PTA RETURNS.....Show and Tell after 1 year!

 After moving to the Asheville area and being invited to join PTA - Professional Textile Artists, I became the official planner of our annual retreats.

Exactly one year ago we completed our 12th retreat, the next day the Covid pandemic became official and we began lockdown.  We couldn't imagine then that we wouldn't see each other without social distancing & masks for one solid year.  (During that time we only had two small outdoor, fully masked, and social distanced short gatherings.)  We are all mostly huggers and buddy, buddy and found that type of meeting terribly difficult.

Most of us are older and are now fully vaccinated.  Hurray!!  So, those that could attend, met at Georgia Bonesteel's on a beautiful summer like warm sunny day.  Honestly, the FREEDOM of being with our pals again was so darn welcome. 

Here's our first show and tell of 2021:

Our Asheville Quilt Guild has a project to supply 40" sq. quilts to a "transition" facility for Moms & kids.......specific colors such as purple were requested.  This is Barbara's contribution. 

She also made this wonderful split nine-patch.  I love how her color choices created the effect of the bow-tie pattern. 

Dort makes the most fun story quilts.  She's back designing small 'bad dog' pieces.  We just love them!

Georgia is donating this small Trip Around The World piece for the Asheville Guild's project.  It's based on her clever method of creating this design from her new book. "Scrap Happy Quilts".  Yes, she has a NEW book and you can purchase a signed copy at her website.

PTA RETREAT - PART 2

As you might imagine......documenting everyone's projects slips my mind as the days go by....but here are a few. Most participants get FAR more done than I do.  I'm a terribly slow and methodical sewer that insists on pressing seams as I go.....but I will share my project in the next post.

Leigh Anne used some wonderful Japanese Indigo fabrics for this woven quilt.  She was doing a lot of fussy cutting which will make it even more special and interesting.

She also brought these prepared Dresden Plate blocks, along with several fabrics and experimented with this unique and very successful layout.  Poor Leigh Anne.....she had input from all 9 of us.

 Cathy used our community "i-spy" box full of conversation prints to make TWO adorable baby quilts for a family member who had twins.

 Judy out did herself this year.....she made this small wall piece using indigo dyed fabrics and companion strips.  Her plan is to enhance it with hand embroidery....I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the jump start embroidery she did, it's just lovely.

 Barbara worked on several projects.....we all loved this sweet polka dot piece.  She has plans to complete it at home and trust me....it will no longer be a two color quilt when she's finished!

 I shared some black and white pre-cut triangles of varying sizes with Judy about a year ago. As she was struggling to decide what to work on at retreat I mentioned I was working with more of that black and white fabric.  She got her stack out and used her accuquilt to cut new uniform shapes.  This is the very eye appealing piece she came up with.

We walk back and forth from our retreat house to where the sewing room is located on the property......I spied this sign of spring on the way back to our house for lunch one day.  Honestly, I'm waddling now.....and the zipper on my pants may not be fulled closed....way tooooo much yummy food and adult beverage calories were consumed.

12 ANNUAL PTA RETREAT

Comments about our 12 annual PTA retreat will be posted in several parts.....probably because I'm so darn pooped just sitting and staring at the computer screen is making me sleepy.  We say this every year.....it was the best time ever!!

 I'm starting with a hilarious view.  Here's Georgia Bonesteel, our stellar piecer was working on a Quilt of Valor. There is so much activity, noise, & commotion it's a wonder any of us get anything accomplished.....and accomplished correctly.  She positioned a completed block on her design wall only to have us all falling apart with laughter....can you see what she did?  

 Half of us suggested she leave it.....the other half urged her to fix it......she did the later.

 Marene makes complicated quilts....at least in my view they are complicated.  Because she's been spending so much time away from home and her machine, she's been working on English paper pieced blocks.

 I wanted to share her terrific idea of keeping all those pieces organized.  She places them between sheets of Glad Press and Seal plastic wrap.  Brilliant!!

 This allows her to position the prepared pieces where they need to go and they stay that way as they are transported.

