Match the Dirty Dozen Artists

by Martha Wolfe

(L to R) Dij Pacarro, Lisa-Marie Sanders, Jill Brown, Peggy Horsfield, Paula Furgason, Bev O'Connell, Ellen Lindner, Martha Wolfe,

Barbara Bilbo, Irene Watson, Ruth Anne Parker.

Missing from photo, Elizabeth King

Our 6th Annual Exhibit opened on Saturday with a wonderful, well attended reception! The show features over eighty unique fiber art works by the 12 artists, including the Swedish Cafe photo challenge and a "Group Therapy" project building from surface texture techniques taught by Ruth Anne.

If you haven't enjoyed the exhibit yet, it will be continuing through the end of October. As you enter, you'll find the artists' self-portraits hanging on your right. How well do you think you could match the artists with their portrait? Try your luck!

Our 6th Annual Exhibit!

Please help us kick off the

2009 Dirty Dozen Exposed! exhibit!

Opening Reception, October 3^rd, from 1-3PM

@Boutique 4 Quilters

2945 W. New Haven Ave., West Melbourne, FL

General viewing during regular store hours:

M-F 9:30-5, Sat. 9:30-4. Phone 321-768-2060

October 2^nd through October 31^st

The exhibit includes over 60 original fiber art pieces,

made with a variety of exciting materials and techniques.

In addition, two group projects will be featured.

Photo Challenge 2009: The Swedish Cafe

by Martha Wolfe

Again, this year, we have all participated in a challenge using a photograph as our inspiration. The photo was selected by the whole group. The picture was taken by Martha Wolfe in "The Prince's Kitchen" at Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, an art museum within Djurgården in Stockholm.

As you have seen in the recent Fruit Stand Challenge posts, each artist has focussed on a part of the image that captured their attention and imagination. What would you choose from this photo? Stay posted to see the results of our 2009 Photo Challenge........or better yet, plan to attend our show, Dirty Dozen Exposed, 2009! and see the real deal!

Bev's Fruit Stand Challenge

by Bev O'Connell

"Yes, We Have No Bananas"

Another installment in the series of challenge quilts from a previous annual show. The quilt was created from hand-painted fabrics, papers and Ellen's cast-off knitted yarn. It includes machine embroidery and was free-motion quilted.

Jill's Fruit Stand Challenge Quilt

By Jill Brown
The inspiration for this quilt was the bananas! This quilt was a little out of my comfort zone for me - as I normally do not do abstract, nor do I work with orange or yellow colors / tones.

I thread painted my bananas onto my background with a variegated purple thread (I did get my purple in there!!). It scrunched up the fabric so much, I had to really stipple the background fabric it get it to lay flat. I then beaded "Going Bananas" across the middle two bananas. (The bead work is hard to see in this photo).

This was a fun challenge to do, and everyone's quilt turned out to be very different!

Barbara's Fruit Stand Challenge

Posted by Barbara Bilbo

I looked at the fruit stand picture and decided to do a raw edge collage. After working long and hard, the piece didn't work. Besides, it was too large to be accepted. So I folded it up and away.

Then I decided to do a more abstract piece with the feel of the bushes and the flowers. I also put in the rock wall. And... I did it the correct size.

2009 Retreat: Fabric, Friends and Fun

by Lisa-Marie Sanders


Does your quilting group have an annual retreat? If not, I’d highly recommend it! We just finished our annual weekend retreat and it was a blast. Our monthly meetings are great but it is hard to surpass the bonding that takes place when you spend two days together crammed into small condos, stepping around sewing machines, supplies and drying fabric. I loved watching my friends as they struggled with creative or technical decisions. I loved the help and insights that each person brought to bear on my dilemmas.

There is something from everyone in each of my projects from the retreat: fabric from Irene, paint from Paula, beads from Jill, yarn from Ruth Anne, Photoshop work from Martha and borders from Ellen. And though we worked a lot, we played too. We had a road trip to a bead shop, we took a post-midnight turtle walk on the beach, we dined together and we learned more about each other on a personal level. Did I mention we laughed a lot? We did.

There were so many hysterical moments that I began to chronicle them so we’d have a way to remember them all. Some you might enjoy:
- A glass of wine helps with free motion quilting
- Whatever problem you may have, there’s a bead for that
- Late night wisdom: don’t crop until morning
- Pass your purse to the person on your left (so you won’t spend too much at the store)

It’s only been a week and I’m already looking forward to next year’s retreat.

(the photo is of Irene Watson working through lunch one day.)