Stitching for Spain: Teaching Again

In the last few years I’ve switched from teaching in person to teaching online with Creative Spark. (Being a peripatetic teacher was exhausting!) But when the invitation arrived from Spain to teach at the Asociación Española de Patchwork I couldn’t resist.

The Spanish patchwork festival takes place in Sitges, Spain on the Mediterranean coast March 14 through 17 of this year. The Spanish quilters are wonderful welcoming people. And I can’t wait to teach there and exhibit my artwork too.

I’ll Fly Away #1 (detail) by Laura Wasilowski

For the past few months I’ve been creating new artwork for my solo exhibit in Sitges. These are all made with silk fabrics and intensely hand embroidered. Quilts like the one above are part of the I’ll Fly Away series that will be on view.

The silk embroidered quilts will be on exhibit as well as larger art quilts in a quaint gallery near the festivities.

This is the same gallery where I exhibited my work in 2009 when I was young and perky. It will be great to be back there again!

Loose Threads at the Fine Line

It’s so wonderful to have a local arts center! The Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, IL has offered encouragement and support to artisans for decades. Classes include weaving, ceramics, jewelry making, painting, and more. They also have a gift shop and gallery.

The Kavanaugh Gallery at the Fine Line offers about four different exhibits each year. And on October 12 the exhibit, Not Your Mother’s Quilt, opens with an artist’s reception from 6 -8 pm. I plan to be there along with my entry (above), Loose Threads.

These three silk baskets hold thread ravels from fabric and stitching thrums collected over decades. They are a reminder of all the colorful textiles that pass through my hands. Gathering these loose threads together gives me great joy and connects me to my artistic life.

Music and Quilting

All Together Now! by Laura Wasilowski

Does music influence your quilt making? Maybe you use the rhythm of the music to aid in the rhythm of free-motion stitching. Or it accompanies you as you hand stitch, adding to the meditative nature of hand embroidery.

And then some songs inspire a quilt design like All Together Now! All Together Now! was part of a traveling exhibit called Inspired by the Beatles: An Art Quilt Challenge. It toured with the collection to seven U.S. venues from 2014 through 2015. I choose this Beatles song because it reminds me of my fun college roommate who played Beatles music to gently wake me in the morning.

All Together Now! is a fused art quilt measuring 24? wide by 24? high. It is hand embroidered, machine quilted, and there is a sleeve on the back for hanging on the wall. Click here if you are interested in adding this musical quilt to your collection.