Sunday, May 22, 2011

2011 Sisters' Extravaganza



As you may remember, the Sisters' annually host a day of all things 'art-quilty'. This year in a departure from our norm we shifted from the comfy hospitality of our Yvette Howard's home to a commercial venue. No surprise here: it was a quilt shop(!) Vivian Lazich, owner of Sew Inspired in Simsbury CT invited us to her studio-classroom space. Granted, it was a huge hardship on us all to HAVE to relocate to a quilt shop. LOL.

Vivian went further. Having just returned from Spring Quilt Market she was a fount of information about the newest techniques, books, fabric lines etc. Whetting our appetite. She also demonstrated several really interesting products and techniques...decolourant, paints, adhesives...boggling some brains I can tell you. Thank goodness for note taking, otherwise it would have been a total sensory overload by the end of the day.


Of course, none of our gatherings is complete without Show and Tell. Always a feature! This year was no exception.

The first photo, with it's maker and frequent Sisters' guest Betty Warner hiding behind it, is her piece about the Liberty Bell which is soon to be shipped to an exhibit in Philadelphia. It honors the 9 slaves of George Washington who were not recognized during their lifetime.

Second photo is Sister in Cloth member Ruth Anne Olson with her most recent piece...still under development..featuring some of her beautiful hand painted fabric.

The whole day was a happy mixture of old friends, inspiring work, interesting new ideas and techniques, tasty food from neighboring restaurant AND piles of new fabrics. AND the sun shown for the first time in days. Gosh, life is good...especially for an art quilter.

And to add icing to the cake Vivian asked us to repeat the event next year! Really makes a girl smile.