I have ready to finish and three coordinating fabrics for fall placemats was my only purchase.
The rest of our trip was devoted to five minor league baseball games, a professional soccer game (the Sounders) and time spent with family. Washington has such varied terrain and the views can change quickly. We will be back to explore more of the state—plus the weather has been wonderful–seventies and eighties.
Next week back to that latest from Quilters at First!
Quilts, Etc. 