Quilt Visions 2018: Connections

So very honored to be included in Quilt Visions 2018: Connections at the Visions Art Museum in San Diego, California. The artwork was very inspirational and the museum staff delightful to work with. It was such a thrill to participate in the artists talk and to meet the other exhibiting artists. We turned the opening into a great family vacation, with my husband and daughters joining me in the festivities.

Sherri at Quilt Visions 2018: Connections

Natalie, Sherri and Mae

Branches Yellow, 2017, 52”x27” 

San Antonio, Texas - SAQA Conference Review 2018

I attended the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) conference, TEXtiles, in San Antonio, Texas  early in April. What an inspirational time I had. I wanted to share some of the highlights with you. I served on the Special Events Committee, so I had some insight into the amount of planning and number of volunteer hours it took to pull this conference off.

It was exciting to be in a room of about two hundred people who ‘get me’, if you know what I mean. I sat with friends from Facebook in the flesh. I got to share meals with ‘rock stars’ of the art quilting world. I heard some informative and entertaining talks. It was a time to connect with like artists and to share our thoughts, techniques and experiences in an informal setting.

The hotel setting was on the Riverwalk and close to many historical sites. The conference included a variety of activities including, a cruise on the river, SAQA committee presentations on regional energy through local connections and upcoming 3D exhibitions. There were great breakout sessions from Miki Rodriguez (Design Rebel), Heather Grant (Best Practices for Professional Art Instructors), Lynne Koolish (Back to Basics-Design Basics, That Is), and Carole Staples (TEXtiles Gallery Talk). The Lightening Talks, 20 slides with 20 seconds per slide, were educational and entertaining. My talk on “Secrets of Painted Threads” was fun to put together, and a little intimidating to present.

During some of the free time, I toured a couple of the Mission sites and ate some great food!

The spotlight auction included over 200 donated pieces. The auction took in just over $22,000!   I managed to ‘win’ two pieces to add to my collection. Here’s a photo of the piece I donated -

“Orange Notes”, 2018, 8”x6”

I had a chance to attend the rep meeting and gain insight into being an effective SAQA rep for my Texas region and enjoy a couple meals with the SAQA board. I led a JAM (Juried Art Member) photo scavenger hunt with Susie Monday. In a breakout session I listened as Lynne Koolish discussed design elements. I heard Heather Grant share insight on proposing class offerings in the quilt world, and I sat in on a critique session with Judith Trager.

The keynote presentations from Meg Cox and Jane Dunnewold were a great way to end the conference.

Meg presented “Tips and Tricks for Giving Memorable Lectures Every Time”. She shared some personal stories and included five tips: 1. Open yourself up wide to the audience, 2. Be dramatic: good lectures are theatrical, 3. Humor is good: self-deprecating humor is better, 4. Practice! Practice! Practice! and 5. Stage fright is real: make it your friend.

Jane spoke about “Standing Tall: Artists as Stewards of Our World”. She presented the seven chakras and how we can apply them to nurturing our artists selves. Jane summed up the seven challenges with her personal seven-line phrase, which she considers her daily practice - 7. Stay in present time, 6. Seek only the Truth, 5. Surrender your will to God, 4. Love is the only true power, 3. Honor Thyself, 2. Honor one another, 1. All is One.

You can listen to her lecture here: “Standing Tall: Artists as Stewards of Our World”

The TEXtiles regional exhibit showed a great variety of Texas themed quilts. I had three pieces in the exhibit- 

"Triangled", 2016, 40"x40"

"Rescued Scraps", 2017, 24"x24"

"So It Flows", 2018, 48"x32"

Perks included a custom designed conference bag filled with fun items and a great printed program with all of the attendees’ email addresses. It was a great way to connect with old and new SAQA friends.

Future SAQA conference locations are:

San Jose, California – April 25-28, 2019

Toronto, Canada – March 19-22, 2020

If you are interested in more details on the conference, shoot me an email at sherri.L@mccauley.net.