"Ocean Waves" art quilt

“Ocean Waves” 2015 Cindy Grisdela

It turned out to be a great weekend at the American Fine Craft Show in Hartford, CT. Fourteen quilts found new homes, including “Ocean Waves” at left!

Since it was the first year this show has been held, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was surprised and impressed with the beautiful show it turned out to be. Lots of artist exhibitors I knew and recognized from other shows, with very high quality work.

“Jazzberry” (below left) from my previous post, went to a new home too!

Since most of my time is spent working alone in my studio, I enjoy the opportunity to be out at shows and talking to visitors and other artists–about my work, about their work, about art in general. It’s energizing and I always come home with my head full of new ideas for the next quilt!

Purple Art Quilt - Jazzberry

“Jazzberry” Cindy Grisdela 24″ x 12″

This show was no exception. It was presented as a benefit for the Costume & Textile Society of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, so there were a lot of visitors who were very interested in fiber and textiles. And there were more fiber artists in the show than is usual–from decorative fiber to wearable art to fiber jewelry. It was exciting to see what other artists in the field are doing.

As always, I am grateful to all those who feel in love with one of my pieces–or in some cases more than one!–and wanted to take it home with them. And I’m grateful to those who stopped and chatted with me about my work and about art–that’s one of the places I get all those new ideas!

Terracotta Layers Wall Quilt

“Terracotta Layers” 2015 Cindy Grisdela

And I realized I didn’t get a chance to post about the Arlington Festival of the Arts the weekend before last. Five pieces found new homes at that show, including “Terracotta Layers” at left. “Terracotta” and one other piece went all the way to LA!

I’m excited with this series of work–“Jazzberry” and “Terracotta”–and I hope I can create some new pieces in the series for my show next month. I’m going to have to be busy in the studio between now and then.

Mark your calendars for the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival here in Reston, VA May 16-17, 2015! I’ll be in Booth 908 on Library St. and would love to see you there.

I’m putting up short blog posts with images on Instagram about every other day now, and I’d be happy for you to follow along at https://instagram.com/cindygrisdelaquilts/ Of course I’m still posting on this blog about once a week. You can follow the blog by signing up on the right sidebar. Thanks for reading!