It's a Little Fishy

My piece for SAQA now has a name. "It's a Little Fishy". I asked my artist husband Mike to draw on the label. Using fabric pens, he created this little scene. Isn't it cute!

SAQA has posted my piece to the auction page. Check out all the fabulous pieces that have come in so far:

SAQA Benefit Auction

SAQA Auction piece is done!

This little 12" x 12" quilt is for the SAQA reverse auction which will take place next fall. I have been making fish quilts lately. Must be because I am thinking about my beach house in California. Mike drew the fish for me. It's handy having a husband that can draw! I haven't named it yet. Any ideas?

Signs of the Times - Part Three

My Uncle Sam piece is finished! Signs of the Times will be making its debut at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival later this month.

Uncle Sam - Signs of the Times Progress - Part 2

My Signs of the Times piece is coming along. Check out the drawing my husband did from my recent post. Next step is to add the text for all the difficulties.

I am making great progress due to the crazy snow storm that hit our area. Otherwise I would be at the church today for an all day meeting.

While 3 feet snow is a lot and a bit of a hassle, I am happy to be in my studio today.

I am proud to be a sponsor of an AAQ Fundraising event.

Here is the press release from AAQ:

The nonprofit Alliance for American Quilts will host two fundraising events in Washington, DC on Thursday, March 4.

The "Connected by Threads" events will celebrate quilts, quiltmakers and quilt history through the lens of two speakers, Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi and Le Rowell, both board members of The Alliance for American Quilts (AAQ). Mazloomi will speak at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm including a tea reception, and Rowell will speak at a dinner and silent auction from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the DACOR Bacon House. The events will benefit the nonprofit AAQ, a national organization that documents, preserves and shares the rich history of quilts and quiltmakers (www.AllianceforAmericanQuilts.org). Both Mazloomi and Rowell will be sharing quilts from their own collections and studies. "Connected by Threads" is sponsored by Lisa Ellis of the Sacred Threads Exhibit and maker of Art Call, the on-line artist registration, jurying and exhibit administration system, http://www.ellisquilts.com/, and the Rowell Family Charities. An individual ticket including both events is $85 for AAQ members and $100 for nonmembers. Individual event tickets are also available.

Read the full press release: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs011/1101594196900/archive/1102956828989.html
Find complete information and online ticket sales: http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/support/events.php.

Signs of the Times. Work in Progress - Part 1

I am really blessed that my husband can draw. I am working on a piece for an exhibit called "Signs of the Times". I asked Mike to draw me an Uncle Sam skate boarding on a graph representing the Dow or unemployment while using a smart phone. He came back to me with this:

This is my second piece featuring Uncle Sam. My first was made in 2007 for Vintage Revisted and is called Trying to Keep the Balls in the Air:

I'll post more pictures of my new piece as it comes along.

New Work: Go Green Challenge

I haven't had much time in my studio lately. I have been focused on my software company's clients SAQA and my newest one Quilts, Inc. The on-line registration software is going very well.

But I did get this piece made. It's 30" x 30". I am participating in a challenge with quilters from the west coast and the UK. This is a traveling exhibit called "Go Green". I call this piece "View from Space". I imagined what the earth might look like if it was going green and spewing excess green color into the universe.

I had fun playing with trapunto.It's machine appliqued and quilted.

A new piece for my church

Today we celebrated our clergy at church in recognition of Clergy Appreciation month. I created this piece called 'Filled' which depicts the scene in Acts 2:4 when the Holy Spirit descends and fills the discples. This event is referred to as Pentecost and is celebrated 40 days after Easter. This piece was inspired by a painting by Vanessa Williams and was used with her permission.

"Art Under the Microscope" Exhibit Is Hanging

On Monday night, I was thrilled to attend a reception for the scientists that created the Bio Artography images. This is a shot of me with my folks, Bill and Dee Brehm. My piece is called Escher's Needlepoint and is based on a photo by scientist Kaelyn Male.

Here, scientist Linda Samuelson, is describing what is happening in Guts and Glory. The quilt is by Carole Nicholas. The scientific image is by Lymari Lopez-Diaz.

Maria Morrell is showing me her image called Green Feather. The quilt is by Annabel Ebersole.

Check out all the quilts by visiting our Fiber Artists @ Loose Ends gallery page.

Knitting: No, No, No

For years now, I have sat in meetings with fellow quilt artists and watched them knit. I would say to myself, "I do NOT want to learn to knit. The last thing I need is another activity to fill my brain and more stuff to put in my studio."

So while I was in Houston, I visited a booth called Gita Marie. She makes beautiful enamel pieces of jewelry and shawl pins. The booth folks were sporting beautiful shawls as examples of their kits which include one of the stunning pins. They assured me that it was a beginner's project and very easy to do. Friend Kathy Lincoln told me she would show me how to knit while in Houston. So.... I bought the kit and a pair of knitting needles. And sure enough, ten minutes before we were to leave the hotel for the airport, Kathy showed me how to cast-on, knit and decrease.

Two days later, I was at my Fiber Artists @ Loose Ends meeting and am knitting on a sample ball of yarn I purchased to practice. Friend Sandi Goldman then showed me how to purl and Barb Hollinger showed me how to hold the needles differently so that I could wrap the yarn more efficiently with my left hand. So between Kathy, Sandi and Barb, I felt ready to tackle my shawl project.

So here it is... my first knitting project.

And sure enough, what I tried to avoid has happened. I dragged my husband out to visit a cool yarn shop about 45 minutes from our home, to purchase some nice yarn to make more scarves. NO!!! I have no room in my studio or time. But it's so much fun!