Recently in Art Quilting Category

I look up from my computer screen,and across the room I see a tumble of colors and swirls under my Juki. It is a variation of our pattern Orcas Swirls. I smile for two reasons....it is beautiful...and, almost finished. I'm sewing on the long binding, and then a few hours of hand stitching and it will be completed. Fortunately, the deadline for an upcoming quilt show was extended just long enough to get this completed and entered.

The LaConner Quilt Museum's Quilt Festival 2012 is in full swing this weekend. Two of our quilts were juried in, Orcas Swirls and Amy's Twelve2. I walked through the show last night and was in awe at the range and quality of the quilts on display. Come by if you are in the Seattle area.

Another happening in the area is the Stanwood Art Walk tonight, September 30, 5-8pm. All the shops in our little town will be open with a featured artist(s) in each place. Our quilts will be on display through the month of October at Snowgoose Bookstore in Stanwood.

I shared a photo of this a week ago when I was beginning the layout of this piece, and when the two youngest grandboys of the four stayed here for the week. Time to work on my project was hard to find. By the time I put them to bed and they slept, I was exhausted from the day. But, they left on Saturday, and I got to work on finishing this project which was due today. I was inspired by a card with the saying, "A friend remembers the words to your song when you forget"....I love those words and what they mean in a friendship.

When I started, I knew I wanted to use these Japanese fabrics for the background and borders. Once that was constructed, and the layers were sandwiched, I started making the two birds using scraps from my bins. I played with the placement of their legs to get just the right attitude. The flowers were cut from many different fabrics and quilted in place. The black and white fish in the left border is a piece of vintage Hoffman fabric.

The two birds and their long legs make me smile. It is a happy piece.

Thank you to those of you who came by and said 'hi' at Art By the Bay last weekend. I always enjoy meeting you, and showing off our quilted pieces and talking about our
work. It was a good show in spite of the cool and wet weather.

Roger and I are getting ready for the show and sale in our home in just 8 days. If you are in the area I hope you will come by and see our beautiful quilted wall hangings and quilts displayed throughout the house. My studio will be open where you can see not only projects in progress on the design walls but a glimpse of my fabric stash.

This is one of Roger's latest series. It was recently featured in an art show at Creative Arts where he was the featured artist. His other works will be displayed as well. If you are a collector of his pieces, you will enjoy seeing his latest work.

The dates for our Quilt Art and Clay Show are July 22, 23, and 24 from 10 am. to 5 pm. Directions to our house are on Roger's website, www.camanoisland pottery.com

This weekend is the annual Art By the Bay art show at the Stanwood Fairgrounds - Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Amy and I have been busy finishing up projects for this show. We will have beautiful quilts, decorator pillows, quilted wall hangings, unique place mats, quilt patterns, quilted arty totes, and handmade collaged cards for sale. I finished this quilted tote just a few hours ago. Don't you love those oranges?

The other side of the tote has a very 'fishy' pocket.

We hope that if you are in the Seattle area, you will come by and see us, and enjoy the work of other local artists, eat some good food, and hear great music on the stage.

This is the back of the quilt I'm quilting now. Starburst is a collaborative challenge we worked on in a round robin between us. I will post the finished quilt in a few days.

Another stunning collaboration! I have finished quilting the center squares and frames, and now I'm ready to do the star points. Then there is a border of pieced 3" blocks...some are tiny pieced stars, some are floating squares...it will be a beautiful wall hanging when finished, and just in time for the home studio show and sale in a few weeks.

This is our latest collaborative piece....it was made for the "Innovation/Renovation" challenge from the LaConner Quilt Museum in LaConner, Washington to raise funds for their building campaign. It will be on display at QuiltFest in October 1, 2, and 3. 24" x 36"

This piece is my response to the Creative Therapy catalyst, "What Was Your Childhood Like?" The public library in town was my favorite place where I spent many many hours. That grand building held so many possibilities...I remember when I was finally old enough to peruse the 'adult' section. I wanted the structure of the building to look childlike, with the colors of those wonderful stained glass windows. The books are selvage edges of fabric. The little embroidered flower is a bit of my mom's hand work. I machine quilted, and hand stitched the bird's tail in gold thread.

Posted on the Creative Therapy site this week.

This is one of our latest projects which I quilted yesterday. Using our pattern, A's Cranes, with a pirate theme, we created a happy kid's quilt. Choosing the perfect color for the binding is next.

Two more placemats to complete a set of four purchased at Art by the Bay. Amy pieced these, using a great fish fabric framing the focal bird houses. I love the way they turned out.