DECEMBER 2020 - The End

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone.  We only met twice in person but have continued our monthly meetings via our new venue ... The Screen!  We miss our gatherings and hope that 2021 will bring us back together - in person!

NOVEMBER 2020 - Zoom meeting and Show &Tell

We continue to stay in touch through our monthly meetings via Zoom.  The meeting typically starts with updating each other with our big and small events and soon after we talk about our fiber adventures and projects.  We have a lot to do as we have established the parameters for our next exhibit as well as for our show in 2022 at the Chessman Gallery in Lincoln City.  Time is something we ALL currently seem to have.

Some of us have started working on those projects and some are taking some detours and exploring other areas for a while.  Here is a little Show and Tell:

Annette's STITCH project - all hand stitched

Diane's Cowichan sweater - the back

Valri's baby quilt

Betty's quilt with hand dyed/painted fabrics

Betty's bags using a pattern for Japanese rice pouch

Hilde's machine inset circle quilt from stray blocks and scraps

Hilde is using a QAYG (Quilt As You Go) quilting method

Well, next week is Thanksgiving and we are all adapting our celebrations to the current Covid times.
We wish you all a great Thanksgiving and remember to stay safe!

August 2020 - Our Exhibit goes online: THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL

MIX chose “Text” as the subject for our 2020 Show. This choice and nearly all the work done on our pieces occurred before Covid-19 became the center of everyone’s life in the spring of 2020. Even without consideration of the impact of the virus, “text” is an interesting choice for a quilt group.
Does the meaning of the text itself receive the major emphasis, or is it more a celebration of various kinds of calligraphy and ways of representing language? And because letters in their curvy, varied, gorgeous shapes do not lend themselves to piecing, what method does each artist choose to get the text into her work? 
There is everything from precisely cut out shapes to printed words to hand-lettered bits, showing strong links to each artist’s way of expression.

Enjoy the show!

DISAGREE AGREEABLY by Lynn Anderson

In January 2020, longtime and highly respected PBS journalist Jim Lehrer passed away.  He is the inspiration for my 2020 piece.  I was reminded of his very pertinent thought....”Disagree Agreeably”.  It

seems as though we are impossibly divided, hostile and rancorous over the past several years.   However, I am hopeful.  

In our recent history, we’ve experienced similar periods of unrest and ultimately became less disagreeable with one another.  We’ve experienced the assassination of our president, long and sometimes violent protests over the US involvement in the Vietnam and Iraq wars, continuing civil rights protests , and now protests over policies intended to control a worldwide pandemic. My piece represents the characteristics and behaviors we all possess; I’m optimistic we will remind ourselves of the values we all share and that we will return to a more “agreeable” public discourse.   

                                                                WE by Kathy Blondell         

I was 7 years old the Summer of 1963  when I first heard President Kennedy’s speech and have many inspirational memories of that time.

With all the chaos in the world, these words seem more pertinent than ever.  The “WE” is always more important than the me.

THE CITY SPEAKS by Valri Chiappetta

In the fall of 2019, before there were even whispers of Covid-19, my husband and I spent a month in New York City. He wanted to feel a little bit of what it means to live in that amazing place, and I wanted to soak up any bit of art, theater and visual stimulation that I could. We were graced with gorgeous weather, walked 10-14 miles most days and were too in thrall to take any days off. While we made our way around Manhattan and some of the Boroughs, we heard non-stop conversation and saw a great deal of signage and graffiti. “The City Speaks” is an homage to those things we saw and heard - crazy, passionate, humble, amazing and sometimes unexpected, but always vibrant and stimulating.

                                             

BROKEN/FRACTURED; HEALING/MENDING by Betty Daggett

While recovering from surgery I had plenty of idle time to think about being physically broken and fractured and the processes of mending and healing. It provoked hours of thinking from within, as well as examination of the craziness outside myself. This work is a visual result of this thought process. “Broken/Fractured; Healing/Mending!” helped me realize how weakened we have become as a collective of people. If we do not find common ground to allow healing and mending to begin we will continue to deteriorate. Cohesion will make us strong!

OPEN THE DOORS OF OUR WORLD by Diane Losli-Britt

The name of my quilt is “Open the doors of our world.” The 13 doors were inspired by photos of beautiful doors around the world. My text is “open the doors of the world” in 17 languages. Opening doors can open hearts and minds to all peoples.

