Of course I was disappointed ~

.......But certainly not sad that I entered The van Gogh Cherrywood Challenge 2017.  While my entry was not selected, I feel as though I am a winner for stepping outside my comfort zone.   I'm not comfortable when I put my work on display but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the process of making.  No, I don't like every quilt I make, but I always enjoy the process.  When that joy is no more, then I'll take up another hobby! 

Here's my entry.  The flowers and vase were  made using only Cherrywood hand dyed fabric cut into  those little tiny snippits of fabric that we call confetti.   Was it only last March when I participated in a workshop led by Nadine Cain that I learned about 'confetti art'.

No, I'm not the least bit sad with this pretty floral smiling down at me from my sewing studio wall.

TTFN
 

When I'm Away.....I Play ~

I'm now back home from the most wonderful retreat house....the one called Tangi House....with a group of quilters who call themselves "The Pelican Partiers ."   We gather as a group, making our path over and down from Texas.... Monroe....Lafayette, Louisiana.  We call it meeting in the middle, twice a year for 4 glorious nights and days just sewing and laughing.  We mix it up with a little bit of a chocolate martini, mango margarita (or peach) or whatever the provider provides!  We always have a bottle or two of wine...and of course, have to finish the bottle since the cork never fits right back into the bottle after opening.  Some prefer tea - and that's my true story. 

We each have our personalized wine glass which also serves as the margarita glass and the martini glass.  Now, how is that for packing as a minimalist should pack. 

 
 
 

We sew too!  Here's the proof.  One among us wanted to learn how to make the "No Guts Boxie Pouch", a free pattern given to us on Craftsy.  So when one does, so does the masses.   

 

 

 

Ginger and Lilly worked on their Laura Heine....Abilene.  Here's Ginger's WIP:

 

She already has a personality.....and we know this is no bull.  Before Ginger finished for the day,  this bovine had the cutest nose and a lipstick hot pink tongue.

 

I came home and put the final border on my quilt top....a pattern I found in Simply Modern #4 by Sharon Holland.  Sharon calls her blue and green quilt Bloomescent.   I really, really like the Malka Dubrawsky hand crafted fabric in each flower petal. 

 

 

 

 

and the back....also using Malka's fabric and a little bit of ZenChic for the right-size-to-finish.

 

 

 

Here's another of my starts.  I did the 9 blocks made in the Denyse Schmidt  minimal style and hope to finish this one out in the next few days. 

So, it's home again, home again, jiggety-jig ~

 

A weekend filled with Beaches and Happy Villages ~

What a way to spend the day.....!  Karen Eckmeier dropped into town Thursday afternoon and spent the weekend with us quilt makers here in North Louisiana.  She is so fun and so talented, is a  Bernina Ambassador, national and international teacher and very modestly says her quilts have been well-received in Houston and other major quilt shows around the country.


Karen talks with her whole body....especially with her hands. 

Her enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone in the Friday class.   Look at the (almost) completed art quilts.  All smiles at how much was accomplished in the full day workshop Accidental Landscapes:  Beaches.  Yep, the beaches stole the Friday show. 

Karen was there for everyone and gave each of us her undivided attention. Here she is talking shop with Marianne: 

And one of my favorites  from the Friday night presentation and trunk show where Karen has combined a couple of her construction techniques for this city scape:  rectangles and squares and curved layers and waves to get this accidental landscape.

Saturday, a group of 25 met her early to begin another bountiful day putting on a happy face while making Happy Villages.   The construction of my village is not quite complete but certainly to the "I love it" stage! 

 

I was up at 4 a.m. to get Karen off to the airport for a 6 o'clock takeoff and since I was awake and feeling strong and energized, finished my landscape - a beach to enjoy sans heat and sand.

Karen, we loved having you here.  Do come back.

Want a great show for FREE?

We are so excited here in North Louisiana to be having Karen Eckmeier, aka The Quilted Lizard,  come for a two-day, two-workshop weekend....


Karen is planning her trunk show and power point presentation for us Friday night and IT'S FREE TO THE PUBLIC.  Please come and welcome Karen to Louisiana.  The show will start at 6 p.m. at Bayou Oaks Baptist Church, 298 Joe White Road in Monroe. 


Karen will be teaching us how to start making landscapes accidentally:  Beaches,  on Friday, July 28.



And if that's not enough, we'll learn how to make Happy Villages her way on Saturday, July 29. Here's a sampling....Karen calls this one her Seaside Village. 

