The Virgin of Guadalupe and more tagged keys

(Above:  The Virgin of Guadalupe, 12" x 12", a SAQA donation quilt. Digitally image transfer with self-guided, free-motion machine embroidery and hand beading; buttons.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

This is my donation for the 2015 SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) annual on-line auction.  All the works are 12" x 12".  The bidding begin on September 18th.  Publicity will start soon ... as April 1st is the "early bird deadline" for possible inclusion in the promotional brochures.  My piece is a digital transfer of a photo I took in an Arizona cemetery.  It features the Virgin of Guadalupe.  Self-guided, free-motion machine embroidery was done before the hand beading.  Buttons line the edge.

Last weekend I also finished another, much larger art quilt.  I've named it Guardian Angel.  I can't share it yet. Why? Well, it was made for Jane Dunnewold's call-for-entry, a juried show called Digital Alchemy.  I printed the guidelines well over six weeks ago.  It included this rule: Please don't share work in process online, in bogs, or on websites, or via social media like Facebook, until after acceptance and rejection notices have been delivered.

I hate not posting my work when it has been completed.  My blog functions as a visual inventory book, something that coordinates nicely with my written inventory book.  I can't guess the number of times I've googled my name and title of a work ... just to figure out the date when it was finished.  The date is how I find a piece in my hand-written inventory book.  The system works perfectly ... except when there's a silly rule that means a work is posted months after completion!  (I did notice, however, that the "silly rule" is no longer on Jane Dunnewold's website.  I'll email her to see if the ban has been lifted!  If so, I'll post Guardian Angel later this week!  Fingers are crossed!)

 
(Above:  The Virgin of Guadalupe, reverse.  Vintage embroidery on a scrap of a vintage pink linen tablecloth with free-motion embroidered words.)

This is the reverse of my SAQA donation art quilt.  The hand painted and embroidered cat was cut from a vintage table runner.  The runner featured two cats, one on each end.  So, I might have another cute reverse on a future piece!  The pink linen came from a lovely (though slightly stained) vintage tablecloth.  Most of the tablecloth was used on the revers of Guardian Angel.

(Above:  Another group of tagged keys ... on my studio's ironing board ... in front of The Wall of Keys.)

I am thrilled to announce that The Wall of Keys is going to England.  This installation will be part of the Through Our Hands exhibition at The Festival of Quilts.  In anticipation, I've made another grouping of tagged keys ... to add to the over 1200 already on my studio wall.  Making the trip even more wonderful is the fact that I'm presenting two lectures!  On August 6th from 11:00 - 11:45 AM, I'll give an expanded version of my TEDxColumbiaSC talk, Precious.  On August 7th from 12:15 - 1:00 PM, my presentation is called Beyond a Series: Taking Work to the Next Level.

(Above:  The new tagged keys!)

I have other great news to share too! Ancestors in a Fiber Vessel was among the 33 pieces accepted by juror Jon Eric Riis for inclusion in Velocity of Textiles, a Chattahoochie Handweavers Guild's exhibition.  Handed Down was accepted into the PAQA-South juried show, Art Quilts Reminisce.  I got another art residency!  I'll be in the "Oregon Outback" (aka Lake County, near Summer Lake) at PLAYA from October 5 - 30th.  Plus, Threads: Gathering My Thoughts was accepted for a solo show at the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum for April 29 - August 15, 2016!  I'm OVER THE MOON!


(Above:  A ball of newly made cording ... to replace all the cording I used on the recent batch of tagged keys.)

Finally, I replenished the cording used for all the newly tagged keys.  I love making cord ... and it is a good thing because the art residencies to which I've been accepted were based on a proposal to make new fiber vessels ... exploring the concept of containment.  To make a fiber vessel, one must first make lots and lots of thicker cording!  I have my work cut out for me!

I'm linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site for sharing fiber art.