The show!

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get any pictures of the opening reception myself as I was busy chatting it up with the good folks that were able to make it out, but my good friend Richard did and he gave me permission to use them on the blog!  Thanks Richard!

Shakti Project danced in the directions of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.  

Dancing with these ladies is pure bliss!

Jason did shoot a video of both performances, so if the other girls of Shakti are agreeable, then I will share it and Killick is patiently awaiting me getting the video of him uploaded to share.

 

As Above, So Below...

 Killick played some wild music and whether you like it or not, you can't help but to experience it.  Each piece he plays is original.  It's a wild ride!

A small group of folks checking things out.

There was a great turn out - better than I could have hoped for and SO many nice words about my quilts.  I even met a male quilter who makes his own wool fabric with lint.  Sounds so cool.  I hope he hunts me down and we can connect again since I didn't get his name!

The show is up through August.  You can drop by when the space is open or make an appointment to get in to see it OR you can go all out and take a class.  There is a lot of wonderful movement happening on that floor with some great teachers!

I am FINALLY ready to start starching my next background.  I've been stuck on colors, but I think I'm just going to jump in with both feet this weekend so stayed tuned! And hopefully, next week I will have a slide show of my latest quilt from beginning to end for you! 

Until tomorrow!

Athens Banner Herald article

As most of you know, India and I have a show opening tomorrow at FloorSpace.  (It is hung and I have photos of that process I will show you after the opening.) 

I was fortunate enough for Julie Phillips to come to our home to interview me before hand.  

Here is a link to the article...

I pulled out all the quilts I would be hanging for her to see.  Some have hung in shows before, but YabYum nor Transformation have.  I am excited to show these two quilts for the first time in public. 

My dance troupe, Shakti Project, will be performing a sweet little piece, then Killick! will be working his magic on his many instruments.  He's a one man band with tunes that will leave you speechless.  I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.  I feel certain it will be out of this world.  

The event is free and opens at 7:00 with the performances beginning at 7:30.  There will be some light snacks and wine after the performances.

We would love to see you there!

Until tomorrow!

India's Tuesday Photo and a REALLY cool announcement!

Tonight, I'm excited to tell you all that I'm going to have a show in August at FloorSpace and I have decided that since I'm so slow at churning out quilts, India and I are going to hang a show TOGETHER!!!!  I'm thrilled she said yes!  I can't wait to see what she comes up with for it and it will push me to get my self together and work on it more and to MAKE more - her inspiration will trickle into my inspiration and we'll be inspiring one another!!  Mother and Daughter!  

Kalib is going to have a small table the night of the opening with his Klayations as well!  The next few months in our house are going to busy!  

AND... I haven't hit HuBb up, but I hope to squeeze him in somehow and make it a whole family affair!  A dream come true for this mama.

As soon as I figure out the opening date I will let you all know and you can come on out and see her pictures up close and blown up, my newest quilts, my sons clay sculptures, and hopefully something by my sweet and always supportive man.

So, until tomorrow...

India's photo for the week!

Quilt Show Goodies

No quilt show is complete without buying some new goodies for the stash.

Naturally, the first stop is the Scissors Guy.  I gathered up all my scissors and took them to him on Friday morning to be sharpened.  Only $4 a pair.  Can you believe it and they are all in great shape again.  Honestly, this is what I MOST wait for every two years.  There is just nothing like a pair of freshly sharpened scissors.  He oils them, cleans them, and then he does such a great job sharpening them that I only have to do it when he comes back around again!  

 Of course, there is a little fabric that has to be bought too.  I never buy a lot of fabric unless I have a project in mind and am gathering materials for that.  But, I did manage to pick up a few pieces.  There was so much delicious fabric to be had.  It is a smorgasbord of fabrics.  

This piece I have no idea what I am going to do with, but I'm going to pin it to my design wall and wait and see.  It is a hand dyed piece by Anita Heady (I buy most of my hand dyes from her) and I just love it!  It looks like plant cells to me.  Looking forward to seeing where it leads me.

 

I also picked up some trims for the quilt I'm working on and some luscious purple wool roving.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but I may try incorporate it into the Yab Yum quilt.  

Lastly, I picked this marking pencil up.  THIS may very well be the tool I needed when I got all that blue ink all over Ashley's ring bearer's pillow.  Thankfully, all that washed out, but this one is a nice fine line that is supposed to just dab off easily.  I got it with white lead and I also picked up some green so when I need to mark on light colored fabrics I can.  I will be sure to let you all know what I think of it when I use it.

