Monday, July 27, 2009

Long Beach Quilt Festival 2009 or "Rockin the Purple Carpet"

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(my dog tags)

I would like to say THANK YOU to Karey & her fabulous band of fantastic femme's who worked so tirelessly to make the Long Beach Festival such a HUGE success! You gals ROCKED!

I nearly fainted with joy when I walked through the big open doors to see my own work staring me (literally) right back in the face! My Cheetah quilt was about as front & center as you could get. It was part of the 'West Coast Wonders II' exhibit and was flanked by one stunning piece of art after another! I was truly verklempt! So much for the mascara! After composing myself; my friend Julie snapped this pic. What a momentous occasion for this virtually unknown quilter from Orange, CA.



My Journal Quilt was there as well representing the water element: "Flamingo Walk"


My Edges Piece 'Silence'


My buddy Julie and her Edges piece:

That's all cut work, velvet. She did all that by hand!

Do you Moo too??? Here's some 'moos' I collected, can you 'guess who's moo' by the art?




I had one for Jamie Fingal but now can't find it :(

I will tell you that went I went over to Make it University & Judy Coates Perez was sitting there in her darling groovy yellow apron, I immediately went right over & said "There SHE IS!!!" Where is that lovely flip thing with your art on it??" She was gracious enough to actually act like she knew who the heck I was & what in the heck I was talking about! (Ok, I posted on her blog when she first showed it off, but really, I didn't expect her to actually remember)LOL. That's a classy gal right there!

As I kept walking I hear a voice shout out "You WIN!" and I stood there because A.) I was wearing my Tiara and B.) I'm nosey & want to see who won and what it is! This adorable little gal sitting there calls me over & gives me an ATC she's made. She says it's because of my Tiara. I'm so thrilled I don't even realize who I'm talking to! It's MELANIE TESTA!!!! I'm standing there like a big doof and MELANIE TESTA is giving me one of her ATC's!!! Just when I thought I couldn't be anymore verklemt than I was all ready between the Cheetah, Ms. Perez & being filmed by Bonnie McCaffrey (ok, more on that later!) Here it is; I will treasure it always!!! Thank YOU!!! so much Melanie!


I pinned it on my dress & wore it proudly the rest of the day!!!

Speaking of running into folks! A gal I've been friends with online for awhile now was going to be at Festival & we exchanged cell numbers so we could 'meet in person'. I was so thrilled to see her & we hung out for a good while chatting & laughing & even walking the vendor isles a bit. SO much FUN!!! I was sad when I had to leave her but it was such a great highlight of my day!!! Here we are, me & my buddie Lynn Douglass

We're standing in front of my Detours piece "Noah's Raven".

Here's a shot of me & Cynthia Catlin; she's in charge of exhibitions for Quilts on the Wall: Fiber Artists. Many of you may not know, I'm currently President of this group (2 years) and Cynthia is the past president & now Exhibitions Chair. There are over seventy members in this group. She works incredibly hard on our exhibits for Quilts on the Wall! Thank you to Susan Willen for taking this picture of us!



Here's some shots of my 'Combat Tiara for the Dangerously Fabulous!" Though there was no official 'parade of Tiara's' this year, I made one anyway just in case.





What I shared at the QA/SAQA reception: Still a WIP but getting closer Sarah!



What we bought! Julie & Cindy & I had a blast at the 'Hand Dyed' shop as usual!

That brilliant Red is one piece that has browns on either side & that gorgeous red strip right down the middle. It's amazing!

These yummy pieces were from Anansi village.


Now about Bonnie!

When we first got to Festival; Julie & I were standing at the Detours exhibit. I noticed a gal standing in front of my 'Noah's Raven' with a video recorder. She asked me if I'd like to be on film & say a few words. Being up for anything and feelin so groovy from my Cheetah high I was all excited to do it... Till I realized, I had to stand there and SAY SOMETHING on CAMERA! She asked me to say some words about the raven & my tiara, I kid you not, I stood there said 'what?'. I was so nervous I couldn't figure out what to do considering I couldn't really look at either thing while I was trying to describe it! I thought about ripping the Tiara off my head but the fear of having all my hair standing upright and askew on camera would be worse. If there was any useful footage of my fumblings I'll be amazed! I felt so dumb & my voice had tremours from being nervous! I mean, here's me who could get up & sing in front of crowds (and has) but without a script? or something to focus on? I was totally lost!

