The Deck

Published in 1994 by Lark Books of Asheville, NC, this beautiful deck actually started back in 1992, when artist Sue Pierce "became intrigued with the idea of interpreting playing cards in fiber."

Pierce then contacted professional quilt artists all over America, asking them if they would like to participate in the project. Soon she had mailed each of fifty-four artists the playing card they were to interpret.

The only guidelines they were given: Each quilt would be 28 x 18 inches (meeting a standard bridge card's 14:9 ratio), have rounded corners, and must meet the project's definition of a quilt - "a stitched construction of three or more layers using fabric as the primary material". Pierce also encouraged each artist "to make a quilt in a style that would be representative of their work."

The result is an astonishing array of quilts, which was first displayed at the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in 1995 before embarking on a three-year tour of the country.

A wonderful book documenting the project, Art Quilts: Playing With a Full Deck (Sue Pierce and Verna Suit, Pomegranate Artbooks, ISBN 0-8765-300-X), was published in 1994, and belongs on the bookshelf of any playing-card collector. The first part of the book describes the genesis of the project, explains some of the diverse processes used in creating the quilts, and even contains brief sections on playing-card and quilting history.

The rest of the book consists of two-page spreads for each card in the deck. The left page gives a bio of the quilt's artist, and discusses the inspiration and techniques involved in the quilt's creation, while the right page shows a glorious, full-color photo reproduction of the quilt itself. The book's size (11.5 x 9 inches) allows these reproductions to show a great deal of detail, some of which is hard to make out in the actual deck.

Finally, in a move which Pierce says "brought the project full-circle", the photographs were made into an actual deck of cards in 1994.

It's not often that a deck of playing cards comes along which has an effect felt outside of collectors' circles, but for the thousands of people who have seen the exhibit (or the many magazine articles written about it), Sue Pierce's "The Art Quilt - A Full Deck" has redefined just what a deck of cards - and a quilt - can be.

The Cards on Display

The quotes below are from the information sheet which comes with the deck.

• The Nine of Hearts - By Kathleen Sharp of Monte Sereno, CA. "Sharp takes inspiration from architectural forms and makes her soft fabrics suggest the solid materials of construction. The title of this work is 'Calling All Hearts'."
  
• The Queen of Clubs - By Therese May of San Jose, CA. "Remembered childhood dream imagery forms the subject matter of May's quilts. This highly embellished quilt has a border which suggests a braided rug, and the entire surface sparkles with raised dots of paint."
  
• The Seven of Diamonds - By B.J. Adams, of Washington, DC. "Adams creates striking geometric designs with satin stitch embroidery executed on a commercial sewing machine. She begins with a pieced fabric ground, which here is evident in the shadow images of several figure sevens."
  
• The Six of Spades - By Gayle Fraas & Duncan Slade of Edgecomb, ME. "Fraas and Slade acheive realistic detail by painting with procion dyes on the surface of cotton cloth. Frequent subjects are landscapes and references to other textiles."
  
• The Joker - By Susan Shie & James Acord of Wooster, OH. "Shie and Acord collaborate on heavily embellished quilts that carry messages of earth healing. Their Joker is based on the Native American 'shape shifter', who can take on the form of different creatures, much as this wild card can assume the identities of other cards in the deck."
  
• The Card back - No mention is made of the card back in either the pamphlet or the book, but the suit signs on it are taken from four cards in the deck. I assume they didn't need one for the exhibit or the book, and only had to come up with one when the deck was printed!
  

Quilting Resources on the Web

• The World Wide Quilting Page - Pages devoted to such topics as "Quilting History", "Quilt Supplies & Shopping Online", "Quilt Book Reviews" and "Computers & Quilting" help to make this a varied and useful site. Don't miss the winners of the 2nd annual "Worst Quilt in the World Contest©"!
  
• Quilters Corner - A site with breadth and depth - I was particularly impressed with the Gallery, featuring the work of several quilt artists.
  
• Nina's Quilt Index Page - Primarily a list of quilting links, Nina's page makes a great jumping-off point for mining the web for other quilting information.
  
• Alta Vista Search - Search the net for more quilting sites!
  

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