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Archive for the ‘SAQA’ Category

SAQA Donation Quilt

Thursday, May 29th, 2014

skybluepink

I finished this piece, Sky Blue Pink, just in time to get it shipped to SAQA by the deadline and then, boom, today, they extended the deadline to June 15th. Well, it is done and it gave me something to do while I have been nursing a crappy, achy virus. I did copious handstitching on this. I only used my sewing machine to do the edges.

I used some of the fabric that I snow dyed last winter — cheesecloth and cotton.

skybluepinkfabrics

First I did random seed stitching on the cheesecloth.

sbpcheeseclothstitching

Then I used a running stitch to finish the other sections, following the undulations of the cheesecloth section.

skybluepinkstitching

I was hoping to get to my studio today to do some printing for the Printed Fabric Bee, but instead, I have stayed in my jammies and watched tv and dozed away the day. Hope I will be better tomorrow. That is the good thing about a virus, you usually wake up and feel fine after a day or two.

Coping

Monday, January 27th, 2014

tranquilitySAQAtrunkshow

I finished the hand stitching on this piece for the SAQA 2014 trunk show. The edges needed to be finished so I fused it to a piece of black felt and did a simple hand stitched edge with the same perle cotton. I have named it Tranquility because it has given me some peace to work on  it during a turbulent time.

Here is a detail.

tranquilitypeek

Most days, we have someone here poking around the house as the buyers decide what to ask for as a result of the inspection. It is mostly minor stuff. And we are happy to have the radon test come back negative.

We did not get the townhouse we made an offer on. It sat on the market for a couple of months. I think the price was dropped a couple of times. We thought we were golden. The great thing was, there was a large space at the end of the garage that we could turn into a studio for me with heat and plumbing. I was so excited. We were blindsided as two other offers came in when we made ours. So, I have been pretty unhappy for several days, now. Not sure what we are going to do as there is nothing, NOTHING, out there that fits our needs, physically and economically. Guess I just have to be patient.

I have decided that I need a mindless project – therapy sewing.  There are yards of each of these fabrics that Lisa designed for Cloud 9. She gave me the whole lot when I was in CA in November.

Processed with VSCOcam

I washed the whole pile and now I have to iron them. I think I will make a couple of kid quilts for Paige and my great niece, Abigail.

basketlisafabrics

I also washed the Jay McCarroll fat quarters that she gave me last year. I love the colors and patterns in these. I will make a small quilt for someone special. Jay was the first Project Runway winner who is also a quilter.

JayMcfabrics

This should help me take my mind off the stalled house hunting.

Stitching Again

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

saqatrunkshow

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and exhausted from our selling and buying ordeal. The good news is that we are under contract. We met the buyers when they came to see the house because they came before it went on the market. They absolutely love our house and I am thrilled for them to be the new owners. Tomorrow, we have to leave the house for most of the day for all the inspections to take place. It means taking Scooter and finding something to do with him. For the open house, we took him with us to do errands and then to the dog park, but it was not as long. Stephane and family are in LA for a photo shoot that she is doing and we do not have the key to their house so we can’t go there.

Processed with VSCOcam

The deadline for the SAQA trunk show is coming up and I didn’t think I would have time to do anything. Then, I remembered that I had a remnant of one of my discharged and shrunk pieces. It has to be 7 X 10, finished which I was able to find. It helped to sit and do some slow stitching to take my mind off things. Here is a detail.

saqatrunkdetail

So, now we have to find a place. We hope we have, but it is complicated. More about that later.

I have to be up early to neaten the house for the new owners to come again for the inspection.

 

A Glimmer of Light at the End of the Tunnel

Monday, November 25th, 2013

binsofsalefabric

Just keep moving, I tell myself. This is all the fabric that I have deemed of little use to me. Don’t worry, I still have plenty, especially the white prepared for dyeing kind!! Those bins contain commercial prints, batiks, some hand-dyes, dupioni silk, other silk, organza and vintage Japanese textiles. I have separated them into larger pieces and scraps. I think I will let people fill a larger bag with larger pieces for one price and a smaller bag with scraps for less money.

Today, I found so many items from a previous time when I attempted to do traditional quilting. These will be available.

miscstufftosell

I have these two storage units empty and they will be for sale.

colorclothbins

clothstoragebins

I received word yesterday that this quilt was juried into the Oregon Exploring Layers show, debuting in February. That’s right – Walking with Scooter and Mr C.

walkingwithscooter

The new quilt I entered in the show didn’t make it. I was a bit disappointed, but really, the leaves were a bit problematic for me so I may take them off and screen print new ones. I also think the photo of this may not do it justice. Actually, as I sit here and look at it, I see lots of problems!!

takingleafpreview

In the evenings, I have been working on the sweater for Paige. I just need to knit the sleeves and put it together. I was hoping to have it done for our trip this week, but it will probably not make it until Christmas.

paigesweaterbody

On another note, The Fabric Bee will be contributing a pack of 10 printed fat quarters for Virginia Spiegel’s American Cancer Society fundraiser which she has titled Fiber 5K. There will be drawings for other great prizes, too. Click on the logo in my sidebar and it will take you to the page showing all the prizes donated to date. I will let you know when the race starts.

Fiber5Kroute400

Not sure when I  will check in again. We are heading to California tomorrow. I am really looking forward to time with the CA peeps, especially the precious Paige.

 

SAQA Auction

Sunday, September 22nd, 2013

saqaauctionquilt

The annual benefit auction for Studio Art Quilt Associates has been going on for a couple of weeks. I have been remiss for not blogging about it. I acquired this wonderful piece by Sherri McCauley during the first week. I  really love it. It has some wonderful surface design and the quilting is very creative. I also love the touch of color to enhance, but not overwhelm the design. Sherri lives in Texas and I was not familiar with her or her work, but I am so happy that I snagged this piece. Here is the back. You can see how creatively she quilted this. She has a very nice label, but I blurred her personal information.

saqaauctionquiltback

My piece is going on the auction block tomorrow in the final group. You can find it in group 3a. I am a bit nervous because this is a departure from the work I have donated in the past. I have been honored to have my work purchased early in the bidding cycle. Here is my piece, which is one of my discharged silk and shrunk pieces. All of the pieces are 12 inches square.

Montanas y Lunas copy

Four other members of the 12 x 12 group have quilts in this group, you can see them all in a lovely blog post by Deborah on the Twelve blog.

My whirlwind of activity over the past month is winding down. I need and want to get some studio work done. Yesterday, I picked up the 20×12 quilts and 4 of my quilts in the High Fiber Diet Show from Quilt Expo. I did a little shopping the day before. I bought some pre-wound bobbins and titanium needles from Superior threads and this lovely handdyed fabric from my friend Maureen Schmidt from Santa Rosa, where we used to live.

The first bundle is titled Truffle.

trufflehanddyes

This set is Eucalyptus – so gorgeous.

eucalyptushaanddyes

Fall arrived today and so did our fall weather. It rainy, cold and windy. I had to pull our warm clothes and wear socks – ugh! Lisa is flying into Portland tomorrow to spend a week with us. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with her.