Sharon Schamber at AVQA

My husband often tells me that if I want to reach for the stars, not to shoot for the moon because I may only hit the lamppost. Instead, aim for the center of the universe, because then I just may hit Pluto. Well, last night I saw the center of the universe, and it contains the work of Sharon Schamber. She did a trunk show at the AVQA guild meeting last night. I found myself near tears as each quilt was unrolled and presented, as each was more magnificent than the previous. Over the years, I'd seen Sharon's work in photographs, and even a couple of pieces at Road to California. I'd always known her work was indescribably amazing, but to be able to stand nose-to-nose with Mystique was, well, indescribable.

She started by passing around small studies of hand and machine quilting, appliqué and beading. A set of blocks of hand appliqué followed. Each of these studies and blocks were passed from person to person, as we marveled at the tiny hand quilting stitches, the intricate machine quilting, the perfectly stitched machine and hand appliqué. I was sitting next to Darla Hall, who is a long-arm quilter, and she pointed out things about the quilting I didn't know. She studies Sharon's work, has her DVDs, and strives to hit that center of the universe where Sharon's work resides. She and I were not the only ones I heard saying that we wanted to be Sharon when we grew up! LOL!

The last two quilts shown were Mystique and a new one (which I can't remember the name to), which has yet to be finished. It looked as if the only thing left to do was the binding. Those two quilts were laid open on two tables on the stage for us to come up and get a closer look at. And close we did get. Mystique is quilted in black thread on a white background. The stitches are perfect! The intricacy and variety is astounding. There are several thousand yards of spaghetti-strap tubing sewn between the pieces and around the edge.

I bought her book, "Piece by Piece, Machine Appliqué." I'm taking her class tomorrow, so she said she'd sign it then. We're doing her "Love Me Knot" appliqué class. I'm excited, and can't wait to start. I'll fill you in on the class next week.

I had a couple projects due for school this past week, so I didn't do anything substantively creative. However, I have been working on my VS1-Filigree on the bus ride home from work each night. It's coming along really well. I should have the appliqué sewn down by the end of the weekend. I'd like to get it sandwiched and basted Sunday, so it's ready to start quilting. I need to decide on quilting thread. I think I'd like to use a variegated light to dark pink, or perhaps a butterscotch to match the binding.

Not much else is happening right now, and I don't have any new photos to share. I've got a couple weeks off from classes, so I'm hoping to get a lot of creative work done. I should have more to show you next week.

Until then, take care.

Michele