RED STATE BLUE STATE by Annette McFarlane

Red State, Blue State depicts the divisions of our country at this time. I chose to make two quilts with edges that don’t meet, using strong colors, calm and graphic prints and quilting stitches of tornadoes, jagged and straight lines. The words I chose for each piece depict some of the strong ideas of their citizens. I tried not to impose my views and added the purple in the middle in hope we can eventually come closer together.

A JOYFUL NOISE

JOY COMES WITH THE MORNING

JOY IT SEEMS

by Elaine Millar

Starting with a word to inspire my work was an easy task for me. JOY! It sounds like what it is. And what a joy to work on these. 

A Joyful Noise is just that. Cut from a single piece of hand dyed cloth, it is quilted with streamers and french knots as well as party baubles. A real celebration!

Joy Comes with the Morning started as a subdued piece with mostly greys and a bit of orange. I simply could not leave it alone. By adding cloth toppings and hand dyed thread and french knots again,  I create a sunrise and sun rays galore.

Joy It Seems was my trickster. The text is in the seams. Look closely and you will see a deep blue thread showing you the way.

Find Joy in these small art works and find joy in the everyday.

PLEASE REMOVE BOOTS AND GUNS by Hilde Morin

Text is not my favorite element to incorporate in my quilts but when the majority in our group decided on a TEXT theme I had to go with the flow and include it into my work.  The challenge was on!

With weathered billboards, faded facades and mysterious windows, my quilt takes us to an old Western town which has now become a ghost town, a ghost town with a message: “Please Remove Boots and Guns”

July 2020 - MIX exhibits at the reimagined Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

As COVID-19 continues to make its rounds, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) redesigned this year's show into a virtual experience. SOQS guests will be able to see many of the same exhibits and exciting quilt displays online from the safety of their homes.

MIX was invited to participate with our collection "Circles and Cycles" which is shown in this slideshow/video.
Enjoy!

MIX EXHIBIT AT THE 2020 SOQS

We also thought it would be a good idea to post each video slide individually so you could pause and watch every quilt and its background in detail, here they are:

MERRY GO ROUND by Lynn Anderson

SEEING RED by Kathy Blondell

GRAFFITTI by Valri Chiappetta

MOON CYCLES by Betty Daggett

GEAR UP by Diane Losli-Britt

BLOWING BUBBLES by Annette McFarlane

ROUND PEGS - SQUARE HOLE by Elaine Millar

TULIP ENVY by Hilde Morin

THANK YOU ... See you next year!

April 2020 - Being Creative

Lots of changes have happened in our daily lives since our last meeting in March.  We also have new terms such as "social distancing" and "shelter in place." Talking about social distancing, we had our first virtual gathering ever.  Thanks to Annette who set up a Zoom meeting, we continued our business as usual - lets say almost-usual!

Our proposal to exhibit at the Chessman Gallery in Lincoln City was accepted for January 2022!  Since we have had a chance to exhibit there before, we know the gallery and we also know that it is a beautiful space with lots of walls.  In addition to our three or four collections which are ready for display, we brainstormed about other themes and parameters.  We settled on a few and since we all have more time than usual, we are ready to work. We know we will not be bored!

Our yearly exhibit has been cancelled because, well, you know. We are looking at alternatives and will most likely have an on-line exhibit. More on this as we work it out.

March 2020 - Photo Session and Stories - A strange feeling

We met on March 11 but a strange feeling was in the air, as the day before, the World Health Organization declared COVIT-19 a pandemic.  We kept a small distance between us and somehow knew that this could be perhaps the last in-person meeting for a long while.  We were right!

We enjoyed our meeting and each others company as we admired our almost completed works for our new exhibit "The Writings on the Wall".  We took photos, shared process, materials and most importantly, what inspired each of us to create what we created.  Everyone had an interesting or fun story to tell! Here is a little peek at some of our pieces.

Enjoy and Stay Well!

Annette's

Betty's

Diane's

Hilde's

Kathy's

Lynn's

Valri's

February 2020 - Circle Time

Today was a play day.  We gathered scraps and met at Hilde's studio to work on circles, just for fun!

We used Marie Joerger's brilliant technique documented in great detail on her blog:

http://mariescreativespace.blogspot.com/2014/05/nhmqg-bom-plus-circle-tutorial.html

Here are some of the circles we created:

2020 January - WISHING YOU a Happy New Year

From all of us here at MIX, our best wishes for a Happy New Year 2020!