NUBIAN HERITAGE QUILTERS -IN THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM EXHIBIT

I had the pleasure of going to the Nubian Heritage Quilters Guild annual show this past weekend at the historic Crane House in Montclair, NJ.   This year marked the 20th anniversary of the guild.  You can learn more about this guild at http://www.nubianquilters.org/.    
Here is another link about the exhibit from a local paper
http://www.northjersey.com/towns/fabric-and-freedom-in-quilts-on-display-1.1274627

According to the website the guild was initially established to celebrate the legacy of African American quilting.  Traditional quilt ideas are used while incorporating ethnic patterns and fabrics.
This was witnessed in many of the quilts I saw during the exhibit.  Great use of color and pattern.   Many quilts representing historic events from our past or inspired by it.

Quilts were displayed on 3 floors including wall/bed quilts, art quilts, dolls and lots of other goodies.   There were also different how-to demos going on downstairs.

Some of my favorites were the quilts honoring President Obama; display of quilted houses in one room titled "Down Home Village"; numerous portrait quilts; the Masterpiece collection and many more.  When you see 160 quilts it might be hard to remember each and every one, but what does stays in my memory is the beauty, colors, and execution of all.  There was so much talent shown throughout the house.   When I got home I was actually thinking of going back again on Sunday, but the snow kept me in.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get many photos due to a malfunction of my camera, but I will share the few I did get.  I do hope the guild will share photos on their website in the future, as I'm sure you will enjoy the experience as I did.

Masterpiece -Jacqueline with Flowers by my friend Joan Piggot

This quilt and the one above were part of a special exhibit called Masterpiece, where the artist did an interpretation from a master painter's work (i.e. Matisse), and displayed over canvas.                                                                                          

Please note portraits in the middle including Michelle Obama and Marvin Gaye. 

Thanks to Brenda Castell, quilter, for demonstrating how to transfer photo to fabric.

Color Me Happy, by another fellow quilting buddy Jeanine Bowen.  

Bright colors always capture my eye -Stack and Whack technique

My friend Annette's quilt -Perennial Pinwheels/ I saw this come to life during our weekly meeting.

Another quilt by Annette where she used only one fabric to create this amazing  quilt.

I love the use of purple/greens and blue in this quilt.

Colorful baby quilt

Japanese Kyoto by Marietta Schoenherr

Log Cabin- "Courthouse Steps"  is a traditional quilt pattern