I've purposely kept the view of our last night dark and difficult to see......but you might be able to tell we are almost statues we are so tired.  There were 10 of us....I took the photo and the missing person was obviously out of the room fetching more adult beverages. 

We rent a large house on the property of Lake Logan Retreat Center in Canton, NC and already have our date set for #13 Retreat next year!

PROFESSIONAL TEXTILE ARTISTS (PTA) - FEB. MEETING

Instead of indicating that we had our monthly PTA meeting.....we could have named our Feb. gathering "Pity Party".  These last few weeks have tested the patience of our members....what with several husbands being ill, several members ill, flooding issues, car problems etc.

But we rallied and spent a lovely day with Dort as our hostess.  I have no clue why the photos I took of her quilt in progress aren't on my camera....but I can state she was working hard on it.

 Barbara brought this colorful abstract top with an almost stain glass appearance.  The photo of course doesn't do it justice!

Here's Barbara explaining some of the construction issues she solved.

 Connie shared this large traditional quilted block, mounted on wood.  Love the color combo and contemporary fabric choices. 

I fell in love with Judy's newest piece.  A combination of her deconstructed screen printed and batik fabrics. The thoughtful fabric placement, quilting motifs, and hand stitching contributed to this very stunning piece. I just wish I could have gotten a better photo.

The drama in the lives of so many of our members was the understandable reason our Show and Tell was so limited.....next month we will have our 12th annual retreat where wonderful pieces will be flying out of our sewing machines.

PTA DEC. HOLIDAY PARTY

I'll be dieting for a month after this week's round of holiday parties.  PTA's was held at Janice's home.  I'll try to make this brief as there was so much going on I had to pick and choose what to post.

 Dort generously gives each of us a small jar of her homemade mustard each year.  She's started a trend. Cathy passed out bars of luxury soaps for all of us and Barbara gifted everyone a nifty flashlight, featuring a magnet that allows one to attach to a refrigerator so you'll always know where to find it.

 We do a 'white elephant' gift exchange...some gifts are truly white elephants possibly destined to show up next year, others are more coveted items that are sought after. The order of selection is determined by drawing a number. Stealing gifts from another recipient when your number comes up makes it extra fun.

 Food and wine were plentiful, beginning with appetizers.

Show and tell was very limited but that doesn't mean it wasn't exceptional.  Marene made this stunning wall piece using a printed fabric panel purchased from Barbara Webster.

Detail

 Dort made this adorable little piece for a friend who adopted one of her cats that was having a difficult time transitioning to their new home.

 This is a commission piece she made of a home in Portland, OR.

 Now.....back to the gift exchange....Dort is our true mountain gal.....more than once she had to hop up and dig her handy small folding knife from her pocket to aid in opening boxes.

 This gadget is an example of an item that got recycled back to the group.  It's some sort of straight pin dispenser...which immediately fell over, spilling all the pins.  Remember the flashlight I mentioned earlier.....the magnet on the back  worked well to corral the pins.

 Many times there will be numerous items included with one gift.....how cute is this bonus holiday sock coin purse!

 Dort recently moved out of their 1800's log home and uncovered long forgotten items in the process.  Georgia displays this Union suit undergarment...

 .....and a man's swimsuit which dates to about 1925-1935...it was a 'Speed Style" suit.

 Georgia has a habit of putting bows on her head at every party....and the funny thing is we are so totally used to it, she could have and gotten in her car to go home and we'd never think to remind her to remove it.

Ya gotta wonder....why two bras?  I guess one of our members ordered them and decided the fit wasn't right and yup....they ended up at our gift exchange where Marene went along with the fun.

That's all for now.....there's a lot more to share but I'll leave it to your imagination.  Hoping all you faithful readers are enjoying this wonderful time of the year, making memories with your buddies too.

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday & Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

PTA NOV. MEETING

Each member of our group takes their turn organizing one monthly meeting a year.  We have 14 members (one living out of state) so our time line runs for 13 months.  We draw numbers to determine the order of selecting months for each of the upcoming 13 months.  This month was Cathy's turn and as always she comes up with great outings for us.

