Houston Area Fiber Artists - annual exhibition

If you are in the Houston area, you are invited to visit the HAFA exhibition at the Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy. The show will hang until April 16.

Reverse Auction - Final Day

The Invitational Reverse Auction raised $1300 for the American Cancer Society in the first 15 minutes this morning!

There are only three fabulous fiber artworks remaining:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/ReverseAuctionArtwork2009.html

Natalya Aiken's artwork graced the cover of the 2009 Quilting Arts Calendar.

As a special bonus, Pokey Bolton is donating a copy of the calendar to accompany this artwork.

Gerrie Congdon's artwork is a treasure for those of you who covet vintage Japanese fabrics.

Carol Larson's big and bold art quilt is a wry comment on the "starter castles" that are popping up everywhere.

Of course, 100% of the proceeds are donated directly to the American Cancer Society and patrons receive an immediate electronic receipt from the ACS.

"Seeking the Light"

Connie Fahrion "Seeking the Light"

I received another Birthday postcard, this one from my friend Connie. It is made mostly of used dryer sheets that have been painted and drawn on. My collection continues to grow.

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It's my Birthday

It's my birthday today and I've received a number of fiber postcards over last couple of days. It is so nice to have artists as friends. I'm happy to add these to my collection which now extends to 3 albums.

Nancy Dickey "Party Crow" 2008

In response to Hurricane Ike
Liz Broussard - "Interrupted"

Elaine Connelly - "Black and Gold"

Nancy Dickey - "Pearfect"

Connie Fahrion - "Saying It in Fiber V"
This was my Christmas card but don't think I have posted it before.

Marie, Tom and a Christmas Tree

Marie and Tom have arrived in Saudi Arabia and are having a great time which is being recorded in her blog. If you are interested in what life is like in an oil company expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, you will get some idea there.



The pipe well head on an oil well was called a Christmas tree. I believe they are now called a production tree. This one happens to be Dammam #7, the first producing well in Saudi Arabia. This is where it all started.

Marie was 10 yrs. and Tom 3 yrs. when we moved there in 1972. They are seeing amazing changes and being treated in high style by the locals. Saudi hospitality is unparalleled. The standard greeting at their door is ahlan wa sahlan, meaning roughly "make yourself comfortable, be family". They make every effort to make you feel that way.

Unique Roof

Click for detail

While on a house and garden tour today in River Oaks, I noticed this house next door to one on the tour. The roof is very unique. It looks like a thatched roof in shape, but is made of wood shingles. Notice how they wrap around the edge to make it rounded. The rest of the roof is flat, however. The undulations are just an illusion.

Azalea Time

The azaleas are bursting into bloom. The weather is perfect.

Most of these photos were taken at the River Oaks Garden Club
or Bayou Bend, Ima Hogg's house that now
belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts.

They're Off

Our daughter Marie and son Tom are off on a reunion trip to Saudi Arabia, where they grew up. We've been putting them on airplanes and sending them off since they left for boarding school in the 9th and 10th grades. It has been 25 years since Marie was in Saudi and 18 since Tom made his last visit so they will see many changes.

This trip is a reunion of employees of the oil company, Saudi Aramco and children who grew up there. My husband and I decided we wouldn't go back with them since we were in the Kingdom for a very comprehensive visit in 2005. Our hearts and souls will travel with them. After living there for 23 years, we still have strong roots, many friends and wonderful memories of life in the Middle East.

They have gone well armed with cameras and have promised to blog regularly.

Annual Show - Houston Area Fiber Artists

This morning I delivered two for the HAFA (Houston Area Fiber Artists) annual show. The show will open March 21 and run through April 16 at Archway Gallery, 2305-A Dunlavy, Houston.

"Reverie" has just been finished this week.

Reverie

Reverie (detail)

Reverie has oodles of lines of machine embroidery stitches and couched yarns. I started this one in Fall of 2008, hence the autumn colors. I can hardly believe I'm working with those colors. A few years ago they would have made my stomach squirm. I'm happy working with all the colors in my box these days.

I'm a Picses

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"Just the Two of Us"
9"x12"

The theme was "fish" and color "chartreuse". I tried several new techniques on this one so it was a stretch on a small scale.

Hints of Spring

This mourning dove is one of a pair that regularly roosts on my gate post. It is a bit chilly today so he/she has feathers all fluffed up. The cross vine is just about to burst into bloom and will be covered in bees in a couple of days.