SAQA: a good membership

Hi MMs,
    I just joined SAQA Studio Art Quilt Associates. Recently a member, Susan McCraw loaned me several issues of SAQA to peruse and I was sold on the group. SAQA's website and offerings are terrific.

Excitement from Carolyn

Guess what? I am going to Boston in late August for a nursing class reunion in nearby Rockport, and Andrea, Linda and I have planned a meeting. It will be so exciting to meet two East coast members of the Material Mavens! We will be sure to make a photo of the three of us and post it on our blog. I'm sure we will discuss how we are coming along on our HARMONY quilts - without giving away our designs, of course. This will be so much fun! I hope more of us will have the opportunity to meet as time goes by!

Alice's News and Doings

Lake Michigan Beach Boys (this is my quilt; I made
a duplicate for my daughter).  You may click to enlarge.

I was so delighted to check my administrator's page to discover that Petra is now an "author"!  That means that all of us except for our newest member, Kathy, are officially authors of our group blog.  I really goofed with Petra!  I kept inviting her to be an author, and I kept wondering where she was and why she had not accepted the invitation.  Well, guess what, I had typed her email address in wrong.  So she never got all my invitations!  But all is well now, after I discovered my goof.  So good to see Petra's name listed as an author!

I'm still busy with my various birthday projects and am anticipating a visit from all the children and grandchildren, a mini reunion and surprise birthday party for my oldest sister, a small dinner party here at our home, and of course much commotion and fun with the four grandchildren.  (And much cooking and cleaning up, etc. etc.)  After two weeks of that, I will then be driving with my youngest daughter and her two boys to Michigan, flying from there to California.  My reason for that trip is to help my other daughter's mother in law take care of our shared grandchildren,  while daughter and her husband go on an extended trip.

So!  I really need to get my Harmony quilt done before Aug. 11, when all the hordes descend.  I finished the portrait quilt for our youngest daughter's birthday, and am coming along well on the traditional quilt for my sister's.  I am so eager to finish that one so that I can get to work on Harmony! I'll "decorate" this post with the quilt top of my own quilt, a duplicate of our daughter's quilt; hers is now being quilted by our fellow Maven, Judy!  The portrait portrays youngest daughter's two boys on the left oldest daughter's son on the right.  It was based on a photo taken five years ago this summer, at Lake Michigan.  And, yes, soon Ill need to do a portrait quilt for the other daughter, of her son and daughter!

Hope that all of you are well and are as excited about our group as I am!  I am so curious:  has anyone finished Harmony yet?

From Alice: Our Updated Schedule

Material Mavens: I should have added this to my post that I just published.  Now that Kathy has joined us, here is our updated schedule for themes:

(1) Carolyn chooses theme #1 on July 15, for the quilt due on Sept. 15, 2011.

(2) Linda chooses theme #2 on Sept. 15, 2011, for November, 2011's quilt.

(3) Jane chooses theme #3 on Nov. 15, 2011, for January, 2012's quilt.

(4) Judy chooses theme #4 on Jan. 15, 2012,  for March, 2012's quilt.

(5) Rita chooses theme #5 on Mar. 15, 2012, for May, 2012's quilt.

(6) Patti chooses theme #6 on May 15, 2012, for July 2012's quilt.

(7) Andrea chooses theme #7 on July 15, 2012, for Sept. 2012's quilt.

(8) Alice chooses theme #8 for on Sept. 15, 2012,  Nov. 2012's quilt.

(9) Petra chooses theme #9 on Nov. 15, 2012,  for Jan 2013's quilt.

(10)  Kym chooses theme #10 on Jan. 15 2013 for March 2013's quilt

(11) Barbara chooses theme #11 on Mar. 15, 2013, for May, 2013's quilt

(12) Kathy chooses theme #12 on May 15, 2013, for July, 2013's quilt

Can you believe that now we have ourselves a schedule through two years from this coming July! I find that both amazing and exciting.  Are any or all of you now working on your Harmony quilts?  I've got some ideas that I think are good, but so far, they just reside in my brain, though I did find some fabric yesterday that would be perfect for one of these.  I am suspecting about myself that I might actually make 2 or 3 Harmony quilts and then choose my favorite one for September 15's BIG REVEAL.


Grace and peace to all!

From Alice: Now We are Twelve!

