Archive for the ‘General’ Category

A Solo Exhibition, January 2026.

Monday, September 8th, 2025

Courtesy of the Intendencia of Maldonado which runs the Casa de le Cultura, (cultural centre) I’ve been offered one of the gallery exhibition spaces for next January, with the opening on Jan 2nd. I knew it ‘had been a while’, but when I checked I was a bit shocked that this will be my first solo in Uruguay since May 2009 – way too long.

I’d been to the centre once before, on the opening night of the first exhibition of Glass+Textile art, in which I had a piece. The organisers have made it an annual event, and the third exhibition of glass+textile art will be held at the Casa de la Culture in February of next year. (the conditions of the call have been published, the size is a little larger, 2D, max.25cm, and I’m already working on an entry) Last week I went to Maldonado to meet Ana, the gallery director, and was shown two spaces, both the same. On the day I went there, both rooms were occupied with classes so I couldn’t enter to take linear measurements, but I took a couple of photos through the glass panelled door, which was enough to give me a good idea of how to approach shortening my list of possible works and bring a better focus to the collection.

I initially thought I wouldn’t need to make any new work at all, and while that is true for my 2D wall hanging works – tapices, wall hangings, art quilts – I’m currently enamoured with 3D, too, and now know that the centre supplies the plinths I’d need for some soft sculptures; so I plan to make at least one and probably two table-top pieces featuring embellished stuffed suffolk puffs – (try repeating that phrase fast!)

Individual puffs will be embellished before I assemble them into the soft sculpture table top installation

They grow quite quickly, and learning from the one I’ve been making these past couple of weeks, I’ve realised construction will be faster and easier if I make them larger, and embellish them before I assemble them!

Studio Art Quilt Associates Members’ Benefits, 4

Sunday, September 7th, 2025

The annual SAQA Benefit online auction appproaches, starting friday 12th September, so today I continue my series of posts on the access to resources that I have particularly valued in my time as a SAQA member.

The networking that occurs between members has always been remarkable. The art form of ‘art quilts’ descended from the centuries old craft of quilted bed coverings and clothing, which we think of as having come primarily from the UK and USA; but they were also produced in various cultures across Asia and Eurasia for warmth and protection in combat and firefighting. As with many other different traditional crafts, those who already know how to do the various steps are usually happy to show and teach others the technical steps required. I’ve been fortunate to attend some wonderful in-person and online workshops down the years, and there’s whole lot of free technical and advisory information available through the large library of resources of SAQA available to members on the SAQA website.

For art quilt makers today there are many more techniques available for surface design than were in the world of traditional quilt making. Today, art quilt makers can select from numerous painting, printing and dyeing techniques, plus more modern computer designed and digitally printed techniques – areas in which I personally haven’t dabbled too deeply, for various logistical reasons. However, I’m always happy to sample new and different non-traditonal fabrics and threads while I continuing to use the machine and hand stitch techniques I learned way back in childhood.

This pewter metallic finish fine polyester jersey fabric excited me when I saw it early this year, so I bought a minimum cut, loved how it works in hand stitched raw edge applique; so returned to buy a metre of it and the gold version. Those pieces will inspire and last me for some time!

And today there’s a much wider range of fabrics including both natural and some interesting, exciting man-made wovern and non-woven materials, plus a wide range of threads and notions which we fibreartists can choose to use. Some makers out and recycle salvaged materials as part of their mission, but I use a combination of both when I find something that inspires me.

My 2022 Spotlight donation piece, (6″x8″) features squares of mylar coated material from the envelopes containing my favourite tea bags, hand stitched onto black fabric with neon poyester thread.

This morning, browsing on Pinterest I wandered into a ceramic page and found a set of diagrams of templates ceramic artists use to construct slabs into ceramic receptacles or vessels. I pinned it and a couple of other diagrams for my own edification – and will post a link to SAQA’s 3D Special Interest Group FB page – because it will raise greater awareness of the potential of 3D fibreart constructions we can all explore. Yay for networking! @saqaart

Studio Art Quilt Associates Members’ Benefits, 3

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025

As the annual Studio Art Quilt Associates benefit auction begins later this month, on Friday 12th September, I’m continuing this series of posts about the membership advantages that I particularly value from among the wide range of resources offered by this organisation. In today’s post I focus on exhibition opportunities for artist members, because a big portion of the SAQA’s budget is taken by exhibition costs which include documentation, catalogues, gallery costs and transportation costs of the travelling exhibitions. Members pay entry fees, of course, but these are only a small portion of the overall costs.

Since the formation of SAQA in 1989, the core mission of has been to publicise the art form of the quilted textile, and one of the main ways the organisation does this is through the exhibition programs for members. As a result of this history of SAQA art quilt exhibitions, today, a portion of memberships are maintained by some gallery and museum directors and other patrons of the arts in addition to those of currently practising textile artists and traditional quiltmakers looking to explore traditional quilt making.

SAQA members come from many different backgrounds. Some have had formal art education, and many (like myself) have not, but we all are looking for self expression through making quilted textile art, and at some point for various reasons, artists look for avenues to show their art to the world in art via galleries, art fairs, group and solo exhibitions. Many of us find these opportunities long before we become SAQA members; but to a novice art quilt maker, taking this step for the fist time can be intimidating. Wherever members are on the experience spectrum, it is likely that at least occasionally most of us will take advantage of an opportunity to exhibit in a juried SAQA exhibition of some kind – because there are several avenues:

“Out of Order 3” will apear inthe SAQA Global Exhibition, “AI: Artistic Interpretations” opening in Baton Rouge LA, Feb. 2nd 2026.

