Global Lead Art Gallery Exhibit

These are some of my quilts that are hanging up in the Global Lead Art Gallery here in Cincinnati for their "Building on Tradition-Contemporary Quiltmaking" exhibition.



They've been up for the past 3 months and came down yesterday but I still wanted to share a few of them with you.

"Seeds of a Dream" Quilt

I was commissioned by Kennedy Heights Arts Center to create a quilt in celebration of their 5 year anniversary. I talked about this back in April when I had first started to draft ideas for it and had given you a sneak peek of my progress.


Here is the finished project:



The symbolism of it....

The founders' names are placed all around the seeds to reflect that they sewed the seeds that took root and formed the foundation of the arts center. The branches of the tree are the collective hands of a community that worked together to create a vision for the art center. Inside of the crystal ball is the Kennedy Heights Arts Center building.


If you're in the Cincinnati area, stop by the center to see the quilt among the other great works of art displayed.

Kennedy Heights Arts Center
6546 Montgomery Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45213
513.631.4278

www.kennedyarts.com

"Honey's Mango Bop" Quilt

On June 23rd, 2009, my "Honey's Mango Bop" quilt was one of the many featured in the "TEXTURAL RHYTHMS: CONSTRUCTING THE JAZZ TRADITION -- CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN QUILTS" exhibition opening at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.

The venue was packed with art, quilt, and jazz lovers all around.



Great works from artists included Carolyn Crump and Carolyn L. Mazloomi, who organized the exhibition.

I couldn't be there so my daughter went to represent for me and even signed a book on my behalf.



The exhibit will be there till October 11th. To learn more about it and museum, Click Here

Newsletter in the Making

Be on the look out!

I've been working with my daughter to create my Quilting & Lifestyle newsletter. Writing is a lot of work! But I have a lot of ideas and am excited to get the ball rolling on this.

If you would like to receive the newsletter once publishing begins, leave a comment with your email address and you will be added.

Busy Weekend

Boy, did I have a busy weekend. Friday I went down to my studio to straighten it up some. As I started to clear my cutting table of various scraps of fabric, I got the idea to challenge myself to create some small collage quilts out of the random scraps. Recently, I have developed a great interest in fabric/fiber collage and tried my hand at interpreting collage into my style of quilting. I think I did alright? What do you think?

This Saturday was "Quilt Saturday". I belong to a small informal quilt group which meets the first Saturday of every month. Saturday we had a delightful visitor to the group, which was very refreshing since for years we were a closed group. New energy and new ideas are always good for a group.

Every other month we watch a video of a new project technique and then do the project for the next meeting. After our the news & updates, and show & share, we watched a Quilting Arts video on free motion applique. The project was interesting, but the teaching methods left a lot to be desired. I can't wait until next month's meeting to see all the creative ways the technique has been interpreted.

Lastly, Sunday my husband ran the last leg of a relay in the "Flying Pig Marathon" in Cincinnati which meant we all had to get up at 5:00am to be in downtown by 7:00am. He did great! 6.55 miles in 53 minutes! The girls and I were there to cheer him on every step of the way. He was so fast crossing the finish line I barely got a photo of him.

Back for Real This Time

I know I keep saying I'm back and then disappearing but I really plan to be more active this time around. I have one of my lovely daughters helping me out with this place now so there are a lot of new and exciting things to come!

What I'm Working on These Days:

* Making and marketing my Miva Marks bookmarks

- If you live in the Cincinnati area, they can be purchased at Kennedy Heights Art Center or Eula Lifestyle Boutique

- They can also be purchased at my Etsy shop


* Creating a commissioned quilt for Kennedy Heights Art Center's 5th anniversary celebration (May 9th, 2009)



I've really enjoyed working on this project. I hope they like it!


* Working on a third Barack quilt

So as you can see, I'm pretty busy! I enjoy it none the less though.

Stay tuned to watch this place come alive!

Yet, another Obama quilt

Yet again I am embarking on the journey to create a third quilt in honor of our 44th president, Barack Obama. This one is for a new and exciting book that will published this summer. The book is titled The Journey of Hope in America: Art Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama. This will be the third book that I am published in. I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity! My quilt, Unparallelled Journey will also be featured in the book.

The Journey of Hope in America: Art Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama will capture this incredible cultural movement in a book featuring quilts and the inspiration behind them. The book will be a large, full-color, 200 page hardback, published by Paper Moon Publishing.

I hope to get started on it in the next few days. I just about have the concept worked out and hope to have all the fabrics select by Thursday. I will keep you posted.