Part of every/any p&q event is the exhibition – and true to form the BA Quilters organised a good show, with examples from traditional and some modern styles and trends on show.  Some were by BAQ members and participating students and others by participating teachers.  My own ‘La Cueva’ was there – but you don’t need to see it here – you’ll find it on my website in the Colour Memory series. (see drop down series menu above)   There must have been about 1oo quilts, but sadly, imho, very few large bed sized ones.  Quiltmaking is still young in Argentina, and growing in popularity, but it seemed to me people are focused on seeing how many different classes/techniques they can try out, and are thefore only willing to make small pieces for the sake of getting things finished off. 

Q: Where has the courage to tackle a large quilt gone?  

(Don’t look at me, I’m courageous!….since although I work in very modern style, I have in the past few years made 3 (huge) king sized quilts and several, 5 or 6, single bed sized quilts in addition to the wall hung works I make.  Of course, I don’t make massive ones on spec, only for immediate family, but would make more if commissioned and paid appropriatelyby a client) 

Of the quilts in the exhibition, these ones particularly inspired me. 

this is actually 4 works in a group, by quilt artist Graciela Ouillan. On the upper right hand one can be seen the award she received for that one, but the one I really liked most of all is the one in oranges and reds. The whole group speak of a maker who has an experimental attitude, and I hope to see more from this artist next ? time.

the use of just a few repeated fabrics in this variation of a traditional design by Estela Britos caught my eye for the lovely colour scheme, the sense of depth created, and, believe me, when you look closely, the high level of craftsmanship

Aires de Carnaval by Cecilia Koppman, one of the teachers who was also a student in my class. There were several other works by this quiltmaker that all show a love of colour and movement through the use of fabric and thread, exhuberant but more restrained than Graciela Ouillan's work.

These were all what I call smallish works –  Graciela Ouillan’s were 140cm x 80cm overall,  Estela Britos’  about 1.50cm x 1.25cm, and Cecilia Koppmann’s 1.5m x 1.5m – perhaps this one was ‘medium’ – it is the largest of the several she showed.  So, I repeat – Where has the courage to tackle a large quilt gone? 

There is a web album http://picasaweb.google.com/leal.teresita/IISALONINTERNACIONALDEQUILTSBSAS2010 where you can see most of the exhibited quilts.  Interestingly I now see a couple I didn’t register as having seen before…even though I went with my camera at a time on a day I wasn’t teaching and there were only a few people around!