What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The AQuA 2026 Color Challenge got underway at our February Meeting. If you missed out and still want to participate talk to Marla at the March meeting or the retreat.

This first thing to know is that there are very few rules!  This is all about being creative and having fun. The framework is as follows:

1. You will choose a color from one bag and a color scheme from another bag.

• • The colors are:  Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange and Violet/Purple

      2.The color schemes are:

• • Analogous: consecutive colors on the color wheel
    • Example: Yellow and Green or Yellow ...

Where does the time go!?! Hopefully moving forward with good health  and in your creative space and place. Winter is knocking with great bluster, but true spring is on the way.

Read about Susan and enjoy her art here.

Our Fences quilts were hung at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza .  September 17-20.10 quilts were selected for the show which is posted here Fences 2025 – AQuA

The quilts have arrived back in Grand Junction and will be returned to members at the October 16th meeting.

The member’s choice was Jacque Weimer nostalgic family piece entitled This Fence.

Members Choice This Fence by Jacque Weimer

Turn in date will be July 16, 2026 for our next Mancuso PA show scheduled for September 17-20, 2026. Since so many of you mentioned time management as the barrier to getting a quilt done on time to submit, there is no time like the present to get started on the next theme.

Secret Garden:

The Art Quilt Association members explore what creates their perfect secret garden. Is it the hidden entrance? A secret urban oasis or one that requires a hike to a favorite wild meadow?   Is it the special peace of a reflecting pool or trickle of water ...

Our monthly meeting in March will be a Zoom lecture with Bobbi Baugh on Composition: The How of Your Artwork. Several members in our group have seen this lecture thru SAQA and found it very informative, and suggest you bring a notepad.

Bobbi addresses the three big questions in composing, how to frame designs, importance of horizon line, and much more. To see her work visit here Bobbi Baugh StudioBobbi Baugh Studio.

The lecture will be in the Art Center Gould Gallery (next down from Kephart where we usually meet), on a big screen tv, and we will be seated ...

Lisa Flowers Ross will be teaching a no-sew workshop entitled Abstracting From Reality: Seeing to Design .

     The description of the class is as follows:  Starting with their own photos for inspiration, participants will work through several exercises on paper
that explore design elements and principles such as line, shape, repetition and value. Different ways to translate these elements into fiber will be discussed. Exploring different perspectives will lead to discovery of new ways of seeing. The focus of this technique workshop is to learn different approaches to abstraction that can be used in designing future artworks. Participants will leave with ...

I get asked all the time where am I teaching. Below is my schedule so far:

• 9/17:  North Country Trunk Show, NY
• 10/5: Zoom OBW Trunk Show, Arizona State Guild
• 11/9: Zoom OBW 1, Arizona State Guild
• 11/11-13: Thomas Sewing Center,  Lexington KY, OBW Workshop
• 11/14: 11/17: Fantastic Quilters OBW Trunk Show & Workshop, Fairfield Glade TN
• 12/7: Zoom OBW 2 , Arizona State Guild
• 2025
• 1/10:  Zoom OBW Trunk Show, Quilt Inc., Delmar, NY
• 1/18: 60 degree Log Cabin, Thread Bears Quilt Guild, Oneida NY
• 1/20: Sew Busy, Gloversville, NY, OBW ...

Well done ladies. The 19 quilts turned in were a varied and unique interpretation of the theme. Everyone agreed it will be one of our strongest shows in recent memory. Cindy Williams won the members choice for her “Beauty Born Again” iris quilt. Congratulations Cindy.

Photos are posted here

Juror Statement from Deborah Boschert. 

Thank you so much for inviting me to jury the AQUA Light in the Darkness exhibition. It’s such a privilege to have an opportunity to look closely at each work of art and to share some ideas and insights with each artist. Thanks to the ...

Well done ladies. You brought out the whimsy in the 19 quilts turned in for the Mancuso  Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF)l, Santa Clara, CA.  Show dates are July 24-27,2024

New member Kim Keller garnered the coveted Members Choice Award  with her Secretary Bird Phylis (above) . Definitely wacky as were crows at the bar, a tipsy lady Sue sees on her neighborhood walks, imaginative flower gardens, colorful houses,  and much more.

