Colorful quilts dazzle, delight

By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK

anne@iolaregister.com

Lenexa fabric artist Ada Niedenthal is adept at traditional quilting methods — just don’t call her a quilter.

Niedenthal, whose machine-pieced fabric wall hangings range in size from about a foot square to more than three by four feet, said, “I am not a traditional quilter; but I am an artist.”

Niedenthal, 63, began sewing at the age of five, she said. But she didn’t delve into the world of art until 2002, when she retired from a career in landscape architecture.

Niedenthal received a bachelor’s degree in art from Wichita State University in 1972 and a masters in landscape architecture from Kansas State University in 1977. 

She worked as a landscaper in Minnesota, Indiana and the Kansas City metro area for 25 years, she said.

After retirement, fabric art came naturally, she said. 

“I’m a very tactile person; it had to be something I could touch,” she said of her choice of medium.

Despite the imagery of Niedenthal pieces — trees, grain fields, flashy colors and abstract patterns — many of the hangings are made using standard quilt block methods, she pointed out.

“I really do not applique at all,” she said.  “The geometry of piecing is what intrigues me.”

To make such organic designs work on a geometric ground, “It all has to be worked out ahead of time,” Niedenthal said.

“Several are paper-pieced,” she noted. “I plan out the whole thing on freezer paper — to scale — and cut it out and piece it that way.”

Another tool Niedenthal uses is a “design wall” — “It’s like a bulletin board” large enough to pin up a work in progress, she said, to observe how colors and patterns work together . 

Design walls can be made of many materials, Niedenthal said, noting, “Mine is pieces of foam insulation.”

“That’s how I work out a lot of my color arrangements,” she said, “by working them on the wall first.”

Niedenthal’s work is “inspired by things I see, hear and read. I grew up in Kansas, so I’m inspired by the landscape, also” she added. 

One hanging, “Amber Waves,” is evocative of a prairie field, with bands of gold fabric rolling in the lower half of the piece and strips of sky blue above.
Only after a second look does one see the outline of heads of wheat, stitched into the field.

“In all of them I dyed a lot of my own fabric,” Niedenthal said of her work, another observation best made up-close.

Tree branches are painted on one hanging, another has overdyed calico rimming a collection of colored circles.

Niedenthal said she screen prints, stamps and paints her fabrics as well. “It’s all surface embellishment,” she said of the techniques.

A series of smaller hangings were “inspired by some scraps of fabric,” she said. “I use all kinds of fabric — neckties, old silk blouses, recycled clothing, cotton blends,” she said.

And, “I like color now “ she said. “I don’t know that I always (did),” but these days, Niedenthal said, “I’m intrigued by how color works together.”

That is apparent in the dazzling displays of fuchsia, turquoise, rich emerald greens and shining copper and gold touches in her pieces.

In addition, beads and buttons embellish others. One piece, “Squandered” is rife with words representing the years that George W. Bush spent in presidential office, Niedenthal said.

The tiny stitched letters require a close-up view; from a distance, the piece looks rosy.

When seeking out quilt designs, Niedenthal advised, “look around. Go to art shows, to galleries, look beyond (traditional) quilts.” 

An opening reception for artist Ada Niedenthal will be 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Mary L. Martin Gallery in the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Enter through the east doors; refreshments will be served. 

The event is part of Iola’s week-long Kansas 150 celebration.