SHEPHERDSTOWN — A new art show highlighting a modern-day craft, whose origins date back to ancient Egypt, was opened in Skull City Studio over the weekend.
“Pieced Together” features the work of 14 artists from across the Eastern Panhandle, who collectively contributed 28 quilts to display in the show.
“I’m so proud of Skull City Studio for doing this. I think it’s awesome — people living their best lives, trying to create cool things with cool people, for cool people to see,” said Keedysville, Md. resident Jeni Heimbuch, mentioning she was surprised by the sight of some of the quilts in the show. “I love the diversity of the quilts here. You’re not just coming in and seeing ‘Meemaw’ — though we do love a ‘Meemaw.'”
The show featured traditional American quilting styles, alongside less familiar ones, like the traditional Japanese forms of Kinusaiga and Kimekomi that create quilt-like designs by embedding fabric into a hard surface.
“There are styles I’ve never seen before, here,” said Keedysville, Md. resident Ben Wilvers. “The geodes that were stitched together are particularly interesting to me.”
He was also impressed with the 3D quilts in the show and the two quilts that were made to imitate the appearance of stained glass and to look like three scenes from Lego Minecraft, Next Knights and Ninjago.
“It makes quilting feel so much more accessible,” Heimbuch said.
According to Skull City Studio owner Pang Tubhirun, changing people’s perceptions of quilting was one of the show’s goals.
“Seeing all of the different styles and the different ways that people can make quilts, is really an eye-opener. Sometimes, when you think about quilts, you think about them having a very specific look, but there’s actually quite a lot of diversity in the craft,” Tubhirun said.
“The idea for this quilt show came from QuiltCon — I was really inspired by all of the beautiful quilts that I saw from it, online,” Tubhirun said, referring to the largest annual quilting event in the world, presented by the Modern Quilt Guild. “I had not, specifically, been to a quilt show in town and so, like all of the other events that we have had here, I wanted to bring it into town for people to enjoy.”
She noted that her favorite aspect of the show, was how it showcased the work of many local artists.
“I wanted it to feature the work of local quilters and textile artists, so I asked around and was thrilled to get a number who were interested in participating in the show,” Tubhirun said.
“Pieced Together” will be open for the public to view for one more weekend, on Friday from 5-8 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12-4 p.m.
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