Sunday in September #4

Being silent isn't a bad thing.  Being quiet doesn't mean one doesn't exist....it just means other things are going on.  Doctor visits, trip to Books a Million (old school habits require refrigerator calendar to get in touch with self every day),  successfully prepping a casserole for guild luncheon yummmm.     You know, the hum-drum 'busy' time in and out of the house.

But it's now 'fess time in very loud voice - I've finished hand quilting my project for a December showing.  Because of it's vintage style, I chose to finish it with facing rather than binding.  The hanging sleeve is absolutely attached and now there is plenty of time to get that label on.  Yea for being silent long enough to get this job done.

It's made with fabric salvaged from old shirts in the style my grandmother might have gathered and pieced.   This particular quilt design was inspired from quilt shown on page 51 in Roderick Kiracofe's Unconventional & Unexpected....American Quilts Below the Radar.

Hand quilted in Baptist Fan pattern with #12 Perle cotton thread

Continuing in loud voice - I've just finished constructing 75 little pouches to hold beeswax pellets for the July 6-10, 2020 retreat in Canton, Mississippi -The Gray Center. 

Oh, am I excited to be a part of the Nova Montgomery Featherweight week!  There will be 60+ attendees, each going through an intensive day of cleaning their coveted Singer Featherweights.  In their spare time,  Gray Center host, Anne Robertson, has elicited others to share what they do.  That's where I come in.  I've been invited to share the how to's of waxing fabric and what I do with waxed fabric....linen, silk, wool and canvas.   I'll be surrounded by lots of talented ladies and gents and am looking forward to this beautifully planned retreat.  Stay tuned for scheduling and details and keep an eye on the Gray Center events page.

Yes, I've been silent for too long.  Quiet doesn't become me when I have so much to share.  I'm so excited, I could scream.

Post Gees Bend Quilters' Retreat - blues

I've just returned from a most delicious and delightful retreat....with the quilters' of Gees Bend from, Boykin, Alabama - Mary Anne Pettway and China Pettway.     There were 36 of us eager-to-enjoy members in the group - all corralled by Anne, our beautiful Gray Center Retreat host.  Yes, you guessed it.  We had a rip-roaring good time.  It was a four day blast of energy and creativity rejuvenation.  And the food was from the gods! 

We came from California and New York and points in between to share ideas and fabric, love and laughter while Mary Ann and China mentored each of us in our quilting patchworks in progress and lifted us up with their soul-filled music. 

From start to finish:  Was it only 2016? that a group of us bussed to Gees' Bend, Alabama.  While there, Mary Ann was working on a little patch and I came home with it....signed, of course, by it's maker, Mary Ann Pettway.

I had the foresight to take the patch back with me last week and had Mary Ann add the final border and add the current date.  I hand quilted it and added binding this week for a finished momenta of the beauty of  a glorious time with queens of improv patchwork. 

This pink and lime predominately thrift store linens, started while at the retreat and the patchwork pieced borders were added this week after I got back home.    I think I'll call it a "running with lemon grass."  It's filled with the lime and lemon colors of citrus. 

and other snapshots while at Gray Center, Canton, Mississippi.

Sisson wears his patchwork!

then it was breakfast and goodbye until we meet again ~

China Pettway following Mary Ann Pettway as they leave
Gees Bend Quilting Retreat

Threads of Glory Exhibit

The fabulous "Threads of Glory" exhibit features an array of fabric artworks - quilts, knitted items, weavings, and on and on----created by regional artisans......and I am one of them.  The exhibit will run April 25-June 2, 2018,  at  Union Museum of History and Art, 116 N. Main Street, Farmerville, Louisiana.

Yes, I am one happy camper viewing my handmade crafts on public display.....

Here is Old Blue happily hanging as a backdrop to the beautifully knitted black dress in silk yarn made by Nancy Wallace of Monroe, Louisiana.  I'll have to go back to the museum to get the name of The Rooster art quilt maker.  My apology to the maker for this sad oversight on my part.   

 

My flying geese quilt, even folded,  was quite stunning on display with The Butterfly thread stitched wall hanging. 

 

 

The bowls, oh, the rope bowls pictured below with the linen red hat! 

 
 
 
 
 

And finally my original hand crafted, painted and bound books. 

Thank you, "Threads of Glory" Exhibit Curator: Karen Bradford
Exhibit Designer: Alan Futch, The Dean of Flowers
Museum Coordinator:  Jean Jones and all 51 individuals who contributed treasured fiber artwork to the exhibit.

 

Putting on a happy face: lost and found

With new computer
pictures
lost in the system

or, so I thought. 

I'm laughing out loud
today at finding all those lost pictures in
folders

right where I left
them. 

Lady with man's best friend beach-combing in blue water on the shores in Italy - 2012

 Blue door under the hill in Natchitoches

 I found this perfectly manicured blue building on the streets of New Orleans.  I could make this building my quilting shed! 


So, what do all these pictures have in common?  They are all about blue 'cause that's how I was feeling about having lost them .   All pulled from different folders where they were safely stored, just waiting for my next visit. 

Boy in blue with father in blue taking a lunch break at outdoor restaurant

Putting on a Happy Face