Quilts with a Contemporary & Modern Feel (Jan. 16 – March 15, 2013)

Robbi Joy Eklow

Robbi’s first attempt at quilting was in the 1970’s while she was in high school. Drawing from a very traditional pattern, she cut a drunkard’s path out using electric scissors and she claims it was really “ugly”. In 1987, Robbi started quilting again when her children were babies. She quickly discovered that quilting was more then just making quilts. For Robbi, quilting has had the anchor of friendships, an excuse to hang out at quilt stores and a reason to have coffee after guild meetings.

Robbi enjoys working with fiber and uses it as a way to introduce herself to people. Her art quilts are from hand-dyed cotton fabrics with bonded appliqué and extensive free motion quilting on the surface. Robbi lectures and teaches to share her techniques, and encourages others to find their voice through fiber.

Robbi describes her quilting style as a combination of the traditional as well as contemporary. Robbi lectures and teaches internationally and has shown quilts and won ribbons in major quilt shows. She writes a bi-monthly column “Goddess of the Last Minute” for Quilting Arts Magazine. In addition, she has written articles, and her work has been published, in several major quilt publications. Look for her books: Free Expression: The Art and Confessions of a Contemporary Quilter and Goddess of the Last Minute.

Bill Kerr

Artist, quilter, author, fabric designer and lecturer describe Bill and his wife Weeks Ringle. Owners of Modern Quilt Studio, a design studio, originally founded as FunQuilts in 1999, Bill and Weeks infuse creativity into every part of their designs and stitch every custom quilt themselves. Their focus is to keep their work fresh, modern and original. They both have graduate degrees in design and lead workshops on design for quilt makers nationally and internationally helping quilters find their own voice.

FunQuilts has published several books such as: Color Harmony for Quilts, The Quiltmaker’s Color Workshop, and the best-selling The Modern Quilt Workshop. Their quilts have appeared in national magazines, prestigious museums and in quilt craft and decorative art shows internationally.

Laura Wasilowski

Laura Wasilowski is both contemporary quilt maker and creator of hand-dyed fabrics and threads. Whimsical is a word that describes her art work. Her pictorial art quilts (created from fused fabrics and hand-embroidered or machine quilted) are collected and exhibited internationally. Laura’s narrative quilts begin with her unique hand-dyed fabrics and are inspired by stories of family, friends and home.

She has an undergraduate degree in Costuming from the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN and a Master of Art degree in Fiber from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.

Owner of the dye shop, Artfabrik, Laura is also a lecturer, surface designer, quilt instructor, pattern designer, and author of Fusing Fun and Fuse-and-Tell. She has exhibited in this country, the Netherlands, Spain, and Japan and her work has appeared in numerous publications.