Art and Soul Vendor Night and "In the Garden" Charm Swap

by Leslie Brier

Didja miss me? My daughter and I just got back from Art and Soul in Hampton, Virginia and we had the most amazing time! We squeezed so much into three days that I'm going to have to do more than one post. And I'm not going to remember what order everything happened in, so I'll just download some photos and ramble on about them.

First of all, my daughter and I had the world's best roommate, my coolio art friend,  Janet Moss. She is the best at planning ahead, networking, and helping me justify my "junk" purchases. I'll have a post soon about the gorgeous scarf she is wearing.  This was us heading to Vendor Night which is an artsy junker's paradise!

Look at the amazing stuff I got! I bought a pocket watch from Sue at Vintage Rescue Squad that I'd had my eye on. The baby and the pin cushion with the baby on top came from Beth and Suzy of Dime Store Chic, and those two ribbons hanging in the back came from John Whiting of Whiting's Old Paper. He has the most amazing paper collection you can imagine. His store is a definite must for an ephemera excursion.

Before I left for Art and Soul, I signed up for a charm swap. Here is the bunch of charms that I sent to Hampton.

This is a closeup of one of the charms.

And this is the glorious assortment of charms that I received! Each one is so beautiful. I felt so grateful to be part of such a talented group of women. Opening each of the charms reminded me of getting valetines back in grade school It was all so exciting! (You can click on the photo for a closer look at each one.)

Anne Koussa made this beautifully presented charm. It actually brought tears to our eyes!

Here are charms made by Melissa Robertson, Gail Cervarich, Carol Dee Myers, Donna Butcher, S.K. Berman, Janet Moss and  Kristina Penhoet.

These were done by Theresa Hope-Goddard, Patti Reinheimer, Deborah Petronio, (the adorable baby face flower) Lorie Garver, and Dawn Gallop. (Yes, that is a tiny garden gnome!)

Still more came from Marcy Wyatt, Carol Dee Myers, and Julie Armstrong who organized the whole group, and had adorable little bags for us, and flowers for us to wear as well.

I missed getting a closeup of the group of charms at the top of the first photo, but they were made by Erin E. Montgomery, Linda Simon, Margaret Rodriquez, Karen Fllerton, Tammy Marie Bacot, Catherine Mein and Linda Hawkins.

The original concept of the swap was to make one necklace out of all of the charms. However, each one is so beautiful, I think they merit their own necklace or bracelet. I have a lot of jewelry to make!

Janet Moss' Amazing Technicolor Dream Quilt!

Janet Moss is a good friend of mine who is often my partner in crime when it comes to auctions, flea markets, or trying out a new art technique. As it turns out, she is also an amazing quilter! Who knew?
As a gift for her daughter's graduation, Janet created a quilt that is actually two quilts in one.

This side shown above has her daughter's favorite t-shirts. Those who know me well may recall my "Frankenquilt" Incident of a few years ago. It was a t-shirt quilt that killed my machine and caused me to utter words in combinations heretofore unknown. So, the fact that she was able to complete a t-shirt quilt with her sewing machine and her dignity intact, to me, is a feat unto itself.

But wait! There's more! This is the OTHER side of the quilt. It's the French Rose pattern and I adore it!

Here is a closer view. I love the color combinations. And the stitching pattern in the background. (She would want me to tell you that another seamstress did the actual quilting part.) But she did TWO quilt tops and made them work together. Beautifully, I might add.

So now, of course, I have this crazy idea in my head about doing something similar, but smaller, with pastels and hearts, and doing it  before Valentine's Day. My family members are hunkering down in their bedrooms and hoping the mood passes before I kill again!