NOVEMBER 2014 newsletter:

Our last meeting was on October 27th, and was a very nice one.  Glad you were there/sorry you missed it!  Pick the one that fits!

Quilt Show:

We discussed the quilt show in depth, making note of what changes need to be made, and what to keep on because we are just so excellent at this kind of thing.  The Naperville Art League staff is very pleased that we have received so many guests (145 as of that night),...more than they normally get for their shows.  Woo-hoo for us!  Keep on producing, ladies!  Show 'em what we can do!

In the meantime, the pieces that hung were most excellent.  Several sold, which is always a happy thing.  Thank you for participating.  A special thank you for those who worked so hard.  Members were there at times when no staff was there to man the show.  There were those there to hang and take down, keys to take care of, etc.  Without there help and enthusiasm, there would be no show.  So, thank you, ladies, from the bottom of my heart.

New Challenge:

Water - Fire - Wind/Air - Earth.  And there in lies the theme for this challenge.  Go at it, have fun with it, be creative, and knock our socks off!  We decided to measure this one differently.  The maximum size will measure 96" perimeter-wise.  So all sides (note that I didn't say 4 sides?) will total 96".  Pretty cool, eh!?  This challenge is due at the August, 2015 meeting.  Plenty of time for you to get this going.

I look forward to seeing what this group will produce this time.  It's always amazing.  And always,...not that I know anything (this has been proven on numerous occasions!), but some of my most favoritist pieces were challenge pieces.  They force us to think outside of our comfort zone, and therefore make us into more creative beings.  Celebrate that!

Next Meeting and December:

Monday, November 24th, 7 pm is the next meeting at the Naperville Art League (508 N. Street, you guessed it, Naperville).  Three dollars is the meeting fee to help keep a roof over our heads, please and thank you.  There will be no meeting in December, as usual.  Our January meeting will be on the 26th.

I hope you all have wonderful holidays, nap a lot, eat too much, laugh a bunch, and be jolly in general.

xo,

Laurie

For the Love of Fiber - Fiber Art Divas show

October 15 to 24, 2014

Naperville Art League 

508 N Center St. Naperville IL 

Show hours:

Wed and Fri - noon to 4 pm

Thurs - noon to 8 pm

Sat - 10 am to 4 pm

Sun - 2 pm to 4 pm

Artist's reception: Sunday October 19 -  2 pm to 4pm

Artist Demos - Refreshments - The Fiber Shop (fiber art supplies and more)

October 2014 Newsletter:

Fiber Art Divas presents "For the Love of Fiber" Fiber Art Exhibit, 

from October 15th to the 25th, 2014, with an artist's reception on Sunday, October 19th from 2pm to 4pm.  This is an exhibition of original art quilts and mixed media works.  Not to be missed!  The artist's reception will include demonstrations by, obviously, the artist's!  There will be refreshments!  We all love food and drink!  And there will be things for sale at the reception beyond those available throughout the show!  Woo-hoo!  The Fiber Shop will have fiber art supplies and more for you to buy and expand your artistic horizons!!!  The show hours are Wednesday & Friday - noon to 4pm, Thursday - noon to 8pm, Saturday - 10am to 4pm, and Sunday, 2pm to 4pm.  We look forward to seeing you at the show.  And...thank you in advance for joining us.  There are several bonuses involved here: it's free, it's fun, it's inspiring, and there are possible holiday gifts available for sale (so think ahead!),...and if you come to the artist's reception, you get to eat and drink things!  One has to love a gathering like this!

September's Meeting:

This was a wonderful night.  I was actually there, which was a gift to me!  There was a nice group of women there sharing their work.  All excellent pieces shown, and a variety of fiber forms.  The wonderful thing about this group is their willingness to share their work, their experience, their craft, their enthusiasm for what they are doing as well as what you are doing.  The problem that comes from cherry picking the meeting you'd like to come to (as in "is there a demo?" or "is there no demo?") is that every meeting has something wonderful to offer...different techniques not seen before, info on tools they have used, shows that you need to go see, moral support for whatever problems you may be having either in your fiber world or your personal world.  The support that a group like this gives on every level is commendable.  I thank each and every one of you for being there for me, as well as for the others.

