2015 -- a Very Good Year!

I really hate to see the end of 2015.  It has been an amazing year for me, both personally and professionally.

It started on a high note, with "String Theory" on the cover of the SAQA Winter 2015 Journal:

In January, I had my first solo show at Elm Street Studio in Keller, Texas.  It was a fabulous event!

In February, I went to QuiltCon in Austin, Texas.  Not only did I get to see some good friends at the show, I was lucky enough to have two quilts on display:

Posing with Tuning Fork #12

But the best part was that I got to spend a week with my best friend, Kyra:

Sona and Kyra

Our next adventure was a trip to the British Virgin Islands.  First, Tortola:

And then a blissful week on the peaceful island of Anegada.  We had this beautiful beach all to ourselves:

Two nights after returning home from Anegada, I flew to Portland for the SAQA Fiberlandia conference. It was great to see old friends and to make some new ones.  Here is the Texas contingent:

Lynne, Teresa, me, Deborah

Back at home, it was time for the Dallas Quilt Celebration.  I was amazed to find that I had won 5 ribbons!

A New Riff

I had a second solo show in Carrollton in April:

Subdivisions #9 won first place in Focus: Fiber in Dallas:

In May, I went on a road trip to the Texas Quilt Museum in LaGrange, Texas, with some pals.  Of course we stopped for pie:

In front of Royers Pie Emporium in Round Top

The highlight of the year had to be the trip to Finland for "Quilt Visions: American Modern Quilt Art" in June.  Finland is beautiful!  We enjoyed seeing both Oulu and Helsinki. And it was such an honor to be part of the exhibit.  I made several good new friends, and the museum staff was wonderful.  Seeing my pieces hanging in the museum was really truly amazing:

I have been making an effort to enter pieces in art shows as well as art quilt or fiber shows.  Tuning Fork #20 was accepted into the Texas Artist's Coalition annual show:

On the way to Cape Cod for our annual visit with Brian's dad, we stopped in Rhode Island to see Jude, an artist we met in Oulu.

Jude and I in her studio.  I have serious studio envy.

And then, of course, we spent a wonderful week on Cape Cod:

Rock Harbor

At the annual Trinity Valley Quilt Guild show in September, I won 5 ribbons.

In October it was time for International Quilt Festival.  I had three quilts in the show, one in the "What's for Dinner?" exhibit, and one in the IQA silent auction:

I had gone down early to Houston to spend a couple of days with Maria Shell.  I was lucky enough to see her three times in 2015, which is remarkable since she lives in Alaska and I live in Texas.   I love to spend time with her!

Maria and I

I was in three more shows in the fall, Fiber Visions in Dallas, the Fiber Artists of San Antonio annual show in San Antonio and Fiber in Forney in Forney, Texas.  

And we had a great time in Colorado at Thanksgiving, and lived through the annual Christmas tree hike:

This Christmas, we've been lucky enough to have our family around us. 

All in all, a very good year!