Happy Mid-Year people! Can you believe it? 2023 is at the halfway mark, and weirdly we are all still just doing our thing, right? We just keep on moving around the sun. Disasters and delights, ups and downs, real dilemas and imaginary plots. We just keep on stitching. And maybe doing a few other things. Here is a list of my other things.

BIG BOTANY

This month’s newsletter features student work from Big Botany. This class takes students on a wild ride through abstraction, pattern, and color! The quilts that come out of this workshop are AMAZING. I bet seeing all these mind blowing quilts just makes you want to escape the summer heat by signing up right now to take this workshop. You can do it. Here are the details.

Big Botany—Virtual Workshop

Thursdays 2PM-5PM Alaska Time (AKDT) 6-9PM Eastern Time

July 6, 13, 20, 27, 2023

All sessions are recorded and made available to participating students until the end of 2023.

Sign up HERE

ON THE GRID—STRUCTURE AS VISUAL AESTHETIC

This past spring, the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Textile Museum exhibited dozens of quilts from the Color Grid series. You can check out a short video of this exhibition on my Youtube channel. Yes, I have a Youtube channel, and I am going to be getting busy with that, so expect more fun videos from my phone to yours.

THE BIG TADA 2023

Stitching Towards Discovery—Finding Your Voice is a truly unique workshop that I offer once a year. We meet twice a month from January to June. Each session is three hours long and features education, interaction, and consultation. The grand finale of this workshop is called the BIG TADA. During the BIG TADA students present their portfolios featuring between five and ten quilts. It is amazing! The BIG TADA 2023 was presented on June 20, 2023 before a live ZOOM audience, but you can watch the recording here. (On my Youtube channel!) You can sign up for Stitching Toward Discovery 2023 by clicking on this link. 

PIECING PERSPECTIVES—DESIGNING WITH UNITS

MISA, Madeline Island, Wisonsin

Some of you may remember the awesome workshop I taught last year with Sarah Bond and Sujata Shaw. Well, we are back!  This time, Cindy Grisdela is joining Sarah Bond and I for a comprehensive look at how to create units and build fabulous quilts with them. I love this workshop so much! Think about it. Three teachers—three perspectives—all AWESOME. Cindy, Sarah and I met LIVE on ZOOM to talk about the workshop and we liked talking to you and each other SO MUCH that we are meeting up on the regular. Our next chat is on Cindy Grisdela’s Instagram on Tuesday, July 11 at 5PM East Coast Time. I hope you will join us. We are fun! If you want to see the other recordings or, even better, sign up for the workshop, you can by clicking on these links.

MISA ZOOM Recording 

Sarah Bond Instagram Live Recording 

MISA Workshop—Piecing Perspectives—Composing with Units

PUSHING THE SURFACE

My quilt Everything All at Once is on display as part of the exhibition Pushing the Surface at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio. This is a beautiful show with works by the best contemporary quilters on the scene. It is true. According to the museum’s website, “The exhibition is a dance of color, beauty, ingenuity, and story that showcases pieces made by 22 artists with national and international recognition.Take a peak at the exhibition here. 

I hope everyone’s summer is full of gentle breezes, stimulating conversations at the lake, pool, or BBQ—just lots of good times in sun. And if it is too hot outdoors, may you find cool blissful enjoyment in front of your sewing machine. 

Be fearless and keep on stitching. Quilts make the world a better place. 

Maria