I just sent in my SAQA quilt, Dream State to Cheyenne for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates), Wyoming Challenge show. We were to choose one of 3 photos to interpret. I chose the airport people-mover in Chicago O’Hare photo. The colors were so stimulating and I spend a lot of time at airports. (Don’t tell anyone, but I actually like airports). 

Cairn is the second challenge that I am turning in for my TAGY (Textile Artists of Greater Yellowstone) piece. The challenge word was “Sign”. A cairn is a very welcome sign when one is out on a trail to know that you are going in the correct direction. A cairn is usually a pile of rocks placed by humans to notify others of where the trail is.

And my mini-postcard quilt- A Window to Mauritania, was sent and displayed at Pocket Utopia in New York City this week, thanks to Austin Thomas! I’m very excited about this and check out the Instagram post on Pocket Utopia!

Then finally, just for fun I created Mauritania Admiration quilt. In September/October I visited Matt for about 3 weeks, during his 2 month work trip. We walked over to the sand dunes often (mostly for exercise). Have you ever tried walking up a sand dune? It’s a nice workout! We figured out that the shepherds walked the camels in the morning daily to the market (I’m guessing) and back in the evening around 6-6:30pm. So, we tried to time our visits to the dunes so we could watch them from the top. There were hundreds of camels and occasionally some of them strayed away from the caravan, like the two in the quilt. I was so mesmerized by their beauty as they effortlessly sauntered across the desert. The caravan of camels created the most beautiful peaceful parade I have ever seen. The people I met in Mauritania were as peaceful and kind and left me with a deep admiration of their culture. Around the perimeter of the piece, I used melahfa , the local fabric worn by females. It is a gorgeous, gauzy, soft cotton, which is hand-dyed in the market. It is so hot there, this lightweight flowy fabric makes sense.