"Nautilus" art quilt in process

“Nautilus” in progress Cindy Grisdela 2015

I’m busy inside and outside the studio getting ready for the Art in the High Desert show next weekend–August 28-30 in Bend, OR.

Inside the studio, I’m creating new work, including “Nautilus” at left, in process. I’m really enjoying the contrast between the dense pebble and swirl stitching in the upper right and the wavy lines in the lower section.

Boxes of panels and tent ready to ship to Oregon.

Boxes of panels and tent ready to ship to Oregon.

Outside the studio, I have to pack up and ship my display panels and tent to Oregon. It’s a job that always takes longer than I think it’s going to and it was complicated a bit this time because I had to order new boxes, since the old ones were just about falling apart. The trick was–the boxes were shipped flat, and they had to be assembled in a sturdy enough fashion to hold the panels. I found the staple gun and made a trip to the hardware store to get heavy duty staples, then had to figure out the best way to mash down the pointy ends so they actually stayed where I wanted them to and held the boxes together. Having your own business means wearing a lot of hats in any given day!

Hopefully they’ll be picked up today and will arrive in Oregon in plenty of time for the show. Last year I didn’t allow quite enough time and had a nailbiting day as the panels didn’t arrive until an hour or so before setup–yikes! I’d rather not have that experience again.

I have a few more days to get the artwork ready, since it will go on the plane with me.

It’s too bad that I couldn’t take my stuff when my son and I drove out to move him to LA, but he has a small car and it was completely full!

IMG_2835For those who were following along on the cross country road trip adventure, my son and I made it to LA, and he started medical school last week at the University of Southern California. It was an amazing experience to drive all the way across the country from Virginia to LA–with side trips it was 4,600 miles all together and it took two weeks. There are lots of pictures on my Instagram blog if you’d like to catch up.

students designing new art

Students designing Compositions at “Building Blocks of Improv Quilting” Class

Lastly, I’m teaching my Building Blocks of Improvisational Quilting workshop next month in Great Falls, VA and there are a few spaces left. The dates are Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9:30 – 4 and Sunday, Sept. 20 from Noon-4. You can read more about the class at the link above, or on this post.