Sharon Schamber Lecture and Trunk Show

 We felt very fortunate to have

Award Winning Quilter

Sharon Schamber

 provide a Lecture/ Trunk Show

for our

Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild

this month.

Christy Fincher is a member of our guild

and she had asked her mom to come as a favor.

What a treat!

I've watched Sharon's videos 

and admired her work for years.

It was wonderful to see her amazing quilts up close,

and to hear her story.

If I understood right,

Sharon is the only person 

to have been awarded

 three 1st place ribbons

at International Quilt Festival.

 The room was packed for this outstanding trunk show.

 For the first part of the trunk show,

Sharon showed a large stack of 

Baltimore Album blocks that she has been working on for years.

 Such intricate tiny details in each one.

 As many of you know, Sharon is a very prolific quilter.

We asked her how many hours a week she spends on her art.

She replied 

" I travel quite a bit.  But, when I am home I quilt at least 

14 hours a day, 7 days a week."

She said she has a condition called

Hyper Focus,

which is an intense form of mental concentration

where a person focuses on a subject

with an inability to switch tasks.

She will often see the quilt in a dream,

and will visualize it in it's entirety

from beginning to the final quilting.

Fortunately, Sharon has a husband who takes care of most 

of the day to day tasks,

allowing her to work on her art.

 Dream Weaver

Sharon said this image is her "alter ego"

 When Sharon began quilting,

it was not acceptable to quilt the human face.

From the start of her career, she 

has broken the rules 

and created what she feels inside,

often developing new and innovative techniques.

 Sacajawea 84" X 66"

Won 1st place AQS, Nashville, TN 2003

and many other awards.

 The images were painted first

and then stitched to add details and depth to the faces.

 Sitting Bull 90" X 93"

2002

 All of her quilts are quilted on a domestic machine!

 For a list of all of the awards Sharon's quilts have won

you can visit the gallery portion on her web site 

HERE

I thought Sharon's life story was as interesting as her quilts.

Christy is her oldest child, and only girl.

She had her laughing over many of the stories.

This is just a beginning of the pictures I took.

More tomorrow.