Mavens, I've got some good news!  We have a 12th member!  Her name is Kathy and she's brand new to our quilt guild and in fact, brand new to Texas.  She comes originally from Alaska.  She introduced herself to us at guild as an art quilter and was eager to find other art quilters in our guild.  She showed us three of her quilts.

I discussed her with Rita, and she agreed with me that Kathy would be great for our Material Mavens group.  I emailed her to invite her, and she's now looked over our blog and that of the original Twelvers, and she is most excited to join us.

I'll wait and let her tell you more about herself, when she writes her first post!

Linda and Andrea play and post

In 100 degree heat, nothing compared to Tx, Linda traveled to Andrea's studio where the two are exploring blogging and dyeing fabric. You should see Andrea's beautiful fabrics. She cut her strips first before dyeing for more interesting textures and believes this is a good discovery.

Rita - A Word of Truth?

Our guild speaker last evening was a delightful lady (The Bead Lady) that does gorgeous Crazy Quilts.  On one of her heavily embellished quilts was a small printed saying that spoke to me and my very literal mind.  It said, "Confidence in nonsense is a requirement of the creative process."

Linda, I hope this is larger and better quality.  Rita

Linda, thank you for asking to see my Four Seasons Panels.  This photo is showing them where they will permanently live, in a beautiful new home near Lexington, Kentucky.  They were done using the technique originated by Noriko Endo from Japan which she calls Confetti Naturescapes.

Andrea - My Creative Journey So Far, or How One Thing Leads To Another!

Hi,

I live in a town a few miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. I have a BFA from Hartford

Art School of The University Of Hartford. After being laid-off from a job in Hartford

I returned to MA. to ( I thought temporarily! ) help manage 2 family businesses: real estate & a data processing service company. Thirty three years later I was very fortunate to be able to "transition" ( I don't like to say retire ) into pursuing my creativity full time.

I have always loved photography and in college discovered a passion for silkscreening.

A friend in the U.K. wrote me one Christmas ( 1992 or '93 ) about how she had become "quite keen on American patchwork". I had no idea at the time just how that simple statement would send me on a completely different & unexpected creative path! I came across an ad for a travel company in N.H. that specializes in, at that time, quilt & craft tours in the U.S. I decided to take their tour to Amish country which included the Lancaster quilt show where my love affair with fabric started. I really had

no intention of ever trying to make a quilt as I found the size of them so overwhelming. However, my new "hobby" of collecting fabric continued when I returned from my trip,and at some point decided that I either stop buying fabric, or learn how to make something with them. As it turned out, a new quilt shop had recently opened in my town and were offering a hand-pieced sampler lap quilt class.

I couldn't believe how much I loved the process of cutting up the fabric, re-assembling the parts and then stitching them back together. This gave me "permission" to buy

MORE fabric! The next class I took was a machine piecing class: that abruptly ended my hand-piecing. In the late 1990's I took a class from Natasha Kempers-Cullen using thickened fiber reactive dyes to silkscreen, stamp and paint on fabric. That allowed me to combine my ( too long abandoned ) love of silkscreening with quilting.

I still love making traditional bed quilts, but I am mostly interested in "finding my creative voice" through my fiber pieces/art quilts that using fabrics that I have created.

Perhaps Best Not to Choose These Themes????

I was looking through my TWELVE BY TWELVE book this afternoon, and it suddenly occurred to me: It is highly probable that not everyone in our group has seen this book.  For that reason, it seemed prudent to me to list the themes that the original group used.  To "reuse" a theme would not be a terrible thing, except for those of us (like me!) who know the book almost too well,  and who then might be overly-influenced by the quilts that portrayed that theme.

Some of you might disagree with me; if so, let me know.  But just in case we are all in agreement about this, here is the list of themes that that original group used and that were published in their book:

dandelion
chocolate
community
water
illumination
shelter
mathematics
chairs
window
identity
passion
twelve

I of course can be over-ridden on this "rule", but if all agree that we'd be wise to steer clear of those themes, well, there they are!

Do, please, speak up, though, if you disagree and feel that we could use one of theirs and come up with totally different quilts!

