Another Extravaganza

Yes, the Sisters in Cloth did it again. Another successful gathering with fellow art quilters in a day of what we call an "Extravaganza".

This year we HAD ;^) to drive all the way to Simsbury (one has to remember that CT is a really small state about 90x125 miles in area) where we had been invited by Sew Inspired shop owner Vivian Lazich. She hosted the entire event in her studio-classroom, even offering us coffee and donuts on arrival. The space is large enough to easily seat our members and guests, with design walls for the charity blocks we all brought, her demonstration space, tables for our lunch, and still plenty of area around her two long and mid arm quilting machines for members to take a test drive.

Actually, the real reason we jumped at the opportunity to meet there was really, really basic. There is a tragically declining number of quilt shops (or fabric stores in general for that matter) in our state. The wonderfully serendipitous bit for us is that Vivian is an art quilter at heart and always is on top of the newest fabrics, books and techniques without forfeiting favorites. Net-net: we all came home with goodies.

Vivian had just returned from Spring Quilt Market and was full of information about new STUFF...like the mystery of Decolourant...go figure how that stuff works.

I forgot to take a picture of the 9 patch blocks everyone brought for our annual charity quilt (s). This year we chose to make them from Asian fabrics. Our goal is to send the finished quilts to Japan Earthquake Relief. I'll photo and post when they are completed.

Of course, the best part of any of our meetings is Show and Tell (followed closely by the yummy food always present). This year was no exception. I have posted two of the photos on the Sisters blog if you want to see a couple different ones. Here are posted the work of three of our guests whose work we always look forward to seeing.

The top photo is a quick take on Judy Ross's Sunflowers...well one of her pieces. She had several to offer....she is famous and envied for her prolific, and quite beautifully crafted work.

The second photo is Rosalind Spann describing her recent "playing" with dyeing interfacing.

The third is Toni Torres' with the second in a series of work she is creating based on "hands"...the first was Healing Hands (as I recall)...as it is in a current show she had to pass around a photograph of it.