Autumn Forest 2011 Cindy Grisdela

Last week I received notification that my quilt, “Autumn Forest,” was accepted for the Bending the Rules exhibit of work from Studio Art Quilt Associates members from Virginia and North Carolina. The exhibit will be on display February 23-26, 2012 during the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA. I’m excited to be part of this show–it’s one I always go to with my mother and my sister and it’s fun to see my work hanging there.

I had the call for entry for this show up on my bulletin board for several months before the deadline because I knew I wanted to enter it. I had just the piece in mind. Then about 10 days before the deadline as I was getting ready to fill out the paperwork, I saw it–there was a size restriction on the entries! Of course, the quilt I had planned to enter didn’t fit, and none of the other work I had available was quite right either.  I had some leftover wonky stripes blocks up on my design wall that gave me an idea, so I put this piece together and quilted it just in time for the deadline. It “bends the rules” in at least two ways–the borders are only on two sides instead of all four and the curved green and purple border is in the interior, rather than on the outside.

The combination of colors reminded me of autumn leaves–some gold, some purple, some still green. I quilted the interior with echoing spirals like a breeze in the forest–if you right click on the image you’ll be able to see the texture better.

If you’re in the Great Falls area, my solo show, “Color and Line,” will be up at Katie’s Coffee House on Walker Road through December 30. Stop by and see it if you get a chance and let me know what you think!

Also, my December newsletter will be going out this week, so if you’d like to receive it, add your name to my mailing list at the upper right of this blog.