VAM galleries including this work:
Museum of the American Quilter’s Society | Do You See a Pattern? || VAM Home

“The central image of this quilt was drafted in mirror-image perspective, and each small section was machine-pieced to paper, using a method I have worked out to make all the pieces fit together accurately,” explains Alison Goss. This quilt won the RJR Best Wall Quilt Award at the 1991 American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show and Contest and was designated as one of the 20th Century’s 100 Best American Quilts in 1999.

About the Artist

Alison Goss grew up in northern California, earned a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and received her teaching credentials from the University of California at Davis. She was gradually drawn to quiltmaking after working for several years in other areas and has been making quilts professionally and teaching quilting classes since 1980. Her quilts have won many awards, have been published in books and magazines, have been widely exhibited, and are in many private collections.

“Coming from an academic background with no formal art training, but lots of home sewing, I started out thinking of quiltmaking as a very enjoyable and exciting craft,” Goss says. “However, over time I have found it necessary to learn more and more about artistic principles in order to express ideas and feelings that are important to me.”

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: How does Alison Goss achieve three-dimensional perspective in her quilt? Describe how the quilt would change in appearance if it were rotated so that the large triangles placed to the right and left of the central image were on the top and bottom instead. What shapes does she use to create depth in this quilt? What is the first word that comes to mind when you look at this quilt? Is it joyful or gloomy? How does it make you feel?

Activities: Create a simple quilt block with construction paper, or find a colorful image that you like. Hinge two 12" X 12" mirrors together to view the artwork. What is the result when you view the image between the mirrors? Record what happens when you view the image in the mirrors.

Make your own mirror-image artwork with construction paper, yarn, and paint. Dip a long piece of yarn into paint. Lay the yarn on one half of a piece of construction paper in an interesting pattern. Fold the paper in half and press it carefully against the yarn to transfer the paint to both halves of the paper. Unfold the paper to discover the mirror image.

Links

The Quilting by the Lake web site includes other quilts by Alison Goss.
[www.quiltingbythelake.com/faculty/a_goss.html]