Diane is Hopping in Turkey!

Welcome to our Sisters blog!

Thank you, Diane Wright, for including all your Sisters in the world wide blog hop.  I am sure Turkey will get a place of honor in one of Diane's future quilts.  Past travels and stays in Australia, Japan, China have generated an amazing variety of artwork.

In our last meeting, we shared some of what we are working on.  Here is a picture of MaryLyn showing her progress on a new quilt.  This piece has an unusual background story.  It was not birthed in a quiet moment, but in the heat of frenzied frustration.  MaryLyn quickly gathered her oranges and blues, chose a white for background, and started cutting.  She did not tell us why she picked those colors, but they perhaps represent the mood (orange) that needed to be cooled down (blue).  The next morning, she showed us a few sewed rows of her work, which has grown in the meantime.

Here is a project I'm working on for our December Guilford Library exhibit.  This will end up being a nine patch of circles, arranged with the help of Sisters,

The inspiration for the above piece is the following nine patch: 

Next time, I'll explain how I jumped from squares and triangles to circles!

Sisters in Cloth Meeting - April 4, 2014

There was a lot of great energy in the room today at the Sisters in Cloth weekly meeting. Here are a few pieces from our "show and tell."

Autumn Years Squared  by Diane Wright for the SAQA Benefit Auction to be held in September. She is totally prepared for this one!  The background is a black linen napkin and the tree was made with her own stamp design. Machine and hand quilted.

Carol Ludington is working on a yummy wool appliqué from Wooly Lady. The wools are rich and warm and her work is second to none!

Barbara Adams is working on a baby quilt to be auctioned with other baby goodies at the SARAH auction. Her fabric combinations are terrific and so fresh!

Debra Bento just completed commissioned toddler size quilt. It consists of mostly oranges and yellows from one of her favorite designers, Lotta Jansdotter. 

Another Opening...another Show

Tuneful, no?  We are celebrating our final exhibit of our packaged exhibit, Double Take.  It has been on the road for three years now, primarily along the CT shoreline.  Yesterday, however, it made it out of state to Easthampton MA where member Gail Kotowski secured a venue at the Williston Northampton School's Grubb Gallery.

Check out the other photos at www.dianewrightquilts.blogspot.com.

Yvette Howard's piece with inspiration photo by Rosemary DeLucco Alpert

Janine Anderson-Bays' and Debbie Bento's pieces with inspiration photos by Rosemary DeLucco Alpert

Evelyn Judson's  and Diane Wright's pieces with inspiration photos by Rosemary DeLucco Alpert

Gail Kotowski's and Diane Wright & Linda Zimmerman's pieces with inspiration photos by Rosemary DeLucco Alpert

Barb Adams' , Robin Wolek's and Marie Shepherd's pieces with inspiration photos by Rosemary DeLucco Alpert

Class with Kate Themel Part II

After the post from our first session in Kate Themel's class, I thought I'd share some pictures from yesterday's workshop. We all improved our free-motion quilting skills. In fact, it was a new skill to some.

Kate explaining the process for the day.

 Kate demonstrating the method.

 MaryLyn doing her first free-motion quilting.

Very impressive indeed.

 Diane totally engrossed in her work.

 Carol hard at work stitching.

 Alice working on a practice piece in order to hone her skills.

 Barb contemplating the next step.

 Betty Warner doing a smaller piece before tackling a large one with many magnolias.

 Gina, Janine, and Robin.

Ruth Anne trying to work around the tension issues of her machine.

It was fun to be working together on a lovely project. We all jumped at the chance to take a class with Kate. 

Preview of SAQA/CT's "Local Color"

Our group was over the moon when the acceptances of SAQA/CT's were released by the jurors for Local Color!  Eight of us received the 'fat envelope'!!

Gail Kotowski's Metropolis

I have images of four:  

My Town Green

Barb Adams' Winter Marsh

This group entry (Diane Wright, Gail Kotowski, Barb Adams, Linda Zimmerman, Yvette Howard and Robin Wolek) was especially fun for us.  We love working on group projects: Whoever can, participates.  We always know that life gets in the way for us all, so it's usually 6-8 members who are available at any one time.  This time it was 6.

Hartford's Colt Dome

We had decided that we wanted to find a 'ultra' iconic image.  After not hearing from the Colt Dome Trustees for permission to use their online image, I decided to do the Little Red Hen thing and do it myself.  Well, myself with my husband David, the designated photographer.  While I was the designated driver, and he the photographer, we picked a clear day and made many 'passes' on I91 to capture images of the Hartford skyline that included the Colt Dome.  It was at times like this that you wish you had a helicopter.

Carol Ludington, and Ruth Anne Olson  also had entries accepted.  What fun!

Busy Week

Robin Wolek with her two

Instead of our usual meeting, today a few of us decided to drive into New Haven to see our Indigo exhibit at 300 George Street.  The walls are a perfect fit for our collection.  The lighting is wonderful.  There is a lot of foot traffic. All in all a wonderful place to be.

Marie Shepherd admiring Janine Anderson-Bayes' Bunny Tales

Yvette Howard next to hers (and in front of Diane's)

This last photo is courtesy of Margaret Sheehan, the SAQA NH and VT co-rep.  Last Saturday we all came from all over New England to hear Martha Sielman's (second from L seated) very informative talk about the Masters 2 Art Quilt exhibition now on display at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA.  'Sister' Barb Adams and I drove up (two seated on R) with Kate Themel (directly behind us).  What a wonderful day it was!

What's Going On Here?

Road Trip!  Diane couldn't help herself - after a few hours basking in the luxury of a well stocked quilt store (Sew Inspired), Diane and Carol were So Inspired upon seeing the man hole cover that they ran back into the shop, bought a package of paint sticks, and rubbed some images from the ground.  Now that is a sure sign of a good day.