You'll be awed when you watch her demo of happy villages and accidental landscapes video posted on her home web page.  This should give you a taste of what's to come Friday and Saturday.  Even if you aren't signed up for one of her workshops, remember the Friday Night Presentation is free to you and everyone is welcome.

Hope to see you there. 

More about Orphan Quilt Blocks ~

Wasn't it just last week that I posted pictures of all those wonderful 'blocks with nowhere to go' that Christie had so generously gifted to me.  She, selfishly, was cleaning her sewing room and wanted to pawn them off on me while decluttering her space.  I'm sure she knew  I would take these blocks and run with them.  This little cutie is #3.  (I'll get back to #1 at a later date).  Orphan quilt block #2 is pictured here at Quilters' Guild Acadienne. 

Getting out early for pictures was easy - beating the Louisiana July heat wave.  From any direction, this toddler quilt top suits me perfectly.  Taking the 12 blocks on hand and adding alternate blocks in white, set on point, made a baby quilt size. 

A quilt for baby ~

Ready to be quilted ~

And donated ~

Becoming real.....takes a long time ~

I can read this conversation between  a toy horse and rabbit over and over and find something more real in the writing with each reading.  A beautifully written conversation.  One that may be heard in real time between a child and his grandmother,  if one listens. 







“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”
  

Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Find Joy In The Ordinary ~

One of my very favorite thoughts....."find joy in the ordinary."  But how, I wonder, does one really go about enjoying the ordinary?

Stop and smell the roses -  breathe deeply and with eyes closed, let the fragrance do its job.
Pat a child on the back - remain long enough to feel the warmth and retain the emanating love.
Enjoy the quiet of the morning with coffee cup in hand and dew on your bare feet.


When peanut butter on toast is your morning treat, give him a smile.....he deserves it for serving up a most delicious breakfast. 

When you snip a thread:  Rejoice.  You have finished another seam.

Just a few thoughts on hoping to find and enjoy the ordinary all day and into tomorrow and the next.

Just when I think I know ~

We've all heard the question:  "What are friends for?"  I found a new reason to enjoy Christie's friendship today. 




Christie's been cleaning house (i.e. de-cluttering her sewing room) for the past few weeks and has asked me on several occasions if I wanted some object or the other.  I've respectfully declined - until yesterday when she asked if I wanted some of her 'orphan' quilt blocks.  WELL, of course, I do, thinking she would deliver 3 or 4.   To my amazement, when she arrived at my doorstep, it was with a bag full.   I could do nothing but gasp!  There were well over 100 blocks in different manners of unfinished. 

I was dancing with joy.  And am still dancing as I sort and come to a reckoning on how to use some in my usual improvisational style.  There were many half-square triangles that I sorted through and digested to get a few pinwheels.  I think this is a good plan.....now I'll be off to add background in white to get this made into a quilt top. 

There were only 5 of theses snail's trail quilt blocks, but I'm not complaining.  They are fabulous and will be a wonderful start to something or other. 

There are so many ways to showcase 'orphan' quilt blocks.....I like to make bookmarks, notebook covers, potholders, mug rugs......just to name a few projects that can be made with diverse groups of fabrics and blocks.  

Oh, My!

Friends ~   Aren't they the greatest? 

Hello Sunday ~

My favorite quote of the day:


                    "I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."
                                                       -  Georgia O'Keeffe

It was music to my ears ~

It was music to my ears when he walked through the house with hands filled with quilts telling me that my laundry was done.  I had totally forgotten that they were in the washer and lol, now they are out of the dryer, all waffled and cuddly and warm.....the last three quilts I quilted and put the binding on are now ready to move on.

One will go to community service.  Strips sewn and block twisted and turned to make a simple design.

One is a sampler for an upcoming workshop - Improv To the Nines.  It all starts with a simply traditional nine patch and then we take it to another level.

and this one is just a quilt made from Kaffe Fassett scraps. 

Finished quilts puts a smile on my face and a song in my ears.  Have a restful weekend.

More than one blog to post ~

I've been concentrating on getting the Quilters' Guild Acadienne blog up and running and gaining visitors and have neglected my primary day-in-and-day-out blog.    So here's just a bit of catch up on what I've been rambling around the home place doing. 

Yesterday I posted over there about the newest Anna Graham aka Noodlehead pattern I made.  I rushed around yesterday to get one made for a picture and this afternoon in no time flat, got another one made. 

One for me and another one for me! 

