In the language of quilts, a few stitches are easily worth a thousand words.
Stitching, patterns, color combinations and embellishments create works of art. But they also tell stories, as demonstrated by the 33rd annual Quilt Show at the Springville Museum of Art.
Sharon Wright's "It's Grown on Me," for example, contains vivid depictions of southern Utah landscape, but it also details Wright's own journey of discovery as she found beauty in the desert after moving to St. George several years ago.
Gayle V. Hansen's "2002 Piecemaker Times & Seasons" captures the changing seasons, but it also talks of her love of challenge. The quilt took 2 1/2 years of work as Hansen not only pieced together the quilt but then added ribbon embroidery, beads and decorative stitchery to enhance it.
Sheryl Gillian's "Embracing Passion" pays tribute to the works of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt but also explores the "tension between hard straight lines and sinuous curves."
Janet Carpenter's "Hiding Place" not only captures the whimsy of a mythical creature but also memorializes all the years her family has played the "Dungeons & Dragons" game.
Annette Haws used thousands and thousands of small, hand-stuffed berries on her quilt, each made with love for her daughter to fulfill "Betsy's Promise."
Helen L. Brutsch attended a workshop that taught a "sew-slash-sew" method. It "stretched her traditional mind" as she created "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee."
Every quilt in the show has more to it than a first glance might indicate, says Francine Berrett, member of the board of the Utah Valley Quilt Guild and co-curator of the show. "I look at some of them and wonder, 'How can brains think like that?' They are absolutely gorgeous."
The show features traditional quilts as well as art quilts. "There's so much variety," says Berrett. "The closest we came to having the same are three bargello quilts and two "stack-'n'-whack" quilts. But you look at those and they are so different from each other."
The show offers other bonuses this year. There are two antique quilts. One is made by Sina Elnora Cole, who was born in Texas in 1884, and cut and pieced more than 800 quilts in her lifetime. The other is a 1908 Tobacco Flannel Quilt made by Minnie Isabel Snuth, who was born in 1869 in Rockwell, Texas. Tobacco flannels were premiums given out by tobacco companies to promote brand loyalty — along the same line as baseball cards. These quilts are owned by Roberta Boyce and Camellia Denys.
The other extra is a series of six antique doll beds covered with small, handmade quilts by Valerie Brussio. "They are precious," says Berrett.
This year's show features 95 quilts. "We even spill over into the basement gallery," she says. Quilts are juried into the show, then judged again for awards. Judges for this year's competition were Sherry Hancock and Shawna Wilde.
In past years, awards were given in various categories, but this year, 10 Outstanding awards were chosen because it's getting difficult to categorize many of the quilts.
"This year we had more hand-quilted entries than last year," says Berrett, "and more that are smaller in size. Other than that, there aren't a lot of trends. They are all so unique."
Inspiration for quilts can come from classes and workshops, from quilt books, and from the world around us. But each quilter makes it her own.
Sylvia Taylor, for example, wanted a quilt that would remind her of the view from her kitchen window in October. The result is "Autumn Color."
Marilyn Landry Toone wanted to do a Triple-Irish Chain quilt, but she embellished it with flowers picked from many other patterns.
Julia Smoot attended a lecture on the history of the Mariner's Compass block and became fascinated with it. Several years later, she visited the Shelburne Museum in Vermont and saw an antique quilt that was made of appliqueed vines. She entwined the two images in "Encompassed Vines."
Vern Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art, calls the quilt show "one of our punchiest exhibits. It's one of my favorite shows. I love how the quilters show off strong, bold, brave ideas. I love how they embrace abstract art."
In the early years of the show, he says, "it centered on craftsmanship. Now the focus is on craft and art. The originality level has gone up tremendously. Quilts used to be judged on whether or not the hem was straight. Now they are also judged on what they have to say."
E-mail: carma@desnews.com