Every other year the Oregon region of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) organizes a traveling show. It is open to members of our local region and is always juried. In 2020 when it was time to start on the new show for 2021-2023, covid was rampant. Our committee members met on Zoom and pondered what to do since many galleries were closed. We decided to do a book instead. 

Our goal was to have members juried in on the strength of their previous work. The chosen artists would create a new piece to be featured in the book since we ...

 Kelp Forest did not make the cover of Quilting Arts magazine but it did have a feature inside. It went on to the International Quilt and Fiber Festival in Everett, Washington where it sold. I will miss having it to enjoy once in a while but the reality is we can't keep everything we make. I have too many old pieces rolled up in plastic and under the bed. 

 One way I have found to repurpose some of them is to cut them up. SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) has a couple of online fund-raising auctions every year. I ...

I finished the quilt formerly known as Tuxedo Vest. Since the name is based on the fabrics on what is now the background, I am changing the name to African Garden to refer to the applique which is now the focal point.

This was the quilt as I left it in 2021. It was supposed to be a simple baby quilt, but I don't know anyone who would want it as a baby quilt. I thought about keeping it, but I would need a lap quilt so my original plan was to add more columns and make it larger ...

Poetry, well I was never a fan, until I met my husband. The current project was inspired by a poem of Christos Laskaris, (that translates as) “Simply a Surface”. I imagined handquilting the whole poem on the project, and I did.

This project was part of a group prompt (Pani me Pani – FB Group, with the guidance of Anna Kazakou), to create a work of patchwork inspired by poetry. The project began on February 2021 and it was finished a month later. Finally, after all the participants finished with their work, an exhibition was held to showcase all the wonderful ...

This past week has seen significant progress on the art quilt with the Japanese fabrics. I showed the base last week, and I have since completed the binding. I did it in the same black as the border, so it now is framed in double black with the pieced border between.

With the base binding in progress for hand work, I worked on the two circles on the machines. The larger one was loaded on the longarm with black batting. The backing is muslin, as it will not be seen.

Quilting is echo free hand around the motifs in the ...

By Gretchen VanNostrand

Contrary to how last week's post read, I really did have a good time on my creative vacation.  I try to do at least one week a year to recharge my batteries and this week surely did.  It wasn't that the piece really lead me to new ideas, but more the people that surrounded me were a pleasure.

One of which was Gretchen VanNostrand of West Virginia.  Gretchen has been quilting for about 20 years, but she specializes in fabric bags and organizers.  So she walked into the class never really having tried anything like ...

It is the season now for our car clubs to ramp up, so we have been busy with several events. Last weekend was an annual fundraiser show called Luft Wasser, which is German for Air Water, referring to the two methods of cooling for engines. We were on the crew, and arrived early Saturday morning to work the main gate where cars were entering. Our car was selected as part of a special display of the Colors of Porsche exhibit at one end of the show. Ours is a dark warm grey called Agate Grey. On the left is a ...

This week Project Quilting Season 14 (2023) has as their very last challenge: Conquer Your Fear

They say in their post, “if you only do what’s safe and comfy, you’ll stagnate and grow soft.” I agree. You need to push your boundaries from time to time … and get out of your comfort zone.

As you probably know, the challenge is to make a quilted object (any size) from start to finish in one week using the challenge title as your inspiration. And post a photo at their website before the deadline.

So, after pondering all the fears that ...

Another late night Saturday start for this week's Project QUILTING challenge, A Novel Project. 67 minutes from fabric pull to finished mini mini quilt this evening. Woo hoo!

At the beginning of the week I shared other quilts I have made that were inspired by books, but I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to make for the challenge. Earlier in the week, I scrolled through my Goodreads of what I've read in the last couple years and wasn't particularly motivated by what I have read recently.

I've been inspired by Margaret Fleisher's ...

