Announcing a workshop given by one of our own SAQA regional member, 

Joni Beach.  If you need a play day, this could be just the thing!

Lifeweavings: A Creative Journey

A Creativity Work-Playshop! with Joni Beach

Come and explore Creativity, your Design Process, and our Lifespans!                                       What do we gather during our lives that influences, inspires, and contributes to our artistic abilities, interests, skills….designs & creations!?

While creating a weaving of colored ribbons, explore each of the 9 stages of life—consider the strengths to be gained…the creative experiences…and the influences that contribute to your unique designs or creative work. Mini-journal your thoughts and observations as we work through the exercise.  Other interactive activities and discussions will be used as a guide for considering what creativity is, generating new ideas, and sharing your inspirations with other artists/creative people! 

Our overall goal will be to have fun, enjoy sharing ideas, and being inspired!!! We will encourage each person to use their creativity, to explore and experiment in their design process (in your own chosen area/or medium), and to motivate everyone to take steps towards their own unique goals…even small ones, or micro-movements!  

Eucalyptus Massage & Healing Arts

Downtown~201 South Main St. Blacksburg, VA

*Sunday, August 10, 2014      *Time~ 1:30—5:00PM    *Fee~$45

For more Information and Registration: 540-552- CALM or www.massageblacksburg.com

Can’t Wait to See You! Come Ready for Fun…Exploring…and Sharing!

Good Motivational Monday Morning!

Well, time to continue around the color wheel......next is violet.  Violet was the first dye ever made and was considered the color of royalty.  It's a color that can be warm (red-violet) or cool (blue-violet).  So a splash can go in almost any piece.  I took a little photoshop liberty to change these sunset colors.  Playing around with settings on photoshop or on your smart phones and altering color can give an entirely different picture and new inspiration.  Give it a try!

 

Oh, and one more thing I'd like to point out.  Did anyone notice the new Pottery Barn catalog?  Color, Texture & Pattern....something we art quilters have known about all along.  So, until next week, happy stitching.

New group forming in NC!

Linda Sexton-Patrick sends the following announcement:

Mountain Art Quilters in Asheville is holding an organizational meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11, from 9:45 to 11:45.  We are looking for current SAQA members or those who have been creating art quilts on their own.  Contact Linda Sexton-Patrick at apricotlion@charter.net or 828 484 8081.

Please get in touch with her, if you are curious!

Hope your summer is cooking along..

If you all are on Facebook, hop over during the month of August for 'August Art Daily" it's a daily art practice to keep (or get going) those creative juices. Join us!

Link here.

Summer is...

Hi to all our VA/NC  members! Eileen and I are jumping into the deep end, and hoping to stay in touch with this region. We have a big area with a lot of great artists!!  Please feel free to contact either of us with questions (which we probably can't answer, but we will try!) and comments. We hope to have several regional meetings in the near future. I am forming a meeting here, in Fredericksburg in the Fall, so stay tuned! More info to come. In the meantime, SAQA is bubbling with activity. The annual fundraising, online auction is coming up, in Sept. There are a bunch of great quilts up for grabs.

Here's Eileen's gorgeous "Moonlight" !

Here's a link to the whole show!

Good Monday Morning!  I have had several of our regional artists contact me to say they have joined and are following our blog.  Although I can't quite figure out why they do not show up on the members list, I'm happy our numbers are growing!  For this motivational Monday, I thought I'd take a pause from our trip around the color wheel and and instead, highlight some news from our members.

Resurrection by Susanne Miller Jones

First, Susanne's quilt, Resurrection recently won Members Choice Honorable Mention award in the "Inspired By" Quilt Alliance contest.                                                                      
Congratulations Susanne!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   And also, Judy Simmons who just joined our blog group wanted to let you know about this exhibit  at the NC Arboretum in Asheville, NC from July 10 thru Sept 28. The exhibit features the work of 3 artists (2 are SAQA members - Kate Weston and Judy Simmons). The exhibit - "Fiber Art and Nature - 3 Perspectives" features around 60 quilts.

  There is a charge to get into the arboretum...$12 per carload of people and first Tuesday of the month is free...so if anyone is in the area, I think they would enjoy seeing it.

So, it sounds like a great reason to take a road trip and head for the mountains this summer.
AS always, if you have any news about art and art quilts to share, let me know!
Until next week,
Eileen Williams

Good Monday Morning.  I don't know about you but I am very slow going this morning.  It must be the summer heat and what color screams HOT better than RED.  Red, the color with the longest visible wavelength on the light spectrum seems compatible with the long hot days of summer.  So go wild, get hot and add red.

 Delicious  ripe garden tomatoes (yum), sultry and sexy  lipstick, and bright beautiful flowers all look eye catching in red.
                                                                                     







Here's a little gizmo I'd like to share with you.  A friend gave me this home made "brush" for cleaning lint from your sewing machine.  So easy to make.....just use a narrow straw and insert a small piece of pipe cleaner in one end.  It works great!  Even better than the standard lint brush in my opinion

It's "Motivational Monday", so here's some photos for inspiration.  Next on the color wheel is orange.  What a warm, bold and energetic color.  It seems to invoke thoughts of

summertime and going to the beach.  Long hot days, fireworks on the 4th of July, and sunsets. Get your creative thoughts churning and try a splash of orange!  Until next week.......
Eileen Williams (VA/NC regional co-representative)

Good Morning to our NC/VA region.  Well, hurricane Arthur has come and gone from our coastline and I hope you all are enjoying the 4th of July weekend and celebrating all the wonderful freedoms we enjoy in our country. The freedom to express ourselves in creative, artistic pursuits is one of those with which we can all identify.

I'd like to let you know about an exhibit, the National Teapot Show IX, at the Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, NC. This is an invitational show and  Eileen Doughty has two fiber  pieces in this show. The exhibit will be showing until 7 September 2014.      Congratulations Eileen!.