 We met at 12 Bones restaurant.  A well known eatery in Asheville, featuring of course ribs!  We snagged a back room to contain our noisy group.  The walls are 'decorated' by customers with graffiti of sorts.

 After lunch we had show and tell.  Barbara was given a lovely scaled back designed panel which she enhanced with a border and cleverly added 'window panes' with narrow ribbon.

 Connie has been busy making the most adorable cloth dolls featuring mostly some of the huge stash of upholstery fabric she had been gifted, along with  various fun trims.  We all marveled over each one!

 Dort shared something most of us agreed we needed to do.  She lengthened the pockets of her pants.  So many manufacturers are now making skimpy pockets...why!?!  To save money??  This is in the days of everyone carrying cell phones.  Some of us would rather not store it in a back pocket (if one even has them).  (A) how many screen have been broken by sitting on them?  (B) Who needs an extra layer on their backside??

 Gen loves to knit....here's an attractive small purse with matching fingerless gloves she created.

 Cathy came armed with a baggie of markers for us to leave our mark on the wall of 12 Bones.....guess who wrote this??

 Judy's contribution was left with a pink marker.

 There wasn't much room in most of the accessible areas.....but Lynne's clever addition was a spool of thread leading to the words "hanging by a thread".

 Connie found a small area to continue the stitching theme.

 This restaurant is in the River Arts District which is home to dozens and dozens of artist studios housed in old warehouses.  It's hit or miss whether any will be there and working, and if working, will they invite viewers in.  However, most have large glass windows to show off their work environments.   

We were fortunate Barbara Zaretsy of BZD Designs was in her studio packing to move to a different location in the maze of warehouses. She graciously provided a lengthy explanation of the tools, process, & materials she uses. We all love her work....here's a sample of printed/discharged/stamped/dyed linens and silk runners.  

Another studio space shared by several jewelry makers was open...they had a small showroom available where viewers could purchase their work.  I loved how these rings were displayed in a bowl of wild rice.

The few other photos I took were poor quality, either too dark or too far away from the subject to share.  But if you are ever in Asheville....The River Arts District is another place to roam.

AUGUST PTA FIBER GROUP MEETING

Our PTA (Professional Textile Artist) group met at Linda's house this month.  Show and tell was plentiful; an example of the wide range of talents and interests of our members.

 Kate just returned from a extended workshop by Carol Sutherland at Pro-chem where she learned many new techniques for dyeing silk scarves.  We were all in awe.

 Recently our group did a side trip to a new shop in Fletcher, NC that features the timeless Folkwear garment patterns, popular in the 1970's & 80's.  Marene purchased the one sleeve shawl pattern and is wearing her success!  (Note Linda in the background with an ever present Boston Terrier....she currently now owns 4).

                                                 
Marene also dazzled us with this HUGE top made as a working sample while helping Georgia Bonesteel teach one of her workshops.

 NO....Marene wasn't finished yet....she and Judy challenged each other to create a small quilt utilizing techniques inspired by a Susan Cleveland lecture.  Tiny piping of course was featured in both.

 A family member of Dort's sent her this kimono that was very worn around the shoulder area....(see view of one of the print scenes below).  At first Dort thought she'd been given the piece to cut up and use in a quilt.....but NOoooo it was sent so she could repair it.  Typical of Dort's quilt making whimsy style....she added a mermaid along the top back....complete with tiny nipples beneath the tassels!!

 One of Lynne's newest pieces was awarded a ribbon at the Smokey Mountain Quilt Guild show, Knoxville, TX.  

 The quilt's inspiration was a challenge at her Modern Quilt guild where one blindly drew 3 crayons from a paper bag.  See crayon squares on her form.

 Georgia Bonesteel is modeling her split cowgirl skirt made from a Folkware pattern.  I'm very familiar with this hard to understand and construct pattern as I've made it for 2 of my show pieces, a real chore.  With the top flap buttoned at each side it appears as a skirt.

But, button the flap to one side & you'll see it's wide pants as well.

Come back and check out the next post.....I have more PTA fun to share...