Focus on Fiber 2009

We got back yesterday from our week at Focus on Fiber down in New Smyrna Beach, FL. We had an amazing time. This was mom's second year going and my first. The ladies that go are quite the group and Mary McBride does a fabulous job putting it on. The retreat is a full week of unguided art. Basically you bring and work on whatever floats your boat! Here are a number of pictures I took from the week so you all can get an idea of the fun we had.

The back end of the car totally jam packed with supplies.

Pics of the cabin we stayed in down at ACA (Atlantic Center for the Arts)

Me packing some stuff up in the kitchen.

View out to the boardwalk.

The Dance Studio which was the sewing room that held about 18 of us.

We spent a morning at the beach......

A pic of the boardwalk that winds back to the cabins.

Liz Berg spent much of her time out on this patio dyeing fabric.

Mara Whitridge in the Sculpture Studio where we had a table to paint.

Mom working on discharging.

This was the Painting Studio that had about 6 people working in it.

These two pics are of a sculpture that Pamela Allen and Rosemary Claus-Gray made.

Close up of the sculpture.

View from the "Pod" in the center of the campus.

Happy hours were a must during the retreat and here is the view of the "coffee table" with some dead soldiers one afternoon.

The commons where we ate every meal.

This is of all the ladies that belong to SAQA.

The papparazzi that was following them!

Janet B. and Rosalie trying gelatin printing. We had some extra left over that would have gotten thrown away so they decided to try it out.

Rosalie with Marian looking on.

Some of the prints.

Janet B. working hard on her painting.

Rosemary Claus-Gray right before our last dinner which was Morrocan themed.

Chef Sue arranged for belly dancers to come perform.

Rosemary jumped up to dance at the end of their performance. Man can she shake her hips!!!

I got many more photos this past week. I really recommend that if you are able to attend a quilting retreat you should. There was a fun, creative atmosphere at Focus on Fiber that made the week speed by and end all too quickly. Hopefully we will be able to attend next year which already has it's dates set for March 13-21, 2010. We'll keep our fingers crossed that it will be possible for us.

Oh well......

Since we weren't picked as finalists for the Cloth Paper Scissors calendar challenge we can now post photos of our pieces. It was a fun challenge to work within the guidelines of. Not to mention us both creating a box..... "Life is like a box of ......" was the theme.

"Life is like a box of crap!"

by Janelle Girod

We all collect things as we go through life. Most of us even have junk drawers in our houses. This is what you can find in any number of places in Jan's house.

This is the lid of the box she created.

"Life is like a box of roses"
by Kristin Rodriguez



Life is filled with many different emotions and if we are lucky we experience them all in life. The colors of roses long ago were given significance of many of these emotions.

We are headed out on Sunday to go to the Focus on Fiber retreat in Florida. We'll be sure to take pictures and post them so you all can see what craziness ensued. Have a great week!!

YIPPPEEEE

I'm so excited. As I was walking out the door last night I saw an envelope on the top of the mail addressed to me but in my handwriting. I did a double take wondering what in the heck it was. Totally forgetting that I applied for something and that I had to include a self-addressed stamped envelope with the application. I mean that was back in November!!! Since I hadn't heard anything I figured I didn't get accepted and thought well maybe next year........

Well the envelope contained a very cool letter. Writing to congratulate me on being awarded a scholarship to Quilt Surface Design Symposium in Columbus, OH this June!!!! I'm bouncing off the walls as I so want to take a class with Noriko Endo. Now I'm going to get that opportunity!!! Lol.....I guess it helps that we are scheduled to vend at the NQA show in Columbus June 18-20 so now we'll just go a couple of days early so I can take the class. Yipppeeee.......I didn't figure I had much of a chance to get selected but wow what a great treat!!!!

Just goes to show sometimes you just have to try for things no matter how far out they seem.

Great Retreat!!

It sure has been a while since writing. I guess you can tell we haven't gotten a lot of art done lately! We each did a piece for the "Rock On" challenge for Quilting Arts but that is about all we've done this year so far. We really need to get cracking huh?


We are looking forward to the ability of going to a retreat together later in March. We haven't been able to travel together for 3yrs so this should be a lot of fun. The one we are going to however doesn't offer classes simply amazing space and views in which to create art at any time you wish to. As well as spend time with other amazing artists that are coming.


We know that many are pinched in their pennies lately and that affects what retreats they go to. If we lived in the mid-west this is the one we would go to!!! Those of you that live nearby or have the ability to go to Colorado check this one out. It is April 16-19, 2009.

You can find more information at www.textileevolution.com. They have some amazing teachers lined up. I can only imagine the fun that will be had by all that can attend this.

Chatahoochee Evening Stars Challenge

I forgot that I hadn't published what my finished piece from the guild challenge back in December. I had a lot of fun with this piece but definitely didn't know what I was going to do when I first got the piece of fabric.

Challenge was that the quilt had to contain a recognizeable amount of this fabric and also have a bee on it.

Here was the piece in progress that I showed earlier.

Here's the final piece:
"Before Winter" by Kristin Rodriguez.
The flash seemed to brighten up the top of the sky accidentally . This was all done with confetti sized pieces of fabric. The tree, leaves, and a portion of the sky all came from the challenge fabric. I then hand stitched around the edge instead of doing a binding.

Yeah....Pictures!!

Here are the pictures of the items I did this weekend. My sewing machine and I had to get reacquainted as we had not worked together in 3 months!!! Can you believe it? Both of these are kits designed and distributed by Sue Spargo. They are using beautiful hand-dyed wools. They were so easy and fun to work with. no worry of fraying edges or anything.

Can you tell this is my first zipper ever? At least my mother said she wouldn't make me take it out and try till I got it perfect or even near correct......lol. Thank goodness. It is listed as a pencil case but I don't know if I have the heart to put pencils in it and get it dirty!



Here's the pincushion. I have to stuff it yet with something and then sew it shut. Maybe these will get me jump started into other things I need to work on!

New Year and New Things

It's a new year and I can't believe this is my first post!!! I kept meaning to post and show what we've been working on but let's be honest it hasn't been much!! Hopefully we'll turn that attitude around shortly.

Well guys I wanted to post pics in here but for some reason they are not uploading. I made up a couple of kits that I bought from Sue Spargo using her beautifully dyed wool. Can't figure out why the system doesn't like the photos though. Oh well......I'm using a new camera as my memory card split in two and I haven't gotten a new one yet. Guess I'll need to run out and get it since this other camera is giving me such a hard time.

We have spent the past couple of days talking and working up the online class bit so expect to see something announced in not too long. Hopefully we'll work on some other stuff soon and I'll have a camera that won't hinder me from uploading pics!!!!