New Quilt and What I have been doing

New quilt in progress

Layout on my design wall, WIP

We are just a metro ride to the Capitol

Begonia at Botanical Gardens in DC (love the Polka dots)

Me at Botanical Gardens in DC

Vern at Botanical Gardens in DC

Westmoreland State park in VA where we went hiking

George Washington's birthplace (1732) formerly known as Pope's Creek Plantation

Birthplace of George Washington right on the Potomac river

Squirrel at GW birthplace (compare this skinny little squirrel to the one below)

Squirrel on the National Mall (who stopped to pose for me as squirrels always do that)

Emma, having fun

More QSDS

detail above of a purple/yellow piece

Here are a few of the paintings I did at QSDS...I made painted fabric, not pictures. I really like the effect of layering paint. It is all done on 7 oz. canvas using fabric paint and thus is easy to sew to other fabrics. The top piece has many layers and was an experiment. It might be hard to cut these up and use them in quilts.

QSDS (Quilt Surface Design Symposium)

my board (above) with photos of my previous work and some new paintings

on day two (yes, the boards are bowed)

my board in the class on day seven

here I am getting ready for a presentation to the class

(I look so serious)

my friend, Susan Nash, and her board

QSDS was 7 wonderful and intense days of art composition, painting and fun! I took a master class with Elizabeth Busch. I highly recommend her as an instructor if you ever get to take a class with her. I came away feeling refreshed about my art work. I can see me going in an almost different but better direction with my art. This class really made me think about composition, color and how to better interpret my designs in fabric. I ended up putting away the two pieces I had planned to work on and started a new design. The board shows my paintings and some pieces of the new work. I got to room with my good buddy, Susan Nash, who is a very talented art quilter and always inspires me. Each day, we did little 4" x 6" studies on index cards...the designs aren't in these photos. I will save those for a later time when they are made into quilts.

It's good to be back home, but it was nice to be in an artist environment for a while. (no cleaning, no cooking and big, fat chocolate chip cookies or cheesecake at each meal).

Check back tomorrow...I will have some details of the paintings.

Sacred Threads

me & my quilt at the opening reception

my friend, Susan Nash and her quilt, at the opening reception

The Sacred Threads exhibit was wonderful once again! I was so honored to have my quilt juried into the show. I can't describe how great it is to see the quilts and read the artists statements in person. It was so nice to meet fellow artists who also have a piece in the show. I also got to see friends who I haven't seen in a while. It does a heart good!