Emergence book project

Every other year the Oregon region of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) organizes a traveling show. It is open to members of our local region and is always juried. In 2020 when it was time to start on the new show for 2021-2023, covid was rampant. Our committee members met on Zoom and pondered what to do since many galleries were closed. We decided to do a book instead. 

Our goal was to have members juried in on the strength of their previous work. The chosen artists would create a new piece to be featured in the book since we weren't sure we would be able to secure any gallery venues. Each artist would have 6 pages in the book following their progress through their design process and the making of their art quilt. We produced a book with 21 artists featured. It is Emergence: Fiber Art from Concept to Stitch. It is available on Amazon in hard cover or as an eBook.

Here is an example of my first page in the book talking about my inspiration and a montage of a few of the other pages

 

Ultimately, we did get the show shown in several venues which have now passed but the book is still available for anyone curious about how an individual goes about designing and making their art quilt.

The pieces that I made for the book sold at one of the last venues. It was called The Marsh. Although not obvious from a distance, I used a number of fabrics with animals, amphibians or insects in the print. There are also a few secret stitched creatures just as a surprise if the viewer comes in for close detail. I wanted to show that even spaces that look uninhabited to our eye are actually teeming with rich biodiversity and deserve our respect.

 

 

Kelp Forest has sold!

 

 Kelp Forest did not make the cover of Quilting Arts magazine but it did have a feature inside. It went on to the International Quilt and Fiber Festival in Everett, Washington where it sold. I will miss having it to enjoy once in a while but the reality is we can't keep everything we make. I have too many old pieces rolled up in plastic and under the bed. 

 One way I have found to repurpose some of them is to cut them up. SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) has a couple of online fund-raising auctions every year. I make a window frame to the requested size and move it around the quilt until I find a spot that looks good. It needs to have some composition and balance and look like it was always intended to be smaller. Since, like many artists, my style has changed over time, I wouldn't probably ever hang these pieces in a show. (I hope no one ever asks for a retrospective show, though) Here's an example of one I cut up this year. It has many more potential spots for cutting. The original was called Paint the Town, done for a red-themed show..  The cut out
I titled Stalctite. I added some beads and stitching.

 

I have been busy in the studio lately, but not creating. We put new carpet and composite flooring in the room.  It is a wool carpet with a lovely pad so my feet will be happy when I stand at my cutting table designing new work. Now to put only the valuable stuff back in and not the junk!

 

Once in awhile a person just needs to take the leap! Quilting Arts magazine had a contest inviting readers to submit their art quilts for a chance to be on the cover of the magazine. I have never entered anything to one of the magazine's call for artwork but this one was too hard to pass up. I sent several images and this one, "Kelp Forest" was chosen as one of seven finalists.

In the end, it was not chosen as the cover. Kate Themel's "As You Set Out" was the chosen artwork for the Summer 2023 issue. However, this piece, and the other finalists, are all featured inside the magazine. It has been great fun, and quite an honor, to be involved in this project.

 Here are a few detail shots of my quilt which was made using commercial and hand-dyed cottons, one of which is a beautiful blue Japanese ombre sateen. The background kelp fronds are done with an ombre silk chiffon. The stitching is all free-motion by machine. I also embellished it with a few glass beads.