IQS Long Beach - Truly a Festival!

This is my favorite image from the weekend (Friday/Saturday)... absolutely luminous color, subtle shift in hue and value, compelling composition.

It looks like dyed silk panels placed side by side in a frame (about 10' x 12') and welcomes guests to the elevators in the Hyatt lobby.

One after another amazing quilts in the special exhibits. I decided to make a list of the things that grab me in a quilt (artful or traditional):

- layered rectangles (Aryana B. Londir, Stacy Hurt)

- exciting fabric patterns together (Mickey Beebe, Ann Horton)

- rich color (intense and complex, usually strong value)

- slanted line/shape (Joanell Connolly, Luella Morgenthaler)

- geometric composition

- coarse textured fabric (Laura Fogg)

- hand stitching (Karin Peirce, Leslie Gabrielse)

- torn edge/raw edge strips

- almost all hand dyeing (Carol Henke, Sandy Gregg)

- folk-style figural images (Pamela Allen, Bodil Gardner)

Staying overnight felt like I had a real vacation and gave me time to chat with friends.

(One-day visits make me feel rushed to see all I can.)

I volunteered in the SAQA booth Saturday AM and enjoyed sharing with visitors about this fine organization devoted to educating and encouraging quilt artists.

And it was good to see my rooster again -- he's traveling in the IQS Town and Country exhibit.

When a piece of work has been gone for awhile, you can look at it with fresh eyes. I like what I did.

Happy is as happy does...

The proposal itself didn't have as happy an ending as the mania did! I didn't get the commission.

A couple very sad days followed the news as I practiced my mantra, "If at first you don't succeed, try not to look astonished." Or something like that...

And as is my custom, I best work out 'hard stuff' by making art.

I started a series called 'I Get the Blues' that will face up to some of my worst moments! In reality, they'll be pretty funny, maybe.

The Fourth of July was wonderful with the kids here and then I had four days with Esly that couldn't have been any better. She is happy and funny and fearless. What a good role model!

All my SDCCD/Point Loma classes ended yesterday as a result of the California budget debacle.

Palomar classes continue as scheduled! (All colleges make independent choices as to what kinds of cuts they make and who/how many will be affected. No quibbles about how this is done. Education is in a chokehold.)

With half a semester to go I've organized some workshops for those eager to study more artful quilting. Details of each will follow, but here is the schedule:

F/S, July 31/Aug 1 - Art Quilt Cafe/Pillow Angel Workshop in Falbrook

S/S, August 8,9 - Felting Workshop at Quilter's Paradise in Escondido

F/S, Aug 28, 29 - Art Quilt Cafe/Color Workshop in Fallbrook

Sun., Aug 30 - Artful Log Cabin Workshop at Quilter's Paradise

I'm blessed to be able to throw yet another iron into the fire...

ENOUGH WITH THE QUAINT ADAGES!!!