SAQA, February 2017

The regional chapter of SAQA met yesterday at the home of Kathy Briggs. Kathy who has been a member for years, recently moved to Asheville and took over the role of regional rep for NC and VA. For those who might not be familiar with SAQA, it stands fot Studio Art Quilt Association. It is an international organization started by the late, great Yvonne Porcella. Yvonne's dream was to have an organization for the purpose of sharing and promoting art quilts. I have been a member for years and can say it is top notch offering lots of opportunities for showing, sharing and selling one's work.

I have some pics to share although, I was not able to post everyones as some were too blurry.

Linda Sexton-Patrick started this group with @ 4 people. Yesterday, we had 13 very enthusiastic and talented gals show up; our group is growing and it's been wonderful fun to see the talent and comraderie between everyone. We had a nice show and tell, a tour of Kathies new home and a look at her many quilts used in the decor of each room. .Lynn showed us a piece made with strips of fabric, appliqued grass on top. This piece was a makeover and Lynn had to do some manipulating to get it to work.

She called it "suturing" the back, we all laughed but all in all, it was a good idea.

Agatha, a new member to our group told us how she used to dislike the color orange but found a new love for it when used in this piece. Well, I should say so...I'm not a fan of orange but it is wonderful and very effective here. Bravo Agatha and welcome to the group!

Paula showed us several quilts...this one was such a fun piece ....some great colors and movement.

Mary Jane brought this along to share. Many of her pieces are inspired by her photographs. Each piece is bordered in silk - this a heavier silk shantung and wrapped around stretcher bars or canvas. The colors are soft and subtle.

Julie showed us this very colorful strip pieced quilt..

and this which is still wanting for a name. I particularly love this style which Julie often uses. I love the primitive bird which is loaded with wonderful hand stitching using all kinds of interesting stitches and floss. Julie says she always has to have something to stitch. The bird sits on a background of hand dyed fabric.

Jenny splits her time between British Columbia and Asheville...we are lucky she chose this area for the other half of her year. She is an incredible artist, had some wonderful things to show but they are entered in a big show in Canada so we held off printing them here...but will get back to them in the future. This piece of silk was hand painted in black, white and grays. It is exquisite and I'm anxious to see it finished.

Now onto our hostess - Kathy. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful granite in her kitchen...and when you see her quilts, you'll think this granite was made just for her. She is a lover of trees - a lady after my own heart.

She had a great studio space...

some great new fabrics

which she is working into this piece. Kathy is a piecer and works with tiny, uneven strips to create incredible backgrounds for pieces like....

this beautiful quilt.....

and this....

and this. I love the colors in this one and of course the trees...

but I think this might be my favorite. What a great day with some very lovely ladies. I went home with such a happy heart and new found inspiration...