Lots of fabric came home with the group, of course, as did a slew of new books, ideas for a day of bleaching and discharging fabrics.  Most of us ended up with lighter wallets, but healthier stashes.

Lastly, a pizza and salad at the neighboring restaurant made us all feel ready for the hour long drive home.

We are so lucky to have Sisters!

Conn Text: Word(s) Challenge Revealed

“Conn Text” Challenge

We created a challenge open to all current and former members of Sisters in Cloth, aka Gone to Pieces, or aka Newcomer’s Quilting.

Parameters:

Our challenge is “word”. It can be interpreted to be a word, text; it can be inspiration drawn from a poem, literature, whatever inspires you by the word “word”.

1. Each piece will be three attached layers, 20” in width and up to, but no larger than, 48” in height.

2. Each piece will be faced (not bound).

3. Each participant is responsible for affixing her piece to black stretcher bars.

4. Each piece will contain at least one letter or character.

5. The work may be of mixed media, but should contain fabric.

6. Drop dead deadline is June 11, 2010

These were the instructions and yesterday was the reveal day which didn't start out all that

auspicious. I had a power failure at my house and, at the last minute, had to find another meeting place. We all congregated at a local tea shop.

The top photo is Yvette's Connections, a playful work using Jean Ray Laurie's color-form figures.

Next is Ruth Anne's sublime sunset with her quote embroidered on the top. fiberartbyruthanne.blogspot.com

Third, in an almost completed state, is Linda Z's (and I should have written down her quote...duh) zimmermandezigns.blogspot.com

These three are

followed by pieces in a decidedly more serious tone.

Barb's (not quite finished) piece is a scene from her daily walks from her house to the nearby beach where many of the residences have no trespassing signs of various types.

The signs are yet to be attached.

Gail's Justice is a montage of the men in her family (and herself) who served The Law along with photographs of landmark decisions. Her grandfather was a well known defense attorney, her brother a forensic scientist, and her father a court officer. (Gail is also an attorney). artandfiber.com

For some reason unknown to me I can only post six photos...the others disappear. SOOoooo...I will post Martha's and Evelyn's on the next post. Stay tuned. They are among the "heavily meaningful".

SAQA Transformations: Hanging the Show

Last Friday after weeks of scattered meetings when we barely had a handful of attendees, four Sisters and a few "Husbands of Sisters" hung the SAQA show, Transformations, at the Guilford Art Center. What an experience! The quilts were wrapped in rolls and packed expertly in two large metal "coffins". Each roll was a treasure of textiles which were individually stunning and collectively arresting. The pieces had to be unwrapped, inspected, loged into the show and then hung. It was our first experience in hanging a show of such magnitude and it was a learning experience for all involved.

Tonight will be the opening reception and we anticipate that it will be very well attended. More photos to come!

Quiltscapes at The Whistler House Museum

Our own Diane Wright was honored to have been juried into Quiltscapes at the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA. It's a wonderful venue, devoted to art quilts during the Lowell Quilt Festival and sponsored by the New England Quilt Museum. Diane was especially happy to be included in an exhibit with artists whose work she admire: artists like Sandy Donabed and Laura Wasilowski. Several of the Sisters in Cloth members made the journey to Lowell and attended the opening. Boy, it doesn't get any better than this! Pictured are Robin Wolek and Debbie Bento, studying Sandy Donabed's piece. Diane's contribution, "Reflections", is on the top left and Laura Wasilowski's is the far right.

Spot the Sisters

Linda Zimmerman, Yvette Howard, Diane Wright and Debbie Bento all attended my opening at Chroma Gallery in Guilford, CT last Thursday night. It was an exciting evening with about 200 guests enjoying the fused glass, woven rugs and lovely quilts made by three Guilford artists who all belong to the Shoreline Arts Trail. After a few hours of lively conversation and a glass or two of wine, I started taking photos of the attendees... Using the rules of "Where's Waldo", see if you can spot Diane, Yvette and Debbie... Thankfully I was behind the lens and not in front of it!

Lending A Hand

There are many ways to help people in need. Each of the Sisters in Cloth has her own favorite charity. In the past few years of our existence, we have made gift baskets for 65 Roses (Cystic Fibrosis Charity) auctions, a gorgeous raffle quilt for the Guilford Art Center, participated in political fundraisers, and made many additional pieces individually for these and many more worthy causes.

Our latest group charity quilts are soon to fly to Australia, packed tightly in Diane Wright's carry-on bags. With a generous donation of batting from J.T. Trading Corporation (importers of Matilda's Own Australian Wool Batting) the Sisters have teamed up to make two quilts for the victims of the recent bush fires. We all donated 9 patch squares which were pieced by some energetic members two weeks ago and quilted beautifully by Diane. She and Linda are holding the smaller of the two quilts.

We urge everyone to find a cause and support it with your time and talents.

What's In A Name?

Several years ago, our group decided to choose a name for ourselves. We'd been known by our local guild as The Guilford Group even though several members were from surrounding towns. We met on Friday mornings, and often called ourselves The Friday Morning Group. Both were uninspiring and did not say a thing about who we are or what we do. In true creative spirit, we had a contest to name ourselves, and Diane Wright came up with Gone to Pieces. That worked for a year or two, but it became obvious to the group that we were too "together" to be called Gone to Pieces. Our current and FINAL name was inspired by a Progressive quilt made by all of us and belonging to Diane. She chose the central batik motif and the fabrics, and we passed the project from member to member until it seemed done. You may recognize the row of women on the bottom as our logo. Sister Sister showcases who we are: supportive, creative and happy quilters with a love of fabric, color, texture, and each other. We are truly Sisters in Cloth.