Fiberfest, Here I Come!

I'm excitedly counting down the hours now until I leave for Fiberfest. Tomorrow morning, my plane will take me to Issaquah, WA where I will spend5 fun-filled, art-immersed days. I just can't wait!

My bags are all packed save for a few toiletries. Unbelievably, I've managed to fit all of my clothes AND all of my art supplies into the smaller of our two suitcases. Summer helps lighten the clothing load. And fabric/fiber helps lighten the art load. It seems sewing-related things are much more condensed than paper, paint, and glue. I want to pat myself on the back here as well, since I've been tremendously organized with prepping for classes. I've spent some real time thinking about each project in advance. And I think I've packed only what I will actually use. Each class has its own ziplock bag full of the related supplies and nothing more. We'll see how this approach works for me as opposed to my normal "grab-everything-within-sight-because-I-just-may-need-the-kitchen-sink" way of packing.

I'm also anxious to meet all the wonderful women from the Mini Art Quilt swap that I hosted recently. These 22 people are truly an amazing bunch. I just can't wait to spend some time with them in person. The photo (above) shows the quilt I made for this swap. Each player created 5 or 6 quilts and I assembled them all into vertical wall hangings. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out, and if I can believe what I read, everyone else is too!

As for my canvases, well... I'm proud to say that I finished 9 out of the 12. (And by finished I mean that the main artwork is complete. I still need to paint the sides and varnish when I get home.) I should finish one more today... that will leave just two (the biggest two, of course) to work on when I get back. That's fine by me though. Having something midway done will serve as a bridge to get me back into the studio after this break. Sometimes when I have to start a new piece from scratch after a break, the initial going is a little rough.

I'll see you all in blog-land again when I return next week!