Mark Your Calendars! Fiberart For A Cause Returns in 2012

On February 15 and 16, 2012, Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC) returns for its seventh year of raising funds for the American Cancer Society with a new online event Foto/Fiber 2012. Ninety photographs taken by Virginia Spiegel, Karen Stiehl Osborn and Cynthia Wenslow will be available for purchase. Thirty-four fiber artists including Postmark’d Art members Jane Davila, Karen Musgrave, Sue Reno and Sarah Ann Smith will also be providing BONUS Fiber Surprises (6″ x 9″ bubble mailing envelopes filled with donated items such as small fiber artworks).

In addition, all ninety patrons of Foto/Fiber 2012 will have the opportunity to win fiber art generously donated by Leonie Hartley Hoover, Lyric Kinard, Lynn Krawczyk, Yvonne Porcella, Susan Schrott, and Mary Ann Van Soest. The goal of the event is to raise at least $7,000 in just ten hours to add to the $215,000 already donated by FFAC to the American Cancer Society.

On February 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central, for each $100.00 minimum donation to the American Cancer Society, patrons will be able to choose one of ninety photographs and a BONUS Fiber Surprise. On February 16, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (or until sold out), patrons will be able to choose one photograph for a minimum donation of $50.00, but their BONUS Fiber Surprise will be chosen at random for them.

According to Spiegel, the founder of Fiberart For A Cause, “I was ready to mix it up with this fundraiser after fundraising and promoting fiber with the Postcard Project, Tote Tuesday, and Collage Mania.  I’m excited to share beautiful and inspiring photos by Karen Stiehl Osborn, Cynthia Wenslow, and myself.  We are all fiber artists who are also fairly prolific photographers. I’m even more excited to have a bit of mystery added to this fundraiser with the BONUS Fiber Surprises. The thirty-four participating fiber artists will be plundering their studios and sharing with donors a little bit of themselves and their studios.”

The BONUS Fiber Surprise donors are Natalya Aikens, Frances Holliday Alford, Pamela Allen, Liz Berg, Sue Bleiweiss, Nancy G. Cook, Jane Davila, Vivika DeNegre, Diane Rusin Doran, Jane Dunnewold, Jamie Fingal, Leonie Hartley Hoover, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Lyric Kinard, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Lynn Krawzcyk, Jane LaFazio, Susan Lenz, Jeanelle McCall, Linda Teddlie Minton, Karen Musgrave, Gail Myrhorodsky, Karen Stiehl Osborn, B. J. Parady, Cate Coulacos Prato, Yvonne Porcella. Wen Redmond, Sue Reno, Lesley Riley, Susan Schrott, Cynthia St. Charles, Lura Schwarz Smith, Sarah Ann Smith, and Terri Stegmiller.

The donors of the BONUS Fiber Surprises were asked to make them “wonderfully wonderful, creative, and unique.” Patrons of Foto/Fiber 2012 will receive as their BONUS Fiber Surprise a 6“ x 9” bubble mailing envelope from one of the participating fiber artists.  The envelope may contain a small work of art, hand painted or dyed fabric, screen printed Lutradur, vintage kimono scraps, a small original screen for printing, dyed embroidery thread, a small bundle of “magical” raw materials, etc.

So mark your calendars. You don’t want to miss this event and the opportunity to own some great art and support a great cause.

Featured Artist- Sara Kelly

Postmark’s Art’s second Featured Artist is Sara Kelly. Sara joined our group in January 2011. Sara lives with her husband in Hanford, California.

Tell me a little about yourself. 

Like so many other needle artists, my mother taught me to love sewing and the yarn arts.  In the seventies, I spent five years in Liberia, West Africa where I met my husband and worked at a craft project teaching local women how to silkscreen their designs onto fabric.  During a 20-year career as a middle school teacher, I put sewing on the back burner, until “Simply Quilts” on HGTV reignited my old passion. When I retired in 2007, I wanted to reinvent myself as a quilt artist.  