Today is the final day of the show this year.  I'm going back today to help with the take down and pick up my quilts.  We started playing around with the Shiva Paintstiks last night and my kit didn't come with a yellow, but thankfully, one of the vendors has yellow and that will be my last quilt show purchase this time around.  

Quilt Show Photos

These are some of my favorite quilts from the show.  It's still going on and these are only 9 of the 250+ quilts happening this weekend March 4-March 6, 2011.  You can go to this link for more info.

This one received best in show.  The picture doesn't really do it justice.  Standing up close to it the colors almost overwhelm, but it is truly breathtaking.

This one is made by my friend Frances.  I really love her use of color and quilting to make this picture come alive with fabric.

Ms. Francyne, my go to when I absolutely cannot figure something out or need advice before making a purchase quilting friend, made this moose. It is absolutely wonderful and her choice of fabrics and how she used them make me wish I could be a fly on the wall when she puts her works together.  

 This next quilt is made by my dear friend Terri.  I love everything she does.  She sticks with more traditional patterns and steps out of the box with her fabric choices.  I am always telling her how much I love the way she uses fabrics I would also love to use, but I can never figure out how to incorporate them into my quilts.  She uses those fabrics with giant prints and makes stunning and fun quilts. Not to mention her ability to have multiple patterns going on at once.  Blows my mind.

This mariners compass was made by Shirley Erikson.  Shirley loves bold colors just like I do.  Her use of color and her quilting (which you can not see in this photo, but you can if you go to the show) always draw me into her quilts and every time I see them I am amazed at her talent.

I think this next quilt is my favorite in the show.  It was made by Catherine Hart.  I love her use of fabric and how she really created the tree bark by layering and cutting it the way she did.  I like how she tried something new and made it work and it worked really well.  The bird is made with satin and stuffed to make it pop off the quilt.  (There is a more detailed shot below this one.)

 Another quilt by the wonderful Terri Jarret.  I wish I had have written the name of this one down.  Don't you just love the way the fabric moves and looks in this quilt?

 This one is by my friend Deb.  It reminds me of my quilt Pura Vida.  She added some sparkles to it that are not so obvious in the photo, but they really accent the feel of this quilt.  I also love how there are no real hard lines in this quilt.  She really made the fabric move like water.  And my favorite aspect of this quilt are the edges and how they draw you further into the mood and movement of her piece.

 And lastly, another by Mrs. Shirley Erickson that is bold and bright and everything great about a quilt.  I would dearly love to sleep under this every night.  Whomever owns it is one lucky person.

Come see the show.  These ladies in Athens are super talented and inspiring, not to mention A LOT of great vendors with great fabric and other goodies!

Preparations for the Quilt Show

I did NOT manage my time well yesterday and I did NOT start cutting fabric on Ashley's pillow.  (Don't worry Ashley. It WILL get done.)

What I did manage to do is get the Shakti Belts ready for the quilt show.

I'm so excited to have an opportunity to hang them up in this years Cotton Patch Quilters Guild quilt show, Hot Threads, Cool Quilts.  As far as I know, no one else has ever entered Belly Dance belts into the show. but there was some work involved in figuring out how to hang them.

We were only allowed 3 entries in each category this year and there are 6 belts.  How was I supposed to make 6 belts into only 3? 

I entered them as 1- with the understanding I would come up with the presentation.

Naturally, I had to figure out ON the day all the paperwork was due what my presentation would look like. They needed to know ahead of time so those wonderful women who are in charge of figuring out where everything is going to go when the hanging begins could get to work before they had the quilts themselves.  There is A LOT of order to the chaos the day the quilts go up and A LOT of behind the scenes work in preparation for the show.  It is really astonishing the amount of work that goes into those three days.

I laid them out on some felt to photograph them, then I measured around them and thought to myself I could apply velcro to the backs of them and they would just stick to the felt.  I thought I had it all figured out.  I sent my measurements in and all was well.

Now, they are due on Saturday (I'm not waiting until the last minute or anything - Saturday being tomorrow and all.).  I had to reattach chains and glue new sparklies on in the places where they have fallen off and I have NO velcro.  I went to the store.  I looked at it and decided to try safety pins because they would be a lot less work and a lot less sewing when I want to be sewing on NEW projects - like Ashley's pillow.

I still have to make a couple of labels for other entries.  This should have already happened. Turn in is tomorrow and all will be back to normal in my world - that is until I read the judges remarks at the end of the show and I wander off into my cave to lick my wounds...

Here are the Shakti Belts almost ready for the show...

AND because I didn't sew on Velcro I can move that one on the bottom a little lower and center it a little more. (Thank goodness for those safety pens.)