new work and the SAQA auction

I have the 12x12 piece Together in the SAQA auction that starts November 10, 2008. There are many beautiful works donated to this auction. Everyone should take a look at SAQA.com to see all of them now in advance.--an update to say I am delighted this sold in November at the auction. I will miss it.

I have been working with fabric collage on watercolor paper and canvas. I have tried applying gel matte medium and have had incredible results. This is great if you are not looking to quilt the fabric. This is an example:

AQS Quilt Expo 2008

Yay!!! Morgan was accepted for the AQS Quilt Expo in Des Moines in October. I am so pleased and excited. I let my online friends and my own children know as soon as I heard today. It was accepted into the fabric art division.

I do love this quilt!

I hope to get some feedback from those of you attending the show. I am going to try to get there. I have been busy with commissions and traveling. Not too much time spent blogging I am afraid. I will work on some images from my shibori class in New Mexico with Yosiko Endo. We had too much fun.

New work

I have been hard at work on several fiber collages. I finished The Perseid Meteor for a show called A Personal Landscape to be displayed in the Tyler Gallery at the State University of New York at Oswego College in August. It is based on a copyright free photo from NASA. It is created with hand dyed and commercial cottons, upholstery fabrics,chenille, velvet, tulle, silks, organza. It is 44x66 inches. this is larger than I usually work, but the finished quilt is spectacular , if I say so myself. Well, if we don't like our own work , who else will?

Spring

Spring has delivered the Quilting Arts Magazine with my article in it to some of my friends, but I am waiting for my own to arrive! If you are checking out my blog from that article, thank you. I will hopefully have a website by Holly Knott up and running this summer.

Both of my collages sold and were delivered for Virginia Spiegel's fiber art for the cause. I look forward to more of these events in the future. I have had some fun doing exchanges online, but am returning to work in the studio on some commissions and gallery work.

Thank you to everyone who sent me the lovely cat photos for the SPCA fund raiser. I will put them up here as well as at the group sites where my friends sent the photos.

Virgina Spiegel Fiber Art for the Cause

I am so happy that on day one of the online auction one of my pieces sold!! Hopefully the second will as well since it is such a good cause. There were many interesting collages available, and I enjoyed shopping through them.

Quilting Arts Magazine

I am truly honored to say that I was asked by Patricia Bolton to contribute some work for publication in the June July issue of Quilting Arts magazine. It is the only quilting magazine that I actually receive at home. I have learned so much from the contributing artists. I keep them all and refer to them constantly.

So keep an eye out for me next issue.

Trunk show SAQA NY

I had a fabulous first experience of a trunk show with 11 SAQA artists meeting in Ithaca,NY. I now have new friends and got to see some wonderful art. I am always amazed at the creativity that is within us. They had good solutions to a variety of questions about the artwork there. I will not hesitate to ask them when I need that kind help. I love meeting strong women who can laugh and appreciate each other. I look forward to more of the same type of get togethers. I know it helps to keep me inspired.

Pirates and Post Cards

I've been too busy working to post much. I finished a challenge piece for my fiber pirate group. It is called Beached. Done from an a assortment of stuff with no rules. I like that part. Challenges add such an element of fun. I guess I'll know what they think soon.

I also finished my first postcards based on a photograph of a rock. They are on a base of peach wool. I created fabric using fibers, silk ,wool, on soluble solvy in a hoop. It was cut to fit the image. I added handdyed yarns ans quilted it to tyvek. I hope my partners like them.

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I worked on postcards for tsukineko dye blending. These were made of two layers of white cotton PFD . The first was placed in a hoop the second placed loosely over with some shaped wool in between. Then, I embroidered around the shapes, with folds created with the extra fabric. Three of them had batting as well as another layer. Ink was then painted and blended using different brushes. After setting the ink with an iron, they were sewn to a paper backing.

Collage Mania II

I have donated two fiber art pieces to Collage Mania II, fiber art for a cause, raising money for the American Cancer Society.

The basis for both pieces(Morning Mist, Quiet) was watercolored cranes which were combined with organza, ink painted cottons. Then placed on cotton batting and quilted. I am proud to support this cause, having lost both of my parents to cancer. I hope the auction is a big success this year and grows every year. Pat

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageManiaII.html

SAQA Trunk show

This is the piece I created for the SAQA NY trunk show , it will be in the auction to raise money for SAQA at the end of the show. I never know how my work is going to turn out as I build it always has a mind of its own. This time I used transparent fabrics mixed with commercial cottons. I hope people enjoy seeing it and that it sells well.

Exchange theme the lion and the Lamb

I worked on this collage for a theme exchange in the month of March. I, of course, chose actual animal portraits to translate in fabric collage. It was so much fun. I put it in the mail yesterday and look forward to receiving whatever my exchange partner creates.

Luscious is finished

The portrait is finished . This is the first time I tried a facing on the edge. I love it, it is something learned from my quilting arts group. There are so many amazing artists out there, I love visiting all their blogs. This will be a gift for this young woman's graduation. Ihope we will mount it to a canvas.

eighth graders fabric collage

The finished products of my volunteer work with my daughters 8th grade class are going to be sold in a raffle along with a full size quilt we made. I love how easily they took to the medium. Their teacher loved the vibrancy of the fabric scraps. They came up with a design then translated it to fabric with glue on batting. I did the stitching and edging. They are all so different and fun.

Snowed in and working

I am busy stitching the final touches on the fabric collages from the eighth grade art class I taught over the past couple of weeks. These will be raffled off as well as the full size quilt my sister and I are finishing and donating. The proceeds are for their year end trip. I think I am just paying the money for the band fundraiser. I do not want to eat all the pies I would have to order to raise the money!! I will take photos of all when I am done.

My latest portrait is coming along, still some quilting to be done on the face and then the binding or facing.

First blog entry

Hi, I am new at this, so forgive any glitches in the set up, I will work on it. Appreciate any helpful recommendations. I am a fiber artist living in western NY. I am in business with my sister , Ruth. We have a long arm gammill machine and two studios. The machine takes one whole room at Ruth's home and I have the art/fabric studio at my home. I recently moved here from NC to work with Ruth. Before that I lived In NM for 10 years and Wyoming for two. I am originally from Batavia, NY, though.

Presently,I am working on getting my art work out to the world and have been lucky enough to have gotten a piece in Up in Stitches, a SAQA gallery show at the Yeiser Gallery in Paducah.
The piece is Gentle Giants, a commission work of two Great Danes, the owner was kind enough to let me display it.


Fabric collage and quilting are my main activities . I am also addicted to painting, stamping , embossing , dyeing, and discharging fabric. I love trying anything new. My sister. Ruth is very adept on the long arm and is a long time quilter. Her passion in the summer also includes dyeing fabric

We volunteer teach fabric collage at the local schools. We recently finished a donation quilt for a school trip fundraiser.

My guild in Durham NC was a great source of friends and inspiration. The internet has recently become a new source of fabric art compatriots and this is a blessing. I am looking forward to their challenges and continued inspiration by seeing their ideas and work.

Pat