A Private Lesson and Key West Update

My trip to Denver had a Part 3, that I was really looking forward to after videoing a segment for The Quilt Show (Part 1) or visiting the Rockies (Part 2).  I had a 2 day private lesson with an amazing animal portrait quilter, Barbara Yates Beasley.

I was familiar with Barbara's art from the Internet. 

 Her quilts of dogs and other  animals are amazingly realistic.

 I would love to have a quilt like that of my girlfriend, Bailey. Barbara lives outside of Denver, so when I knew I was heading to  Denver for The Quilt Show, I thought maybe I could connect with her.  I always told my kids, "you don't know unless you ask", so I asked! I asked her if should would be willing to give me a private lesson.  She checked her calendar and we had a date.  She would provide all the fabric and the other supplies.  I just had to bring an enlarged photo of Bailey.

 I headed to Barbara's studio on Monday morning.

She has quite an organized fabric collection.  She uses small pieces so she has a big variety of many different types of cottons organized by color.

After prepping the foundation, Bailey was pinned to the design wall and the lesson began.

\Barbara starts with the most challenging parts of the animal first - the eyes and then the nose.  Wow! It already looked like her.

The Boulder area is really a hotbed of quilting.  We took a break after Day 1 and went to an exhibit at The Dairy Center.  The exhibit was to celebrate the birthday of a very well known art quilter, Judith Content.  She invited some of her quilting friends to hang quilts in the exhibit for her "birthday party".  There was quite a variety including 3 dimensional pieces.

I spent a second day with Barbara and then flew

 home kind of knowing what I was doing!

It was the perfect time in my busy schedule.  I was able to devote several more days and with a couple of e-mails and a phone call, I finished my quilt.

I think it looks exactly like Bailey and I am thrilled.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Barbara and you have a pet you love, do it.  You can see lots of her pieces at

www.BarbaraYatesBeasley.com

But, if you want to commission one, she does that too!

Key West Update:

We finally heard about our place in Key West.  It's good news.  There is a lot of plant debris everywhere, but our place is in tact and there is no water damage.

Thank you to everyone who were concerned.  It is such a relief.  Key West was spared the brunt of the  storm.  My heart goes out to those who lost their homes in other parts of the Keys.

Fun Friday

I was looking forward to getting out of the studio with a couple of the Quiltinis to visit the quilt exhibit at The Wayne Art Center, which is about 15 minutes from my house. This is a juried exhibit that is one of the premier quilt exhibits in the country. Anyone that still has the notion that quilts are made by Grandmas to be slept under, will be surprised. These quilts are works of art and definitely worth the trip.

Some years there is usually one quilt that we will say WTF? This year is was a 3-D full size oil drum type barrel created by a woman who usually makes the most gorgeous quilts. I did have several favorites and always love the hand stitching. One of my favorites was a quilt by Kathleen Loomis. She will be a speaker at my quilt guild, Calico Cutters, this October.

Unfortunately, no photos are allowed of the quilts. Thus always annoys me, because it us not to preserve the quilts. This ban on photography is purely mercenary. They want you to buy their catalog. Someone should enlighten them that sharing is a good thing and more people will come to see the quilts in person when they get a sneak oeek. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. Here's the link where you can see some of the quilts. www. Artquiltelements.org. The exhibit runs through April 30 and is worth the trip.

BUT, there was an exhibit of Teen Art in the public areas from local schools. I am often amazed by the talent.

This piece was behind the information desk.

 

This is what it looked like when you get a closer look.

Ca

Can you see the bits that make up this piece? How about closer?

And the expressive eyes?

 

The artist

 

 

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Art Quilt Elements

A visit to the Wayne Art Center to see some wonderful quilts that you would never put on your bed. It's a local art center located in a suburb of Philadelphia and has become the centerpiece of FiberPhilly. The quilts are beautifully displayed in 2 galleries.

I apologize for not knowing all of the artists' names.

Kathy York

This really caught my eye. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

 

Close Up

 

 

Diane Savona

Hollis Chatelaine. Made from jeans. For those of us that know her art, it was a bit of a shock.

Kristin La Flamme

There was a direct view if this quilt from the doorway as you entered the room. It was eye catching. It grew on me and it became one of my favorites.

Betty Busby. "Dendrites"

Close up.

 

 

 

 

Close Up

Marianne Burr

Close Up.

One of the overall trends was the amount of hand stitching. It was not the hand quilting of the past. It was bold and big and had a purpose other than to hold the 3 layers together. I love hand stitching and I really think it connects the quilter with the art.

 

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June Is A Busy Month

I usually lead a very quiet life, spending most of my time designing and quilting in my studio.  I certainly do enjoy getting out though, but look forward to getting back to "work".  It's not really work.  It's an inner drive that I have.  There is inspiration all around and I want to translate it using fabric into quilts.  From a pattern I may see on a building to the colors of a beautiful flower - there are just not enough hours in a day. So here I am , it's not  even the end of the first week in June, and l have spent more time out of my studio than in it.

I was invited to go to the Devon Horse Show.    It is right in my backyard, located on the Philadelphia Main Line.  It is a huge event in the horse world.  I had never been before and decided to go in recognition of my new daughter-in-law's mother, Char.  Char is a horsewoman, who is a very active rider/hunter in CT.   When I found out that I could bring my buddy, Bailey, as long as she was on a leash, that really sealed the deal.

We got seats in the grandstand to watch our first event.  The ring was set up with all these different jump type things.  (Do you like my technical terminology?)  As they announced that it was 7 and 8 year olds, we all thought we were going to see children on horseback.  Silly us.  They were referring to the age of the horses!  The riders were all adults.  The horses did not look that big from a distance, but as they got closer, wow!  And to watch these beautiful animals use those rear, powerful legs to fly over those jumps, was just amazing.

Then we went to check out the Budweiser Clydesdales.  My normally shy and aloof puppy, Bailey, decides that she needs to befriend one.  When I sent this photo to one of my sons, he e-mailed me back.  I quote:  "I guess it does make sense that a dog named after a liqueur is making friends with a spokes-animal for beer."

The next outing was to  The Gallery Walk in West Chester, PA.  This university town, full of restaurants and little shops was packed with people.   Not only are there galleries packed with artwork, but local businesses also showcase local artists. Wine and cheese/hors d'oeuvres are served at most venues.   "Layers", our art quilt group, was lucky enough to be invited to show our wok in the offices of Morgan Stanley.  We decided to showcase the quilts from our 4 challenges.

The quilts looked great hanging on the walls and in the windows of the individual offices.  It was a new medium for people to see quilts as art and it was very well received.

Coming up on Wednesday, June 9th, I will be lecturing in the Pocono Mountains, at the Pocono Mountain Quilt Guild.  Located in Stroudsburg, they will be meeting at the Senior Center that night at 7 PM.   The topic of my lecture is "Inspiration From Squiggles and Dots".  It brings me back to wanting to spend time creating and sewing and translating all those thoughts into quilts.  If you're in the area, come and hear about how my overactive brain thinks.  You'll either walk away looking at the world in a different way or thinking that I look at the world through an unusual pair of glasses.