In a quick splash of activity and color, I created a 12″x 12″ piece mid-summer for the SAQA Benefit Auction, which is happening right now. The first two pages of donations have already been auctioned off. Each page of quilts is offered in an online auction for a week’s time, and each day of that week, the beginning bid prices are reduced. The amount starts at $750 and is reduced each day until the last day when the quilts are offered for a $75 bid. No matter what price is gained, all of the proceeds go to SAQA as a fundraiser to support art quilting opportunities around the USA. If a quilt does not sell during its week, the piece is placed in the SAQA store, and for the most part, each one sells pretty quickly once in the store. I was very pleased that my offering sold during the auction… it’s just fun to watch during the week as the pieces are marked “SOLD”. It was purchased for the Hendricks Collection. Maureen Hendricks purchases several pieces every year, mounts and frames them, and creates groupings to decorate the Gateway Canyons resort cabanas in Gateway, Colorado where they can be enjoyed year round. The Alegre Quilting Retreat is held there annually, so they are doubly appreciated during that time. There are still two-three days of bidding remaining, so check out the links above and see what is there. Then give your support to SAQA by purchasing one of the little art pieces. Let me know if you purchase something, I will honor it on my blog.
Month: September 2014
Sketch Master 2
This app is so much fun, plus it can be a legitimate tool for creating the sketching steps needed to prepare for a new piece. Check out the sample below… first take the photo, then apply Sketch Master 2.


Proud to Announce….
Great Lake! Windy City! SO BIG! is accepted by the curators for our PAQA-South Members Show, ARTQUILTSconnections, from October 22-November 16, 2014 at the Page-Walker Art and History Center in Cary, NC. The annual member shows are always a wonderful collection of art quilts displayed in a beautiful refurbished railroad hotel. Check out the membership list to see who might have a contribution in addition to my own.

Side by Side 2 …
“Fall Frenzy: Watch Out Below” is the second piece discussed at the critique session held during the Spring Conference at PAQA-South. Here are the results that were such a tremendous help to me. I am so grateful to these artists for their instruction!

1. Remove 4″ off right side to assist the shape of the small boy, and it doesn’t add anything anyway.
2. Add more falling leaves so it doesn’t look like she is holding a bouquet.
3. Add shading to the wall behind the decking as its brightness distracts from the focal point.
Side by Side…
I promised that I would show some photos of work I completed and then revised after a critique session. Here goes the results with “Farm Home: Where My Story Began”. I would encourage emerging artists to find a critique group that can provide guidance. My experience with a small group from PAQA-South was extremely helpful and positive. The revised version won a 1st Place at the Durham-Orange Quilt Show in Durham, NC – August 2014 – in the 1-Party Wall Quilts category. After clicking the link above and enjoying all of the categories of gorgeous quilts, scroll down to 1-Party Wall Quilts to see three of my quilts: Farm Home, Fall Frenzy and Look, Ma!

1. Add trees to the grove so it extends over the driveway which will give perspective so the driveway leading into the distance instead of hanging from the sky.
2. Move tractor so it is partially behind the lower tree.. again for perspective.
3. Make lower tree more solid like other trees.

Waterlogue App

I am loving playing around with the an app called Waterlogue which changes a photograph into a watercolor in a few steps and seconds. It helps me develop the steps I might choose to follow in changing a photo into a fabric version. So enlightening and fascinating to watch. The photo above became the “watercolor” below. Fun, eh?
