SAQA Auction

This is my donation to the 2026 SAQA Benefit Auction, (Studio Art Quilt Associates).  The auction will take place online September 11 through October 4, 2026.  

Each donation is 12" X 12".  Funds go to outreach programs and to support SAQA exhibitions.  More information about the auction and SAQA can be found on their website, saqa.com.

The title of my piece is Her Legacy, and is a tribute to vintage woman's handwork.

I love working with vintage materials and embroidery. This piece incorporates a lace doily and an embroidered doily, tatting, and an embroidered handkerchief. I've also added my own embroidery work, silk ribbon and beadwork.

Below are some details from my piece.

I hope you will take a minute and check out The SAQA Auction and all the artwork from our SAQA artists.

Have a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

The Barn an art quilt

I started The Barn as my submission for the SAQA Benefit Auction later this fall.  However once I finished it I just couldn't let it go, it had become too personal.

The piece started with a personal photo of the family barn which  I had printed on fabric.  The photo was taken in 2009.

 The trees had overgrown around the barn and the poor barn roof was sagging. 

By 2019  winter storms and neglect had done their worst and the barn could no longer hold on.  It was the end of an era.  The barn had been built in 1934 after  a fire burned the original barn to the ground. 

Today I'm blessed with beautiful memories of growing up on the farm.  The milk house, the cows (which alway seemed to get out at night), the chicken, new cut hay and fresh crops, and of being told to go to the field and wave the dish towel so dad would know it was time for dinner.

I rescued the cupola from the top of the barn.  I hope someday to make a place for it in my garden.  It's bigger than you would guess and it lives in my shed at the moment.  

The background: hand-dyed fabric, loose weave burlap, tea bags and stalks from twisted dyed satin.

Personal photo printed on distressed fabric and thread painted.

Raw edge applique of the cupola on top of the barn.

Stylized hay bays made with twine.

Embroidery details.  The finished piece is 12" X 12".

The finished piece.  I hope you can see why The Barn means so much to me.

Have a wonderful day!  Thanks for stopping in!

MaryEllen

WILDFLOWERS

 

The inspiration for Wildflowers was photos taken on an afternoon of picking flowers with my grandson.  They may be weeds to most but these little blue buds become priceless flowers when you find them at the park with your 18 month old grandson.

For my piece I used several of the photos I took that special day.  

I printed the photos on fabric and then embroidered and manipulated the images before working them into a complete composition.

Above, the printed on fabric photos.

Above photo,  paints being added.

Above photos, shows the start of the work on the embroidery.

Above photo, cuts and holes were made at various points in backgrounds of the photos and fabric was pushed through the spaces to give more dimension.

Above photo, the various materials after bring dyed for the piece.  Type of fabric and colors used were noted as I worked on getting the right colors for everything from the background to each flower petal.

Above photo, materials for the flowers being dyed .  All the flower petals started as white silk ribbon or white silk fabric and were dyed to give each flower natural variation and shading.

Above, experimenting with the layout

Above photo, playing with how to add the final details.

Wildflowers is  27" X 28.5". 

Silk ribbon, paint, various threads, various fabrics including silk, satian, cotton and cheesecloth, paint, vintage linen, lace, personal photos.

Wildflowers is part of  the Texas Regional Showcase, Artfully Yours.  Artfully Yours will open at the Baugh Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton TX on August 10, 2026.

Thanks for spending time on my blog. Have a great day!

MaryEllen