FAFAC Donation The 100 Art full Book

http/www.virginiaspiegel.com/FFACThe100Fundraiser.html

This is my donation for the Feb. 4 Fundraiser for American Cancer Society. It is 3" square, mixed media on hand painted watercolor papers. It has 8 double sided pages, as a fold out book with ribbon.
Use two push pins to attach the book to the wall, view one side and for a change of pace, reverse the book and you have another side to enjoy. It has paper play money, postage stamps, rubber stamp images, drawings, colored pencil and pens art, silk, cottons, paint, ink, stickers. The pages are fused together using Mistyfuse.
The book is presented in its own box, with secret treasures from my studio as an added bonus. I hope you will join the other artists who each have donated to this one day $100.00 donation to fight cancer.

Nut and Fruit - Recipe

Pan from Germany, 12" long, note texture of pan. Available from most specialty cookware stores.

1/2 cup room temperature butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, 3 eggs, 1 cup white raisins, 1 cup pitted dried plums (prunes), 1 cup white flour, 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder, 1 cup whole hazelnuts, 1 cup pecans, 1/2 cup whole almonds, 1/2 cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup sesame seeds.

Turn on oven to 325 degrees, grease sides and bottom of pan. (I cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of pan and place it over the greased bottom.) In a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup cut 1 cup dried plums (prunes) into bite size pieces, add 1 cup of white raisins, add 1/4 cup water. Microwave fruit mix for 30 seconds to moisten fruit. Place butter and sugar in large bowl, use electric mixer to blend until smooth, add eggs, mix, add flour with baking powder and mix. Use a large spoon to fold in fruit and nuts.  Place mixture in prepared pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Do not overtake, test with toothpick.  Remove from oven, let sit in pan for 15 minutes, loosen edges of bread with a knife, turn out bread onto cooling rack. Remove parchment from bottom of loaf. Store wrapped in aluminum foil, slice with serrated knife. 

I buy the nuts and fruit at Trader Joe's. You can substitute other nuts, such as pumpkin seeds in place of sunflower seeds. I use whole Hazelnuts with skins, also almonds with skins. Be aware this bread  has fiber, I suggest thin slices. 

Yvonne Porcella, A Memoir - Defining Why

www.yvonneporcella.com

My new book is available for purchase. Please visit my website for ordering information. This book would make a perfect gift for family and friends. It is a look at my life as a California native, ancestors who shaped my life and my art.

FFAC event to take place in February 2015.

This event will take place on February 4, 2015. One
day, 100 artists, donors are asked to contribute $100.00
to American Cancer Society. One of 100 artists are
randomly selected to send the donor a gift. What will it
be? Mark your calendars now to remember to donate.
www.virginiaspiegel.com/FFACThe100Ffundraiser.html

Shake And Bake and Quilt Festival news

I have one more entry in a Houston Quilt Festival 2014 exhibit. "What's For Dinner" has 36 unique place mates set at a long table showing artistic versions of the theme. I am a not a good cook, getting worse every day. Fortunately I married a man who eats to stay alive and does not require anything fancy for dinner. My entry for this exhibit reaches back into the past to show a version of our 'catch of the day' camping trip circa 1966 where dinner was the catch of the day, grilled in aluminum foil with Shake and Bake seasoning. To clarify, the  orange circle seen upper left in this detail is not for humans, rather it is the lovely open jar of orange Salmon eggs used as bait. And it worked! I caught a fish. If you make it to Houston, stop by and enjoy a calorie free suggestion of What's for Dinner curated by Dinner@EightArtists Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison.

Also a catalogue will be available on Amazon.com for the 2014 Houston Quilt Festival Dinner@EightArtists curated exhibit titled "Reflections". We hope to see you at the exhibit. With the catalogue you can enjoy the art quilts if unable to see in person. Here is a detail of my entry "Primarily Water". The full quilt and 5 others from the exhibit will be in the fall issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

Houston Quilt Festival 2014

I will have a quilt in the 40th anniversary Ruby Jubilee exhibit this year as well as 32 pieces in a solo exhibit  -Yvonne Porcella Once & Again. Going all out this year, another quilt will be in "Reflections" curated by Dinner at Eight Artists and an auction quilt for Inspired by Libby. I am giving a lecture at Festival on Thursday October 30 at 11 AM. Most of the time I will be either in my exhibit area with my quilts or in the MistyFuse booth with the vendors. The first time I visited Quilt Festival was in 1980 and I was selling my Pieced Clothing books. This year it will be my Memoir, a lovely little book with stories and photos. Come and see me in Houston. www,quilts.com

SAQA at 25 Announces Silver exhibit

This year Studio Art Quilt Associates is celebrating their 25th anniversary with a special juried exhibit on display at IQA Quilt Festival in Houston Texas. The title of the exhibit is Silver with artists creating a special piece. Even I have not seen the work. I selected the artists based on previous work within a variety of techniques. My 1993 photo posted here as you can see, I am ready to go, full of energy, ready for action. I will have an exhibit of my own work this year at Quilt Festival. Stop by and say hello. I may look a bit different than this glam photo, I'm a few years older.! Have you joined SAQA yet?

