The 2012 SAQA Benefit Auction Starts September 10

The SAQA Benefit Auction is an event I look forward to every year.  As the artists make their 12" x 12" donations and send them in, they're posted on the website (www.saqa.com) for all of us to see and enjoy.  The variety is as impressive as the quality of the art on offer.  Here are great pieces we could actually buy! 
When I make my donation,  I usually can't decide on the design ahead of time, so I make several pieces and choose one to send.  I'm posting here photos of the quilt I donated, and also photos of two pieces that I made but didn't send, as SAQA only takes one per artist.
My auction piece "Around Africa" features a group of animals I printed with my Oshiwa blocks, all appliqued onto a background with lots of free-motion stitching.  I hand-printed several of the background fabrics as well, so this piece is a good example of my favorite printing and stitching techniques.

This detail photo shows more of the stitching on the hippo, as well as some of the printing on the background fabrics.

The two other quilts that I made also have printed elements, but in this next one, the African batiks surrounding the bird are arguably the real stars of the piece.

 Here's a detail shot of the bird and the stitching around him.  I don't know that this bird is male, but I've always talked about "him" not "her", so I'll go with that!!

The third quilt I made for the auction this year stars a hand-stamped elephant, and as many bits of African fabrics as i could fit into the 12" square.  The free-motion quilting is a bit wild too, just like the elephant.

Here's a detail shot of the elephant:

And here's a detail shot of the quilting and the raw-edge binding:

I hope you have a chance to take a look at the wonderful pieces on the SAQA website, and think about taking part in the auction starting on September 10th!