Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea
Fiber Artist Brenda Plaster to Demonstrate Quilt Piecing During "Quilt Extravaganza" Weekend in Berea

On Saturday, August 5, fiber artist Brenda Plaster of Lawrenceburg, will be demonstrating quilt piecing from 10:30 am – 3:30 pm at the Kentucky Artisan Center, coinciding with the city of Berea's "Quilt Extravaganza" weekend August 4-6.

A quilt is defined by many as a fabric sandwich with three layers. Often the two outer layers are of lightweight cotton and the middle layer is a batting or filler of some sort. These layers are attached by quilting stitches or by tying to make a mat, blanket, or wall hanging. Quilts can be also be made of many other fabrics, have different fillers, and sometimes only two layers. Often a binding, or narrow fabric covering, is stitched over the edges of a quilt to finish it.

The fabric surface, where the design aspect of a quilt is seen, can be created many different ways. Brenda Plaster, like many quilters piece quilts, stitching many separate fabric shapes like squares and triangles together to build a design. Often patterns emerge and over time these patterns have been given names. Contemporary quilters invent variations on these established patterns and develop visual designs of their own invention. Quilters can piece colors and shapes together into an infinite visual variety.
 
Quilting is the stitching that goes through all layers of the quilt, holding them together and adding interesting designs. This stitching can create its own design, like feathered plumes, or it can follow the lines of the fabric pieces, and can fill in spaces with irregular meandering (called Stippling).

Quilts by Brenda Plaster are regularly found at the Kentucky Artisan Center, located just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 650 artisans from all across the Commonwealth. For more information call 859-985-5448 or visit the Center’s web site at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov 

For more information on Berea's "Quilt Extravaganza" contact: www.berea.com

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Commerce Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.