Quilt Festival Houston 2014

www.quilts.com
I just received the mailer for Quilt Festival Houston IQA 2014 and a detail of  this quilt is featured. I am having a solo exhibit this year "Yvonne Porcella - Once And Again".  I will be exhibiting older work, wearable art, kimono, quilts both older and new plus a brand new never seen before series of 16 panels 15" x 16", each panel features a different design, inspired by memories.  The panels were started after my 2012 retrospective in an attempt to make a large quilt within my new limited capabilities. No longer will I attempt a 112" x 109" hand appliqué, hand quilted piece. We borrowed my large quilt from the collector and it looked so grand at my retrospective, taking up a whole gallery wall. I hope if you come to IQA Quilt Market or Festival, please stop by my exhibit and say hello. "Lily Loves Her Callas" will be there, originally shown on Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson in 2003!

New Book Coming this Fall 2014

I will have a new book available this fall. Title is "Defining Why" a Memoir. Currently being edited it soon will be off to the printer. Sorry that I don't have all the information on size, price, publishing, on line, on demand, or self publish.
I have authored 10 books and having control over the paper, and quality is foremost. Lots to
consider, how heavy will the book be, do I want
to go into the self publishing business again?
Could I literally pick up a case of books? This is
a big consideration since I have rods and screws in my back to stabilize my wonky vertebrae and
my limit to carry is 5-10 lbs. I will let you know via my web site and Facebook page.  www.yvonneporcella.com

It is possible for me to use only two colors in a quilt?

This is my design wall in my studio I have a flannel quilted
grid fabric on the wall. I can pin my work in progress or finished quilt onto the flannel and take a candid photo. My husband came into my studio when this piece was on the
wall and he said "You only used red and white? I didn't know
you could do that." "I'm Misty For Red" 50" x 50" was made
for the IQA 2014 Houston Festival exhibit "Ruby Jubilee - Celebrating 40 Years". Red has always been a favorite color and some of the fabrics in this piece are from my 30 stash of
collecting fabrics. I made three panels using MistyFuse to
attach the cut fabrics to a white background. I have used a
heart image in many of my quilts so I began there, each panel was machine quilted and joined with sashing. So many of the
fabrics in this quilt bring back memories, a trip to Germany,
a used pillow case, a recycled silk shirt.
I have not heard if this quilt was selected for the exhibit, traditional, antique and contemporary quilts were invited to
entry. I will never make a "Dear Jane" quilt but I do admire the skill and dedication to make one.

Detail of my red fabrics.

Updating a few images to my blog

 "Illusion" 36" x 36" made for California Cancer
Center in Modesto CA. My oncologist invited me
to create a wall quilt visible to all the patients who
come for cancer treatments. I painted the background canvas, added more paint highlights, and fused the foreground silk shapes. I think of
cancer treatments as a journey, we look in the mirror and see who we think we are, we don't see
the cancer but know it is all an illusion, the cancer lurks but hopefully will leave or become dormant.
Hope springs eternal!

For dinnerateightartists exhibit Reflections, to be displayed at IQA
Quilt Festival in Houston this fall 2014. My 24" x 60" panel "Primarily
Water" is a reflection of our California drought, we think water as
something that will always be there, bodies of water held behind dams from the mountains, flow to make our valleys fertile. Without water our golden
hills soon turn to red, high fire danger warning are posted, red fire trucks
station themselves, ready to roll when smoke appears. Some of the fabrics
in this piece are hand painted, others bits and pieces of silk.

"Paris 1866" silk fabrics 16" x 16" detail of a memory
seeing Manet "The Fifer" at Musee d'Orsay in Paris and
again at the Met Museum in NYC. It is a powerful image,
one that I could not copy but tried to capture the essence of
a young boy in a soldiers uniform ready to join the parade
with his fife. This piece was sold during an exhibit at the
Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, CA

San Jose quilt Museum is asking for donations of 16" square quilts that feature images of food in the exhibit Tasty Two! check out the website for entry form and rules. Each entry will be the property of the museum and be offered for sale in January 2014 at a set price of $150.00 for each quilt. Here is your chance to benefit the museum and add this museum on your exhibit list on your resume. Title of this quilt is "Chili Ice, Some Like it Hot"
www.sjquiltmuseum.org

I added gold paint to Auramundus

I decided to give this image an old title reflective of someone living in the 3rd Century. My original concept was to have the image look like it was painted on wood with gold leaf. I used silks Mistyfused to a backing, did a bit of stitching and then mounted the piece on heavy canvas. I used a stencil to add the paint. I guess I was influenced by seeing lots of gold mosaic artwork in Italy. Not sure if I will pursue this style, perhaps one is enough.

