Wow, that was quite a cold snap! This morning was -19 F and the weatherman says it will be a balmy 45 F tomorrow. We hope the storm has passed you by, without any frozen pipes or slips on the ice. Our 6 month old puppy is now 54 lbs and I have to be careful she doesn’t pull me off my feet when it snows. She just chewed up the carved clawfoot leg of my Victorian-repro couch in my office while I was upstairs brushing my teeth, and so is currently canine-non-grata. Good thing she is so cute….
Today was a day of beginnings and endings, balancing each other but still bittersweet. I was happy to learn that I’ve been accepted into the SAQA JAM program. (Juried Art Members) However we just received the very last issue of SAQA’s Art Quilt Quarterly which is deeply saddening to me. I have to thank Martha Sielman and Sandra Sider, and everyone else who has worked to publish this beautiful magazine. We have the current/final issue online now, plus a few back issues. If you are a SAQA member (Studio Art Quilt Associates) you will still receive the wonderful member publication.
These frigid months are a good time to stay indoors to sew, but many of us also take the start of the year to reorganize our work space. My studio has been in disarray for the last week, as I put together a flannel-covered 8′ x 8′ design wall. It is ready to be mounted on the wall tomorrow, after much reconfiguring and stash purging. As I went through boxes of fabrics, I found fabrics from the turn of the century (!) – back when we were all scrambling to get our hands on “2000” New Year collectible designs. Everything else in that box was a trip down memory lane. Wow, that last 24 years went by fast! In fact, our eQuilter 25 year anniversary is coming up in March. How did that happen?!?
During my years in the garment industry, when I lived in New York’s East Village and worked on Seventh Avenue, I visited some pretty amazing workspaces of designers who had been collecting fabrics for 50 years. They were cramped rooms with tall ceilings, and rolls of fabrics stacked up to the ceiling, under every table, and boxes of buttons and trims and every notion imaginable spilling out of drawers and cubby spaces. I loved to just go and sit quietly, soaking in the history and all the cutting/draping/stitching that took place in each of those rooms. I also soaked up that deep love of textiles in those design rooms, and I feel so lucky to have had a career where I can indulge in that passion, and share it with others.
Lately I’ve been viewing images of beautiful flowers and lush gardens, before I go to bed. That way when I close my eyes, I see those floral images…and I imagine walking along fragrant pathways as I fall asleep. The image above is a combination of a floral double border, and a lemon tree panel…with some solid yellow, blue and white…makes a lovely imaginary view of a garden through a picture window. Dream on!
Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul
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Luana’s Art & Activism lecture is now online.
Travel/Quilt Dates:
Jan 26 – SAQA NOCO Tour at eQuilter
Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor.
March 6 – Canadian Quilters Association – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends”
April 7-12 – Allegre Retreat
