Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival 2007

Below: "Sunday Morning" by Esterita Austin
Below: "Echoes of the Ancestors" by Carol Beck from Durham, NC. We met her and she was so excited and bubbly. Its permanent home will be in the National Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, OH.
Went to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival yesterday with my guild. Saw some great quilts and bought lots of stuff I never thought I'd need, but could not do without. Here are some highlights. I didn't get all of the creators' names and quilt titles, so if you recognize them, please let me know!

More from the MAQF! Part 2

More pics for you from the MAQF!!! Photos don't do them justice!I love the use of color in the one below and the one above is fantastic. TINY pixel-like squares were used!below: "David" by my guild colleague Margreta Silverstonebelow: "We're All the Same--Just Different" by Pat Kumicich

MAQF--done!

Here's my guild buddy Cornelia (in the pink) and me...worn out--yet still giddy--at the end of the day! Ugh, I look so squished in this photo! those seats were really wide to the back. What a fun day!

New Guitar

Two years ago I made a declaration about how it had never occurred to me to pick up an instrument now and try to learn it--and how I would try. I proclaimed to someone else that I would learn classical guitar and play Spanish classics.

I must now eat my words and do it. I have fantastic software and will probably take lessons too. I've found that I love it and look forward to it, even just basic chord playing. It feels so good to play an instrument again.

I went to a guitar shop last Sunday. I bought a basic Yamaha C40 classical acoustic, because I wasn't sure if I'd like it so I wasn't breaking the bank on a first guitar. It has a nice sound to it though. That's it above...

Fabric Day for Starbirth

Yup, fabric soaking in anti-chlor. Happy joy in a bucket!

As a lot of you know, I have been working on a "Starbirth" series for over a year. I did some bleach discharge pieces that reminded me a lot of the cosmos, but some of the ones I did on a dark brown West African damask really reminded me of a star's birth complement.

So, what would be the stages of "death" for a star? Supernova. The smaller pieces reminded me of supernova events and the new larger piece of fabric I just bleach discharged and painted, a red giant. I was a little "Ugh" about how the larger piece turned out, I wish it had more dark parts. I let it pool a little long. Darn. That's okay. I think it'll be perfect to represent a red giant.

My friend Elsie will be tickled to know that I painted it in my bathtub. I've become almost legendary for it...Soft Scrub w/bleach is fantastic by the way.

NEW PODCAST! Be an Art Quilt Ambassador

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

As a gift to me, I got lots of snow and ice and the opportunity to try and work from home (Comcast went down in the middle of my work! Curses to them! Curses!) There's my annual pic of my car (above) covered with our first major snow. Yup. I know it's not the monster snow places like Buffalo are getting, but for me--it's more than enough!

As my gift to you, however, I bring everyone happiness and a new Sew Chick podcast. Yay!

This time, I talk about encouraging newbies and those new to quilting and I FINALLY included my inteview with Carole Lyles Shaw.

Textural Rhythms!

You can go to Sonji's blog for fantastic photos from the opening reception for the Textural Rhythms exhibit!

It looks like there was a really good turnout and it is so exciting to see pictures of everyone's pieces! They are gorgeous! There's Sonji's piece hanging next to mine. What were the odds? I hope she won't mind my "borrowing" the above pic! "My Fab Cousin Jo..." looks great and it's so nice to see it up.

Congrats to all of the other artists included, and I can't wait to read the catalog to know more about the inspirations behind them.

Textural Rhythms Opens Today!

I am so excited! The opening of the Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition exhibit, curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, is tonight at the King Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio. I was planning on being there, but my mother's surgery was rescheduled for this past Monday, and I decided that it was best if I stayed here in town. The accompanying book is available for pre-order, and I can assure you that you find some incredible pieces in it, including one of mine (winkwink)!!

New Look!

Sew Chick's got a new look!

I switched over to New Blogger and updated my blog's design...for the first time in about 2 years (yikes)! How in the world did I live with the old look for so long, LOL?!

It's snowing. My husband told me earlier that it was sparkly...how pretty, huh?

This does not change my opinion on winter though (as in, "It sucks"), trust me.

Oh! My friend Sharlea in England sent me what has to be the funniest real estate website EVER!!! It's by an agent based in Glastonbury. Heck, I know I'd buy something from this guy!

Quilting vs. Piecing

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary:

Quilt: to stitch or sew in layers with padding in between

Piecing: to join into a whole

I've been reading a lot of quilting mags and sites lately and there seems to be a thing about "painted" quilts. As in, quilts where the creator declares with pride that it was "Pieced, not painted." Has anyone else noticed this?

I remember reading on a site or forum where someone said they were tired of people just painting a quilt or using a photo and just quilting it. Hmm. And this is different from doing a wholecloth quilt, how? LOL. I mean, that's how I view quilts like that.

The last time I looked, it's the quilting itself that makes something a quilt, not the process used to create the top itself--whether pieced or painted. Whooooo! LOL. I know I've been playing the antagonist lately, but geesh, I'm sick of the griping. I do think art quilts are definitely more accepted, but man, if it's not one thing it's another. Change is good, people!

Change is GOOD!