Fiber Art Auction

The 2009 Invitational Reverse Auction featuring fabulous Fiber Art is open.

This is Rusty Grove by Linda Teddlie Minton.

It has sold for $1,800.00 -- every penny of which goes to the American Cancer Society. Yea!!!

Click here to learn more about this piece.

Better still, click here to see all the art, and to learn how to bid. Build your fiber art collection and support cancer research too!

This is Sir Winter McDormant by Roxanne Stoner.

It is still available (as of the moment that I write this). Click here to learn more about this piece.

Click here to learn more about Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC), founded by Virginia Spiegel. Many fiber artists have joined FFAC and working together they have raised over $165,000.00 for the American Cancer Society.

Simply Incredible!

NEWS FLASH: This will be the last year for the Invitational Reverse Auction! Be sure to look at the amazing artwork donated by ten outstanding fiber artists and bid on your favorite. Remember, all proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society. This event ends at 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

Empty Bowls 2009

Above is a curious peek at the first of four bowls that I will be delivering this Saturday to the 2009 Empty Bowls event in Houston. This is the second year that my Beyond the Borders (BTB) Art Quilt group has contributed bowls to this annual fundraiser benefiting the Houston Food Bank.

If you are in or near Houston this Saturday, March 21, please drop by the Houston Contemporary Craft Center (HCCC) and the Lawndale Art Center to view the thousands of bowls donated by local artisans to this worthy cause. If you find one (or more) that call to you, a mere $25.00 allows you to take it home. To celebrate your purchase, you will be given a tasty bowl of soup (in a different bowl!) for your lunch. There will be live music and a variety of craft demonstrations taking place too.

Now to see how wonderfully creative my BTB friends are ...

Here is Connie Fahrion's bowl, the one I've been teasing you with. It is a delicately sweet bowl.

She named it "Earth, Wind and Fire"

A look at the bottom ...
and the colorful sides ....
changing with the different angles.

Janice McKeehan created two bowls for this worthy event. This one is made using felt as the stabilizer, assorted cotton greens, beading, light and petite stamped designs (one has to look close to see them) and lots of quilting to hold the layers together.

The sides overlap, held in place with a lovely beaded embellishment.

The base is signed and dated, naturally.

The back stands tall, taller still if you unfold the cuff.

This is a great bowl ... I wonder who will select it this Saturday?

Janice made this second bowl to donate as well. I am sure you will agree it is a fabulous and unique floral bowl.

I just love it!

Each of the petals and leaves are wired, giving them the natural wavy look. They can be re-shaped if needed or desired.

An underneath view ...

Looking into the heart of the flower to see its beaded center.

Now for my 2009 Empty Bowl donation....

(may I have a drum roll, please?)

First, a view of the inside -- a simple, spotted green ready to be filled with your favorite what-nots.

Next, a view of the outside -- layers of yarns, fibers, tulle and netting, possibly a stray candy wrapper or two as well.

It has a well-loved, shabby-chic look, or are my rose-colored glasses blinding me?

Can you believe the diversity of these four bowls? Think -- these are by just three artists. Imagine the thousands of other bowls that will be there on Saturday! With ceramic and clay bowls in the majority, without a doubt, there will be an extremely wide range of all kinds of bowls ... including bowls crafted with wood, paper, felted wool and other fiber creations (including these four -- Thank you Janice and Connie!)

Please come to HCCC and Lawndale (side by side on Main Street) this Saturday, March 21, 2009 between 11:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. I will be volunteering in the morning with my boys and my friend Tammy. Make a $25.00 minimum donation and enjoy a tasty lunch of soup, listen to entertaining live music, watch various craft demos taking place, shop for the bowl of your choice and support the Houston Food Bank!

Click here to view last year's BTB bowls.

Click here to find an Empty Bowls event near you.

Open Studio Day in La Grange

On Friday, February 27, 2009 at the Great Expectations Creativity Center in La Grange, Texas, Karey Bresenhan held an Open Studio Day inviting quilt and fiber artists to come view the work created by the two Artists-in-Residence, Virginia Spiegel and Carol Moore. It was a wonderful day spent hobknobbing with over 70 fellow artists .... and the lunch was tasty too!

Here is a sampling of the hand-dyed wool roving Carol brought with her to use during her month-long stay in La Grange.


This is a close up view of Virginia's painted fabric pieces.


Carol and Virgina pose during a lull in the conversation. They are standing in front of Carol's piece that was juried into the "Oh Canada" exhibit to be seen at International Quilt Festival shows this year.

Virginia is talking with Karen Stiehl Osborn about one of her pieces which is made of Lutrador. I love the transparency of this piece. Displaying this art in the window on this beautiful sunny day where the Texas greenery can be seen beyond is a perfect touch.

The room slowly filled as everyone arrived, coming in twos and threes. In the back corner you can glimpse more of Virginia's work.

Karey is a gracious hostess. She is welcoming everyone to her Texas ranch, and introducing the Artists-in-Residence, seen below.

Seated is Ruth Moore, Carol's mom (who traveled in from Toronto two days earlier), behind her is Virginia Spiegel (floral jacket) and Carol Moore. They are quite excited to be sharing their new pieces created during their month-long stay at the Creativity Center.

After lunch, many others shared their artwork. One of my favorites was seeing Jamie Fingal's three apron pieces (no photos -- sorry -- but check out Jamie's article in issue #23 of Cloth-Paper-Scissors magazine, March/April 2009 or watch for an upcoming Quilting Arts episode)

Frances Holliday Alford brought many stickers, decals, stamps and more -- which she shared with anyone who would still long enough to decorate a postcard -- it was wonderful fun. She sent me off with a few more postcards of hers that she wishes to get more cancellation stamps on!


Here is Frances, her smile and one of her heavily stickered postcards.


Ruthie Powers, also from Austin, is beginning a new adventure -- she's designed some amazing stamps, which include mirror images where the negative/positive spaces are reversed. Here is Kim DeCoste (Education Manager of Quilts, Inc.) demo-ing different ways to use Ruthie's stamps. Is that Iris of MistyFuse next to Ruthie and listening too?

Before heading home for the day, I popped into the Copper Shade Tree gallery in Round Top to see the "It's Not A Quilt ... Or Is It?" fiber art show that was currently going on. This wall features one art piece by each of the features 18 artists in the show. There are some amazing Quilters & Fiber Artists in Texas! Be sure to drop by if you are in the area soon, as the show will be up for a bit longer.

Guitar Festival

February means Fiber Art at the Copper Shade Tree (the 3rd annual quilt/fiber show in this cozy gallery) and Guitar Festival at Festival Hill (now in it's 5th annual year in this world reknown concert hall).

My friend, Connie Fahrion, made this quilt (poster size) in support of Festival Hill and their fundraising efforts. Look closely to see the larger guitar embroidered in the background.