Tuesday I went to Quilt National, at the Dairy Barn. After hearing a number of people say how amazing it has always been every time it's here, I thought it would be fun to see and a great end-of-my-internship blog topic! It certainly met up to the standards everyone was giving it!
I went in with Carolyn, and couldn't believe the things that were made just by quilting. We walked around the whole barn, in complete awe that these were quilts. Some of my favorite pieces were those that completely stretched the boundaries of what I thought quilting was. A quilt, with little fish against a blue background, and what looked like buildings decorated against a colorful landscape quickly caught my eye. The most unique part about this quilt: it was three-dimensional! All the buildings had been created out of cloth and sewn on so they were standing up. The fish, too, were 3-D. It just completely blew my mind that someone could do something like this! Next to it was my other favorite piece, a skeleton, who was also 3-D. His bones were all made out of colorful fabric, and he sat on a chair, with his mouth wide open.
All of the quilts were unique, some with very interesting patterns or designs on them, some created to show a larger picture from smaller ones, and some were of people. I enjoyed one that I had seen on the website before, a pirate ship with a woman in a beautiful gown in the sea. It reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean and I stood there looking at the intricate details and sewing. I know that all of them were partially if not completely sewn by a machine, but it still swept me away at how people could come up with the ideas, especially for a quilt.
The arts in Athens just kept surprising me more and more throughout my journey. Quilt National especially portrayed how much the arts is incorporated into the county, and even nationally and internationally. The fact that Athens County would host such a widespread show like Quilt National only stresses the importance of art to this town. Seeing all the fantastic pieces of work done by so many people really made me understand and appreciate all the endless possibilities that the arts has.
