Since I’m cleaning up my studio, I decided it was finally time to rehang my collection of 12″ x 12″ art quilts purchased from the Studio Art Quilts Association (SAQA) annual auction.

SAQA holds a reverse auction online every September to raise funds for its exhibition and outreach programs. I’ve been participating in the auction for about the last five years, donating a piece of mine to be sold each year, as well as purchasing one or more pieces of other artists’ work as well. I’m now up to 10 pieces in my collection that lives over my cutting table in my home studio.

On the top, from left to right, the artists are Diane Nunez, Sheryl Buchler, Kathleen Probst, Lisa Ellis, and Judith Traeger. On the bottom, from left to right, are works by Heather Dubreil, Linda Beach, Madeline Appell, Jean Wells, and Floris Flam.

The SAQA Auction is a reverse auction, so the prices start out for $1000 or $750 for each quilt, and go down each day for a week until they get to $100 at the end of the week. I make a list at the beginning of all the pieces I’d like to purchase, but I never know which quilts are going to be available when the price gets to what my budget will allow. Some years I’m able to buy more than one, but mostly it’s just one.

The two newest pieces from the 2015 auction are in the middle–the black and bright one by Kathleen Probst is called “Lada Geo #1” and the bright green one is “Child’s Play” by Madeline Appell. I had met Kathleen at the SAQA Conference in Portland, OR last year and was introduced to her work for the first time there. Coincidentally, I met Madeline for the first time at the American Fine Craft Show at the Brooklyn Museum this past November when she stopped by my booth.

It’s a diverse collection, and I’m inspired by it every day! Some of the pieces are by artists I knew already, and some I’ve met as a result of the auction, but all of them speak to me in some way.

Thanks for reading! Do you have a favorite collection?

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2 Comments

  1. Eleanor Balaban on January 6, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    I will send you a picture of mine. Now hung.



  2. Barbara Roidl on January 7, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    Hello!
    Your collection looks great! Thank you for posting this!
    I just purchased my very first Saqa quilt square, a delicate piece by Heidi Field-Alvarez. Now I am exploring how I can display it on a wall. How do you put yours up???

    Thanks for your suggestions,

    Barbara