collaborative collage

On my walk on the mountain today, I finally got an idea for the interactive piece I want to create during my upcoming show. Remember the felt board from kinder garden? Well, this will be the same idea. I am going to put up a design wall and visitors to the show can create a fabric collage. I will have different shapes, colours and textures of fabric, including some photos printed on fabric. Visitors can stick them on the design wall and make their own design. If you don't like what is already up there, you can change it. There will be an incentive to make it beautiful; the finished piece could be yours! Whatever is up there at the end of the show at noon on May 11, I will sew together, quilt and bind. The names of all who participated will go into a magic sack and I will draw a name. This person will win the piece. I can't wait to see what you make.

Friends and family have told me that my name is not big enough on the poster I made for my upcoming show. So I made this:It will hang in the window. Lots of gold holographic thread and some crystals. Very satisfying. The shiny does not show up so well here. Drat!

Beauty creates health

Is it art? or is it craft? or...is it BEAUTIFUL? The art quilt organization of which I am a member (Studio Art Quilt Association http://www.saqa.com/) has just been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Congratulations to all who worked on making this happen. This is a step for textile work to be recognized as art.
Ok, what about all those women through the centuries spinning, weaving, sewing for the home? Is it art? Why not? What is this urge we have to fill our environment with beauty? Many of the traditional Amish designs look quite modern. Some quilters like traditional patterns and make quilts to be used on a bed. Some of us improvise with those patterns. At the top of the page is a quilt I made as a wedding present for a designer friend. Who says you can't have red in the bedroom? Having colour and beauty in the environment is the antidote to all the ugliness we encounter in life. Beauty uplifts the spirit. Our bodies and minds are affected by it all. I am sure the very cells of our bodies resonate with harmony of form and colour. Beauty creates health!
These are Roman shades I made for our bedroom. I love the way the light comes through the fabric making it look like stained glass. Brings me a smile each day.