'Design Dynamics' to open March 7 at Quilt House

            The next exhibition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's International Quilt Study Center and Museum will showcase the visually dynamic nature behind a well-known pattern. "Design Dynamics of Log Cabin Quilts" opens March 7 in the Lois Gottsch Gallery.

            The basic design of log cabin quilt blocks relies on light and dark contrast. The exhibition will show how a quiltmaker's imagination arranging these simple block units creates motion and depth and bold graphic effects. The perennially popular log cabin quilts -- whether made with standard log cabin blocks or courthouse steps or pineapple variation blocks -- still resonates with makers and collectors today.

            "Design Dynamics" was originally curated by Judy Schwender while she completed graduate studies at UNL. The exhibition debuted at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery in 2004. For its Quilt House debut, the revived exhibition will showcase additional pieces alongside quilts from the original exhibition.

            The exhibition draws from quilts in the Byron and Sara Rhodes Dillow Collection, the Jonathan Holstein Collection and the Ardis and Robert James Collection, ranging from 1870-1920.

            Visitors will also learn about various standard log cabin block settings through animation produced by The Vault, a student team under the supervision of Michael Burton, lecturer in the UNL Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design. Virtual visitors will be able to experience the exhibition online at http://go.unl.edu/xo4v.

            In addition to the main gallery, a community showcase of contemporary log cabin quilts by local quiltmakers will be on display in the Quilt House Reception Hall March 15-April 4. Other public programs will be available throughout the exhibition's nine-month run. Check the museum's website, http://www.quiltstudy.org, for more information.

            This exhibition, publications and programming were made possible in part through funding from the Nebraska Arts Council, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment and the Friends of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.

            The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for students and children 5-18 and free for UNL students, faculty and staff and children 4 and under. Special rates are available for families and tour groups.

            The International Quilt Study Center and Museum is the home of the world’s largest publicly held quilt collection. Established in 1997, the center opened a new museum in 2008. The privately-funded, environmentally sustainable museum houses more than 4,000 quilts and objects, state-of-the-art research and storage space and spacious galleries. The center's mission is to inspire an understanding of the cultural and artistic significance of quilts by collecting, preserving, studying, exhibiting and promoting discovery of quilts and quiltmaking traditions from many cultures, countries and times. The International Quilt Study Center is an academic program of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design in the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences.

Writer: Laura Chapman