Art @ The Hermitage: PIQF

Friday, October 14, 2011

PIQF - Day 3

As expected, after a day in Dierdra's applique class, I feel I really know how to applique... as in, I've learned the techniques for a whole bunch of procedures, and have managed to perform them, with varying degrees of efficiency. The basics are there, but the skills have a ways to go! But, as it's ever been with my life as a musician, the requirement is practice! practice! practice! I'm truly excited to have learned so much theory, and to have finally "gotten it" in some areas that had henceforth been pretty fuzzy. Hopefully, I'll be able to retain much of what I've learned over the past two days until such time as I can seriously get back to it. As soon as I return home, all of my energy is going to have to go into completing my major new quilt for the Vallejo Open Studios, which is coming up way too soon (November 12-13).

In the meantime, while still here at PIQF, hours of fun remain to take my mind off such pressures! After class, I met up with Dale, Lani and Rosalie, for a fabulous dinner at the hotel restaurant. The place was jammed, and since there were a bunch of us from various aspects of the show - teachers, vendors, students, and spouses, standing around waiting for tables, we were all seated together at a giant round table in a special nook, and we had a great time getting acquainted and re-acquainted, swapping stories, passing out cards and fliers, etc. After dinner, most of us went to the Fashion Show. This is always a much anticipated event of the week, and tonight, in celebration of the Festival's 20th anniversary, the show co-ordinator and good buddie of mine, Karen Boutte, really outdid herself. There were five featured artists... Sandra Wagner, Nick Coman, Cathy Hoover, Lorraine Torrence, and Noelle Tamborini-Olson. Amazingly, in a show featuring over 70 outfits, I only found 3-4 of them to be in the ho-hum category. The rest were drop-dead wonderful! Kopius Kudos to Karen!!

After a brief stop at the bar for a keoke coffee and an affogato, I've crashed in my room - staying up long enough to post the day's activities, and then it's crash time for me. Tomorrow's class is with Sue Dennis, and I've been waiting for this class for a year! After taking three classes with her last year, I definitely wanted more. I wanted to take her class yesterday, but I've been waiting three years for Dierdra's quilting class to come back, so opted for that instead. Hopefully, Sue will be back again next year and I can get caught up on her great classes.

Here's the eye-candy for today...

This one ties with Jack Nicholson as my favorite so far...

'Swan Lake de los Muertos' by Nancy Arseneault

Three totally awesome pieces from the South African quilters of the World Quilt Competition XV tour...