The making of "Wide Horizons"

SAQA Europe/Middle East is as large region, with different sensibilities, and a mixed bag of cultures, landscapes, and languages - but with an interweaving of history and creative expressions in a large, rich and interesting diversity.

In 2006 Gül Laporte and Linda Colsh had the idea of a special SAQA Europe/Middle East show after seeing what SAQA was doing in Houston, and I applied to be the curator for the 1rst edition.

Finding a name for this show was a pleasant and puzzling task... and “Wide Horizons” is the perfect one.

A lot of details had to be decided on, and I had great fun doing it! My wish was to give every SAQA artist of the Region the possibility to enter a quilt; so there was going to be no size restriction, no prescribed theme: it just had to be new creative work respecting the SAQA rules of an art quilt, and fitting with the title of the show.

Then began the real work with the choice of the jury, the advertisements in Magazines, the reception of the cds, the computer work (at that time it had to be done by the curator) of writing the acceptance and the rejection letters by e-mail, being very careful to avoid any mistake... and finally the arrival of the quilts with opening the packages, and at last the hanging on the walls for Wide Horizons I at the Espace des Tisserands in September 2008.

As a the location, the Carrefour Européen du Patchwork in Sainte-Marie-aux Mines was absolutely perfect; and thanks to Christophe Crupi, Director of EPM at that time, we had a very strong support from the Carrefour’s Committee. SAQA Europe/Middle East is very grateful for this support, which has continued ever since. M. Crupi originally wanted Wide Horizons to be an exclusive exhibition of the Carrefour; but since Wide Horizons III – and thanks to Gül Laporte who found all the locations - the exhibit travels for one year through many important venues in Europe.

Whenn it all began, I wanted to be sure to have enough entries, so I took the time to write a personal e-mail to every SAQA European artist., As a result we had entries from 41 artists from 9 different countries, and 81 quilts to be juried. Not bad for a first try! The jury made a selection of 30 quilts and we added a quilt from each juror and from the curator to the show. This rule is still on.

To prepare Wide Horizons II for 2010 was much easier; and with the introduction of the SAQA online entries system, there was less paperwork to do. 58 artists from 11 countries registered 111 quilts. The jury again made a selection of 30 quilts.

Now we are waiting for Wide Horizons IV. Curator Alicia Merret is currently figuring out last details about the call for entry, and negotiating with the SAQA board whether a  catalogue will be published. This would be an interesting addition to the Wide Horizons spectrum. More details about this will be published in the general SAQA newsletter and on this blog in approximately two weeks. I hope many of you will participate and make the fourth round of Wide Horizons a great success.

Elisabeth Nacenta de la Croix

SAQA co-Rep Europe and Middle East

After the auction is before the auction...

SAQA's annual benefit auction of miniature quilts donated by members has just closed, and raised an impressive amount of ....for the organization. Thank you to all members who have donated, and especially to those who have done so repeatedly already.
I was impressed by SAQA Oceania's special effort at promoting the auction: the Oceania Collection Blog Hop, which was published over an extended period of time on their regional blog. SAQA Oceania is a region with fewer members than Europe/Middle East, yet they have shown an impressive presence at the auction by their number of donations.
Linda Robertus, a Dutch quilter who has moved to Australia, but is still a member of the region Europe/Middle East through her second region, participated in the SAQA Oceania blog hop. Her little quilt "Black and White no. 3" was sold during the first week of the auction.

See her featured on the Oceania blog hop here, and read more about the making of this quilt and the black and white series here.

Have you ever considered donating a mini quilt towards the auction? Then now is the time to start planning. Because on this blog we will be featuring for the first time

The Grand Gallery 

of Europe/Middle East's 

Contributions to the SAQA Benefit Auction. 

What do you have to do to be a part of this?

When making your quilt, take a few pictures of the process - inspiration, actual process of making, and the final piece, and keep a few notes. When you are finished and sending off your donation to SAQA, at the same time, send this little documentation to the blog's e-mail address given in the submission guidelines, and we will publish this report on the blog. Entries may include your personal website or blog address, so this will be great chance to show your work to a larger public. If you would like to participate, you can send a note ahead of time so we could arrive at an estimate of how many posts we will be having. But you can just send in your post as well, and we will post it as soon as possible.

Let's show a strong presence at and for next year's SAQA's Benefit Auction! Donate in large numbers!

SAQA meet and greet in Prague

April 4 - 6, 2014 is the date for the 8th International Prague Patchwork Meeting.

Jana Sterbova has agreed that SAQA will also get a meet and greet reception as has been established in Birmingham and Ste. Marie-aux-Mines. Exact date and time need to be set, but will be published on this blog, and in the newsletter for the region. Any SAQA member from all over the world who happens to be in Prague at that date is welcome to sign up, just send an e-mail to Uta or Elisabeth.
SAQA President Sandra Snyder has also agreed to come to Prague for a visit, and she will be attending the meet and greet as well. Come and meet the President, and the Europe/Middle East reps.  
Check back here for announcement of exact details.

Call for entries

In preparation for the upcoming giveaway of a box of the brandnew SAQA Signature Thread Collection II I am planning several additional posts. Eligible members of SAQA Europe/Middle East who would like to submit a post about their quilt-related activities as set up in the submission guidelines are encouraged to submit these now to the mail-address given in the guidelines.

Already our number of clicks has gone up a bit - take advantage of the publicity of a growing audience!

SAQA Signature Thead Colletion II by Aurifil: Upcoming Giveaway on this Blog!

Last Friday Uta received a package from SAQA-member and SAQA-sponsor Alex Veronelli (Aurifil). In it was acomplimentary box of the brandnew SAQA Signature Thread Collection II that Alex has donated towards the publicity of this blog.

Outside view

Inside view

We are planning a giveaway of this box in the first half of October.
Check back for more information on how to gain a chance to win this colorful box of threads!

Meet and Greet at European Patchwork Meeting in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines

On Thursday, Sept. 12, approx. 35 SAQA members gathered at the meet and greet, which has become a traditional at the EPM by now. This time the meeting took place in the Espace presse and was a casual and friendly affair in which everybody could talk to everybody else.

waiting for the storm - delicious snacks...

Gul LaPorte in action,
translating director Philippe Gasperment's welcome address

Susan Chapman, Monique Gilbert, Christina Lauchenauer
and Elisabeth Nacenta de la Croix at the reception

Thank you very much to the organizers of the festival for their continued support of SAQA and their repeated hospitality!

SAQA-member first recipient of prestigious prize for teachers at Carrefour Européen

Elisabeth Nacenta de la Croix, SAQA representative for Europe/Middle East is the first recipient of the prestigious prize in the category 'teacher', donated by JHI Nihon, consisting of a flight to Tokoy, one week in a hotel in Tokyo, with a bit of teaching.
Her quilt "Magic View" is an interpretation of lying on the ground on a forest floor and looking at the sky.

Elisabeth Nacenta de la Croix
in front of her decorated quilt "Magic View".

Congratulations, Elisabeth!