And while we are on the subject of the original group, all of you might find it fascinating to visit their group blog.  On this current go-round, they are basing their quilts on colors chosen by the members.  This will take you to their quilts based on GRAY (or GREY as our friends from Scotland likely spell it!)

http://twelveby12.blogspot.com/


And then, each of those 12 members has her own blog, which would be fun to look at as well:

• Kristin La Flamme

  Grey Parrot
• 
  Terri Stegmiller

  Twelve by Twelve - Gray Reveal
• 
  Gerrie Congdon

  Northwest Winter — A Study in Gray
• 
  Brenda Gael Smith

  Suits & Mourning
• 
  Terry Grant

  Santa Fe Galleries
• 
  Helen Conway

  Border Crossing
• 
  Karen Rips

  I'm Still Here
• 
  Diane Perin Hock

  Techno-happy
• 
  Francoise Jamart

  Labouring over grisaille
• 
  Deborah Boschert

  Textile Museum
• 
  Nikki Wheeler

  Spicy Reveal Day
• 
  Kirsten Duncan

  I Blame the Parents

A Note About Carolyn

Greetings Everyone,

As some of the others have done, I thought it would be nice to share a bit about myself.

I've lived in Dallas, TX for about 40 years, and am the mother of two lovely daughters (in Houston and Austin) and a grandmother to three. My first quilt was 24 years ago when I made a baby quilt for my first grandchild who is now married and recently moved to Dallas (much to our delight!). I am a registered nurse, but have also worked in education and retired from advertising. I know, it's a strange twist in careers!

Today my life centers around my husband, a college professor, my kids/grandkids, my church, and my hobbies - quilting, gardening and playing the dulcimer. I have only one my quilts hanging in my home (see photo if I can figure out how to do this). It's my most recent quilt, and my first art quilt (well almost). I've made about 8 or so quilts for my daughters and grandchildren.

I'm in this group because I am bored with traditional quilts, and much prefer and appreciate a "free spirit" when it comes to quilting. I am NOT an artist. I have no skills in drawing or painting. I have not experimented with a host of quilting techniques. BUT, I am eager to focus my energy on the creative process, to learn as I go, and to embrace the challenge of working with all of you.

I think this will be an exciting adventure!

Creative idea's-Judy

This group is definitely something I have been hungry for. When I was growing up and we had a project to work on, we would brainstorm at the supper table. Idea's flew around the table. With 5 kids and 4 of them girls we came up with some fun things. One year I was the "hill" for my little brother and sister who were "Jack and Jill" in the Halloween parade. The next year I was a "ufo" and that wasn't an "unfinished object" from quilting. I have the picture to prove that I was an extraterrestrial being in a space ship. What is great is seeing the purple socks I was wearing :)

Carolyn, and I believe Kym is in the Dallas area. I will be speaking at the Arlington quilt guild tonight. I know this is short notice, but if you can make it, it would be fun to see you. It is held at the Bob Duncan Community Center.

I am working on making my website more current and up to date on the things I am doing. This blog and the things I have learned to do on the computer at work have helped me see the computer as a good tool instead of an overwhelming place that confuses me. It is nice to see how much I have learned. Of course my son in Santa Fe, NM got a call from me last night as a cry for help. I could hear him sigh even though he tried not to. He is my computer/graphic designer guru.

Hi Quilters!

I'm delighted & privileged to be a member of the Material Mavens!

I've sewn & embroidered for almost as long as I can remember. I did City & Guilds of London Certificates in Creative Embroidery some years ago & I've been teaching leisure classes since then. My enthusiasm & excitement for quilting arrived gradually over the last few years as I visited various Quilt Shows, especially the Festival of Quilts at Birmingham in England which I believe is now the biggest show in Europe.

I think "Harmony" is a most appropriate first theme for us - I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and working with you in harmony for a long time!

Jane

Ever Onward: Linda Hicks

Painters are moving into the quilting world and I am one of them.

I had never considered entering the art world, but wanted and trained to be a teacher of English and history. I write about my checkered career in "About Me" at my website. I post at least weekly to my blogl  Blogging is a great motivator!

      http://lindadrawingtime.blogspot.com/     

      http://web.me.com/lindahicks/

There are exciting/challenging things happening around every corner in quilting and I want to be there. I find the two 12 x 12 groups I belong to

feed each other. Ever onward in harmony.I look forward to learning and being inspired by all of you.