The Project Quilting challenge for this week (Season 14, #3) is “54/40 or Fight”. It’s the name for a traditional quilt block. If you’re interested to find out more about the block, it’s history, or the Project Quilting challenge, click here: Project Quilting

The challenge has to be done from beginning to end in one week. I was thinking about using the 54/40 or fight block as the center of a square table topper, making pieces wonky to make it more modern. But my heart wasn’t in it. Nothing seemed to come together.

I ...

So I haven’t painted or drawn on fabric for quite awhile now. And with the snow falling outside, I declare an official “Snow Day” … a day to relax, stay cozy indoors, and “play”.

I’ve got my Derwent Inktense 24 box of pencils, a few stiff brushes, some plain white fabric (PTD prepared for dying), freezer paper, and water/aloe vera gel/textile medium and I’m ready to play.

For those of you not familiar with these color pencils, once they’re activated with liquid and dry they become permanent. Unlike watercolor or regular color pencils, these pencils ...

 Chegou o dia de mostrar o que fizemos para o desafio Shades Of Blue feito pela Carla do Blog Creatin' in the Sticks

Na última postagem eu tinha dito que meu dia era 26, mas acho que acabei me confundindo, rs

Bom, primeiro vou mostrar dois trabalhos meus que estão aqui no meu quarto de costura e que estão dentro do tema.

Quando eu vi o tema pela primeira vez, como eu poderia não me lembrar do meu Fusca Azul?

Meu primeiro Art Quilt que participou de exposições aqui no Brasil e uma exposição no Reino Unido.

Nele eu retratei ...

 Since I started working full-time back in 2012, Thursday nights have always been my blog night.  This mostly works out well, unless an emergency pops up like today.  So I thought I would steal an idea from my favorite blog, Ask A Manager, and rerun a post that was hidden in the archives.  Since back in 2009 hardly anybody was reading, I thought what the heck!  

Praise Hands for Sacred Threads 2009

I had another UFO that just wouldn't work for me so I decided to cut it into 4" squares and see if I might be able to create a 12x12" piece to donate to the SAQA Benefit Auction that will take place September 9 through October.  All the pieces are 12x12.  They will be divided into 3 groups with prices starting at $750 or $1,000 and decrease to $100 throughout each week  Studio Art Quilt Associates, SAQA, is an international organization to promote quilting as fine art.

"Variation-2 ...

When you have an idea in mind for your art quilt, often combining techniques you’ve learned along the way and a little experimentation will help you reach your goal.

My goal for this small landscape art quilt was to recreate a scene of our Capitol shown in the distance through the autumn leaves. The fall season is my favorite, and so beautiful at the UW-Madison with the variety of trees and colors. Having worked in the heart of this beautiful campus for many years, I’ve had many opportunities to view it.

So how do I begin to reach ...

This little blue rocking chair has been in my head for several years.  It elicits many memories of a number of different stages in life.  I never had a blue rocking chair, but if I had one now, I would paint it blue.  

Connie was a fearless quilter.  Even after she had finished the quilting; if it wasn't working, she would just cut it up and make it into something wonderful.

When I first got my longarm and was still learning, she gave me a quilt top she had made to use as a practice piece.  I cut a few sections out of it for some other project and was left with a carcass.  I decided to just cut it into squares and rectangles and see if I could make work it into something else.  

My mantra was "What would Connie do ...

Jag har lagt upp ett ny hemsida 

Veriquilt.com

gör gärna ett besök! Det är ingen blogg men jag kommer att hålla den uppdaterad med lite bilder av vad jag gjort.

Fibre 15's exhibition, Conversation, ends Sunday. It's been a very busy month with lots of learning. Here's a peak at some of it.

Getting ready

I've been to openings of exhibitions before, but it's a lot more exciting when you're part of a smaller group of artists. The vernissage was very well attended with roughly 100 people showing up. It was also the opening of a new shop as well as the first event of the year for the Stone School Gallery.

Journey of many paths at the exhibition