Squeezing in Some Quilting

Just got my Mileage Plus statement for last month and it had a little section on Fun Facts - pointed out that I had been to 8 United airports in January. What a great summary of 2013. In February I only expect to hit 7. But, I have been home for two and a half days so I decided to partake in SAQA's Santa Fe Spotlight.

All that was required was a 6x8 inch piece which would be matted and used in a silent auction at the April SAQA Expanding Horizons conference in Santa Fe. A prompt turn-around by Red Dog Enterprises on some digital printing meant that I was greeted by the base for a contribution when I arrived home on Sunday afternoon. It felt absolutely wonderful to be back quilting the piece on my machine on Monday and yesterday I sat peacefully adding some beadwork.

While I will leave the 'unveiling' for Santa Fe, here is a glimpse of a section of the work in an early stage when I was experimenting with what beads might add to the piece. I am calling it Vanishing Ice. I suspect it is my first in a series of pieces that will deal with the topic of melting Arctic ice. (Have I mentioned that my husband and I are complementing our trip to Antarctica with a journey to the other end of the globe to visit the Arctic later this year?)

SAQA Auction approaching!

Once again the SAQA Auction is almost upon us. The auction is the largest yearly fundraiser for SAQA and I have contributed a quilt for the past three years.

The online Auction begins a week from today on Monday September 10.  Link to the Auction details.  In addition, a selection of the quilts will auctioned at the IQF in Houston in November.

There are always several hundred quilts, all 12 inch square, to choose from. SAQA has some of the most amazing artists so be sure to browse early and pick a few favorites to bid on.

I decided to have a bit of fun with my entry for this year. I call it "I spy."

It is up to the viewer to decide what our friend might be looking out upon. 

No Place to Call Home

With so many in Colorado losing their homes to raging fires, it is almost eerie that the special exhibit No Place to Call Home opened yesterday in Loveland, CO.  Little did we, the artists, know when we all agreed last winter to reassemble our art quilts that our exhibit's theme would be so timely.

I am touched and honored that my quilt, Homeless, is once again on view. Homeless was one of my first art quilts to be publicly shown. It was the ability to use my art to make a statement about a horrific world condition that attracted me to enter the original SAQA show.

No Place to Call Home toured for a year with the Mancuso quilt shows.  The current exhibit in the Foote Gallery of the Loveland Museum runs until September 16. There are 15 quilts in the exhibit. Jeannie Lancaster has written a wonderful review for the Loveland Reporter Herald.

Homeless by Judy Warner

Advice and Acknowlegements

I have mentioned more than once the impact that Dena Crain has had on my development as a quilt artist. I have had the delight of studying with Dena both through Quilt University and in person. This morning I found a post on Dena's blog entitled, Ten Steps to a Better Quilt. She covers many of the pitfalls that we as quilters could avoid with a  little more conscious behavior. Tips range from washing all fabric to considering our batting to checking thread tension. Whether pro or beginner, I suspect you will find the list helpful. I know I did.

I also noted that registration has opened for Dena's Goodbye to the Grid class at Quilt University. This is a design class for art quilters. And, having taken it over a year ago, I can assure you that if you sign up and participate fully, you will get more than your money's worth. Dena has an uncanny way of getting you to stretch and stretch and stretch some more.

Final Exhibit of No Place to Call Home

SAQA has had a traveling exhibit, No Place to Call Home, for the past year. The last place that it could be viewed was at our local Genesee Valley Quilt Guild bi-annual show. Here are a few photos of that last exhibit. I wasn't able to get photos of all 21 quilts but here are some of them. The exhibit was extremely well received in Rochester and I was honored to have my quilt, Homeless, as part of the exhibit. Much thanks to Kathleen McCabe who curated the exhibit and all who made the exhibit possible.

Looking Back on the SAQA Conference

Just a week ago I was in Denver, getting ready to check out of my hotel and meet some friends. The SAQA Visioning Conference had finished the night before and I had just had a pleasant breakfast with fellow SAQA Vision member, Jean Judd, and her husband. Jean was only one of several wonderful friends that I met at the SAQA conference. Having breakfast with her helped prolong the warm feeling of spending time with new found friends who shared a common love of creating with fiber.

From registration on Thursday afternoon, the conference continued to reward those who attended with high quality workshops and presentations. Now, a week later, my memories are fading but I still appreciate the opportunities presented.

An opening highlight was the display of 268 member contributions to the SAQA traveling exhibit, This is a Quilt!, never again to be viewed as a group. The framed 8" square quilts will now travel in smaller groupings both in the U.S. and abroad.  Seeing all these wonderful art pieces on display as we registered reminded us of the artistry of our work. (Just saw that Bev Haring has attempted many more photos - check out her blog for more!)

After a night of getting to meet and visit with fellow attendees, our conference began in ernest on Saturday morning. We had an excellent panel presentation by three Colorado Artsis, Deidre Adams, Carol Watkins, and Charlotte Ziebarth. They described how they create their very different art works and then, on the prompting of the moderator, shared a typical day in their lives and how they approach studio time. Their responses to that question were as varied as their works and helped me visualize some options for framing my own day.

