Morning Moon

Another wonderful week at Lake Tahoe has come and gone. The one thing that we all enjoyed this year was the weather…and the spectacular moon on the lake Wednesday morning. Our thanks to Mark Larrea for getting up at 3 a.m. to take the attached photo. And, our deepest thanks to Mark for being our official photographer this year. We are very pleased to announce that Mark, and his wife Cat, will be teaching Digital Photography and Photoshop at Art Quilt Tahoe 2013. The photos from this year’s conference will be uploaded on our site soon, so check back!

Congratulations are in order!

First, to Cat Larrea and Suzanne Beck for winning this year’s “Baker’s Dozen” quilt challenge. We appreciate their participation and will soon announce next year’s challenge.

Congratulations to Sue Benner’s PDQ Challenge team for winning our second annual challenge. Each class collaborated on a theme for their block, appointed the team leader and helpers, and created incredible 12×12 blocks in one hour. The event was great fun, despite all the stress, and we’ll blog a photo of the pieces soon.

Congratulations to Pat Guthrie for winning the raffle for the 2012 Tuition Free Prize to attend Art Quilt Tahoe! We made her day!!

And, finally, congratulations to Carol Frocillo for winning the 2012 Ina Stentiford Scholarship. She is very excited to say the least and we will soon post her photo and pictures of her work.

If you haven’t signed up for next year’s conference, put it on your Wish List when you see Santa! Wishing you and yours a happy, warm and creative Holiday Season and New Year!!

My best to all….Judy

After an easy travel day, everyone arrived safe and sound. The weather and the Lake couldn’t be more beautiful and everyone is enjoying every second. Rosalie Dace did a spectacular presentation at our Welcome Dinner…we’re all going to South Africa to see her and work in her charming studio! And, we learned alot about the culture and history of where she lives…which inspires her spectacular work!

Velda did a painting demonstration today and then unveiled her 18′ Award Winning Zinnia quilt thanks to six very tall people standing on chairs to unfurl it…and then Sue Cavanaugh did a wonderful presentation on her Shibori techniques afterwards. After an exciting day, the students got treated to Laura Wasilowski’s singing presentation and then a mini-fusing workshop so that they could all become certified members of the Chicago Fusing Society.

More fun tomorrow!!

…in a few of our workshops! If you’re still thinking about coming to Art Quilt Tahoe in November, sign-up soon!! We’re going to have an amazing conference this year…and for those that are attending, don’t forget the “Baker’s Dozen” Quilt Challenge in honor of our 13th Anniversary! Email us for more details.

Sue Benner’s workshop is now closed but we are adding names to a waiting list.

Also, there is only one space left in Rosalie Dace’s workshop. If you are interested in that spot, sign-up soon!

Finally, several other workshops are filling…so don’t miss the opportunity to get the workshop of your choice!

Jane Dunnewold’s workshop has closed but we will accept waiting list registrations should there be a cancellation. There is now only one space left in Sue Benner’s workshop and two spaces in Rosalie Dace’s workshop. So, if you are interested in either of those two workshops or any of our other workshops, send in your registration as soon as possible!

Velda's Zinnias to Scale

Scale is everything…and when it comes to Velda Newman’s beautiful quilts, size also matters! WOW! This quilt won the Nisson Japan prize at Quilt National last year and Velda will be leaving soon to travel to Japan to display her quilt and to teach a workshop. But since she had 80 sign-ups in two hours, she will be teaching two classes of 40 students each! So, if you are interested in learning Velda’s techniques, sign-up soon for her workshop at Art Quilt Tahoe…small projects always accepted!

We have three workshops that are nearly full…Sue Benner, Rosalie Dace and Jane Dunnewold…so if you are interested in one of these workshops, we encourage you to sign-up soon! Our other workshops have space, but are also filling.

Ori-Kume #20 - 41 x 52

Sue Cavanaugh, who is scheduled to teach at Art Quilt Tahoe this Fall, had a piece accepted in Quilt National 2011 and it was awarded the Lynn Goodwin Borgman Award for Surface Design. Congratulations Sue! This award was given to Sue for the second time, which has never happened! Juror Nelda Warkentin wrote in the exhibition catalog…”Only with fiber and thread can one achieve the look seen in Ori-Kume #20. …The tension between the left and right shapes is created by the artist’s masterful use of texture and a limited palette of dark markings on light fabric. The texture, markings and images give this work a strong presence.”

Sue will be teaching the Shibori stitches used to create this award-winning piece, as well as other stitch and binding Shibori techniques in her workshop which is detailed on our site and more images of her work can be found in our Gallery. Sign-up soon to be part of this special workshop!!

We are very pleased to announce that Wendy Clem of Carson City, Nevada was selected by our instructor panel, as our 2011 Ina Stentiford Memorial Scholarship winner. Wendy, who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1992, needed something to distract herself from her chemo and radiation treatments, so she took up traditional quilting. A few years later she purchased a magazine that had an article in it by Velda Newman and she was so inspired, she completely changed directions and taught herself how to create art quilts. The Koi quilt shown above is one of her inspired pieces and, of course, she’ll be taking Velda Newman’s workshop in November! Congratulations Wendy!

Should you know of anyone that would like to apply for a scholarship to attend Art Quilt Tahoe in 2012, please refer them to our website for more information.

We only have 5 spots left in Rosalie Dace’s 2011 workshop, so sign-up soon!