I'm working on a new series of small wall hangings, 20"x32" using silks and MistyFuse. I still have to add metallic paints, stitching and batting. In this new series, if I add stitching I will do it before adding canvas fused on the back. The canvas makes the piece stiff, but also very flat and easy to turn the edges to the back side. MistyFuse is key to the style of this work. It is so easy to use and easily bonds the heavy canvas to the back side.

Sorry my last post was so long ago!

 This quilt (detail) is on display at the Carnegie Arts Center in
Turlock, CA. It is hand painted canvas with fused silk elements. Title is "Otherside". There is a minimum of hand stitching in selected spots, a backstitch in dark blue that appears on the middle left just above the purple squares.

This wearable art piece made several years ago for
a Bernina Fashion Show was on display last fall
at Santa Clara University in a mixed media fiber
art exhibit. Such fun to see it on display. The
garment features many different machine
embroidered motifs, ethnic fabrics scraps.
Blouse, jacket, wrap around skirt. 

Free The Quilt Show weekend

The weekend of Marc 15-17 The Quilt Show is offering free access
to all their previous shows including mine #713

Dear Quilting Friend

International Quilt Day is just around the corner, and as a featured artist on a past episode of The Quilt Show, (www.thequiltshow.com) I wanted to let you know about a gift that Alex and Ricky have put together for quilters around the world.   

Beginning on Friday, March 16 through Sunday, March 18, everyone who signs on to The Quilt Show will have free access to over 140 of their internet shows, including my episode #713.  You can watch the shows, check out the great tutorials, browse the gallery of over 19,900 member quilts, visit the forum for answers to the most burning quilt questions and lots, lots more. And if you missed my show, you can see it now.

You can also enter the TQS prize drawing with fantastic prizes from companies we know and love like Bernina, Gammill, Superior Threads, AccuQuilt, C&T Publishing, RJR Fabric, and Ricky and Alex will have gift baskets to give away too.  The grand prize is a new Bernina 550E sewing machine!

I wanted to make you aware of this amazing event so you can take advantage of everything this exciting weekend has to offer without leaving home and all for free. 

Don’t hesitate to share this email with your quilting friends, fellow guild members, social networking friends and local quilt shops so that they don’t miss out on this fun weekend.  And feel free to post an abbreviated version of the details on your Facebook page.  I want everyone to know about this amazing 3-day celebration of all things quilting.

So check in at www.thequiltshow.com on Friday, March 15, and enjoy the shows and exploring The Quilt Show website and all it has to offer!  

And I’d love to have you view my show, episode #713. 

Yvonne Porcella

Times are Changing

After much thought, I have joined the 21st Century and given up
my land line phone number I have had since 1962 when I moved
to Modesto. Big leap for me to give this up as I ponder if people
will be able to find me! But I have email and a cell phone and a
studio phone. So... If you want to contact me, use my email address
and if you want to talk, I can give you my phone number. My studio
is in a mountain area where due to trees and hills, my cell does not work
up here. They promise soon we will have cell service but meanwhile,
I keep my phone off until I "go down the hill to the valley". You can
send me an email on this blog and I will answer asap. Yvonne

Fiber Talks on March 24, 2013

www.sjquiltmuseum.org

Fiber Talks! Join us for the following lectures! In Conversation with: Sunday, March 24, 2 - 4pm Yvonne Porcella, Quilt Hall of Fame Artist and Legendary Quilter Sunday, June 23, 2 - 4pm Roberta Horton and Mary Mashuta, Internationally Recognized Quilters Sunday, September 29, 2 - 4pm Leilani Bennett and Marcia Manzo, Wearable Art Creators Sunday, December 1, 2 - 4pm Pam Moore, Artist and Lace Knitter Purchase Online Each program: $20 Members/$30 Non-Members/$15 Students and Seniors Member's Discount: $65 for the entire series if purchased by March 24. No refunds, No exchanges. rsvp@sjquiltmuseum.org / 408-971-0323 x. 14

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What Have I Been Doing ?

 I make art of all kinds. I usually respond to call for donation pieces as it is such a blessing to be in the
studio and creative. These shoes will be auctioned off in May to benefit Women's Heart Health from the
www.kickoffyourheals.com fundraising effort. Heart Soul is the title of my entry. Neon 4" heels size
six, just perfect for an non wearing pair to decorate. Besides who would wear a neon pink pair of shoes? No one in my circle of quilt friends.

 Q A at Twenty will be auctioned off next November as a

fund raising for the Quilt Alliance contest. This year they

are asking for 20" squares to honor their anniversary. 

www.quiltalliance.org

The Mocha Tree another entry for Quilt Alliance November
Auction. This tree or something similar lives in my
back yard. For 20 years my view is of forest. My
style of quilts is usually bright colors. 

Ah, my special quilt. It  has been hanging at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock since
last April. The director liked it so much she hung it in the gift shop. I have it back to
photograph it and enjoy. The design was inspired by Las Meninas.