It was fun and when it's all over, she thanked me and was so nice & she left with Julie to talk about Julies piece in Edges. Then someone came up to me and asked 'So, did Bonnie McCaffrey interview you?' did I realize! OMG!!! THAT was BONNIE MCCAFFREY!!! SHUT UP!!! Well, it was a total geek out moment I can assure you! No idea, as I said, if any of the footage will wind up on the vidcasts of the show but ya; I'll be watchin! And later the next day; I looked up her site & watched nearly all her vidcasts & was blown away by not only the artists she's interviewed, but all the lovely quilts she's captured! Thank you Bonnie for showing those of us who can't go to Houston, or England those fantastic quilts!!!

So, that's my story... (not all of it; but there are somethings that have to stay under wraps just yet)

Still floatin' on cloud 10!

17 comments:

  1. Don't think you can call yourself "virtually unknown' anymore. Cheetah makes me breathless when I see photos. Wow,wow,wow.
    I'd be interested to see some photos of your workspace...I want to see how much room it takes to do all that work.

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  2. Hey Sally! Good to see you! Funny you should mention the work space. There were quilts there that were 3 & 4 times larger than my Cheetah & I was wondering the same thing about those artists! The Cheetah took up my entire dining room table (folded out for 6) for an entire year. There was fabric everywhere, I still have the life size color copy of the pattern I had printed out at kinko's. Don't ask!

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  3. I am so happy for you and your pieces at the show! You Go Girl. Enjoy the ride. Congratulations on the vid cast - that is so great. Loved your tiara. Wish you could have come back for more on Sat or Sunday. There is always next year. See you at Cut-Loose.

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  4. What an amazing day for you! Wow! You should have played lotto! Congrats on the well deserved attention!

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  5. Such exciting times!
    It's great to get an idea of the size of these art pieces of yours. And to see you looking radiant.

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  6. Anonymous10:01 AM

    Hi Stacy-- congrats on all your LB success and fun! I'm so happy I got to see the tiara-- Lynn described it to me, then said that I must see it!!

    Wish I had been able to go to LB this year!

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  7. Ah! One of the best show reiews EVER! YEAH!! I love it...love the phots and the text.. I can 'almost' feel like I was there too. Good to see Lynn was there - wish I could have sent a hug her way. Cheetah absolutely ROCKS .. I had NO idea that you had somthing that amazing and LARGE in the show. rock on sistah!

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  8. I love your description of the show! You were only there one day, but you made the most of it! Now I have to do mine....

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  9. Wow! The Cheetah is breathtaking! Absolutely gorgeous! I loved your account of the show and could feel your excitement through your words! Your work is beautiful and your tiara is wonderful! Congratulations on such a fabulous day!

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  10. Linda Laird4:46 PM

    Dear Stacy,
    It was great to meet you at the Friday night reception. Your work is beautiful! I esp. enjoyed the blending of shapes and calligraphy in the "Edges" piece--like a medieval illuminated manuscript.

    You are no longer an unknown quilter!

    Keep up the good work,
    Linda Laird
    San Diego

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  11. Unknown? NOT! You didn't just rock the purple carpet, you owned it, sister! It was awesome to get to finally meet you and hang out a bit!

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  12. Your video comments were fabulous, girl! I never detected a voice tremor at all. Videos will be up on Quilts.com in a week or two... I am really excited about what we filmed for MY VidCast... It's going to be the best. Thanks... Bonnie

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  13. Me too Bonnie! Can't wait! You're the best, can't wait to see you again! And I AM looking into the matters we discussed this week. :)

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  14. Hey you!

    Wow! Sounds like you hit the jackpot at the Detours show! Not knowing anything at all about actually creating a quilt or famous quilters (except YOU!) I can tell from your postings that your works did well.

    I just LOVE the tiara! You are so ready for everything - who would dream of taking along a tiara - just in case!?!?

    Love the kitty pics to. Your girls really love ripping into presents, don't they?

    Almost bed time for me. 4:15 comes awfully early and I have a bit of a headache....

    Just wanted to check in - and I'm glad I did!

    ~Deb

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  15. Wow, sounds like a great time was had by all. I've never been to that festival but glad you got to go -- And had several pieces there. Congratulations!

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  16. I was, like, holding my breath reading this! It was like you were leading me around, breathless, showing and telling me everything!

    And the Tiara...I covet it!

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  17. You absolutely deserve to have that Cheetah quilt front and center!
    Congratulations on all of the pieces and the show!

    Missed you at Fiendom Come, but there will be others. It's obvious you've been busy. :)

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