2017 Trunk Show -- Samples to Inspire

Over a month ago in this space, we posted about the SAQA Trunk Show and the opportunities it afforded for trying on techniques, for getting exposure for your work, for automatic acceptance (no jury) and for having some fun.

Now, however, The End Deadline is Near!  That's right, colleagues!  If you've been procrastinating about entering this every-three-years opportunity -- you have a mere four days (and a few hours) left.  The deadline for your online entry is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 30 -- which translates to 8:59 p.m. Pacific, 9:59 p.m. Mountain and 10:59 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Soooo...if you're needing a bit more inspiration, here are a few examples from your SAQA WC colleagues who've already submitted their entries...

From B.C., Terry Aske:

Croatian Door (C) 2016
Terry Aske

Terry's statement about her piece:

While visiting Croatia, I took a photo of this small rustic door, tucked under a flight of well-worn stone steps, and set deeply into a rough rock wall. The passage of time can be seen in the shape and surface of the door. I wondered: how old is it; what history has it seen; what might be behind it?

Techniques:  Digital image, computer enhanced, then printed on fabric.  Rock surfaces machine-quilted through one layer of batting.  Grout and door quilted through two layers, resulting in a dimensional trapunto effect.

From Alberta:

Margaret Blank, Mirror:

Autumn Colours (C) 2016
Margaret Blank

Margaret's statement about her piece:

I was inspired by the trees and the sky on the Central Alberta prairies in late September found in the view from my back lane.  Yes, the sky here is really that blue!

Marie McEachern, Calgary:

Off the Grid (C) 2016
Marie McEachern

All Marie would divulge is that she hand-dyed the fabric...


Mary Wilton, Camrose:

Ireland View (C) 2016
Mary Wilton

Mary was a painter before she was a quilter, and when she discovered painting on fabric...she became an art quilter.  She is now developing an entire body of work with painted backgrounds.  Mary took a quilting tour to Ireland last spring, which was the inspiration for this piece.

Okay; now you have your inspiration!   Translate a photo; go abstract; add surface design; paint a background -- it's your turn!

What are you waiting for?!                         

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This is my last post as Editor of the SAQA WC blog...at least, for the foreseeable future.  I am handing the reins on to Val Wilson, Co-Rep for MB/SK...with my blessing.  Please give her your support, and send her your news to share with your SAQA WC colleagues.  You can reach her at v_wilson@mts.net.

I want to thank each and every one of you, SAQA WC colleagues, for your support, your feedback, and your faithful readership over the past three years as I served you in the Region.  I have no idea what's next for me in the SAQA world, beyond making a modest contribution to the Region's first-ever Regional Retreat in West Kelowna in May...but I welcome whatever comes!

Should one of you in Alberta decide you might be able to manage being Co-Rep here for a couple of years (the term is really only two years; I stayed on one more for a variety of reasons)...please get in touch with either Coleen Adderley (B.C.) or Val (as above)...or with SAQA Reps Coordinator Desiree (Desi) Vaughn. (Please note that my job as blog editor was by choice; it's not a requirement of whoever serves in Alberta! LOL!)

There is Co-Rep training provided as well as a manual and other materials -- and I have a box of goodies to pass on that I'd love to get out of my back room! ;-)

May SAQA continue to excite, educate and inspire you to show your work within the organization and elsewhere.  May you continue to use the opportunities it offers to build your confidence and skills as textile artists...and may you always remember that you whatever you contribute to any organization, you receive in return, many times over.

See you in West Kelowna in May, God willing! 'Bye for now!

At the opening of Western Threads
"Meet the Best of the West" Exhibit
Royal Alberta Museum, April 2014

SAQA's 2017 Trunk Show: An Opportunity to Create and Educate

Detail, Circle Play - M. Blank, Alberta
from "This is a Quilt!" Trunk Show, 2011-2013
Commercial & hand-dyed cotton, sequin waste

Very shortly, I'll be submitting my third contribution to the SAQA Trunk Show.  Since 2011, I've used this travelling exhibit as a vehicle for experimenting with an idea, for playing with shapes, colours and materials -- and it's been a lot of fun.


It wasn't until I worked with a SAQA Trunk -- one of eight filled with pieces created to celebrate SAQA's Twenty-fifth Anniversary -- that I really understood the Trunk Show's other purpose: public education.

Alberta Debut - Red Deer -
November 2014

In the fall of 2013, then B.C. Co-Rep, Katie Stein Sather, booked a Trunk to come to Western Canada the following spring.  The trunk toured in B.C. from June through October, and then came in to Alberta before moving East to Manitoba, then back to B.C. and Alberta, where it ended it's year-long Western Canadian tour at Quilt Canada 2014 in Lethbridge.


While it was here in Alberta I was able to get some photos.  The first stop was the Central Alberta Guild in Red Deer, with thanks to members Wendy Greber and Patti Morris for helping me arrange this.

There was a similar fascination with the pieces at the Sylvan Lake Guild...

But not everyone was enthralled, and I overheard a couple of quilters distinctly unimpressed with this "art stuff".

Ah well... You can't win 'em all!

In Cochrane in May, there was modest enthusiasm, though one of their own -- Karen Jurek -- is a SAQA member who has a piece touring in Radical Elements.  I'd just returned from the Portland Conference and had with me the catalogue of that exhibit, which was well received indeed.















The final stop at Quilt Canada was a three-day affair, and the booth was full much of the time.  I am thankful to SAQA WC members, Coleen Adderley, Jaynie Himsl, Karen Johnson and Val Wilson for spelling me off at the booth even though many of them were also working at the Fibre Art Network booth immediately behind the Trunk Show booth.

These photos were taken of the booth before the show opened -- after that, there were too many people in there!

Half the pieces here

Half the pieces there

SAQA materials for sharing

In each and every venue, the fascination, the curiosity, and the surprise on the faces of viewers -- quilters and non-quilters alike -- was fun to watch.  Though the pieces are wrapped in clear envelopes so they can be picked up and examined. people had to be encouraged to do so because folks aren't used to being able to handle artwork this way.

Therein lies a great "plus" for Trunk Show participation: your work gets "out there" into the public eye, shown around the world to those who share your passion, those who might want to make art with textiles but are hesitant, and those who've not seen much artwork at all, ever.

The next SAQA Trunk Show will be rolled out at the Conference in Lincoln, NE in April 2017.  Everyone who is a SAQA member can participate; there's no jury and no entry fee.  The only cost is shipping the piece once its entered.  Your piece can also be offered for sale.  The pieces tour for up to three years, and receive wide exposure, travelling to such places as Taiwan, Australia and Europe -- not to mention around the U.S. and Canada.

This year to encourage participation, SAQA has initiated a Regional competition.  At the Conference the Trunk Show pieces will be displayed by Region -- and the Region that has the highest percentage of contributors will win $250 USD to put toward a Regional event -- such as a Regional Exhibit, Regional Retreat or Regional Conference!

Let's show our stuff, Western Canada!  For full information about the 2017 Trunk Show, and to see its prospectus, click HERE.  And thank you for your support!

Detail, Tree Study III - M. Blank, Alberta
25th Anniversary Trunk Show - 2014-2016
Commercial cottons, acrylic paint, dryer sheets