We were then all off for our first workshop. Mine was by Regina Benson. She shared with us her approach to marketing her works with an eye on her ultimate goal to have her works reviewed in a national art magazine. I found her thoughts on mailing lists, promotional cards, and approaching museums about shows, of value despite having a different personal vision for my work.

Lunch followed, with an opportunity to sit with fellow Vision Project members and listen to a talk by Luana Rubin of eQuilter.com on 'Finding and Creating Your Vision'. We all then attended a second workshop of our choice. I participated in Valarie Poitier's workshop entitled 'Promote Your Work Without Apologizing.' Valarie is a skilled speaker and had some great suggestions for all of us.

We then had the opportunity to listen to a panel discussion on curating which definitely gave us all a sense of what is involved in curating exhibits. Then in the later afternoon there was an opportunity to tour some galleries and studios with local members of SAQA. I was lucky enough to wind up in Regina Benson's car. We began with a tour of the Dry Ice Factory where we were able to view both the studio of Carol Ann Waugh and her exhibit, Layered Textiles.

We then headed off towards Golden,  CO. Regina graciously first took our group to catch a glimpse of the peaks of the Rocky Mountains before visiting the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum where a wonderful exhibit was on display.  Here were two of my many favorites - it was hard to choose!

Winter's Silence by Laurie Hill Gibb

Native Faces by Lea McComas

We also visited the offices of Quilters' Newsletter where the SAQA exhibit, Sightlines, was on display. If you have the opportunity, please do get to see this stunning show.

Saturday was another full day. I did two technical workshops - one by photographer Gregory Case on how to take quality photos for juried competitions. It was detailed to say the least. Fortunately, Gregory offered extensive handouts for us!  In the afternoon, I attended a workshop on Adobe Photoshop Elements by Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki. I actually have the full Adobe Photoshop but was looking for tips on using it to promote my art. Deb and Kris are high energy and laid out a number of basic ideas for creating a promotional postcard.

There were also a number of talks throughout the day for the entire group to attend. Nany Bavor spoke about archiving our art work and Dr. Alice Zreviec spoke about the history of fiber in the art world. My favorite most definitely was a panel on the Rewards and Challenges of Working in 3D. Mary Beth Bellah, Carolyn Crump and Jill Rumoshosky Werner, along with moderator Susan Else, had us laughing till tears came at times while they recounted the challenges they face in getting their works accepted, shipped, and properly displayed in venues. All the time, their slides of their work gave us a new appreciation of the art of 3D quilting.

Then it seemed we were at our closing celebratory dinner and making plans to stay in touch and attend next year's conference in PA. Like many of my colleagues, I had never attended a SAQA event. Beyond a doubt, this experience has made me look forward to my next opportunity.

SAQA Trunk Show At the Schweinfurth

I was privileged to participate at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in a trunk show of quilt artists who are members of the Central/Western New York Region of SAQA. It was the first time I had been part of a trunk show and it was great fun.

One of our two regional SAQA reps, Marcia Eygabroat, organized seven of us into what was definitely a diverse and entertaining show. The weather in Auburn, NY, where the Schweinfurth  is located, was snowy but there was still a full room in attendance for the show. Participants included Mary Diamond, Ruth White, Pamela Kirch, Sally Dutko, Janet Root, Aafke Steenhuis and myself. I had previously been in a workshop taught by Mary, participated in a Guild retreat where Janet had been of great help, and seen Aafke present at a Quilt Guild meeting. For me, this represented an opportunity to see more of their work, meet some new people, and get to discuss my favorite topic - quilting!

We each presented a selection of five or more of our works. Here are some photos from the event. Apologies for the photo quality - I forgot my regular camera and used my iphone.

Aafke had, as always, an impressive selection of quilts to share, but maybe what was most fascinating was a brace she was wearing on her right arm. It was necessary as she had reinjured a chronic problematic wrist. You can't see it very clearly in this photo but she had decorated the cast with little quilts, etc. It was very colorful.

Ruth White shared some of her amazingly detailed work on small quilts with us.  Here is Ruth after her presentation displaying some of her works.

Pamela Kirch shared a number of pieces from her series on microbial cells. Aren't the colors amazing!









Mary shared some of her works from her latest series on her grandchildren and Sally shared some of her abstract art pieces. I am sorry I don't have photos of either but you can check out Mary's website for photos of some examples. And, there are some examples of Sally's work on a webpage created for her participation in the Greater Ithaca Art Trail event.

Janet Root concluded the Trunk Show with a fashion show of a selection of her many jackets that she creates.

A number of the other presenters and helpers modeled the jackets for Janet as she discussed them.

Here is Marcia Eygabroat, our SAQA rep, modeling another of Janet's jackets.















All in all, it was a great way to spend a snowy afternoon in upstate New York.