I'm in love with my pencil pouch ~ Thanks Anna for this fab free pencil pouch pattern. 

Finders Keepers

My, My!  Look what I found this morning while rummaging around for some small pieces of batting.   Whatever was this little treasure doing buried out of sight?  Funny thing when you haven't seen something in several years, how it takes on a different perspective. 




Once upon a time, I had the mistaken notion that I wanted to make quilts in miniature.  That was once upon a time long, long ago. 

15" x 19"

Perhaps now that I've found this mini red and green, I'll get it quilted and display during the Christmas Holiday Season. 

Beautiful Chaos

It's a post from a few years back....July, 2011, but I just found it and so enjoyed reading about - you guessed it - the beauty of quilts pieced in the improvisational style. 


CW Collectors Weekly.  The Beautiful Chaos of Improvisational Quilts ~


I have no support group locally so therefore seldom show anyone my quilts.  I often feel that something must be really mixed up in my brain for me to enjoy the chaos in improv quilts and to say unapologetically that I think many I've seen are amazing works of art made by true artisans. 


My favorite quilt pictured in the Collectors Weekly article is the red and yellow designed by Arlonzia Pettway in 1982 based on the  'housetop' pattern.  If you know anything about the Quilters of Gee's Bend, then you know the Pettway name.  I found the Pettway quilt pictured on Linda Allen's Pinterest Board  Quilts I like and followed the picture back to the original article.  News travels fast with just a tap of the finger.  Yes, Linda Allen, I like this one a lot. 


Lisa Hix begins her article by asking "what might jazz look like if it had a physical presence?"  Now I know why I like jazz and I like my quilts.   Here's just one example of what I've made that makes me toe-tapping happy. 

A Fabric Purchase ~ How Fun

Alice by Angela Pingel, in her Curious Dream collection....a Windham Fabric.  Jump down the rabbit hole with Angela.....




I started reading the quotes and stories on Angela's fabric and smiled at the whimsy and imagination and began to appreciate all over again how wonderful life is.   Here's one excerpt about Alice's trip down the rabbit hole.  

"Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.

There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, ("which certainly was not here before," said Alice), and tied round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words "DRINK ME" beautifully printed on it in large letters. It was all very well to say "Drink me," but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. "No, I'll look first," she said, "and see whether it's marked 'poison' or not"; for she had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked "poison," it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later." 

and the story continued

Update - Progress -Let's go Down the Rabbit Hole

Am I speaking too fast?  Do I sound out of breath?  Am I excited?  There's a probable YES to all three questions.  You see,

I finished Month #3 of Sarah Fielke's BOM, Down the Rabbit Hole!  Never mind that the other 2,400 participants are finished with month 5!   Much progress from my last blog post here

It took a bit of coaxing, but the HUman finally saw roof tops - 20 paper-pieced roof tops completed yesterday with only 20 more to go.  Thank goodness I enjoy paper piecing because with these small sizes, paper-piecing is the only way to complete construction.  I'm loving my chosen background for this little neighborhood -  a Victoria Findlay Wolfe manor stripe.  And the Kaffe Fassette shot cotton roof tops provided the perfect contrast to make it all pop. 

Updates will follow......no doubt!

Take that shirt and rip it ~

Looking forward to a relaxing Memorial Day.  Mine has started already.   We'll have ribs and baked beans, along with slaw...perhaps potato salad.  Corn on the cob could also be an option.   


I've just come off a nice long weekend.  Visited with fellow members of Quilters' Guild Acadienne quilt guild.  Because of the three hour drive, I'm limited to when I can attend the meetings and other activities of the guild.  This weekend was just perfect.....drove down Thursday, arriving just in time for a wonderful lunch then lots of shopping, then the guild meeting where Sue Welton entertained us with beautiful quilts and funny stories.

 It was all about her love of quilting with thrift store men's shirting.  Who knew plaid and stripes, all purchased on the cheap,  could be so fun! 


















And the cat's meow was the back of her quilts.... (not pictured) one of which was nothing less than a Ralph Lauren sheet.  Okay, quilt police I hear you screaming, but you just had to be there to appreciate the beauty of. 

Members of the workshop pinned their blocks onto the design wall during the workshop.   A quilt in progress!   

A group of us hit the streets after Sue's Saturday workshop in search of all the above-mentioned.  I came away with 8 shirts and finished off with even more after we all cut and shared our finds of the afternoon.  

