Sara Deever and word themes

At the SAQA Ohio meeting last week, Terri Hartzell suggested exploring themes in quilts utilizing among other things, words. Interestingly enough, Sara Deever had done just that and brought along some of the work she had done. Each day for a year, Sara stitched only on quilts employing scripture or her rendition of scripture.

Here you see Sara with one of those quilts. Coming from an embroidery background, stitching holds an important part in her design. I love the richness the color and texture she achieves in her quilts.

SAQA OH

Saturday, Deb Bentley and I drove to Westerville, Ohio (Columbus area) to attend the first Studio Art Quilt Associates Ohio Regional meeting. It was a blast! Sue King, the regional representative put together a great program. Not only were there opportunities to share and network, but she lined up three presentations: Shelley Brenner Baird presented her methodology and growth with printing and fiber art. Dee Dadik and Molly Butler addressed appraisals, and Terry Ann Hartzell showed her process which found me scribbling notes as quickly as I could.

Here Lisa Sellars-West is sharing one of her pieces.





Terry Hartzell is showing her heart quilt which was the focus of her presentation. At the meeting, I mentioned that I had hesitated to join SAQA since my "studio" was my dining room table in Connecticut. Now, I wish I had done so long ago.

Already, Sue has arranged for one "parlor meeting" --an informal regional meeting among members in the Columbus area. In early January, Maria Elkins will host one in the Dayton/Cincinnati area. We listed things which we would like to see the regional group do and hopefully, we will be able to do some of the suggestions we made.

SAQA's journal is worth the price of admission alone. I've learned a lot already and am looking forward to learning much more.

So, if you want to join SAQA, take a look at their website. SAQA Ohio's blog is here.

Autumns last Gasp is Gold

Winter is coming. But gold still abounds. Foxtail grasses wave plumey seedheads which will provide food for small birds such as the junco, and sparrows which stay here all years.


Squirrel tails wave in the gold hiding their own treasure against the winter snows. Where they forget, things grow.









Norway maples hold on their leaves long after their cousins drop theirs. While I prefer the oranges and reds of the sugar maples, I begrudingly admit that this gold is wonderful...even if it sometimes means that you are madly trying to gather them for the last leaf pick-up by the town (not me...I compost mine to change their gold to black gold in the spring).

















Strange, alien seedpods, an invaisive member of the morning glory family.....whose name I can't remember, cling to the trellis at Fulton Farms....Waiting for the winter winds.

Incredible Video: Only the Young

I don't usually do this....but my niece included this link in her FB page and I'm blown away. The photography is fantastic and I can see lots of fodder for art quilts inspired by it.

The music is pretty good too...although this middleaged minion isn't too sure about "only the young".... ; ). Take a gander at Brandon Flower's Only the Young.

Wordless Wednesday

Wonderful Things for Quilters to Have: Machine Quilting Unlimited

Not too long ago, I subscribed to Machine Quilting Unlimited. I was a bit behind in this as just before the first issue was released, Shirley Stutz was promoting it in one of her classes. This is my second copy and I can't say enough good about it.

The articles are well written and there's material for all types of machine quilting; from domestic sewing machines, to using track systems for domestic machines such as the Handi-quilter, to Mid and long arm quilting machines.

If you need to give someone a gift idea, tell them to get you this. Until November 22, Machine Quilting Unlimited is offering a 2 for 1 deal; subscribe for one year and get a second year for free! Renewals are included. Look here for the details.

And for the record, no I am not employed by MQU, nor do I have any relatives who work for MQU, nor do I get any kickbacks or remuneration (isn't that a great word?) of any sort for plugging this. I just think its a good item.

And yes....I apologize for the quality of this photo, but I couldn't swipe it off the site. Err...borrow it, yah, that's it, borrow it...

Indicating a spotlight in a quilt

On the Quilt Art message list, Madeline recently asked how to indicate a spotlight. This is what I did to indicate a spotlight in this piece called "El Ritmo Flamenco (The Flamenco Rhythm)" in 2004.

It seems a little simplistic now, but I did this piece for the Robert Kaufman QuiltQuest Challenge. You were to use the Color Rhythm fabrics, and I am happy to say, that except for the netting, the shiny stuff and the cording I used on the "curtains", all of the fabric was from this line. Nothing else was used.


To show the spotlight, I wanted something see through, yet glowing. I found the shiny crinkle iridescent lame in the fancy dress goods section at JoAnn's. However, it was a tad too bright. I needed something to break up the reflective quality.

After trying a whole bunch of sheer fabrics, from georgette, to chiffon, I finally settled on plain, old black netting. Illusion netting was just too dense. The open hole structure of the black net allowed the shiny stuff to show through but knocked it back a bit.

The flamenco dancer was inspired by a press photo of Teresa Torkonowsky, a famous flamenco dancer, teacher and purveyor of dance accessories. Ms. Torkonowsky was kind enough to give me a copy of her 1950s black and white press photo and the permission to use it in this piece.

What doesn't really show up in these photos is that the dress is three dimensional. Each of the layers is gathered and stands out from the background. Her "flower" in her hair is made of gathered lace and her earring is the catch part of a hook and loop closure for a necklace.

This piece was part of the traveling show for the Kaufman Quilt Quest that year. One of the funny things, or maybe not so funny, is that it was almost lost. After entering the show and sending the piece off, I discovered I would be moving from Connecticut to Ohio. I dutifully sent off the change of address to Kaufman, which they acknowledged. About two weeks after the quilt was supposed to be returned, I frantically got in touch with Kaufman. It appears that they had had a computer crash and lost my current address, so sent it to the old address. Fortunately, the new owners of our old house were on good terms with us and they over-nighted it to me.....too bad I had to pay those fees and have the heart attack, but at least I got the quilt back safe and sound.