Colourplay Countdown: Chartreuse

This morning I take the Eurostar to France, the land of Chartreuse.  In the meantime, here are some chartreuse photos from England:

Colourplay Countdown: BrownSageBlue

This is from Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset. One view has more of the "blue" element:

Colourplay Countdown Eggplant

Yesterday I visited the American Museum in Bath, a gem of an instutution with a thoughtfully curated and presented collection of decorative arts.  Of special interest was the Kaffe Fassett exhibit - a caern like space divided into different colour zones.  I even found eggplants in tge chatreuse room:

And, here are some less literal travel snaps highlighting the "eggplant" challenge palette of deep purple, emerald and burgundy:

The damson plum orchard at Bramptoncourt Estate was in full fruit:

Colourplay Countdown: Rusty

Today's "Rusty" Colourplay post comes from Worcester and the Royal Worcester Museum:

Colourplay Countdown: Purple/Yellow and Lorikeet

My  Colourplay observations continue in the English countryside.  Here is Purple/Yellow:

I despaired of finding anything from the Lorikeet palette but, once again, a tractor came to my rescue!

These begonias and lobelia also come close:

Colourplay Countdown: BWB and Kilauea

Here are three images from my trip so far that fit the BlueWhiteBlack palette.  This is on the Hawkesbury River, part of the scenic train ride from Gosford into Sydney.

On my way to the Colourplay exhibition in France, I am spending some time in the English Midlands, an area well known for its black and white timber-framed houses:

And this vintage textile (circa 1930s?) was in a historic home we visited today:

The Kilauea palette proved to be more challenging.  There is not a lot of orange,charcoal and chartreuse in the English countryside. But then I found a tractor!

Colourplay Countdown

Today marks the 7th anniversary of the formation of the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge.  Little did we know that our collaborative work would still be on tour in 2014!

Our Colourplay exhibition opens at the European Patchwork Meeting on 18 September and I (Brenda) am travelling to France via England.  One of the things I enjoyed about our challenges was how attuned you would become to the challenge theme or palette.  As a mini-challenge to myself, I am goiing to share travel photos for each of the Colourplay palettes over the couple of weeks in the lead up to exhibition.  First up is Pink (clockwise from top left): pink heather at the markets; wild flowers; pink keg; William Morris wallpaper at Grange Court (Leominster) and sweetpeas (centre):

It may be autumn but there is plenty of pink to be found in the English countryside.  There is even a bright pink pub just a couple of miles from where we are staying!  Blue and white with a dash of black might be more difficult.  Let's see what the day brings...

Colourplay Exhibition: Alsace, France 18-21 September 2014

Come along to the Twelve by Twelve Colourplay exhibition at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, Espace des Tisserands, Sainte Marie aux Mines, Alsace, France:18-21 September 2014.  Brenda will be there Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  Françoise will be there Friday and other times.  We look forward to seeing you!

Kristin in Portland

Hi Twelves and friends. Terry here. Guess who is sleeping in my studio? It's Kristin!

Tonight we had a great night on the town. First Thursday is gallery night in downtown Portland. It's a festive atmosphere with galleries open late and serving wine and goodies. It was the opening for the Columbia Fiber Arts Guild show at the Art Reach gallery, then we rode the trolley up to the Hap Gallery where one of Kristin's "Army Wife" apron pieces is part of their new show that opened tonight.  

There was Kristin's apron, right in the front window!  I think this is kind of a cool photo because you get  Kristin, her piece, the name of the gallery and, if you look carefully, me reflected in the window, taking the photo. Really intriguing little exhibit about comforting/discomforting objects. 

Dinner after, at Henry's Tavern in Portland's Pearl District. 

Wish you all could have been here!

Visit Terry Grant's Studio!

Alex Anderson and The Quilt Show made a surprise visit to Terry Grant in her Portland studio. You can view the show at Episode 1502: Small Pieces, Big Impact (it's free until 3 August 2014 with a basic membership).  The slideshow below also gives you a peek into Terry's studio and some of her recent work.

Colourplay at the European Patchwork Meeting 2014

In just two months, the Twelve by Twelve Colourplay exhibition opens at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, Alsace, France:18-21 September 2014 (sponsored by Aurifil).  This is your opportunity to view all 144 works in this series and to meet Françoise Jamart and Brenda Gael Smith.

Brenda is also teaching two workshops: Stacks of Improvisation is full but there are still some spaces in  .  :Serendipity Circles on Saturday, 20 September.   Come along and we can improvise together!

