Good Monday Morning!  Well, this will be my final posting with some pictures from the International Quilt Festival in Houston.  I wish I was more organized and had written down the information for each image, but if you have ever been to Quilt Festival, you will realize that that is impossible.  There is so much going on that an entire week is barely enough time to see everything and squeeze in some shopping!  So, with that lame excuse, I am going to show a small sampling from one of the many special exhibits..........Reflections, presented by the Dinner at Eight Artists.

And here are a few quilts from the quilt competition, Art-Painted Surface.

Incognito by Melanie Marr

Painting the Town #1 by Laura Wasilowski

The Pod of Life by Nancy Sterett Martin

Yellow Mellow in Paradise by Andrea Brokenshire

Perhaps the November images have inspired you to make some fabulous quilts.  I know I am always ready to get back to work after my return from Houston.  It's very inspiring and energizing!

I also want to take this opportunity to let you know about a upcoming SAQA mentorship webinar;  SAQA International Artists Webinar, which will be presented on Dec.9th at 1pm. This is a great opportunity to learn about some of our international artists and their inspirations, and is open to all SAQA members.  Here is the link to register.  https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/590156439

As always, if you have any information you would like me to pass along to our region, just let me know.
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Houston International Quilt Festival

Good Morning.  Let's continue with  more pictures  of the quilts in the World of Beauty Quilt competition in Houston this year.  There are so many wonderful quilts to see and I wish I could post photos of them all but with over 500 images on my camera, that would be very difficult.  As I mentioned before, you can view the winners on the IQA web site, so here I'll  post a small sampling from the various categories.  First, are some from  Art-Naturescapes, (one of my favorites).

The Afterglow of Summer by Bizhao Zheng

WaterFall by Marianne Williamson

Heaven on Earth by Ann Harwell

Skinny Dip Falls by Eileen Williams

Autumn Freshet by Noriko Endo



And here are a few  eye catching quilts from the  Digital Imagery category.

The Water Boy by Marilyn Wall and Gail Sexton

California Dreaming by Diane Rusin Doran

Jimmy's General Store by Tonya Littmann


So that wraps it up for today.
Hope these inspire you to create!

Spotlight on the 2014 International Quilt Festival in Houston

Good Morning.  I have been eagerly awaiting this Monday morning so I could continue to share some images from the Houston Quilt Festival that are not on the winners page but are all pretty amazing works of art.
One of the fun things about the Houston show is the variety of special exhibits.  There were over 40 different special exhibits and here are a few shots of one the was fun and lighthearted.

 I really don't envy the judges their job.  With so many excellent and innovative quilts, the selection of the prize winners must be difficult.

Here is an example of a very wonderful competition quilt from the embellishment category.  It is all designed with buttons.

Red Sunflower by Susan Bianchi

These quilts are some competition quilts from the Art-People, Portraits, and Figures category.

I Love You More! by Laurie Mayo

Chasing Bubbles by Hiroko Miyama and Masanobu Miyama

My Son by Chi Chen Wen

Darn, I can't find where i wrote the title and maker of this quilt.....sorry.

The Flowers Which Bloom Someday by Kumiko Ishii

 I'll post more next week.. Until then, if you have any news to share with other members from our SAQA region, let me know!

Good Morning Everyone,
Well, back from Quilt Market and Festival in Houston, and what a whirlwind of activity it was!  If you have never been to Quilt Festival, I would highly recommend that you put it on your list of things to do and places to go.  There are thousands of quilts to see and they are so inspirational.  There is something for everyone; from traditional, antique, and modern quilts, to abstract and realistic art quilts.  There are classes and continuous free demos (open studios) and mini lectures.  One of the highlights this year was NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg who gave a talk and slide show about her experience of quilting in space.  This year celebrated 40 years of great quilts with their Ruby Jubilee exhibit, and wow, it was spectacular!

You can see the winners from IQA's 2014 A World of Beauty quilt festival at.
http://www.quilts.org/winners.html

Meanwhile, I'd like to leave you with some pictures of some other quilts that you may not get to see on the web page.  I think I took over 500 pictures so I obviously can't post them all, but during this month I'll try to post a small sampling.

