Crystal Coast Quilt Show 2009

The quilt show was wonderful as usual. We had over 120 entries along with the Alzheimer's:Forgetting Piece by Piece exhibit. I conducted a bead demo on Friday and Saturday with positive turn out and sign ups for a September class.

This is 'Swarley' (long story for a goofy name). 'Swarley' didn't make it to Paducah this year but was juried into the Mancuso Mid Atlantic show in February and won an Honorable Mention at the guild show in the group quilt category. It is all hand appliqued and then long arm quilted by my friend Beth Denmon, Illinois.
This is 'UP UP UP' and my entry for the guild challenge. Our challenge this year was to correspond with the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Innitiative in size only. Requirements were that the piece not be bigger than 9" x 12" to fit a priority envelope, monochromatic, and have a theme of Journey.

I chose a photograph of a balloon from a festival we used to attend every September in St. Louis. As I watched every year I imagined the journeys the participants would have along their path. It won 2nd place for 'Most Unusual Journey' and will eventually be donated to the Alzheimers Innitiative.

Last but not least is 'Wonder Under the Waves' by the Beachrageous group of Susan Hinzman, Lynn Strausbach, Mary Henris, Robin Koehler, and Eileen Williams-respectively.

It really is stunning hanging all together and everyone was impressed.

Hope you enjoyed the mini quilt show.

Wonder Under the Waves

I belong to an art group named Artrageous and when we got too big, we splintered off into smaller groups. A few times a year the smaller groups reunite into our larger group for wonderful show and tells. My smaller group is named Beachrageous since we all live out near the beach.

The five of us came up with our own challenge:

Under the Sea theme

Must use a piece of the five exchange fabrics in the background

Must conform to the preset shape agreed upon

Any embellishments work

We display together but each own our own section

I will not be showing the final 5 together until after the quilt guild show that we are entered into is over (May 15th and 16th- Crystal Coast Convention Center, Morehead City, NC).

Once I got going, I had a really good time. The background is pieced 2" squares. The applique is fusible with all free motion quilting. Embellishments include 3d fan coral, beadwork, beaded fringe, shells, and shrink art fish and sea anemones.

This detail shot shows the fan coral and a few anemones. I have decided to recreate this piece to sell since this one is for exhibit only.

5 Years

"Batik Blooms" detail shot.

Honorable Mention CCQG 2008

For those of you who read my post about the International Fiber Collaborative leaves, here is the update. The tree is up and looks amazing. There are pictures on that site of how they made the wire branches for assembly too.

I know we all hate paying taxes; but when I wrote the check this last quarter, I was pretty happy about it since it showed that I actually made some money this time. The amount coming in certainly softened the blow of having to pay some out. As long as the money keeps coming in I will proudly pay my taxes!

This next week I will celebrate the 5 year anniversary of NESTLINGS by Robin. I sent out promotional postcards for the first time offering 'no shipping' on wholesale orders of 12 or more patterns. If you are reading this and not a shop owner but would like to purchase retail from http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com/ I will offer no shipping on retail orders of 2 or more patterns. Spread the word. Offer ends May 9th, 2009.
I feel very honored to have been able to do what I love for 5 yrs and to learn from so many talented and wonderful people along the way. You have each touched me in different ways and I thank you.

No Illusions

This is 'Lily' one of my thread paintings that I accomplished in time to vend at the North Carolina Seafood Festival's poster contest unveiling. I was one of 8 artists juried into the April 9th event. It was a good opportunity to network.
My other big news is that I applied for an Artist in Residence program. I would highly recommend this to any artist. I have no illusions about being accepted but I am excited about the possibilities of what I could accomplish if chosen for this wonderful opportunity. More importantly, the process really made me focus on what I have done and want to do.

If you have been telling yourself that eventually you will put together a bio or statement, don't put it off any longer!! There is something very gratifying about putting your work all together to really look at it and form a statement about it. Assembling a resume might seem daunting; but once I started making a list of exhibits, no matter how small, and awards received I was impressed with how much more I had accomplished than I thought. It is important to assess what you have done so that you can know where you are heading or what else you want to conquer! I love that word, conquer. I won't ever conquer a mountain or swim a channel but I can conquer fears and once before thought of as 'lofty' goals!
Take the plunge and apply for something you have been rolling around in the back of your brain. The process is more the goal than getting accepted. I am more prepared for future opportunities now and ready to find them.

Mariner's Compass

After all my years of quilting, my sweet husband asked for a quilt for his office--WOW! I did make him a quilt right after learning to quilt and he loves it...but it stays here-not in public. I felt honored that he wanted to hang one in his office. I shouldn't be surprised because he is super supportive...it still was fun to be asked.

So after some collaborating, this is what we decided on. He is a career Coastie (Coast Guard) and lives his life by this motto, 'Honor, Respect, Devotion to duty'. He has been my compass through every storm and so this was a joy to make.

The compass is an original hand drafted design. The corners are machine quilted drawings of an anchor to represent his enlisted years and an eagle to represent his officer years. All the lettering is hand appliqued.

It really turned out beautifully and was a learning experience for me in regards to the compass. I love you, Jim.

I am the nose!

"‘Fresh Picked!’ Finalists Announced
We’ve just announced the finalists of the 2010 Quilting Arts Calendar Contest on the Editor’s blog! This year’s finalists were especially hard to pick, as we had to choose from more than 300 luscious depictions of the “Fresh Picked!” theme, including flowers, fruits, vegetables, and one nose. "

I have been so busy that it feels like I lost the month of March and I was having a blast doing so. One of the reasons was working on my entries to Quilting Arts 2010 Calendar contest. The above piece titled "100 Pages to a New You" wasn't chosen but it was fun to make. Learning this morning that I was the only one to enter a nose, just made my day.

When I heard the theme, my husband and I both thought noses--I guess we are a bit twisted. I mulled it over for weeks until a conversation with friends from my art group brought the design around to picking a new nose from a catalog in a plastic surgeon's office. After that the design and layout went very smooth. I don't know what will become of it now unless someone knows a surgeon with a sense of humor that would like to purchase it.

Here is a picture of the other entry titled "Bursting Sweet":

This piece was inspired by an original grape piece with just one cluster in another color way. I used painted Tyvek, free motion quilting, and hand beading. All in all a fun experience.

In the meantime, March brought about enough experiences to blog for a month....now just to do it:) I thought I heard a news story this week that procrastination was healthy for you...I am working on improving my health---Have a fantastic week!

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

Life is all about Love, Loyalty, and Friendship. What better way to show that to a dear friend than with a gift. http://nestlingsbyrobin.com/pattern_quilts.html
This design is dear to me, not just because I am Irish, but because my mother and I designed it together and had a blast doing so.
The claddagh is mostly known for it's 'betrothed' history of facing the heart in on your finger when spoken for. The other little tidbit is that the claddaghs are passed down from Grandmother to Granddaughter. I wear my Grandmother's proudly. It is the ring that my Grandfather put on her finger on their 50th anniversary vow renewal. Much love to you both:)
May you all have a wonderfully mischievous day-Irish or not!
Check in later this week for photos of my workshop-Exploding Patterns.