MARCH MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

The SAQA New Mexico regional quilters met in Albuquerque on March 14.  Show and Tell was exciting!  Many quilts for our upcoming exhibit, CULTURAL RED, were shown by their makers and received with oohs and aahs from the entire group.  Many northern New Mexico art quilt members (also SAQA members) showed their challenge quilts, a 12 X 12 based on three randomly selected color chips.  The photo above shows how Jeri Beitel used her colors to celebrate spring.

Plans for the April 17 opening of CULTURAL RED were discussed.  Gale Oppenheim-Pietrzak is handling refreshments, and Ann Anastasio is taking reservations for the dinner after the reception at Pecos Trail Cafe in Santa Fe.  If you did not sign up at the meeting, please let her know if you will be attending (aanastasio@comcast.net).  See the IMPORTANT DATES page for information as to when your quilts need to be delivered and more specifics about the show.

Keep working on the Seed Packet project and get them to Betty Busby ahead of the July 1 deadline...to make her job easier.  See the prospectus by clicking on the Call for Entry page at the top of the blog.

Our next meeting is May 16 in Santa Fe...location to be determined.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - NORA BEBEE

Metamorphosis  *Houston 2014, currently on tour
Internal changes represented by fiber to felted flowers.
 External changes represented by cocoon to butterfly.

 I am a story teller. I use fabric, beads, cords and other objects to write my stories. The image I create reflects what I think and feel. I want my work to be relatable and meaningful. If I am successful, when someone looks at my work, ’it’ becomes their story, too.

I don’t quilt unless the topic means something to me. I will do research, take pictures and collect objects that relate to that project. This process can take months to over a year.

Once I sit down and attempt to quilt, anything can happen! The quilt takes on a life of its own: construction or a miscue  may take me in a totally different direction. I believe my quilts have their own soul.

I have been very blessed. I have exhibited in Taiwan, Sacred Threads,  Houston, and across the country. I have had my quilts appear in magazines. I guess the obvious question would be: What next? I really don’t know!

I didn’t expect this. I didn’t plan for this, but it is a huge part of my life now.
My quilting experiences, have taught me to believe, anything is possible. Whatever the future will bring, I bet it’ll make a good story!

Contact: saltcreekarts@yahoo.com

Who’s Laughing Now  *Houston, 2015 IQF 2016 Quilt, Knit, Stitch 2016
Paiute Story: Legend People laughed at Coyote, he changed them into stone. Now they are hoodoos at Bryce National Canyon.

Bark Cloth Mask *Santa Fe 2015 Hubbard Museum 2016
Interpretation of  ancestral  New Guinea masks.

Note: All photographs done by Allen Mitchell Photography alan@alanmitchellphotography.com