Local Fiber Artists Participate in IKEA Project Patchwork Challenge

Apple Valley, MN, March 19, 2009 --(PR.com)-- For the first time, IKEA Twin Cities shines a spotlight on the art of quilting with Project Patchwork, a contemporary quilt sale benefiting the Textile Center’s summer youth programs.

In August 2008, IKEA Twin Cities challenged local contemporary quilters to design art quilts using IKEA’s modern textiles. Fabric packets were given out on a first come, first served basis causing local quilters to start lining up outside the Textile Center as early as 5 am. Participants had a deadline of January 31 to complete their works of art.

Apple Valley, MN artist and owner of Festive Finale, Catherine Rai Cardenuto, was one of 50 participants who received a packet of IKEA fabrics to transform in to an art quilt. She chose to use all four of her fabric pieces, beads thread and decorative hand stitching to make her piece titled “The Meanderer”. “The IKEA fabrics I received didn’t initially want to play together” Cardenuto shared. “The large bold patterns were a sharp contrast to traditional quilting fabrics. I needed to take the project slowly, letting the shapes and colors reveal themselves as I wandered through the piece.” Cardenuto says she learned sewing and needlework from her mother when she was a child. She carries her love of needle art everywhere she goes.

On Saturday March 21, the quilts will be on display at IKEA Twin Cities for the world to see. A celebration with free food and music and sale of the quilts will start at 6 pm. All of the pieces will be for sale and the proceeds will go to support fiber art programs for kids and teens at the Textile Center, a non profit art center in Minneapolis. A panel of local judges will award prizes, including a $1000 IKEA Studio makeover to the Best of Show, $500 and $100 IKEA gift cards to first place and Juror’s Choice and the public will have the opportunity to choose a People’s Choice award.

“Not only is Project Patchwork a chance for our local contemporary quilters to exhibit their creativity, but it is also a unique opportunity for supporters to band together and raise funds for the Textile Center’s summer youth programs,” said Margaret Miller, Textile Center’s Executive Director.

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