Art Quilt Exhibition - What a Stitch!

On Wednesday afternoon, Carol, Mary and I attended the opening for the 'What a Stitch!' exhibit at the Saginaw Art Museum.

 We each had three quilts juried into the show and there was also a lecture by Janna Gezin on being a Art Quilter that Carol & Mary wanted to attend....which, to be honest, I don't do this 'so called work' for a living or because I want to be an 'artist'.  I just do it because it's fun...keeps me busy and something to do.  Others may be inspired to teach, lecture, write books, etc. but to be honest, I'll just go to the lectures, attend the classes if I desire and buy the books!  I'm not a professional by any means and don't inspire to be one...so with that said...onto the exhibit!

I had to take a picture of the gardens at the Museum...they were just beautiful.  I could see sitting outside sewing or reading and just feeling so peaceful.  Just a beautiful setting!    Mary is from the Saginaw area and said she had a school picture taken at these same gardens!  How cool is that!



Once the lecture was over, we headed to the little reception area and guess what!  Neither Carol nor I had a glass of wine...we did have some cheese, crackers and Carol had a 'sweet' thing...but no wine.  I really wanted to head to the exhibit hall to see the quilts hung.  After the lecture, they handed out the awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and the first place award had me so intrigued I couldn't wait to see it!

This was a quilt by Deb Hyde and no, it didn't win the 1st place award!!  But another piece she did win with!  We couldn't take pics but her quilts were outstanding!  You have to check out her web site and look at the work she produces.  AMAZING!!!  Her technique is drawing onto fusible quilters grid then using one inch square fabrics, which are then sewn together.  Remember when we were doing the watercolor quilts?  Well, it's the same process but her drawings, use of color, etc. are amazing!!!  Deborah has been on he cover of Apr/May 2014 QA magazine.  If you go to this link, you'll get a better perspective of the detail in her work.

It's hard to see Deb's winning quilt in the flyer, but you'll get the idea.  The other two place winners were also very, very nice...but Deb's work is outstanding!!!




I have to say I was quite impressed with the museum overall...they have some interesting sculptures and paintings.  The museum used to be an old mansion so the building was really interesting.  They have just finished construction adding on additional rooms (e.g. lecture hall).  Quite nice....there is lots going on at the museum, so if you're in the area, you can check out the quilt exhibit (it runs until Sept. 6th) or check out the other upcoming exhibits.

Of course, it was food and wine time after the exhibit!  So...off we went to Harvey's Grill & Bar...and boy, was it every good!!  Now I'm not very excited about going out at night nor going far from home even during the day BUT my buds convinced me I should go and I'm glad I did.  It was a fun night and the  meal was worth the trip!  Mary had fish taco's that looked great (& she said tasted as good!), Carol had a Cuban sandwich, which she ate the whole thing! (not for me...it's meat ya know!) and I had a buffalo chicken w/avocado wrap that was outstanding!

And I actually arrived home before dark!  Poor Carol still had 18 miles to go so she ended up home after dark!  So all in all...it was a really nice time with my buds.  Now I get to stay home today...quilt guild meeting tomorrow then two day of staying home!!  Yippee!!!  I know...I'm getting old!