See all the photos and the juror awards from the link below.

This page is to highlight the art of our AQuA members getting out and into the world. Whether in publications, juried or open invite showings, near and far, it is in this space that we will give applause to our members accomplishments. Hip Hip Hooray!

There are so many kudos to highlight, I fear I have missed one or two or four…..Please speak up! Congrats all!

Gay Young has her masterpiece “Mesa Verda” headed to the NQM Fiber Art Fiesta.

Kim Keller has a piece in the Colorado National Monument art calendar and it is being used to advertise ...

The annual AQuA retreat is just around the corner, February 23-24, 2024.  We will be at the Chipeta Golf Course Club House, 222 29 Road in Grand Junction. 

The event is open from 9:00-5:00 each day but is completely a come and go as you please.  Registration is $10 PER DAY, payable at the retreat.  There is no limit to the number of attendees, but a rough head count is appreciated.  Our delightful retreat coordinator is Jacque W, so contact her if you are planning to attend  or have questions. 

Bring your  lunch on Friday, and a pot ...

2023 has been a little bit of a whirlwind, from quitting my job to focusing on being an emerging artist, to turning 50, and then to top off the milestones celebrating 10 years of sewing and quilting. I am so thankful for the opportunities and the people I have met and supported me on this journey.

In 2023, I was focused on engaging and learn about the local art communities. It was a year of firsts:

• I was accepted for my first artist in residence and then was offered a 6 month one with the Durham Art Guild.
• Had my ...

Happy Saturday Friends! If you follow Tracy here then you know last Friday (10/13/2023) she finished working with Golden Peak Media as Editor of Quilt Maker and Quick & Easy Quilts, also working on Quilty and McCalls Quilting for periods of time. I loved contributing to these pages. As much as I love Orange you… Continue reading Congratulations Tracy Mooney!

 Confluence Gallery  at 660 White Ave (corner of White & 7th) has a fiber show called Uncommon Threads with the opening night for First Friday on September 1. The show will hang until 9/29. Sure to be plenty of AQuA members in the show, and much to love.  Since AQuA  has a group membership to this gallery there will be several  AQuA members with fiber pieces in the show, including Susan Strickland, Daniela Schupp, Mary Grande, Marla Ferguson-Leak, Sherida Werner, Gay Young and others.

Gay’s work was used for the advertisement!

Member Julia Crocetto has an exhibit opening also ...

Our website had to be updated and our calendar posting procedure has changed with a link below and at the top website menu.

Access full calendar here.

An Abandoned Dreams by Jacque Weimer, Members Choice and Juror Pick #3

14 quilts were turned in on Saturday, July 16 for this theme. Thanks to all who participated, we think you are all winners for taking this challenge. 

Ricky Tims has completed his jurying and his picks are as follows:

1. “Only Love” by Shari Keveit, her first entry
2.  “No Safe Place” by Bev Hart
3. “An Abandoned Dream” by Jacque Weimer, also Members Choice
4.  “Losing the Thread by Mary Grande
5.  “Il Mio Bel Sogno” by Susan Sanmann

These quilts are posted here but are large images and load slow. They ...

I’ve had four different nudges to get back into teaching over the past two weeks. Three are for shows/organizations I’ve worked with before, and one is from a friend who knows my work. I responded to the three with my usual “I’m working on it, will send info soon” response as I dodged the professional responsibility to be punctual, thoughtful, and organized.

It’s the last one that got to me. My friend Judy mentioned I might get in touch with SFSNAD and see if they’d have me. She teaches there and has heard students ...

Member Gay Young is going to do a member’s workshop  “Introduction to Thread Painting” to after our May 21st meeting at the Masonic Center. The class will be held at Quilters Inspiration from 1 -4 pm and is limited to 16 students; each will have their own table.

Contact Bonnie Stenger to signup and pay the workshop fee so that she can keep track of the number of participants.

Thread Painting Supply List:

•    Please bring your sewing machine, freshly cleaned and oiled, fitted with a new #90 needle.
•     You do not need fancy stitches, but need to be able ...