The Lady Challenge Night:

This was the night to bring in our challenges.  We were given pen and ink drawings from an artist who had women dressed in flower and leaves dresses.  One was more interesting than the other.  The idea here was to be inspired by the drawing, and produce a piece.  There was everything from a fall obelisk to quilts.  It was amazing to see how everyone interpreted their particular drawings.  These will be exhibited at the upcoming show, so

come and see what we did!

Derwent Inktense:

Two member was nice enough to bring in the pieces that they made in a class recently.

It involved using Derwent inktense.  These are either pencils or sticks, can be used on fabric either wet or dry, and are available at Blick's in sets or purchased singly.  Go to

www.inktense.com to see for yourself the possibilities with this product.  They were beautiful.  Thanks, ladies!

Artistcellar:

Cheryl came with a few pieces using wacky tobaccy skeleton stencils by Artistcellar.

(That is not their real name, so don't look for the product like that!)  It is a new design they are offering.  Go to www.artistcellar.com to find out about their products, but hit stamps and stencils if you'd like to see the skeleton stencils that she used.  Way cool way to kick start a small piece.  Also very good for paper art, etc.  Thanks for showing your mini skeleton crew quilts!  (These were samples requested by the Artistcellar company!)

Upcoming Meetings:

October 25th is the next meeting, 7 pm at the Naperville Art League.  This meeting will also be used as the time to take down the show.  We are hoping that someone would like to demo something for the group that night.  Anyone?  What was that?  I can't hear you?  Remember,...what seems old hat to you may be new hat to others.  Thanks for thinking about it.  Let us know if you are interested.

The November 24th meeting is coming up as well.  That is just before Thanksgiving, and we'd be thankful if you joined us!  And as usual, there will be no meeting in December.

Closing now:

Well, it's been wonderful, as always.  Thanks for reading the ramblings of the somewhat insane,...me!  Until next time, enjoy the upcoming fall colors, and dream in color at night.

xo,  Laurie

July 2014 Newsletter:

Saturday, July 26th, 2014
Sorry this is so late, but my excuses won't mean much, so I won't bother.
We had 20 people at the June 23rd meeting.  We had a nice little show and tell.
Yvette was kind enough to demo painting on fabric with inks and aloe, or shaving cream
and ink for a marbled effect.  Very fun to see, and some very nice effects.  Just the right
thing for some of our projects.  Thank you, Yvette!

September Challenge:

I did send everyone info on the latest challenge.  There are drawings of ladies wearing dresses made of flowers from a particular Dover book.  We have been given permission to use 10 from the book.  One can be mailed to you by Linda V.  This drawing is to be used as an inspiration only, and should not be replicated.  The only guide line is that the MAXIMUM size is 20" x 24" in either a horizontal or vertical panel, and in any techniques that you wish to use.  This would be an excellent entry for our upcoming quilt show!  Remember, doing multiple sketches will help you to reach your ultimate design,...and that will probably change as you actually work with your fabrics.  I will say that it's interesting to see how much your design morphs from your first drawing to your final.  It is a fun, although sometimes frustrating, process.

October Quilt Show:

Linda K says that we will begin publicity at the end of July.  I don't remember what that means exactly.  If I ever get to Oz, I really would like to be given a brain!  And don't give me that crap about my always having HAD a brain!  Sorry, Linda,...you can inform us on Monday night.

August Meeting:

The August meeting will be on the 25th.  The demo/take it home with you/do it yourself project will be given by Cheryl Sleboda, and will be of her smocked pin cushion.  http://muppin.com/wordpress/ is the site to go to.  This will show a bright green "pillow" which will be our project for the night,...only in pin cushion size, and I assume different colors.  More on that later, as well as info on the kit and price of the kit.  I know she's gotten many comments from those of us of a certain age about how it looks like a flashback to our aunt's living room!  Everyone had pillows like that at one time, so it's fun to relive our pasts, or maybe make a new present!  Thanks for enlightening us, Cheryl!

