An Evening with Linda Bar-On

About a month ago, my quilt group had the pleasure of spending an evening at the home of quilter, Linda Bar-On. She gave us the run of her house, served a wonderful spread, and treated us to a show-and-tell of her incredible quilts. Linda's home is a wealth of textiles: small, woven carpets cover chair seats and stools, hand-made curtains cover the windows; patchwork hangings even decorate the door frames.

 In her quilts, Linda’s color choices are often inspired by her carpets and she uses many “ethnic” fabrics: Ikat cottons, textured hand-dyes, as well as used clothing. Linda works mostly by hand, layering her quilts with appliqué, hand-embroidery, and embellishments such as beads, buttons, shells, even coffee beans. Then she adds tons of hand-quilting.

Linda researches her subject matter, which is generally drawn from her list of “likes”. Included on that list are tigers, Biblical themes, and “women with attitude”. Her quilts often comment on important social issues such as the current political situation or feminism.

My group could have spent many more hours examining the fine details and small, embedded surprises, and hearing the stories behind Linda’s quilts. Linda is currently at work on new series, for a solo exhibit that will coincide with the annual summer meeting of the Israel Quilters’ Association. Planned opening: 1 July, 2012, in Jerusalem’s “House of Quality”. Mark your calendars. Linda's quilts are definitely something to see.