Two new pieces completed….

After a long period of resting and recuperating from knee replacement surgery (just the right one, not both), I have finally made it up into The Loft Studio to complete one project that I had started prior to my hiatus, and a second piece for an approaching juried show.

The Hydrangea piece, seen below, has been my experiment, my chance to try some new skills and fabrics. The background is pieced in a random fashion with very little planning. The hydrangea blossoms and leaves are machine appliquéd and machine embroidered. The fabrics include batiks, organza, silk and tulle. It is quite large, about 3′ wide by 5′ high.  It will hang in the master bedroom suite soon.

The Professional Art Quilters Alliance-South (PAQA-South) has announced its 12th juried exhibition of innovative quilts:  ARTQUILTSreminisce  to be held from April 22 – June 21, 2015 at Page-Walker Arts & History Center, Cary, NC.  I completed my newest entry and applied to be juried into the show. Those juried into the show will not be announced until March 18, but I wanted to share it here now.  It is called:

Solitude: Snow in Winter and Church on Sunday.

The poem “The Way It Is” by William Stafford surrounds the center scene.                   There’s a thread you follow.                                                                                                              It goes among things that change.                                                                                                  But it doesn’t change.                                                                                                                People wonder about what you are pursuing.                                                                          You have to explain the thread.                                                                                                     But it is hard for others to see.                                                                                                  While you hold it you can’t get lost.                                                                                      Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die;                                                                                      and you suffer and get old.                                                                                                      Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.                                                                                     You don’t ever let go of the thread.

William Stafford, “The Way It Is” from Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems. Copyright © 1998, 2014 by the Estate of William Stafford.  Used by the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc. on behalf of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org and the William Stafford Family Trust.

I also entered “Fall Frenzy: Watch Out Below” and “Farm Home: Where My Journey Began”, works completed during 2014.