Dinner Parties:

For all of those who went to the Rosemont show last month, there was a dinner party display set up.  Each person set up their own place setting for an imaginary dinner.  Very interesting.  This brought Dorothy to thinking about a display she had seen many years ago.  This one was of cloth and ceramic hand painted dishes, etc.  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=judy+chicago+dinner+party&qpvt=judy+chicago+dinner+party&FORM=IGRE

This is the site to view the dinner party that she remembered,...thank you, Chris Moline, for finding the site for us!

July 28th, 2014 Meeting:

Yes, our next meeting is on Monday.  That's why I'm not happy that I'm getting this to you so late.

Sorry, once again.  It's at 7 pm as usual, $3 fee to cover room rental, blah, blah, blah.  We look forward to seeing you all there again.  If you need more info, look at one of the previous entries.  Enjoy this weather,...remember that no matter what it throws at us right now,...we don't have to shovel it!

xo,

Laurie

March 2014 Newsletter

Our last meeting was on Monday, March 24th, and was attended by 11 people.  There was some very nice show and tell, as well as a few of the challenge pieces.  There are many out there yet to be finished and viewed, so feel free to continue to bring them to the meetings!  It's always fun for us to see what you've been up to these days.

Member News:

Sheryl Sleboda and Catherine Redford have finished filming more episodes with Quilting Arts TV!  You go, girls!  They will let us know when they can be viewed.

Natasha Lehrer was mentioned in an article in the March 16th Daily Harold.  "Folk Art.  Just What is it, Anyway?" was the name of it, and it was very interesting.  Fun to see you name in the paper, isn't it?!

Especially when it's not in the police blotter!

The Latest Challenge

was due, as I mentioned earlier.  It was about new techniques, with no size restrictions.  The due date has been extended until the day you are finished.  That's pretty much the way I work anyway!  Keep in mind that we have our show coming up in the fall, and this would make a nice addition.

Aloe Vera Gel

was discussed as a way to get tsuseneko ink to become a tint rather than a full strength color when "dying" fabric.  This can be found in the hand lotion department, as well as along with the sunscreens.

The other option is shaving cream with ink.  You merely need to heat set this with an iron.  I did not see any You Tube videos on this technique, but we're in luck.  Read on, dude!

May Demo

will possibly be a demo on the above mentioned technique for dying fabric with aloe vera gel and tsuseneko ink!  Woo-hoo!  Take THAT, You Tube!  We'll discuss this more privately as to whether it will be in May or another month.  More on that in the next newsletter.

April Demo

was supposed to be Sheryl Sleboda teaching us how to do smocking.  I discussed it with her.  Because we will be meeting in the gallery rather than the classroom, we are moving this demo to another month.

Lighting and work space will not be available, and this is also a hands on event.  More info on supplies, and possible cost will be written about another time.

Benedictine University

has a wonderful collection of specimens (animals, birds, bugs...) which are good for drawing.  If I understood correctly, you are able to "check out" some of these to take home, just like a library book.

"Look what I'm 'reading', honey!  A pheasant!"  Anyway, there is free parking in the south lot, and you enter the science building.  I'm sure you can call there to get more information as to their hours, etc.

Sharon Malec - "A Gallery of Nature"

That's the name of her show at Wasco Nursery and Garden Center.  It runs from July 3 - August 5, with an artist's reception on Saturday, July 19th, from 4 - 6 pm.  I am unsure of the show hours, though I assume it is open when the garden center is open.  41 W 781 Rt 64, St. Charles, IL  60175.  (630-584-4424)  Creative, textural fabric art.

More Sharon Malec:

She was the showcased artist at the Nature Artist's Exhibit at the Morton Arboretum.  She combines felting and quilting to form a colorful and tactile, soft-textured expression of nature.  I have no idea where I got that info from cause it sure doesn't read like I wrote it!  Nice job, Sharon!  Congratulations.

Wool 'n Magic 

by Jan Messent is the book that Sharon Malec got her inspiration from when working on her crocheted pieces on a hoop.  Very colorful, and looked impressionistic.  This book is out of print, but she happened to find it on Amazon for $4!  Maybe you'll be lucky, and find your very own copy!

The end:

Well, that's it for now.  I hope you will join us at our next meeting which is Monday, April 28th at 7 pm at the Naperville Art League.  There is a $3 charge per person.  Be there or be square!

xo,

Laurie