SAQA-CT meeting in Watertown

Recently the Studio Art Quilt Associates, Connecticut group, met in Watertown for a general meeting. We love to see what everyone is working on. Here are some of the members with their Show-and-Tell.

Saving the Planet One Scrap at a Time

Anyone who works with fabric has scraps. Some people throw them out, some folks give them away, and other people (like me) are willing to use my own and accept OPF (Other People's Fabric)!

The image below shows just one of the simple ways I re-purpose the itty-bitty pieces that might otherwise end up in a landfill. 

Mug Mats by Mary Lachman

To Make One...

Supplies:

• One 5-inch square of fabric (anything! as this will be the back)
• One 5-inch square of batting
• Assorted scrap fabrics. No piece is too small. 
• Sewing machine, etc.

Assembly:

• Just stitch the scraps, one at a time, creating an abstract layered collage as you go. 
• To finish just bind it as you would a small quilt or just zigzag around the edges. 

Push your creative juices

Italian Coastline (in progress) -Acrylic on paper by Mary Lachman

I love fabric and yarn. They are typically are my 'go tos' when I want to create, but why not stretch my creative spirit?

 I have all the supplies to paint so why not play with something new?  This is the start of a little painting I am working on. It is based on a photo taken by my DH a few years ago near Cinque Terre, Italy.  I will post my progress.

What are you working on to push your creativity in 2020?  Let me know. I would love to hear about it.

Happy New Year

Here we are in 2020. Who knew it would come so quickly when we were back in October!

In January of each new year I find a word the indicates what I would like to embrace for the coming months. This year my word is CONNECTION. I want to connect with friends who are on the same wavelength for fun and food.

Back in the studio at home I am finishing some projects including:

The binding is on the hexagon quilt I laid out in the Kaffe Fassett/Brandon Mambly class in October in Colchester.

Here it is at the end of the workshop, the turquoise blue will be the inner border and the spiral reds the outer border. 

I assembled a sampler of sorts from some orphan blocks. I think the binding and the black accents really kick this piece up a notch.

Over the balcony as viewed from below.

What would you like to learn or do in 2020? Do you pick a word to inspire you?

Inspiration Comes from Friends and Nature

I am inspired after a glorious early fall weekend spent between the shoreline and the mountains with friends and family.

Saturday morning I zipped over to Branford to spend the day with women artists. Some of them I have known since the earliest days of deep dive into to textiles and quilting. Others I just met that day. There was a table of free goodies, also known as the pile of "get this out of my studio now" that we invited to pursue and take from.

One friend presented a dry demonstration of a fabric painting workshop taught by Lisa Walton (president of SAQA).   She showed fabrics painted with opaque, opalescent and transparent fabric paints. Some of the fabric was folded accordion-style before painting, other pieces were laid flat and paint added to the surface.

After the get together I drove to Cate's Sew Modern in Guilford to find fabric for the Kaffe workshop that I signed up for.  One can always find something that will work with your next design there!  Let us just say I went home all smiles. 

Sunday started at home with a quiet cup of coffee with the cat on the back of my chair. Then my DH and I drove to West Hartford to meet our sons and daughter-in-law for brunch at Flora, a new vegan place at the edge of Blue Back Square, right across the street from Whole Foods. I had a delicious vegan 'eggs' benedict made with miso!

Then for some exercise. We drove to Simsbury to hike the trail to the Heublein Tower. It was a glorious day to be outside. I am a bit embarrassed to say that in the more than 30 years that we have lived in Connecticut we had never hiked here. It's about 1.5 miles to the top and several dozen steps to the top of the Tower once you reach the top of the mountain, but the views are well worth it. Take a picnic if you go. And yes, there is a water fountain. 

Grateful and Honored - excerpts from Under Glass by Mary Lachman

I am pleased by the response of friends and new acquaintances to Under Glass. 

Although these poems were deeply personal when I wrote them,  I felt the need to share them with others. I thought that by releasing them to the world I might help someone else on their journey. 

Over the next few weeks I will share a few of the poems from Under Glass. I hope they will resonate with you and the Universe. 

"Tail Between My Legs"

I feel like an old dog

after a long winter standing outside

where I grew a coat of thick, lush hair

to shield my rump from the icy wind and shown.

But now it is spring.

The sun is warm.

I pull the brush across my back and

collect a soft carpet of hair 

falling around my paws.

Order your copy of Under Glass at Finishing Line Press https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/under-glass-by-mary-f-lachman/

Under Glass is Published!

Under Glass is published and here is one of the comments I received this week: 

"The first poem stopped me short.  From then to the last poem, I read aloud to myself. every single poem and re-read some several times before turning the page.  I never thought that a book of poetry could be  a page-turner, but yours is.  It is beautiful, moving, hard, sad, reassuring, but above all beautiful.  Thank you for sharing it with those of us who must have intruded on your silences." ~ AMF 6 Sept 2019


If you don't have your copy yet, visit the Finishing Line Press online bookstore with this link 

Finishing Line Press - https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/under-glass-by-mary-f-lachman/

As always please send me your questions and comments.