What a lovely thank-you.

After purchasing Janett Rice's "Papa Quail" art quilt during the annual SAQA benefit auction, I received this little surprise in the mail. What a beautiful little thank-you note in the form of a fiber-art postcard.

Oh, no, Janett, thank YOU!

New SAQA Acquisition

Every year  I watch the SAQA on-line auction with deep admiration for these little (12" x 12") works of art, and wish that I could have many of them for my very own. This year I won Janett Rice's "Papa Quail", which she created with rust-dyed fabric, then hand embroidered and quilted using hand-dyed embroidery thread.

I received it in today's mail, and it is even more striking in person. The hand embroidery and quilting add a rustic touch that perfectly enhance the rusted fabric. Thank you, Janett, for your beautiful work and for supporting SAQA with your art donation.

Some incredible art quilts at SAQA auction

A few of my favorite art quilts being auctioned at the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction, starting today. I'll add more pictures tomorrow, but you should look and start bidding now!

Artist hand-dyed cotton broadcloth, muslin, and sateen, cotton fleece, batting,
buckram, and thread, and tulle. Machine piecing, pillow-casing, and quilting.
Tulle and snaps hand sewn. (SOLD)

Hand dyed fabric, paint, stitch, digital transfer, monoprint.

Commercial and originally printed fabrics, paint, thread, embroidery floss;
fused applique, surface design, free motion quilting, hand embroidery

Cotton and silk fabrics.  Raw-edge applique and free-motion quilting.  Satin-stitched
edge treatment and acrylic on cotton, stamped, textured and lightened with a thin
Gesso wash.  Tsukineko Inks used for highlights and shadows.

Did anybody say information overload .....Yesterday's news is old,
and today's news is often old an hour later.

Commercial fabrics, wool roving, fused machine applique.

Hand painted cotton.  Machine quilted.

cotton fabrics: painted (inked), discharged, screenprinted by the artist
from her original photographs, machine pieced, machine quilted.

SAQA auction

Book Review: Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World

I’ve just received this new book for review (the first in a series) by Martha Sielman, Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).  My first instinct was to run my hand over the beautiful cover, which features “Peacock Pride” by Barbara McKie, and what a sweet little surprise it was to find the image lightly embossed … a delicate, subtle embellishment of an already stunning cover.  (Little things like that just make me happy.)

The book itself, like most recent art books by Lark, is printed on lovely, heavyweight paper that is a pleasure to handle.  The color photography appears to be true to the originals (at least according to my vivid memory of having seen some of them in person).

There are well-written profiles of 19 major fiber artists, including some of my favorites … Betty Busby, Paula Chung, Ginny Eckley, Ruth McDowell, Barbara McKie, and Annemieke Mein.  Plus, there are both full-page and smaller images of some breath-taking art quilts by more than 70 other artists.  I can honestly say that this is one of the most beautiful and informative art-quilt books I’ve seen, and it will have a permanent place in my library.  In fact, I’m very much looking forward to the next in the series.  (No affiliation, etc.)  Here are 192 pages of incredible artwork to feast your eyes upon, and to inspire you.  Highly recommended.

New Blog Title

Don't be surprised when you see a new title here ... I've been thinking about changing it from FiberReflections to my own name for some time, and finally got around to it, after reading some of the pros and cons on the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) list.  The whole idea of a blog is for people to be able to find you, and even though I loved my FiberReflections name, I thought it was time to get a little more professional with it.

Stay tuned for some sneak peeks at some of my collage work for the One Cause fundraiser.