Virginia A. Spiegel

If you would have told me that I would EVER, ever, put a binding on any of my art quilts again, I would have laughed.  And here I am sewing fourteen feet of double-fold binding on Boundary Waters 52.  It just goes to show that you really shouldn’t say never.

I finished BW 52 (at least I think it is done – I painted a little bit on it since finishing stitching it and it may need just a touch more. See below!), squared it up and contemplated the multi-texture edge of the art quilt.  There were single layers, double layers, triple layers of painted and dyed cotton fabric fabric; velvet; polyester; shredding duck cloth, . . . .  Need I say more?

I taught myself quilt making by making 50+/- traditional quilts.  I never followed a pattern, but I always put a double-fold binding on them.  It is binding that will last and last and gives a very sturdy edge. But when I started painting my own fabric and making art quilts, I became committed to doing only that which fulfilled my vision.  So bindings, why?

I like a fuzzy, wild edge.  It’s FABRIC!  I like to show that this is a medium that’s vibrant, textured, alive.  I sometimes put a note in with one of my more shaggy art quilts going to a non-textile gallery:  ”Shredding and shedding are good.”  I imagine that causes some eyebrows to be raised.

But I had to come down on the side of doing what I needed to do with Boundary Waters 52.  If an edge is a distraction or will lead to the piece disintegrating or hanging incorrectly, then it just is not the right edge.

So I looked up the right width to cut fabric for a double-fold binding, cut some lovely blue-dyed fabric, seamed it, pressed it, sewed it on the front of the quilt, and miterrf those corners ever so beautifully.  Then I very happily sat on my Blue Moo and stitched away by hand.

SPECIAL NOTES:  Sorry I can’t show more of this artwork, but it is an entry that can’t be shown quite yet. Since I wrote this, I spent a lot of time and a lot of oil paint sticks covering just about every surface.  Everything you see in the detail photo above is basically gone.

A reminder that I won’t be posting too often for a bit as I return (post-ToteTuesday) to my studio.  If you want to know every month what I am up to in and out of the studio, send an e-mail to Virginia(at) VirginiaSpiegel.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.  You will receive my free monthly e-newsletter.)

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

ToteTuesday raised a whopping $$15,649 and Karey B’s Monet’s Flowers CD has raised $410 so far.  So we are definitely over $205,000 total raised by Fiberart For A Cause since 2005.  It’s great to retire Fiberart For A Cause on such a high note.  Sincere thanks to everyone who made this success possible.

We had several bonus challenges for the Tote Tuesday finale and bidders were up to the challenge:

1. Any patron with a winning bid of $350 or higher on one tote/artwork will receive four wonderful quilting books from FFAC’s Honorary Chair, Karey Bresenhan: Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project; I Remember Mama: A Book of Love About Mothers, Daughters and Quilts; Celebrate Great Quilts!; and America From the Heart.
Nine generous patrons will receive this bonus: Karey will contact you directly.

2. Every patron who wins a tote/artwork with a bid of $1000 or more may choose either one of my famous “never sold, only gifted” fabric bundles (The fabric bundles are hard to explain, but think of origami <kind of> with my own fabrics and specialty fibers wrapped and packaged in a way that makes some recipients say they don’t want to start unwrapping it at all) in the winner’s choice of colorway OR one of these artworks OR one collage ($75 or less) from Karen Stiehl Osborn’s Mixed Media Gallery.
Lynne Allen did and I am happy to send her Create Spaces from the Third Thoughts series.

3. If Art Cloth Extravaganza: A Dream Tote raises the most money during ToteTuesday 4, the generous artists of Art Cloth Studios will send the winner an additional $500 or more of art cloth.
It did ($1000) and they, very generously, will.

4. Peggy Schroder will donate 10% of the winning bid (up to $1000) for the Think Pink tote to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For a Cause.
The Think Pink tote raised $350 and Peggy contribued another $35 to the ACS. (Peggy is busy shipping out the many totes she sponsored.  Thank you, Peggy, for your huge contribution to ToteTuesday,)

5. If we raise a total of $15,000 from ToteTuesday, I will hold a drawing among all winning bidders from all the ToteTuesdays. The winner may choose one of these artworks OR one of my “never sold, only gifted” fabric bundles (description above).
We did it! The winner is Ann Thompson.

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

What a great fundraising day. Thank you!  The finale of ToteTuesday raised more than $6000 for a grand total of more than $15,000 donated to the American Cancer Society by ToteTuesday patrons.

Here are all the final bids with the Art Cloth Studio tote raising $1000 and the To the Studio tote raising $800.

Thanks go to the generous ToteTuesday sponsors/donors as well as the equally generous bidders.

I am happily retiring all of Fiberart For A Cause on February 28 knowing we have raised more than $205,000 for the American Cancer Society since 2005.

Why February 28?  Because Karey Bresenhan will honor any donations for her Monet’s flower CD through February 28.  Ditto 25% of the profits from my book.

Thanks to Karey, FFAC’s Honorary Chair, for her ongoing and personal interest in the success of FFAC. We couldn’t have done it without her.

It’s been been a great five years of fundraising and I appreciate everything all of YOU  have done to make such a huge success possible.

What’s next?  To my studio, of course!

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

Let the shopping begin!  Well, OK, not until 11 a.m. CST today.  But you can go and see all the fiber-related themed totes now here and the auction will take place on the very same page.

For the big ToteTuesday finale we have 16 themed totes and five individual art works.  Of course, everything is one-of-a-kind and, of course, it’s a fundraiser with 100% donated directly to the American Cancer Society.

What more could you ask for?   WELL, I refuse to list retail value for every tote, but here are a few examples of how generous the sponsor/donors have been:

Art Cloth Extravaganza:  A Dream Tote sponsored by the well-known Art Cloth Studios of San Antonio have donated over $450 of art cloth and surface design supplies. The opening bid will be $275 AND if the winning bid for their tote is the highest bid of the day, the generous artists will send the winner ANOTHER $500 in art cloth.  (See other bidding bonuses here.)

Fancy Ladies sponsored by Karey Bresenhan and the International Quilt Festival Team has an opening bid of $99 and includes a highly embellished tote by Judy Murrah. Everything in this tote was hand-selected by Karey herself AND includes a small artwork by Pamela Allen.

To the Studio sponsored by Peggy Schroder.  You will just have to zip on over to the auction page to believe what Peggy has stuffed in to the tote by Eleanor Levie.  Books, CDs, art supplies, art work by Beth Wheeler.  Opening bid: $179.  Last time I checked with Peggy, she was over $450 in retail value.

We also have several totes with opening bids in the $59 – $99 range, again due to the generosity of sponsor and donors.  Can you tell that we want YOU to join in the fun of fundraising for the American Cancer Society?

See you today at 11 a.m. CST and thank you for your support of this Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Logo by Jeanelle McCall

The Preview for the big finale of ToteTuesday is now open here.  Bookmark this page as it will be the site of the ToteTuesday auction tomorrow.

Fabric To Dye For sponsored by Frieda Anderson

There are sixteen fiber-related themed totes and five artworks up for bid.  The auction opens at 11 a.m. CST tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23.  Bidding closes at 2:00 p.m. CST.  Are you ready to bid?

Color Me Bright tote sponsored by Marilyn H. Wall and Judith Heyward

with this padfolio by Beth Wheeler:

We have already raised more than $9000 for the American Cancer Society with ToteTuesday.  Official goal: $12,000.  Secret goal: $15,000!

Fiberart For A Cause has donated more than $190,000 to the American Cancer Society since 2005.