Sue shared with us how to debone a shirt to get the best use of fabric, then how to fold and store for ultimate visibility of what's in our stash.  Her hints alone made the trip worthwhile. 

And memories were made  ~

While on the subject of profanity ~

I mentioned in a blog post the other day that my grandmother had a potty mouth.  Her go to bad words were 'blame it'  or 'blast it all'.   Even at five or six years of age, I knew she was being naughty.  I knew she was provoked by something to use such profanity. 


On the subject of profanity, I ask myself, if the intent is there - to use profanity - then is one word more profane than another?   Is it more profane to use a bad word in church or less profane if uttered from the front seat of a car?


Is there less sin if the words are only thought about and not vocalized? 


Is f*** more profane than s***?  Or is 'oh, hell  no'  totally acceptable?   Is 'up your fricking a** 'less profane than inserting the other F word? 


I used profanity the other day and I make no excuse except that I was provoked beyond my breaking point.  It was a knee-jerk reaction and one I'm not proud of.    I apologized to the group but was asked to leave the premises.  Yet when I hear  one among the group say the s*** word and one express herself with 'oh, hell no' ....all in the same building, then I'm led to believe that what comes out of my mouth must be sooooo much dirtier than the words from your mouth.  Life just isn't fair, is it? 

Is it because you went to church Sunday and I only said a silent prayer while pruning my shrubs?   


Is it because you give more time or money to your church than I to the one I once belonged to?  
 


Life gives me lots of questions, but seldom all the answers.  But, then, I really don't want to hear your rationale that makes your profanity sound sweeter and less abusive then mine.  I'm simply musing today about the individual natures of folks about me. 


 I'm on my way now to forgetting about all this and moving on down the road.  Smiling already.  Yet,


I remain my questioning self.....


                     Marty

My Finds of The Day ~

I found out today that I can and did survive another Linda onslaught.   It wasn't pleasant, nor was she, nor was I.  


I found out something about myself today.....that is, when something is on my mind, I take it to the street.  (something Linda tells me I must never do again)




What I remember  about the morning accusations was Linda ranting that  I make her look like a mad, crazy woman.....to which I replied that only she could do that to herself. 




I remember that she went on (as a  mad, crazy woman might) continuing  to accuse me of calling her a bigot in the previous blog...and she is right about that.  I came home and gave  the accusation more thought, especially since she threatened me with a libel/slander lawsuit.  You see, I guess  not being a bigot is some serious business.


In my usual research style, I started out asking Mr. Google and Mrs. Siri for word definitions and found both generally agreed that -

•  Bigot defined:  a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her opinion and   prejudices - especially one who regards the members of a group with hatred and intolerance.  
•  Bigotry defined:  intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.  

I found out today that I'm a bigot by definition and that I practice bigotry, Linda,  because I have been most intolerant of your intolerance toward the quilts of Gee's Bend.  Now, there you have it. Linda....we can meet in the sparring ring for many a day.  However, I would rather be looking at quilts....let us both give it a try, rejoicing in the difference of each and every quilt maker and be appreciative of their quilt style.  Let us appreciate the background, the life style, the inspiration and even the lack of resources of so many quilt makers. 


So, here is my quilt find of the day...a photo from my trip to The Modern Quilt Guild Show....more commonly called QuiltConEast, 2017, Savannah. 

I was enthralled by the construction and use of fabric in each quilt displayed.   Here is just one of several articles I found this morning.....Soulful History:  Patchwork Quilts by Africans (Siddis) in India. 






TTFN

Improv Quilt-Making is Magical ~ to me !

The sewing room is in a shamble, but that's okay....lots of good stuff being made.  OR, at least the good stuff is a work in progress....and, yes, that's progress. 

We, the HuMAn and I, got a bit of garden pruning done yesterday.  The shears are now dull and oh, what a back ache I have.  There's more to trim but thankfully, we are having a rain day to give us some recovery time. 

Here's what's on the design wall.....inspired by a Tonya Alexander pattern in the March/April 2014 issue of Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.  Tonya calls this her fruit bowl bulls eye as seen on her Pinterest Board..... where she mixes up the log cabin and snowball blocks for interest. 

Her design interested me anyway.  I started out with a precut layer cake I had on hand and not enough background fabric (so, what else is new?) so am having to do a little improvisational block-making now.

The first few blocks came out as instructed by Tonya.......I really liked this one

and this one was okay with a solid background ~

and then the improv fun started with what fabric I had on hand~

Who knows how I will construct the alternate blocks, given the lack of the sameness of fabric!!