Twelve by Twelve Art Quilter :: Gerrie Congdon

 
:: Gerrie Congdon ::

Perhaps, the best part of being a member of the 12x12 group is the strong friendships that we have formed. I have the honor of having met six of the other Twelves in person. I lived near Diane Hock, who started the group. I always figured she had to invite me to join! Then, I moved to Portland, OR where Terry Grant lives and we became fast friends. We often reveal our challenge quilts to each other before they are revealed on the blog. I had met Kristin La Flamme at Art Quilt Tahoe and bonded with her in a maternal kind of way. I have declared myself her art quilt mom. Karen Rips made a trip to Portland to visit family and Terry and I were able to meet her for breakfast and the talk was non-stop. About a year ago, when we were first making plans for our book, we needed to talk to Nikki Wheeler. She was not home. Her husband said she was at an art retreat in Portland, OR at Reed College. That is right across the street from me! So, off I went, to hunt down Nikki and surprise her.

 

My favorite meet up was with Helen Conway who is from England. She was visiting Diane in California. My husband and I drove down to surprise her. This was very difficult for me. I could not blab on my blog about what I was doing. Seeing her face when I walked in was priceless. An added bonus was the surprise visit from Karen Rips. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the Twelves when we go to Houston for the Quilt Festival and the special exhibit of all of our quilts.

 

I really enjoy working in the twelve inch square format. I do a lot of surface design work on fabric, and I also like experimenting with color and shapes. In the smaller format, if it doesn’t work, I have not lost a lot of time or materials. I often make more than one piece for a challenge. I like to work with hand-dyed silk fabric and cottons which I have painted or printed. I fuse compositions, sometimes abstract and sometimes in simple landscapes.

The 12x12 International Art Quilt Challenge can be viewed at www.twelveby12.org

See more of Gerrie's work at www.gericondesigns.com.

 

Comments

[ed hardy uk]

dyed silk fabric and cottons which I have painted or printed. I fuse compositions, sometimes abstract