Registration has opened for SAQA WA's Conference: Trajectory: SAQA WA's exciting path ahead!

Registrations are already coming in for our first-ever regional conference, Trajectory. To register, please visit SAQA's main website and from the member's section menu choose "Events". SAQA events are listed by date. Scroll to September 11th to find our meeting. To shortcut that process and go directly to our event, click here.

With just two months left to go until the big day, hotel space around La Conner is already booking up. Please plan to join us!

Watch this space for updates. We can't wait!

Great things are ahead for SAQA WA in 2016!

Change is all around us, with co-rep Melody McGinnis heading off to Oregon later this year. Melody will be missed, and we wish her well. Thank-you Melody for the dedication you've given to SAQA WA region!

Happily, Lisa Jenni is taking over for Melody. We'll give her some time to celebrate her successful co-chairing of CQA's upcoming Quilt Art Symposium on April 16th before settling into her role as SAQA WA co-rep. So glad she's on board!

Our big news is our upcoming, first-ever regional meeting. Please save the date: September 11, 2016 at the La Conner Civic Garden Club, across the street from the La Conner Quilt Museum. This one-day meeting will be a chance for us to build ties with each other, envision future exhibits for our region, and share examples of our work, our successes, and frustrations/questions about living as quilt artists. Our keynote speaker will be nationally-acclaimed surface design artist Jane Dunnewold. Jane will have her new book "Creative Strength Training" available for sale during lunch.

More information about this and a registration link will be out by the end of April. Members will receive this information via SAQA WA email as soon as it is available. The registration fee of $65.00 will include a box lunch of your choice from local eatery Calico Cupboard.

We also are soliciting suggestions for a panel discussion for the afternoon session. Please email me at carolyn.higgins125@gmail.com with your ideas. Up to five panelists will be awarded free admission to the meeting in exchange for their contribution to the meeting as panelists.

Watch this space for more news for SAQA WA Region. Have some news to share? Please contact me for access to the blog. Guest posts are warmly welcomed!

SAQA WA Holiday Brunch - Food and Fiber

Thanks to our generous, vivacious co-rep Melody McGinnis, we have had our first social gathering - a holiday brunch at Melody's house in Woodinville. We were a small but festive group - Lisa Jenni, Mary Berdan and her sister Marilyn, Deborah Jaffe, and Melody's mom, Pat. We had oodles of great food, conversation on many subjects - a relaxing respite in the middle of the holiday season. We hope that the gathering will grow next year, and that SAQA members all over the region will also be able to connect in small local groups to get to know each other better. What a pleasure to spend a couple of relaxing hours with these warm, thoughtful people!

Happy Holidays!

Please join us for a warm and relaxing, low-key brunch at Melody McGinnis' house on Sunday, December 13th at 11 AM.

Let Melody know that you are coming with an RSVP on this Evite. We're picturing nothing more stressful than a fat quarter exchange, good food to share, and talking about the great things that can happen in our region in 2016.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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2015 Quilt & Fiber Arts Show in La Conner---Success!! :-)

Carolyn and Melody spent a glorious time this past weekend manning a table at the 2015 Quilt & Fiber Arts Show in La Conner.  How exciting to spend the day chatting with so many wonderful textile artists and art enthusiasts! 

Even more energizing was the vast number of artists who expressed a strong interest in becoming members of SAQA WA. In particular, we had the pleasure of signing up Deb Rychert as our newest member. We want to express our warmest welcome to Deb!:-)  

We hope to see many of you at this Saturday's lunch meeting at Tutta Bella located at 4411 Stone Way North. We’ll gather there right after CQA. Don’t forget to let Carolyn (carolyn.higgins125@gmail.com) know you’re coming! 

Portlandia was Totally Awesome!

Several Washington members met for dinner on the evening of Day 2 (Friday, May 1). I hope that in future years, it will be necessary to book a very large table to accommodate all of us! But we had a great start with Lisa Jenni, Melisse Liang, Mary Arnold, and Ginny Hebert. Bonnie Bucknam also attended Fiberlandia but was una
ble to join us for dinner.

The conference was a mix of informal, fun sessions - the Maker Event on Friday night, Lyric Kinard's creative "fabric portrait" icebreaker - and more formal, information-packed sessions. If I fail to rave about a specific session, it's because I wasn't there! Namita Gupta Wiggers gave Fiberlandia a powerful start with her keynote talk: "Quilt: A Rose by any Other Name Does Not Smell as Sweet...". Rosalie Dace moderated a panel of international quilt artists (photo below) from nations far and wide - including Taiwan, Canada, Australia, and more.

SAQA Auction Ends

The auction has ended, but great pieces can still be had at the SAQA online store. WA region was well-represented by four generous members who donated pieces. Many thanks to Deborah Ann, Sonia Grasvik, Pam Hansen, and Ginny Hebert who graciously created work for this crucial fundraiser.