Red & White by the Numbers by Barbara Black

Ruby Jubilee Exhibit

Here are a few from the Pictorial category.

.

I could just kick myself for not writing down the name of the artist of this breathtaking quilt.  I was tempted to not show it for that reason, but it is too beautiful not to include.  Sorry

Royal Thistle by Helena Scheffer and Marion Perrault

Maui Gold by Karen Donobedian

The Pelican Sisters by Eileen Williams

Climate Change by Ann Harwell

Ole' #9 by Donna Severance

Droopy Dawg by Carol Cote

So, that's it for now.  Check the blog for more pictures next week.   And, as always, Let me hear from you, especially if you have a special event or announcement or anything at all you would like to share!

photographing your art quilts

Oops...somehow I missed posting this last week.  Must of had one of those moments!
Good Morning Everyone.  I am getting excited about my upcoming trip to Houston to attend the International Quilt Festival and that got me thinking about all the beautiful quilts I am going to see and about how difficult the juried selection process must be and that lead me to the main topic of today; photographing your quilts.
I have heard a lot about that topic lately and am always amazed when I hear about art quilters submitting photos for  selection in a show, or for publication in a magazine, or for a juried/curated art quilt exhibition that are out of focus, show a distracting background, hands, feet, etc., or even worse, do not show the whole quilt but have it artfully draped over a chair or railing for example, or have shadows over some of the image, etc, etc etc.  Right away you have pretty much eliminated your work from being accepted if you do not submit a good photo.  What else do jurors have to go by except the photo you have sent?  We devote so much time to our passion of creating our quilts, why not spend time on the very important step of photographing your quilt and documenting your work.  Even if you do not plan on submitting something right away, make it a habit to take quality photos of each and every quilt you make.
There have been many articles and blogs about how to take good photos of your quilts and I am giving you links to some of the recent information I have come across.
First, the SAQA rep from MA/RI, Sue Bleiweiss wrote a very good article on their regional news blog and has graciously consented to sharing it with everyone.  Here is the link
http://ma-risaqa.blogspot.com/2014/08/lets-talk-photography.html?showComment=1407618851410&m=1
 Also, Nanette Zeller, President of PAQA-S recently posted some very good advice and links about photographing your quilts and is pleased to share that information.
http://artwithaneedle.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/the-jurors-advice.html
and
http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/2014/04/05/living-colour-selection-process/

These are all great links full of very useful information and since this is getting on the long(ish) side, I'll end here, but next week I'll try to post the step by step process I use so if you have had problems in the past, this might help.

Meanwhile, I want to end with a few photos of Fall:  Cotton Fields!  They are in full bloom now with the cotton bolls just bursting out.  Beautiful!  Don't you want to just reach out and touch that cotton!

