Radka Donnell

Radka Donnell gave a talk on Saturday, July 11, 2009, at the New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) as part of their exhibit, Radka Donnell: The Work of Touch. This agile and spirted 80-year-old quilt maker has made over 400 quilts. Born in Bulgaria in 1928, she came to the United States in 1951. She now lives in both the US and Switzerland. Here's a quote from the museum's website:

• Radka Donnell is one of the most important and influential quiltmakers of the past forty years. She was one of the first academically trained artists to adopt the quilt as her medium, and she has pioneered in exploring what quilts can mean and look like, challenging both traditional quiltmakers and the fine arts establishment with her visually powerful and emotionally expressive work.

Unique Style and Methods
Radka's style is unique. Her early quilts were made of strips of cloth and that's the closest she ever came to making quilt blocks. She later developed her own method, which involves using large expanses of cloth including many with large, bold prints. In my opinion, this is a reflection of her training as a painter. Radka's quilts are laid out on the floor (she has no studio) usually in one day. Many of her quilts are made with old clothing that is bought at Goodwill or donated by friends.

Making a Scandal and Giving LicenseRadka was one of the first to have someone else quilt her quilts by machine. It was considered somewhat scandalous at the time. This choice made Radka's quilts sturdier, more affordable, and also allowed her to work faster -- to create more quilts. The pantographs are simple and functional; they do not embellish the quilts.

While I'm talking about "scandalous" quilting practices, some quilters are taken aback by her applique technique which is usually done with a whip stitch rather than a blind stitch. When I asked how she decided on thread color, her answer was another question, "How do you select your paint color when you paint?" That made me so happy! After debating with others about this and related issues, I was proven correct -- Radka's choices are made from artistic intuition. It all goes back to her training as a painter.

Mary Walter, who has known Radka for several decades, pointed out that when Radka uses old clothing, she likes to keep the details that make it easy to recognize them: a pocket, a buttonhole, a yoke or collar shape, a bit of fringe from a scarf, or maybe a French seam. Mary also confirmed that the surprising choices in fabric colors and fabric patterns are all intentional.

While working as a volunteer at the NEQM, I've had the opportunity to introduce and discuss Radka's quilts to a number of people. What I've seen is that she has given many people license to break the rules when they go home to make their quilts. Go ahead --use a contrasting thread color! Mix plaids with plaids -- and run them in every direction while you're at it! Use old clothing and keep the pockets, embroidery, and even a few French seams! Through her quilts, Radka has liberated a new generation of quilt makers.

Forbidden Combinations
In her talk on Saturday, Radka shared some of her earliest textile experiences -- getting new clothing. In Bulgaria in those days, this was an annual event. A seamstress would come to the home and live with the family until she had finished her work -- making new clothes for each member of the family. Children were expected to keep quiet, try on their garments, and stand still; they were living dress forms. It was not fun. This was also a time to learn social customs about what fabrics "go together."

Before the lecture, I had a chance to talk with Radka. She told me (with a mischievous smile) that she enjoys selecting fabrics that appear to not go together -- and then, working to get those fabrics to work in a quilt. Wouldn't it be fun to show that traveling seamstress all of Radka's quilts!

Broad Influence
Radka's influence in the world of quilts has been substantial. Many of today's contemporary quilters have studied with her. Clearly, she's made an impact on many contemporary quilters but I'm guessing that many "everyday quilters" have not heard of her. I'd love to be proven wrong on this point. Have you heard of Radka? Please leave me a comment.

No Blog, No Book
It's unfortunate that Radka does not have a blog or a book. You can find a few of her quilts online by doing a Google search -- enter her name and then click on "images." (See a few links below.) Still, it's a meager portion of the total 400+. I wish the NEQM had found a way to photograph each quilt before they dismantled the show, since it's rare to see her quilts in print. Still, the fact remains that her quilts look different in-person. In fact, they look quite different depending on if you are a few inches away or across the gallery.

I can only guess how Radka's quilts look on a bed. Many of the quilts in this show belong to Radka's family and friends; one quilt was from the NEQM collection. Many of the family quilts have seen a lot of wear. Radka believes in using quilts. The resulting wear and tear showed on some of the older quilts. Some had been repaired, and Radka's touch was apparent by her choice of fabrics, positioning, and techniques. Usually, she appliqued a brand new fabric on top of the torn piece and used it in multiple places, thus the patches blend in so well, it takes quite a while before you notice the quilt is patched.

A Few Radka Links:
http://www.folkstreams.net/context,33
http://textilegallery.unl.edu/archives/2003/radka.html
http://www.artsopolis.com/event/detail/37393
Radka and six other quilters were featured in a 1981 film, Quilts in Women's Lives. You can watch a 15-minute excerpt and learn how to purchase the DVD at this link.

There's More
Radka has additonal non-quilting accomplishments. You can read more about her online and in The Art Quilt by Robert Shaw.