Flying My Freak Flag

I spent some time yesterday doing a trial run of my installation piece that will be part of the Moving Outside exhibit at Portland's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral starting on Wednesday, April 29.  Of course, the tree I will be working with is going to be completely different than this one in my front yard, but I had to see exactly how my vision might work out.  It turned out to be easier than I was expecting.  Most of the vintage linens are tied together with a light green ribbon but I discovered that pins will be needed in some spots. About now I was wondering what the neighbors were thinking.

My piece is called Fragments and I am writing small words or phrases on the ribbons that are recollections of childhood and general life experiences, some good, some bad.  I trialed the larger peach ribbon and decided it is too big.  The smaller green ribbon is better but I did go today and buy one that is just one size wider. It does show up better.

The only change I need to make in the actual installation is to cover the round doily with another corner of lace.  The way it looks here it reminds me of a lost hubcap that someone has nailed to a tree.  Good thing I tried this at home first.  Once the show is hung in the Cathedral courtyard I will post pictures of my actual piece and the other pieces as well.

On another note, the badges for the volunteers at the SAQA conference, starting Thursday, are done and ready to be delivered.  Each one came out slightly different from the next one.  I actually made 13 because one of them was my prototype on which I made all my mistakes.  I hope everyone enjoys wearing them.

SAQA and Fiberlandia

It's only a few weeks away!  SAQA's (Studio Art Quilt Associates) national conference is coming to Portland, April 30 through May 2.  All the Oregon members are excited to have the conference in our own part of the world.  These conferences are a great time to connect with any folks whose names we have seen in publications over the years but never met in person and reconnect with old acquaintances.  Many new friendships are made and everyone goes home re-energized to keep creating and networking.

The little quilt pictured above is my donation to the fund-raising auction that will be held the weekend of the conference.  It is small, just 6" by 8" and will have a mat around it for the auction.  I called it Fiberlandia in honor of the conference being held here in Willamette Valley country.  This could easily be a scene from the Hood River Valley, just east of Portland, as well.  I'm hoping the bidding will be high on this piece since I made it to complement the 12 badges I am also making for the local volunteers to wear.

These are even smaller than the donation quilt.  They will be about 3" square when finished.  I'm still trying to decide how I will put the lettering on.  I'd like to have it on a piece of white silk organza (attached just on the edges) so it could be removed later if the recipient wanted it to keep as a little piece of art.  I'll see how that goes once the main stitching is finished on each piece.  Hopefully, they will be desirable enough to generate a lot of bidding on the larger piece.