Sputnik Stars in AQS ads

I got a few texts from friends who had seen my quilt, Sputnik Stars, in advertisements for the American Quilters Society Grand Rapids quilt show.  I had no idea they were using my quilts in their ads, and it's perfectly legal for them to do so, since you sign a form giving them permission when you enter a quilt into their shows.  Sputnik Stars was in the 2015 show and didn't win an award.  So it was quite a surprise that they liked the colors enough to use it so many years later.

Here is one of the ads.

I hope you get a nice surprise once in a while too.

Coming Attraction: Featured Artist Show October 2018

My local quilt guild, Clark County Quilters, has a special quilt how they host every fall.  It's called "The Featured Artist Show".  It's held to fete someone in our guild (or a group in our guild) who has a large portfolio of quilts and whose collection is of interest to the public.  It is basically a lifetime achievement award that our guild bestows on the chosen quilter.

I was recently selected to be that featured artist in OCTOBER 2018 with a solo show.  What a fantastic surprise and honor.

It's a good thing that I've kept notebooks of all the quilts I've made and have all the stories that go with them.  Now, I'm scrambling a little bit to figure out which quilts to display, get them back from the owners, who are spread out in Alaska, Canada, and the United States, and clean them up and add sleeves if they don't already have them.   I've made 167 quilts (to date), and I think that I can come up with 95 to 100 for the show.

So, here's looking forward to October 2018.  The opening reception will be on Friday October 19th from 5 to 7 pm.  The show runs on Saturday, October 20th and Sunday, October 21st.  It'll be at the H.H. Hall office building near the corner of Highway 99 and 99th street NE in Vancouver, WA. 

Old quilting photo at the Puyallup Fair

I ran across this old photo of the Puyallup Valley Quilters at the Puyallup fair.  My mother and I used to go one of the days and help to tie our charity quilts.  It was always such a fun day in September.  We loved to be with other quilters, talk to the public about quilting, and to spend some one-on-one time with each other.

We would tie quilts for a couple of hours, then head out to get our scones and look at quilts entered in the fair.  If we were feeling energetic, we would head over to the flower displays and ooh and aah at the dahlias.  Mom usually had a few of her dahlias entered in the displays. 

So, without further ado, here is our picture.  We are with Jenise Doty (pink blouse), JoAnn James (seated) and Patty de Kamp (blue dress).

Helen Adams and Joanne Adams Roth at Puyallup Fair

Confetti Nest Art Quilt - Nest #21

I saved scraps from making children's' charity quilts and bunched them together confetti style to make a nest.  Then I scrunched together some green tulle to get the darker center area. I found a perfect background fabric from my stash.  The quilting was done to give some kind of ground effect to the nest.  After the quilting was done, I used Inktense pencil and shaded in the area underneath the nest.  then I attached the nest.

This time after I attached the nest, I went back and did some "long stitches" with invisible thread so that I could weave in more fiber on top of the nest.  I did this by taking a few stitches in place, then raised the presser foot and moved the piece an inch or so, then took a few more stitches.  I did this over the front part of the nest only.  Then I pulled out a bunch of fiber things, including yarn, thread, hand dyed fabric and rick rack from my collection.  Did I ever tell you that people bring me all kinds of things to use in my fiber art pieces?  I love getting all of this cast off stuff and especially like using it in my nest art quilts.  So here's the pile of stuff.

After I added the fluffy stuff on the front of the nest, I decided it looked too blah!  My husband said it needed eggs.  So I tested out several colors of black/white and orange.  He liked a marbled orange the best, so that's what I used.  I added highlights and shadows with Derwent Inktense pencils.  And here it is what it looked like after I added the eggs.  I'm sure I have the light source all mixed up, but it's OK.  I like it like it is.

And here it is after I did the facing.

It has been fun to make another nest quilt after all the time has passed, and I hope to make some more.

I hope you like it!