Lecture By Melinda Bula

I had the great pleasure of attending a talk by Melinda Bula in Dublin.  She was giving a workshop at our guild retreat, but I am not skilled enough to keep up with her.  Still, she gave a lecture Saturday evening and it was such a pleasure to have a peek at her quilts! 

The lecutre was very light hearted, fun and chatty.  Since she had to travel internationally, she could "only" bring the quilts in the exhibition and one for the talk, so mostly we saw photos.  Not to worry, you really get the idea of how spectacular they are even in images.  The main take-away points from the lecutre?  First, you are an artist and do not let anyone tell you differently.  Second, do not listen to the quilt police.  It does not matter if your points are perfect if your overall quilt is beautiful.  Finally, just go off and create something beautiful and be happy.

Above all, the thing that will strike you is Melinda's incredible use of fabric, color and very dense quilting.   I tried to photograph as much as I could in the exhibition, but it was hard to hold the quilt back up, keep it steady and take a photo with only two hands :)  Sometimes it worked, other times you'll have to squint to see through the burred image.  Enjoy!

Fresh as a Daisy (2007)
I start with a photo of the entire quilt to give you an idea of the colors and applique used, but then have a image of the violets (or sweet peas?) in the lower right hand corner to show the detail.  Finally, have a close look at the last photo to see the incredible quilting that went into each piece.  Yes, that is the back!

Monterey at Dusk (2007) I was primarily drawn to Melinda's floral quilts, but this a favorite of many at the exhibition.  I tried like crazy to get a photo of the back. She used a blue wavy fabric as backing, compounded with the zillion stitches and my shaky hand, I could only get a blurry image.  Sorry!

Splendor in the Grass (2007) really reminded me of my Mom's lillies by the mail box.  Again, I start with a photo of the entire quilt and then focus on the center of one lilly.    It really looks like a watercolor painting, doesn't it?  Finally, the bottom right photo is of the quilting on the back. 

 

I have many more photos to share from our exhibition; more of Melinda's quilts as well as other spectacular pieces by local quilters. Check back next Tuesday!

Happy quilting.