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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Visit to the Needlechasers in Chevy Chase, MD

Debbie with her dragonfly, at the end of the Thread Sketching class.

I just got back from a visit to the fabulous Needlechasers of Chevy Chase in Maryland. What a great group they are! I gave a presentation and taught two classes, Machine Quilting 101 and Thread Sketching. I really enjoyed my time with this group. I especially appreciated their flexibility in dealing with my travel delays caused by a big snow/ice storm that hit Charlotte last Sunday night. I was supposed to fly out on Tuesday, and almost all the flights out of Charlotte’s airport were canceled that day. (It figures that this would happen the first time I flew to a presentation!) I ended up going one day late, and the program coordinators were able to jiggle my classes around with minimal disruption.

Debbie added wonderful details like the curlicues on her dragonfly’s legs.
Jan with her dragonfly.


Coralyn Colladay, my marvelous host!
Many thanks to Marina Baudoin, Debbie Lamb-Mechanick, and my host, Coralyn Colladay (shown with her dragonfly, above) for making this a great experience!

Get ready to register for 2011 NC Quilt Symposium!

NCQS09 logo
It’s time to get ready to register for the 2011 North Carolina Quilt Symposium! You can get the forms online, and then mail your registration form (postmarked on or after Jan. 20). I’m teaching at this great event; look at all the fabulous teachers: 

Frieda Anderson: friestyle.com
Esterita Austin: esteritaaustin.com
Susan Cleveland: piecesbewithyou.com
Karen Comstock: quiltricks.com
Nancy Eha: beadcreative.com
Ann Fahl:  annfahl.com
Rayna Gillman: studio78.net
Susan Brubaker Knapp: bluemoonriver.com
Suzanne Marshall: suzannequilts.com
Laura Martell: thecreativethimble.com
Janice Pope: janicepope.com
Leslie Riley: lesleyriley.com
Sharon Schamber: sharonschamber.com
Eileen Sullivan: thedesignersworkshop.com
Patsy Thompson: patsythompsondesigns.com
Mary Lou Weidman: marylouquiltdesigns.com

You can view all the teachers’ information, as well as their projects for Symposium, here. I’m teaching Thread Sketching, Machine Quilting 101, and Surface Design Madness.

This year’s Symposium is hosted by the Capital Quilters of Raleigh, and will take place on the campus of Peace College June 2-5. Remember, you don’t have to live in North Carolina to come; it’s easy to fly into Raleigh if you live out of state.

Art from the Heart

Linda Moran is a teacher and mixed media artist I know. She lives in Tuscon, Arizona.

On Saturday, Jan. 8, Linda considered going over to talk with Gabrielle Giffords at her “Congress in Your Corner” meeting at a Safeway grocery store in Tuscon. She wanted to tell Giffords that she supported many of her policies, but was disappointed with some of her political ads. But everyday affairs intervened, and she didn’t get there. She heard about the tragedy in the same ways that most Americans did: television, Facebook and Twitter.

And then, Linda did something that most of us didn’t. She decided to do something with her pain. She started a website called  Art from the Heart: Healing Hatred in America. It is going to be an online gallery in memory of lives lost and changed in the Tuscon tragedy. Artists who wish to make a statement about the problems of hatred, hate speech, discrimination, prejudice and political vitriol in the U.S. are invited to submit an image of a small piece. If accepted, the piece will be displayed on the website, with the artist’s statement.

Linda writes eloquently of her yearning for “reaching middle ground:”
Let ART be our clarion call; to wake long quieted voices, to recognize those who have paid prices far too high for simply being a citizen of this nation, to begin a dialogue of hope. Let ART be a neutral medium wherein we may express feelings that we dare not put to words, sadness that we no longer can contain within the depths of our souls, and above all else, the genuine desire that is in most people for a brighter future. Let ART be an avenue toward healing.

For all of us.
There is a point at which we have to forget on which side of the aisle we normally reside and gravitate back toward center. Where we can meet. Where we can see into each others eyes. Where we can, sometime in the near future, embrace. Where we can find one common vision and focus.
Step up with me. Put forth your ART. Let it speak. Let us hope that someone listens. And then another. And another.
May it be so; for you, and for me.
In grace and peace ~~ Anne
Linda believes “each one of us can be an instrument of change, regardless of how small.” Her blog is called Marbled Musings: Thoughts on Life, Art, Marbling and Creativity.

I am hoping to submit a piece to Art from the Heart: Healing Hatred in America; if you have strong feelings on this issue, I hope you will consider doing so, too.