Quilts for Camp Shelby

Thousands of soldiers are trained and deployed at Camp Shelby just south of Hattiesburg, MS. Every time we see these US Army dads and moms saying goodbye to their children, we are moved to want to add a small measure of comfort and to express our appreciation for this enormous sacrifice. Our quilt guild, Pine Belt Quilters (www.pinebeltquilters.com) , makes quilts for children all year, so in November we donated 46 quilts to the chaplains for distribution to children of soldiers shipping out.
1st Sgt. Stephanie Williams brought copies of the Reveille, the Camp Shelby newspaper to our president, Gloria Green (Linda Basden, Marilyn Tucker, Jo-Ann Evans in the background).
Our Children's Quilt group is shown at our December meeting with Christmas goodies.
Our oldest member, Leola Kriegbaum, recently celebrated her 99th birthday on November 10; she continues to make quilt tops and bring them to us for quilting. She was delighted to share in our day with the soldiers. Pictured with Leola are Capt. Terry Partin and 1st Sgt. John Stiles and Martha Ginn, coordinator of the children's group.

South Mississippi Art Association 31st Annual Show

What a thrill to win two ribbons in our 31st anual art show (SMAA: www.southmsart.org) in Hattiesburg, MS, Dec. 8, 2007! It's always interesting to find a suitable category for my fiber art; if there is a "Mixed Media" category, I enter there; if not, "Other" covers it.

My "Sunrise in the Forest," a small landscape scene in an 8x10 mat with a 16x20 frame won a blue ribbon. "Return of the Trees" (17x22) won a red ribbon. It began as my 2007 Journal quilt but I withdrew it because I had not fallen in love with it in September when it was due. I later added more stitching and was satisfied with it.

But having a well-known collector, Sarah Gillespie, purchase "Slashed Trees" (21x19) was a very special honor. She has a large collection of artwork that was housed at William Carey University on the Gulf Coast. This gallery was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005 and funds are being raised to build a gallery on the Hattiesburg WCU (http://www.wmcarey.edu) campus to house her extensive collection. Fortunately, none of her artwork was lost in the storm, but this valuable collection is in storage and needs a permanent home where it can be enjoyed.