Something About Nothing

This years Utah Quiltfest quilt show was all Red and White.

Because I had been gone so long, I didn't have time to mix the dyes before teaching at the Utah Quiltfest.  It was extremely windy outside so I set up a dye mixing station in the bathroom of my hotel room. I placed a piece of large piece of soda ashed pfd fabic in a cardboard box I got from the front desk.  The wet fabric collected stray dye particles, and I wore a mask, gloves and glasses to keep the dye from me. Sometimes gloves aren't much help. Oops.  The day of class was fabulous!  We had a wonderful room to work in, filled with natural light, and well covered with plastic. The people in class were all awesome!  The students were very creative with the instructions given. And the results were fabulous!    The students have asked for a class in stitched Shibori next year.

I flew home from New York on Monday, washed my clothes, and then packed up again to drive north 30 minutes to teach at the Utah Quilt Guild's Quiltfest.  The first night of Quiltfest is a Meet the Teacher's even followed by a speaker and demo's.     I was asked to demonstrate, and chose to show off mono-printing on fabric with hand carved stamps. A few of the pieces I made while demonstrating. I had fun creating and talking to people about stamping, monoprinting and teaching in their guilds.

Quilters Take Manhattan  is a fund raising event for Quilt Alliance.  Quilt Alliance 's mission is to document, preserve and share our American quilting heritage.  Pokey Bolton was the emcee for the day, and the main speaker at the conference was  Sherri Lynn Wood , where she spoke about "Afterlife."  You can read about the fascinating project on her blog  where she took part in a four month residency at the Public Disposal and Recycle Area in San Francisco. Who knew so much could be inspired by going through the dump! The second speaker was  Merikay Waldvogel , who has written several books documenting quilts in the south.  Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi  then interviewed quilt artist,  Michael A. Cummings . I really enjoyed Michael's art, and learning more about him.  On Sunday, there were presentations from all of the sponsors.  It was interesting to find out a little bit more about each company, and the people who have started these companies.  Iris did a

My blog is my journal, and I want to remember the friends I was able to visit with while in New York.  You can just skip this post if you are looking for pretty photos of art.  Or stay and click on the links to see the amazing stuff these ladies create.  Iris, aka Mistyfuse Iris .   Libby Williamson  Michelle Banton   Hoodie Crescent , Michelle, Libby, me and Iris  Michelle and Hoodie enjoying some of my birthday cake.  Earamichia Brown aka Encyclopedia Brown.

 I made it out to Brooklyn one more time.   This time to dye fabrics with Melly.  Melly had already dyed this piece with the black background and then I added the yellow and blue using stamps Melly created.  This method is described in detail in her, and Carol Soderlund's book Playful Fabric Printing.  Of course, Peach was on hand to make sure everything was done properly.

The main reason I went to New York was to attend Quilt Alliance's Quilters Take Manhattan. There were several events before the main conference and the one I attended was  Victoria Findlay Wolfe 's trunk show in her loft. The quilts were all gorgeous. I love star quilts!!!  I really enjoyed hearing about how Victoria started in art as a painter, before discovering quilting, and her journey to where she is today.  Victoria is always coming up with creative new patterns.  Which reminds me, I need to finish my Thunderstruck quilt from Craft Napa!

I started my birthday in New York by taking a little trip to Victoria Findlay Wolfe's NY Shop. I bought myself some fabrics which I plan on over-dyeing and/or stamping on top of. Later, Iris and I went to Chelsea Market  and  had a lovely time exploring all the shops and getting samples of food.    This green apple sorbet was divine!  Iris, John and I had dinner at the apartment and a cake that got better everyday that week. I was very grateful to spend my birthday with such wonderful people.