President:  Diane Sandlin

Vice President:  Barb Forrister

Treasurer: Marge Carson

Secretary:  Pam Farley

Historian:  Pam Hayes

Membership Chair:  Martha Tsihlas

Communications Chair:  Anita Mester

Members at Large:

Web/Computer:  Rob Bartlett

Workshops/Retreats:  Jean Dahlgren

Members Annual Sale:  Cheryl Elms

Exhibits/Venues:  Meg Wilson

In addition, the following folks have volunteered to help the Members at Large with their rather “large” tasks.

Web/Computer:  Cynthia Wenslow

Workshops/Retreats:  Jane Hayman

Members Annual Sale:  Dee Ramirez

Exhibits/Venues:  Lynne Allen

Hoffman Challenge, Janis Hooker, “Yo Yo Fairy #1″

West Coast Wonders II, Barb Forrister, “Emerald Treasures” and “Life’s a Beach”

IQF Group Quilt Division, Barb Forrister, Diane Sandlin, Jean Dahlgren, Sherri McCauley, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Connie Hudson, Kathy York, Pearl Gonzales, and Frances Holliday Alford, “Group Conversations”

Ami Simms’ Alzheimer’s Silent Auction, Barb Forrister, “Colorado Trail”

Misty Fuse Booth (#957), Various AFA Members, Fun Fall Folly Quilts

And the Houston Center on Contemporary Craft will still have its fiber art exhibit up–see an older post for the AFA members with pieces in that show.

Enjoy the shows!

WHERE: Dell Diamond United Heritage Conference Center
ADDRESS: 3400 East Palm Blvd. (Hwy 79) Round Rock, Tx.
WHEN: Fri. and Sat. from 10 am to 6pm
Very easy to get to from all points in Austin. Just off I-35 North on Hwy 79.
Vendors, Silent Auction and Boutique

If you are in town come and visit.

The opening reception is Friday, October 2, 5:30-8:00 PM.  The Center is located at 4848 Main Street in Houston.  The exhibit will be up through December 24th.  AFA is well represented yet again.

Barbara talked about the company and its history, that it is run by artists, and there is a great attention to detail.  For example, on each tube of paint, when you look at the color spot to see the color of the paint inside, that is actual paint on the outside of the tube.  She joked you don’t need to go in the corner of the art store and open the tube because you can rely on the painted stroke on the tube itself.

Barbara described the various paint products and mediums that Golden has in its line as well as the purposes for which the various paints and mediums are best used.  She then introduced the digital ground clear and gloss products.  She reminded all that fiber is porous and something like foil is non-porous.  Digital group products are used to treat fiber so it can be sent through a printer to print photographs and photo images.  She showed several examples of the process, from linen to lamé.   She emphasized the importance of preparing the carrier sheet and demonstrated how to do so.  She also wanted to be sure folks were careful experimenting with their printers.

Some of the digital grounds cause a big change in fabric hand resulting in a rigid fabric.  GAC 900 was mentioned as something to look into for maintaining a soft hand on fabric.  Barbara encouraged folks to read more detailed information on how to use the digital grounds from the Golden website.

Soon after that meeting, Anita Mester, AFA Newsletter Editor Extraordinaire, forwarded a link to Linda Matthews’ website, Creative Textile & Quilting Arts, where Linda is experimenting with the Golden Digital Grounds on a wide range of fabrics.  Here’s what Linda told me in an e-mail:

I found in my research that most if not all users of digital grounds are multi-media artists and [they] tend to lean towards printing on stuff other than fabric which is not really suitable for inclusion in textile art, so I’m narrowing the field, but my results to date are really exciting as you’ll see in some upcoming posts.  I’ve also had such a positive response to this series (and it’s only just begun) that I’ll be putting together my own workshop teaching techniques for using digital grounds on fabric only.  I already do an image transfer workshop so this will be a nice addition.

So visit Linda’s website and see her results.

The entries were judged by acclaimed fiber artist, Liz Axford.  Copper Shade Tree Gallery is located at 206 E. Mill St., Round Top, Texas.

The Poster was prepared by the Austin Bergstrom International Airport staff for the AFA Exhibit at ABIA.

Our exhibit at the ABIA looks as wonderful as this poster, featuring AFA member Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert’s piece (Diane Sandlin, President, doing the Vanna White honors).  Gorgeous!  The exhibit can be viewed by ticketed travelers through November 3, 2009.