Quilting Keeps Me Sane from Kym Rock

I have been so busy lately, but wanted to stop a minute........think harmony.......and introduce myself a bit better than done previously. I am a very busy 50 something year old with grown kids (6), 3 grandkids and my youngest almost out of college. I love quilting for my family. It's gotten a bit crazy as one of them is always getting married, having babies, graduating from college or something wonderful (I am very blessed) that, in their minds, is worthy of a quilt. I work long hours for a magazine with a somewhat younger group who are also always having babies, which I try very hard to celebrate with a quilt. They have come to expect one and I hate to disappoint them! What makes me super excited about all this is that I will be able to take a break from "required sewing" and quilt something I want to do for myself. Harmony.....perfect for my busy life. I just hope to keep up with the group. I began quilting about 30 years ago and have done it since then to slow my life down and relax. It is my passion and I'm thrilled to be part of this fun group.

Carolyn: The Theme is Posted

Hi Material Mavens,

Our first theme is HARMONY.

I wanted a theme that expressed my experience at a conference at Ghost Ranch (New Mexico) in June. Ghost Ranch is the home of that wonderful artist, Georgia O'Keefe.

I also wanted a theme that was broad enough for all of you to work with. I narrowed down my words to about 6. Then, I pared the list down to two words. I knew I had the right word when I received an email just yesterday from a person from Scotland announcing the title of his new book which included the word HARMONY.

I have no idea what direction the design for my quilt will take. So, like you, I will have to let the creative process unfold.

I'm excited about our collaboration and am looking forward to seeing the results of our collective efforts on September 15.

Cheers!

Alice: Obsessed with Quilting!

I remember precisely when I made up my mind that one day I would learn to quilt.  Years ago my husband and I were invited to dinner at a new friend's house, and the wife took me on a house-tour.  Every bed in the house was graced with a quilt that she had made.  I told myself then, "Someday, I'm going to make quilts.  And then every bed in our house will have a quilt made by me!"

Well, that's not yet happened!   I made my first quilt, machine pieced but hand-quilted, between 1990 and 1993, working on it only in the summers, since I was still teaching full time.  In 1999, newly retired, I began quilting in earnest.  Many of my quilts have been given to others.  I have several wall hanging quilts in our home--including my few art quilts.  But none of the beds in our home has made-by-me bed quilts!

I've sewn for almost as long as I can remember,  and some of my earliest memories are of sitting with friend Kitty out on a quilt under a tree in the hot Texas summers (prior to air conditioning!), sewing rather sloppy doll clothes.  As a teen I made many of my own garments, and once I married and the children came along, I sewed for them and myself until I went back to teaching full time.

I discovered art quilting some four years ago.  I feel as if I have one foot in art quilting and the other in traditional, which I still love.  I NEED this group to spur me on to make more art quilts, to experiment, to risk, to dare, to rev up my creative juices.  I am excited and can hardly wait until tomorrow, when Carolyn will announce our theme!

Judy-A little quilt crazy

To say I am a little quilt crazy is true. I've tried all kinds of crafts and I enjoy them, but when I found quilting it took over, literally. My husband and 3 sons know more about quilting, quilt patterns, techniques, and any quilt related equipment needed, then some quilters do. They have put up with my sewing machine, cutting and ironing station in the living room for over15 plus years. Now I even have an 8 foot by 8 foot design wall in there. Only our youngest sons room, (he is 20) doesn't have anything related to quilting in it except the quilts made for him. When he discovered quilt batting under his bed one day he brought it out to me and said,"What is this doing in my room?" Poor him, I now have taught his girlfriend to quilt:) I am excited about this journey we are starting. I am also nervous, but I know it will be a learning and freeing experience.

Rita - A little about me

I have been a forever sewer, learning to hem dishtowels from feed sacks on a tredle sewing maching at about age 6.  I made most of the clothing for my daughter and myself for many years and then I retired and discovered I much preferred to make flat things.  I retired from teaching after 36 years, teaching Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science.  I still enjoy the revelation of not having to do lesson plans or grading papers.  I have only recently jumped into the art quilt world, having just completed a series of four 40x40 panels of the Four Seasons in the style of Confetti Naturescapes. The panels are based on a photo of the forested backyard of dear friends near Lexington Kentucky. I am excited to be a part of this distinguished group from which I know I will learn much more than I will ever contribute.