Quilting meets gardening in new Farm & Ranch Museum exhibit

March 27th, 2018

LAS CRUCES -- The Arts Corridor at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum is about to erupt into a splash of garden colors on quilted fabric.

The New Mexico region of the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) has created an enormous rack of seed packets illustrated by their fiber art.

The show, “How Does Your Garden Grow?,” opens with a free reception from 3-5 p.m. on April 6. There will be refreshments at the opening and many of the artists will be present.

Who doesn’t love to plant a seed in the fertile earth and watch it grow? One of the group’s favorite activities in the dead of winter is to look over colorful seed catalogs and dream of a vibrant spring. Each artist chose a flower or vegetable, real or imagined, and created its image in a 16-inch by 16-inch quilt, which was then mounted to resemble a traditional seed packet.

The creativity resulted in quilts that have titles such as “Bull’s Eye Beets,” Zebra-Striped Tomatoes,” and “Easter Egg Radish.” There are 35 mini-quilts in the show by artists from all parts of the state.

Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) is an international organization devoted to the promotion of fiber art. All are welcome to join, from beginners, to collectors, to experienced artists. For more information, visit www.saqa.com.

The show will be in the museum’s Arts Corridor through Aug. 5, 2018.