cotton fields

Cotton Field (photoshopped) from Hwy24 NC

cotton field on Hwy 17 in NC

Photographing your quilt

Good Monday morning.
 Wow, the weather lately has been absolutely gorgeous and usually I am trying to get everyone motivated to get in their studios and create, create, create.  But, with weather like this it's hard to stay indoors.  So, grab your sketch book and camera and go out for a walk.  Something is bound to capture your attention.  Then, once you have your masterpiece completed, you will have to photograph your quilt for documentation purposes.  Even if you don't plan on entering a show, it's fun to keep your own photo album/journal to refer to later.
Of course, to get the absolute best quality photo you can hire a professional whose job it is to photograph quilts.  But, for your own purposes, it's fairly easy to take your own photos.  Here's a step by step of the technique I use.  All you need is a decent quality digital camera, a tripod, and a design wall.  (cell phone can take a nice picture but are not the best choice for photographing your quilt).  If you don't have a design wall, go to your home improvement store (like Lowe's) and buy one or two 6 x 8 foam insulation panels.  Cover them with a sheet or batting and stand them up against a wall for your photography session.  Then when you are not using them, you can store them in your garage or under a bed, etc.
1.  Using very small sequin or other type of straight pins, pin your quilt to your design wall.  I use a level to be sure I hang it straight.  Then pin around the edges (enough to keep the quilt from bowing out and be flat on the wall), placing the pins in a discreet spot so they do not show in your photo.
2.  Measure your quilt on the diagonal from corner to corner in both directions and where the lines intersect should be the exact center of your quilt.  Mark that spot. Put a small hand held mirror at the center spot.  I have one with a handle and hang it from a string so that the mirror is in the exact enter.  You should then be able to adjust the height and side to side of your camera position so you can see the camera lens in the mirror.  Don't have a small mirror?  A second alternative would be to pin a small square of fabric or paper to it so that you can see it through your camera lens.
3.  Set up your tripod so you can see the whole quilt in the frame and then zoom in all the way in so that you only have the small square or mirror in the center of the picture.  You probably will need to move your camera up or down and left or right to get it centered.
4.  Now, don't move the tripod!  Zoom out until you have the whole quilt in the camera frame once again and the remove the scrape of fabric/paper or mirror.
5.  Next comes the lighting.  Do not take the photos in direct sunlight as this can wash out the detail in the quilt or cast shadows across its surface.  I use my ott lights, setting one on each side of the quilt and back a little bit so that the surface is evenly illuminated.
6.  Now you are ready to take the photo. Take the photo in the highest possible resolution of your digital camera.   You can set the  camera timer to take the photo if you are a little heavy handed and worried about moving the camera on the tripod. Take several photos and leave a little of the background showing around the quilt.  You can crop it later to remove most of it but if you are submitting to shows, they usually want all the edges to show.   After you have the full view, zoom in and take some detail shots.
7.  Check your photos before you take everything down, but by using this method you should be able to get a good quality photo of your quilt that is in focus and not distorted.

That's it.........easy peasy.  No hands, feet, shadows or finger tips showing, and it will be centered and in focus!

So now I want to leave you with a reminder about the AQConnections  exhibit which opens this week at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary, NC.

And, as always, if you have any information to let others know about, just e-mail me and I'll be glad to get it out there.

Next week I'll be in Houston for Quilt Market and Festival.  I'll be working at the SAQA Booth on Thursday from 1-3 so if your are there, please stop by and introduce yourself to me.  I would love to meet you!  SAQA also has several events planned. Thursday evening from 5-7 is a get together so I hope to see you there!  I'll miss posting next week but when I get back I'll have plenty to tell you and pictures to share about the International Quilt Festival in Houston!  Here's a few more falll ispiration pictures.  Enjoy!

Good Monday Morning.  My how the weather has changed!  The crisp cool mornings of autumn are definitely here and doesn't it feel invigorating?  I am so energized and ready to take on some new projects.  I hope you are too!
 I'd like to share some information with you about an art quilt exhibit coming to our region:

ARTQuiltsconnections PAQA-South's Member's Exhibit.  October 22 - November 16, 2014

ARTQuiltsconnections features 43 innovative art quilts by 32 artists who visually expose their private and emotional connections with the people, places, and things that inspire and move them.
Artist Reception is on Friday, October 24th from 6 - 8 pm.
Page-Walker Arts & History Center  199 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC 27513
(919-460-4963)
For more information check out the web site, exhibits@paqa-south.org

Shhhhhh, don't tell, but here's a sneak peek at a few of the quilts

Crossing Borders- Christine HagerBraun

Wonky Quilt- Roxane Lessa                  

SunKissed-Nanette Zeller

                                  Another thing I want to let you know about is the new SAQA book, Celebrating Silver.  It is a beautiful hardcover publication that celebrates SAQA's 25th Anniversary with full page images  from 35 talented SAQA artists off quilts specifically created for this exhibition.  Be sure to pick up a copy!

Finally, as promised, I'll leave you with a few more inspirational photos

And, as always, if you have any news you'd like me to pass along to our regional SAQA members, just let me know!