Connecting Thread SAQA Regional Exhibit Report by Martha Ginn

Connecting Threads SAQA Regional Exhibit    by Martha Ginn

Martha Ginn wrote the following report.  My entry pictured at right is Butterfly 17" x 17".

 I just returned from Little Rock, AR, where I attended the opening reception of "Connecting Threads," a Studio Art Quilt Associates regional exhibit of Contemporary Art Quilts at the Butler Center Galleries of the Arkansas Studies Institute. SAQA regional reps Deb Kuster and Michelle Jones had done a great job of arranging and hosting our first exhibit for the LA/MS/AR/AL region.

The exhibit was curated by fiber artist Amie Adelman, associate professor of fibers, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas in Denton. Amie attended the opening and the following day presented a program of her works and also discussed and critiqued each work in the exhibit.


In the Beginning, 44" x 36" (left) Pacific Coast, 15" x 18" (right)

Amie Adelman and Martha Ginn

The exhibit will run through April 28 and includes 23 quilts from 15 artists in the region: Barbara Carlson, Darlene Garstecki, Michelle Jones, Deborah Kuster, Georgia Lewis, Judy Tipton Rush, Margie Trembley, and Ruth Anne Yax from Arkansas; Donna Leigh Jackins, Murray Johnston, and Dorothy West from Alabama; and Martha Ginn, Sheri Marshall, Sarah Scott, and Marcus Weekley from Mississippi.

Pocket Purse from 6 inch Practice Quilting Block

Do you have many practice quilt sandwiches just lying around?  Well,  I had practiced some designs with gold thread on leftover drapery lining laundered several times to remove the soil-resistant finish.   The gold thread, used on top and bottom, really looked great. Needing to make another sample Pocket Purse,  I hand dyed the fabric.  The batting shrunk, giving the fabric a great texture. 

With the quilted fabric, I was able to leave out the lining, so it only took about 30 minutes to make the Pocket Purse.  To dress it up, I used a gold paint stick in the center of each design.  Then I rubbed some leftover flecks on the zipper.  I took an 1/8" strip of  the dyed sandwich and zigzag stitched over it with the gold thread to make a matching cording and added large-eyed beads.  In less than an hour, I had a great looking Pocket Purse and had used up some of my supplies.  A win-win!