2017 Meet and Share

As always we gather to share ideas and work. September was no different. Betty and Diane shared information about classes they had attended. Betty had taken a Rosalie Dace class and Diane a Freddy Moran class. They showed work from the time spent with these instructors.

A theme that resonates with all of us seems to be visiting work that had begun some time in the past. Valerie showed two quilts that began with beautiful pieces of cloth left from other projects. The colors are magnificent and extensive quilting has been added.

Diane has worked on some quilt blocks, Dresden plates, that she bought from Ebay. She trimmed the blocks to squares and put together with a modern slant. She is pondering what to do in the centers of each and of course, we gave another 15 ideas to consider.

Elaine is also working through a stack of unfinished projects. The yellow piece required assemblage and quilting which is now finished. YEAH! She added extensive stenciling to a color blocked piece and is now working through the stitching. The third is an experiment on texture, a combination of stitch and layering of paint.

Hilde shared a piece that started from a photo of a quilt she has made. Using filters in Photoshop to reduce it to a line drawing, she then added silk organza for color and stitched over all.

We hope you have enjoyed visiting and of course comments are always welcome.

2017 - August : Quiltworks Exhibit

MIX work is being exhibited  at Quiltworks in Bend, Oregon for the month of August. We selected several of our portfolio themes for inclusion.

Here are a few photos from the exhibit. The lighting was uneven in the exhibit space but our work looks very nice and was hung very well.

2017 - August Meeting

We enjoyed seeing a selection of work from the SAQA Trunk show. These traveling trunk shows are designed to showcase the diversity of talent of SAQA members.  Each quilt is 10 x 7 inches, mounted on a black 12 x 9 inch backing board, and sealed inside a clear envelope. The artist's location, artwork title, statement and information about techniques and materials are on the back. The collection is divided into eight unique groups which travel in and beyond the United States.  Each trunk allows audiences to engage with the quilts in an up-close and personal way.  Here is a selection of the work we viewed.

In addition, both Elaine and Betty showed some of the things they have been working on.

Elaine is working on a piece that was both screen printed and pieced with quilting that consists of a variety of hand dyed threads couched on top.

Betty is doing some hand stitching on silk that she screen printed.

And some color block piecing.

2017 - July: Exhibiting in Sisters

During the month of July we are exhibiting our "Urban PDX" collection at the Library in Sisters. The exhibit was part of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and will be up for the entire month of July.

Several of our members had the opportunity to talk to the many visitors of our exhibit during the Saturday of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  It was a pleasure to explain our inspiration, process (including struggles) and final products to our audience.  Thank you all for taking the time to walk all through town in the heat and for visiting us at the library!

2017 - June: We have a theme and dimensions!

After a good day of discussion, we agreed on our next theme:  WEATHER.  The exact title will be announced later, but we each can start thinking about how we want to work out this new challenge.

How about Size and Orientation?  I think we came up with a brilliant solution that covers all our individual wishes and preferences:

Height will be 30"
Width can be anything that fits into a 30" to 40" range, with multiple panels permitted.
This allows for square work, landscape orientation and portrait orientation.  A very flexible set of guidelines to work with!

Off to work...

2017 - May: Successful exhibit and ... what's next?

During our May meeting we reminisced about our latest exhibit at The First United Methodist Church, "Reflection and Renewal."  It was a good show and very well attended.  We discussed and fine-tuned some of the logistics and started bouncing off ideas for our next project.

In addition to our yearly "big" project, we agreed to make new work for our "Extreme" collection ... stay tuned.

Lots of ideas were presented for our next body of work: from places to buildings, colors, other art work, geometry, lines...so much to do!  The discussion regarding size and orientation became very interesting and it looks like not two people agreed on this.  I am curious to see how we will work this one out!

At the next meeting in June, we will agree on theme of our next collection, and size and orientation of each piece.

2017- April: Exhibit and Opening Luncheon at the First United Methodist Church in Portland

Our new body of work, Reflection and Renewal, was unveiled today at the Quilt Luncheon with the United Methodist Women.  We were happy to share our vision, inspiration and process with an enthusiastic audience and enjoyed the perfectly designed Japanese Fusion Fare served by the ladies and gentlemen of the church.

Proceeds from this luncheon support the United Methodist Women's mission to improve the lives of women, children and youth in the US and programs in more than 58 countries.

Our MIX group is very proud to support this cause year after year.

Diane Losli-Britt, Kathy Blondell, Valri Chiappetta, Annette McFarlane,
Elaine Millar, Betty Daggett, Hilde Morin, Lynn Anderson