Monday, May 30, 2011

SAQA Benefit Auction Quilt - "Poppy Love"

Here's my 12 inch square quilt for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Benefit Auction 2011.
"Poppy Love" is a small whole cloth quilt on painters canvas using watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons and Tsukineko inks which were thread painted and free motion quilted.  Embellishments include some needle felting, hand beading and a 3D free motion embroidered butterfly. The watercolor media techniques came from my friend Sherry Kleinman who gave a workshop for Westside Quilters in April.

This year's Auction will begin on Monday, September 12th at 2:00 pm Eastern and conclude on Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 pm Eastern. Price points will again be: $750, $550, $350, $250, $150 and $75. The one foot square quilts already received are now up on the SAQA site  here. The funds raised through the Auction are critical to supporting SAQA's exhibitions, catalogs and outreach programs. Bid early and often!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Bridges from Quilts on the Wall Fiber Artists to Debut at International Quilt Festival Long Beach in July

My quilt Rainy Day San Francisco, Monday October 10, 2010 will be part of Bridges an art quilt exhibit from Quilts on the Wall Fiber Artists debuting at International Quilt Festival Long Beach  at the Long Beach Convention Center July 29-31, 2011.
I'm very honored to be in such exalted company as these other artists.Hope you'll be able to come to Long Beach!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

My Quilt for Wounded Warriors

It all started with a slightly odd email to our Westside Quilters email address (I'm guild president)  from an Air Force Captain in Afghanistan - someone who I didn't know - asking if we were the group who had sent her unit quilts for their wounded and their medal ceremonies and if we could send more as soon as possible. We were not, but I was intrigued and hoped to help her find her way, so I started with Google and then called and emailed a few quilting contacts and finally came up with the name of a lady nearby in the Los Angeles area who I was told would know.  Well, Arlene Zobrist did know and she is in fact in charge of a group in Southern California's South Bay that makes and collects quilts to be sent to wounded soldiers in Iraq an Afghanistan. She contacted the Air Force Captain and made sure that more quilts were on the way.

As I learned more about Arlene ( a member of  Blue Star Mothers - her son is in the Air Force) and her group "Quilts for Wounded Warriors" I was hooked. The quilts are made in patriotic fabrics and colors of 100% cotton fabric and batting - they will be washed often and must be fire resistant. They are forwarded directly to hospitals in the battle zone and are given to the wounded as they  are evacuated out of theater to Europe or the US. The transport planes and helicopters are cold and these provide needed warmth and comfort. Wounded Warriors is one of the few groups that sends quilts outside of the US. Most other groups provide quilts for the wounded when they arrive back in the states. The local chapter of Blue Star Mothers provides some of the funds for shipping. Arlene said that her group's quilts follow the soldier from the initial hospital overseas all the way back to the states where they become beloved heirlooms. she has sent me copies of wonderful thank you letters from the soldiers. I asked her about the required size which at 48" X 78" is long and narrow.  They are stretcher size, she told me.
That's what finally got me.


I invited Arlene to visit one of our Guild meetings this last February where she gave us a moving presentation and a trunk show of some of the recently donated quilts before they were sent on our way. Several of our members have made their own Wounded Warriors quilt and they will be shown  along with mine made from Sylvia Davis' handsome Kumasi Star pattern at our next meeting on May 21st and then will be delivered to Arlene for their trip to Afghanistan.I'll post more photos of the quilts on the Westside Quilters Website!



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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Creating in Palos Verdes ....


I had a wonerdul day yesterday at Deborah Weir's Fiberfly Studio in Palos Verdes playing with my new needle felting machine. Wools, cottons, silk, yarns, angelina fibers,dyed cheesecloth, wool roving - we played with it all. Deborah took some photos of all our work so take a look below. I'll post a finished piece soon....

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