Our guests for the July LAG meeting will be Cynthia Levis and Rhonda Baidwin.  They will be talking about Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) and discuss different techniques used in making of their pieces of art. (there are around 52 6×9 pieces that will be on display) They will be bringing some of our own Art pieces showing “How you can make artwork using cloth without having to piece fabric together.”

Cynthia is fortunate to have on both sides of her family, people who were very talented with their hands and had great imaginations. An example of this; her father took random parts and made a working tractor, which is still working to this day. Cynthia began at a young age learning embroidery work from her paternal aunt and maternal grandmother making little embroidered potholders.  She progressed to home economics and made the dreaded “skirt” and continued on with handwork, cross-stitching for a number of years. In her early twenties she started making traditional quilts. In her early forties she began making Art Quilts. She enjoys every aspect of the process from the idea, to displaying the finished work.  She has been an Artist Member at Noyes Gallery in Lincoln. She is a member of fiber art groups: Fiber Works, Midwest Fiber Art Alliance and SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associate) and is co-representative for Studio Art Quilt Associates.

Rhonda Baldwin is a textile artist from Grand Island, NE. Vibrant color and surface design techniques are the focus of her work. She began working as a seamstress in her youth and after earning a B.S. in Textiles, Clothing and Design from University of Nebraska, began exploring and breaking the rules of surface design. After indulging her creative muse as a dance teacher for 25 years, she has returned to her studio and is happily exploring mark making, textile manipulation and surface design.