Today I belong to two hometown quilt art groups, three guilds, Studio Art Quilt Associates, California Fiber Artists, and Postmark’d Art.  All these wonderful groups give me many opportunities to show and even sometimes sell my work.

Why did you join Postmark’d Art?

I learned about this group from Suzi Kistler.  Since I was already playing with postcards, she recommended I join.  Lo and behold, I knew Franki from a class we shared at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, CA.

When did you first start making postcards?    

I segued from creating Artist Trading Cards (2.5″ x 3.5″) to postcards in 2010.  

How do you display your postcards? 

I have little “galleries” on my refrigerator and windowsills.

What have been some of your favorite themes? 

Japanese art, autumn, abstract compositions.  And since I’m relatively new to Postmark’d Art, I am intrigued by many of the early themes such as “elements”, and “bark”.  I jumped right into “Fruit” and “Poetry”, but I think all the themes the group has explored over the years look like fun.  I think I’ll join a “No Theme” group next round so I can investigate a couple of your old themes.  

Tell me about your other interests.

I love Japanese art which has been informed by my experience as a docent at the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, a small museum near my home in Hanford, CA.  My husband is an avid and accomplished photographer and some of his passion has rubbed off on me.  I enjoy printing my own photos on fabric to incorporate into my compositions.  One of my favorite pastimes is to get messy with inks and paints to create my own fabrics.  In the evenings, however, I calm down from the excitement of painting, printing, or sewing by doing some kind of handwork such as knitting, beading, or embroidery.  

Sewing for the Holidays

Many of the Postmark’d Art gang made things especially for the holidays this year — some for gifts, some to add that special touch to our homes. Here are a few:

Vivian Aumond-Capone of Coarsegold, CA indulged herself with some new socks.

Marianne Bishop of Quincy, MA put some left-over Christmas fabric scraps to good use in this 19″ x 19″ wall hanging called “Scrappy Cats” — what else?

Lynn Chinnis of Warrenton, VA whipped up “Santa” for a Secret Santa Gift exchange with her guild.

Maureen Curlewis of Queensland, Australia made several mug rugs for friends and family.

Franki Kohler of Oakland, CA made new pillow cases to complete the holiday look for the bedroom.

She also used a few holiday cards from last year to make tiny boxes for the Christmas dinner table. Each box holds one piece of chocolate candy.

And Karen Musgrave of Naperville, IL made a charming advent elf for her two grand nieces. They measure 44″.

All of us at Postmark’d Art wish all of you the merriest holiday season yet!

Member Monday with Sue Reno

By any measure I’ve had a great year, and I am both humbled and immensely grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way, and for all the people in my life who make it possible for me to be living the dream.  Here’s a partial survey of where  to see my work right now, starting with the newly published book The Studio Quilt, No. 6: State of the Art  by Sandra Sider.
The Studio Art Quilt Vol.6My Groundhog and Green Bean was selected for inclusion.
SueReno_GroundhogAndGreenBeanAlso recently released is Portfolio 18,  the latest edition from SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) documenting the art quilt movement. Portfolio 18 contains 241 full-color plates of SAQA Professional Artist Members’ works, with geographical and genre indexes.  I’ve had work in the last several volumes and am pleased to be a part of this one as well.  It’s available in the SAQA Bookstore.

Portfolio18-coverThis next publication came as a happy surprise.  International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene 2011 is an annual special edition magazine, a collaboration between Quilting Arts Magazine and Quilts, Inc., with feature articles, projects, and beautiful photography celebrating the best in contemporary quilting. I was thrilled to discover that this year’s edition features my Watt & Shand #6, representing the special exhibit Tactile Architecture.
The Quilt Scene _Watt & Shand #6In exhibit news, The Art of Fiber opened at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA last week, and I’m hearing a lot of good buzz online about it.  It includes two of my Watt & Shand works, #4 and #9.
The Art of Fiber_Workhouse ArtsAlso just opened is Art Quilts XVI: Something to Say at the Chandler Center for the Arts in AZ.  This is a highly regarded show, and I’m thrilled that Watt & Shand #3 is a part of it:
SueReno_WattShand3
And last but definitely not least in my embarrassment of exhibit riches is Craft Forms at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, PA. Watt & Shand #8 is a part of this international exhibit featuring fine crafts in all media.