SAQA Benefit Auction 2014: Dream Collection

The annual benefit auction is the signature fundraising event for Studio Art Quilt Associates. Your purchases help increase the recognition for art quilts and the artists who make them while supporting SAQA’s exhibitions, publications, and education outreach. The 2014 SAQA Benefit Auction is coming up in September and Dream Collections are starting to appear online.  The dream collection set out below is comprised of works donated by six of the Twelves that are up for auction:
    Nightfall: Deborah Boschert             Sky Blue Pink: Gerrie Congdon            Undecided:  Karen Rips                   The Visitor:  Terri Stegmiller                    Eye of the Crow: Terry Grant                   Neptune's Necklace#1:Brenda Smith

Talking of SAQA, congratulations to Helen! Her work Graffiti 1 was juried into the “SAQA exhibition Wide Horizons IV that will premiere at the Carrefour Européen du Patchwork/European Patchwork Meeting  in Alsace, France:18-21 September 2014.  Don't forget, all 144 works from the Colorplay Series will also be on exhibition at this event.

Graffiti 1:  Helen Conway

Many of the Twelves enjoy the educational, networking, mentoring and exhibition opportunities offered by Studio Art Quilt Associates. If you’ve been thinking about joining SAQA, add the discount code “BGS” to the application form and you will receive a 10% discount on the membership fee.

Quilt Symposium Manawatu, New Zealand 2015

Quilt Symposium Manawatu 16-21 January 2015) is the premier quilting event in New Zealand. A wonderful week of quilting organised by quilters (on a voluntary basis) for quilters.  The Twelve by Twelve International Quilt Challenge is participating in this event in three ways:

• Kirsty and Brenda are part of the teaching faculty, presenting an array of stimulating workshops;
• Brenda is giving a lunchtime presentation (Saturday, 17 January 12.15-1pm) Adventures & Inspiration from the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge and there will be an opportunity to view some of Kirsty and Brenda's quilts "in the cloth"; and
• Deborah's distinctive work Indigo Garden is part of the Living Colour! travelling textile art exhibition, curated by Brenda, that will be on display at the Symposium.

Registrations are now open for classes including Kirsty's workshops:

• Working to a Theme (2 days)
• English Paper Piecing (1 day)
• Back to Basics Scrap Party (1 day)
• Stitch Some Magic(1 day)

and Brenda's workshops:

• Strata Various
• Stacks of Improvisation
• Serendipity Circles
• Scrap Queen Odyssey
• Power Stripping

Join us if you can!

A little Twelve by Twelve at AQC

Congratulations to the Australasian Quilt Convention as it celebrates its 10th anniversary in Melbourne this week.  The Twelves have many special memories from AQC.   The world premiere of the Theme Series was at AQC 2010.  Remember this?!

And works by Terry (Cacao y Canela), Diane (Blowin' in the Wind) and Brenda (Dreamlines #3) made cameo appearances on the program cover:

 

Colourplay was on exhibition at AQC 2013 with works by Helen, Kirsty, Terri and Nikki on the program cover: 

At AQC 2014, you can purchase our book Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge from Can Do books:

View Brenda's work The X Factor, a finalist in the AQC 2014 Challenge - Ten:

And see Deborah's work Indigo Garden in the Living Colour! exhibition curated by Brenda:

Brenda is presenting a curator floor talk, daily at 1.30pm at AQC 2014.  All welcome! (And, if you can't make it in person, check out the Living Colour! gallery and Living Colour! Catalogue .)

Buy a Plank Auction Website Now live

I am excited to announce my latest project, the Buy a Plank Quilt Auction which is an auction of art quilts to benefit a clinic in The Gambia.

It began when I made this huge quilt called No 1 African Fabric Shop to amuse my friend Magie Relph the wonder of the real African Fabric Shop. Long story short it was far too big to keep so we took a rotary cutter to it and chopped it up into planks.

Over twenty artists paid for a piece of my quilt and have turned it into their own piece of art. those works are now all for sale on the Buy a Plank Website. It is a sealed bid auction and will end on April 27th at 5pm UK time which coincides with the end of the British Quilts and Stitch Village show at which all the quilts will be displayed.

This is my piece for the auction.

Hunter's Shirt

and a couple of my personal favourites:

The Price of Help by Judi Mendelsohn

One Plank Makes Many Huts by Alison Livesley

So, please, come over and have a look at the art and put a bid in!