Quilting show features variety

Peering up at a wall filled with blankets may seem a bit strange, but for visitors to the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, it is exactly how they like to spend an afternoon. Many of them came miles to view the new exhibit, "Quilting in the Morning Calm," part of the ongoing Heritage Quilt Show.\nDick Becker of Terre Haute took photographs of the quilts filled with vibrant butterflies and botanicals. As a professional quilter himself, he was intrigued by a different perspective of quilting.\n"I just enjoy looking at the quilts other people made," he said. \nEvery year, local quilters come together to compete for prizes at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show. In conjunction, the museum holds a special exhibit incorporating a particular theme, different from year to year.\nJudy Kirk, assistant director of the Mathers Museum, said the exhibits reflect our orientation to world cultures.\nThis year, the museum chose to display quilting as an art form through the interpretations of the paintings of Sim Saimdang. A notable woman in Korean history, Saimdang broke through the prejudices against women five centuries ago, Kirk said.\n"People are attracted to the subject matter. Here we are, 500 years later, with quilters who are not Korean but interpret Saimdang's art through their own craft," Kirk said.\nThe 17 different quilts were embroidered by the hands of people from all over the world, including the United States, England, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand. \nRobin Barters traveled all the way from Michigan to attend the exhibit.\n"I like the way the different quilters have taken their own color themes and styles to interpret Saimdang's ideas." \nThis was Barter's fourth year attending the Heritage Quilt Show. What keeps her coming back is the variety from year to year. She remembers the Japanese quilt exhibit from two years ago and still raves about it. But "Quilting in the Morning Calm" sparked something different inside of her she said. \n"Someone would go back in history into women's art and later portray it through quilting."\nPointing to three different quilts with the same embroidered picture, Barters marveled at the individual uses of color and fabric.\nBarters said she liked the way the different quilters have taken their own color themes and styles to interpret Saimdang's ideas. \n"I would like to have seen the original work to see exactly how they (the quilters) interpreted their ideas," Barters said.\nBeing quilters themselves, both Barters and Becker understand the skill of quilting. \nBecker said the exhibit left her feeling intrigued and she is beginning to explore new techniques herself in order to become more innovative with the craft.\n"These people spent a tremendous amount of time making these. I admire them for it," Barters said.\nFor more information on "Quilting in the Morning Calm," visit the Mathers Museum of World Cultures Web site at www.indiana.edu/~mathers/.\n-- Contact staff writer Lyssa Rebholz at lrebholz@indiana.edu.