The SAQA website https://www.saqa.com has a great deal of information, guidance and tips on the business of exhibiting, including approaching galleries and submitting applications, the essentials of good photography, writing appropriate statements, and the business side of handling pricing, publicity and sales.

Complete information about the upcoming SAQA Benefit Auction including how to bid – it’s all online, from anywere in the world, and you do not need to be a member of SAQA to take part! All works on offer can now be viewed at the above link. The auction opens with Diamond Day on Friday, September 12 at 2pm EDT (GMT/UTC-4, New York Time). On Diamond Day, any piece is available for $1,000; the first bidder wins. The rest of this reverse-price auction is divided into three sections, with a new section open each Monday:

Section 1: Sept 15 – Sept 21
Section 2: Sept 22 – Sept 28
Section 3: Sept 29 – Oct 5

Studio Art Quilt Associates Members’ Benefits, 2

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025
“Out of Order 4″ 2025. 12″x12” 30cm x 30cm

The annual benefit auction begins later this month, so I’m posting on several membership advantages that I’ve particularly valued from among the wide range of resources offered by this organisation. One special interest group is the Multi-Day Challenge SIG

I’ve been designing and making textile/fiberart for many years, and only rarely am I stumped with absolutely no idea of what I’ll do next, and only occasionally get stuck mid project. Back in the late 80s, though, I found it very helpful to join a group of quilters who were experimenting beyond traditional geometric P&Q, and moving into more personally inspired textile art. That group, Quilt Explorations, met monthly to accept the next challenge offered by one of our 15 or so members, and show and critique what we’d all done with the previous month’s challenge. By 1993, when we left town, Q.E. had turned into a critique group only, as most members were now following our own inspiration paths and didn’t need prompts provided by someone else’s challenge to create our art.

Today, with this post in mind, I googled “quilting challenges” and about 3rd or 4th down the page I found this an interesting blog, Online Quilting Magazine.com and read the article about challenges which includes this succinct summary of the whole challenge thing – “Joining a quilting challenge can be a fantastic way to hone your skills, gain new techniques and have fun with others who share your passion for quilting. As with any challenge, the main goal is to encourage you to try new things and branch out from your normal routine.”

SAQA runs at least two challenges a year. During the pandemic, 2021, with heaps more unstructured time at home than I was used to having, I realised this was a gift of time to explore new things in textile fibreart. In addition to joining StitchClub, later that year I took part in the 100 day SAQA Reboot Challenge. In 2019 I’d taken part for a while in a 30 day one, but got distracted and didn’t stay the course. However, with so much time it was easy to keep to my plan for 100 days. SAQA’s challenges are individual – the participant sets their own agenda, does at least something on it every day, and posts about it on that day’s album on the challenge’s private FB page. Part of participating is giving helpful or encouraging comments to others for what they’re doing. Over the course of those 100 days I made 100 x 3.25inch square mounted samples, and blogged several times about how I was doing, using the title “Very Small Pieces” https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=6891 through to “Very Small Pieces,#14” https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=7096 and the final one, “After the 100 Day Thing” showing some favourites from the 100! https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=7124

Handled by volunteer coodinators, such challenges use little of SAQA’s financial resources, but they do rely on the efficient ever-ready technical backup and support of the several salaried SAQA staff – my thanks to you all! @saqaart

Studio Art Quilt Associates Members’ Benefits, 1

Monday, September 1st, 2025

The annual benefit auction begins later this week, so I’m posting on several membership advantages that I particularly value from among the wide range of resources offered by this organisation. First up is the SAQA 3D Special Interest Group

Though I’m best known as a creative in 2D fibreart, making tapices, wall hangings or art quilts, depending on where you come from, I’ve occasionally produced three dimensional works, and I was recently invited to speak about these in a Zoom meeting of the SAQA 3D Special Interest Group.

SAQA has several interest groups, which are open to all members at no extra charge. The attendance online that day was around 50, which I thought was wonderful, as many members work during the day, and a good portion of the SAQA membership is spread around the world in other time zones, so a few more will access the recording of the talk some time. It’s always a pleasure to talk about my art in such an opportunity, as I love sharing and hopefully inspiring someone to take a new turn or press on with new energy.

The inspiration to work this way can vary. In 1984 I attended a workshop on fabric covered boxes which gave me the skills I needed in 2016 to make some tetrahedrons.

My first tetrahedron, 15 x 15 x 15 x18cm h 2016
In 1987, I found myself making a soft sculpture of a gold nugget for an important community project.

Back in 2020 I took an online Clarissa Calleson workshop with StitchClub that reminded me about about stuffed forms, and they’ve been on my mind since I began preparing my powerpoint lecture for SAQA 3D SIG.

~12 x 5cm, a possible body ornament
… or presented mounted in an artist canvas.
Different versions of stuffed forms which can add wonderful 3D textures to 2D hangings, too…

I’m currently stuffing various cream fabrics including more of the fibreglass that I used the the first glass+textile exhibition, as the call has gone out for the third exhibition, in February ’26, in Maldonado. The organisers have asked us not to show the works being entered, so just be assured, there will be fibreglass, glass beads and plenty of hand embroidery 🙂 @saqaart

Links are included to give interested readers access to further information

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