SueReno_WattShand8See more of Sue’s work here.

First Friday Studio Tour – Heather Lair

This month we travel to Canada to visit Heather Lair.  Heather answers the questions I originally posed to start the series and also treats us to photos of her participation in an actual studio tour.

Do you call it a studio or a sewing room?

I call it a studio.  Has been forever!  It is a business and a passion.

Sometimes I hold classes in my studio.

What do you have in the room?

In my room:  3 tables, desk for one machine, fabric, shelves, thread/notions cupboard, piles of fabric on floor, bolts of interfacing/batting.  Dresser with paints, etc.  Rolls of quilts, trunks of quilts.  Shelves of products to sell.

This is my studio on a busy workday. My sewing machine is in the center of the ironing board – cutting table – thread cupboard and fabric stash. Nice north facing windows.

This table in my studio is piled with things I have made. I am getting ready for a craft fair. Lots of new fabric postcards!

How are your supplies organized?

Fabric is organized by color and type:  landscape, backings, silks, flannels, etc.  I actually don’t have a huge stash, as I use it up as fast as I get it!  Thread is organized by color and type.

My husband made this thread and notions cupboard for me.  There are shelves on the doors for the large spools of thread, and I use magazine holders and zip lock bags to keep snaps, ribbons and elastics all organized.  I try to put a label on every box as I store things!

Do you have anything, supplies, more machines, etc. tucked away in any other rooms of the house? How many other rooms?

I keep bags, boxes and containers of extra stuff in the attic.  I have my hoop set up in the living room so I can listen to talking books on the computer while I quilt.  Twice a year I cover the whole house in quilts for an Artist Studio tour.

Sometimes there is not enough room in my studio to unroll all my quilts. Here I have my bed covered with art quilts as I decide which ones to take for a lecture. I took most of them.

We built a special shelf in the powder room to display fabric postcards and other trinkets. Just out of view is a large pottery bowl with more cards.

Quilt on hoop in the living room.

How much horizontal surface do you have and is it ever enough?

 My work table is usually clear for my 24″ x 36″ cutting mat.  The back half of the table is covered in layers of stuff. 6″ – 8″ deep in tools, fabric, pencils, etc.

Here I have cleaned out my studio to dry painted sky fabric.

Do you straighten as you go, putting each fabric away as you cut, or do you clean up after a project.  How many projects do you work on at a time and how do you keep them organized?

I have a cupboard for UFO’s.  Once a linen cupboard, It was rescued from the back lane and repainted.  There are packages of unfinished quilts here and there throughout my studio,  I will often have a few projects going on at one time.

This past summer I had a commission to make a 3D quilted volcano. This is what my worktable looked like when the quilt was finished–much like the volcano.

Anything more you want to add about your studio?

I love being in my studio.  I quilt, sew, paint fabric, design quilts and visit with other quilters on groups like this one all the time.

I finally found a picture of my studio clean! This does not happen very often.

  Wave Artist Studio Tour

In addition to giving us a virtual tour, Heather has provided photos of her house during an actual tour.

Every year I participate in the Wave Artist Studio Tour. Here I have quilts on the front of my house and by the front door to welcome people into my studio.


The dining room covered with quilts for the studio tour.
The living room during the studio tour.

Another view of the living room during the tour. My daughter and friend are waiting for the crowds to arrive.

Thank you so much to Heather for inviting us to visit her studio.

Quilting on my hoop in the dining room.

Heather lives and quilts in Gimli, Manitoba.  Her quilts have appeared in several movies and she was featured in the September 2010 issue of American Quilter. Her website is http://heatherlairdesigns.com

Next month: Vivian Helena Aumond-Capone