Today I flew to Anchorage on a nonstop flight. It is the first flight I’ve taken since QuiltCon in Feb 2020. I wore an N95 mask at the airport and on the plane, and its airtight fit left temporary marks on my face, but I felt secure that it was keeping me safe which was a great comfort.
You may know that I have gone up to Churchill in Northern Manitoba (Canada) several times to photograph the Polar Bears. This time I am going to Katmai National Park in Alaska, to photograph the Brown Bears….the larger but less aggressive version of Grizzly Bears. They are focused on catching spawning salmon in the river to put on the calories before they hibernate for the winter, so they are not too interested in the humans who come to watch them.
Before I go up to Katmai, I am spending a couple nights in Anchorage, connecting with Alaskan quilters. I have known for awhile that there is a very deep intense quilting community up here in Alaska! I mean, what else can you do when the nights are long and it is too cold to go outside? We have many longtime customers up here.
Last night I had dinner with teacher, author and quilt artist – Maria Shell. She did her foundational studies with Nancy Crow, and now has evolved into her own recognizable style of contemporary quiltmaking. She is leaving to teach at Madeline Island School of the Arts so I was lucky to catch her before she left. We discovered that we have many mutual friends and industry contacts, in fact I met her at Quilting Arts TV several years ago. One thing we agreed on – no matter where we travel in the world – we can always connect to the Quilting Tribe in almost every country and every town. What a blessing to be part of this community.
Maria’s work is all pieced Solid fabrics. She does buy many of them from eQuilter! Her intricately spliced and diced and pieced creations are just mind-boggling. This one is called “Everything All At Once” which I can really relate to because it is how life has felt during much of the last year or two. I find it to be a very emotional piece.
Today I am meeting with some SAQA artists at the Anchorage Museum, before my tour events start tonight. I’ll be flying up to Katmai on Thursday, and will share my photos and experiences with you in the next week or two. I am only going on this trip because I got my booster, and everyone on the trip is vaccinated and had to have a negative Covid test result before departure. I am avoiding crowds and being generally anti-social except for a few quilters who are also being extra careful.
Art pictured is from Maria Shell’s ‘Improv Patchwork: Dynamic Quilts Made with Line & Shape’ book which is full of color to empower your creativity, and work freely without preconceived ideas.
…sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Sept 21-29 – Alaska (Anchorage & Katmai)
Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival
Nov 13 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Visions Art Museum
Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada
Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit
Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM
