Catching Up Between Trips

Some blogger I am! For all everyone knows, I could still be in Taiwan!  Well, if someone had told me I could stay in that Royal Suite for a couple of weeks, I guess I still would be.

Photo: Doreen Meyer

But no.  Came home, unpacked, did laundry and repacked for Philadelphia, where I attended the SAQA conference.  It was a chance to reconnect with the most amazing artist friends and to meet incredible new ones. [Update: just read a superb description on Jeanne Marklin's blog - another super artist I met at an earlier conference.]  I can't think of a better word than gobsmacked when I was at the opening of the Art Quilt Elements exhibition and they read out my name as an award winner.  The rest of the night is a blur of posing for photos, accepting congratulations, and - a first for me - signing autographs in the exhibition catalog.

Photo: Candice Phelan

I was humbled to be warmly greeted by Paula Chung whose gorgeous Japanese Anemone and other floral works I have so long admired.  Every conference I attend, I make the most wonderful friends and learn so much. This one was no exception, and my head is buzzing with knowledge gleaned from the speakers I heard and filled with inspiration from the stunning artwork we saw at the AQE show and at the galleries we visited during Fiber Philadelphia. I had a lovely dinner with the SAQA reps at the home of Cindy Friedman where I had a chance to see several of her gorgeous pieces up close and personal.  So imagine my surprise when I returned home to my most recent issue of Quilting Arts and lo and behold, Cindy's work is featured in the Spotlight section, and I got to know this lovely lady even better.

And as if all this excitement wasn't enough, I was waiting for my flight home when I received a Google Alert that my name was mentioned in an article in the Grand Junction Sentinel in Colorado.  I almost fell off my chair.

My Inbox was overflowing when I returned home, but two students emailed me that they had completed their cheesecloth portraits from a workshop I taught, and I was just thrilled.  Here are their results, based on a photograph by Chalmers Butterfield, and with their permission:

by Elizabeth Ostiguy

by Alice McKey

Now I am home, all unpacked, doing more laundry, and starting to pack again, this time for a trip to Tokyo, where I have already lined up visits with two premier Japanese quilters.  I will try to be a better blogger and keep everyone informed of my adventures. Sayonara, everyone!