Ricky Tims Seminar

  A group of us from Charleston went to the Ricky Tims Seminar in Jacksonville, Florida a couple a of weekends ago.  What a blast it was!  I went with zero expectations and came home full to overflowing (of course, my time at the Cheescake Factory helped with the "fullness.")
When we first walked into the Seminar Room, we were greeted with the rainbow of Ricky's hand dyed fabrics.  Now who could resist that?  Certainly not I.  And if you look carefully at the upper left edge of this picture you can see that they worked out a pretty savvy system.  When you stood at the counter, the people working the "store" looked at your name tag, wrote your name on a shopping bag and handed it to you to fill up with things you wanted to buy.  Then you handed it back to them to pay for later OR to put more things in.  It was all alphabetized so they could quickly find your bag when the next buying break occured.  What a system--very buyer friendly.

 And you can see that I was not the only one taking advantage of the buying opportunities.
One thing that was so great about the entire Seminar was that EVERYTHING ran on time.  If a break was supposed to start at 10:30, that's when it began. 

 As  you walked into the main door, Libby Lehman and Ricky Tims had a table where you could get a photo opportunity or get autographs or just smooze.  Alex Anderson and her husband had a both on the other side of the room doing the same thing.

 And the volunteers from the Guild that sponsored the Seminar had aprons made from Ricky Tims fabric.

A close up of the quilting on one of Ricky's quilts.

 Ricky getting ready for a presentation.  Almost everything was projected onto a large screen so everyone could see.

 And there were beautiful quilts everywhere.  For those who never have the opportunity to go to Houston or Paducah, it was a rare opportunity to see these quilts up close and personal--and to hear the stories behind them.

My best purchase of the weekend!  This stabilizer is phenomenal.  I've been using it since I got home and am converted.

Did I learn anything at the Seminar? Well, yes, I did.  Nothing huge--but MANY little things that added up to one HUGE thing.  To be immersed in an atmosphere of humor, knowledge, artistic genius and an uplifting spirit--well, that was well worth the price of admission--and more.

Zentangles

 I became acquainted with Zentangles after visiting one afternoon with my friend, Gail Blate.  She was preparing for a class on creating mandalas (which is also a very interesting process) and while showing me her Power Point presentation, she also showed me a UTube video with someone drawing a Zentangle.  He was doodling!  Just doodling, but how magical it was to see how those doodles came together to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.  I was immediately grabbed by it and wanted to draw one of my own.  Immediately.    I was spending some time by myself in a house with no television, no radio and no CD player so it was a perfect atmosphere.  I had such a good time doing it. The time just slipped by and, moreover, I was completely taken by surprise by what a meditative process it can be.  It was as if someone had gently laid a soothing hand across my restless spirit.
So . . . what is a Zentangle?  Here is a definition provided by the creators of Zentangles, Rick Thomas and Maria Roberts:
Meditational Artform



Zentangle’s non-verbal language of patterns and proportions can open doors to insights which seemed locked before. Creating Zentangles opens those doors, not because they were locked, but because those doors swing on non-verbal hinges. When you create a Zentangle you can enter a meditative state in which intuitive insights flow freely. Get inspirations, ideas and answers unhindered by expectations or worries.                                                                                                                                                                          

I was completely hooked and drew another one.  And another one.  And another one.  (It's a little addictive). 

As it happens, I am the Project Chairman for our art group challenges this year.  We have a

 Challenge once each quarter and I chose Zentangles for our focus this quarter with the only rule being that our Zentangles had to be on more than just paper.  They could be on cloth but they could also be on plastic, metal, wood--whatever.  Just not SOLELY on paper.  I found this book by Suzanne McNeill that features Zentangles by several quilters and it has served as an inspiration for us.

 I saw a picture of a stuffed cat with some embroidery on it in a catalogue recently and it seemed to me that it would translate perfectly into a project for Zentangles.  You can see here the beginning of my drawing.  For the finished project, I've chosen faux leather.  It's finished and I had so much fun--not only doing the drawing but also figuring out how to construct it and stuff it.    Check back later for the finished photo.

In the meantime, join in the fun--and relaxation-- and try your hand at it.  Get out some paper and a Sharpie fine point marker, find a quiet place with a good drawing surface and give yourself the gift to creation and refreshment.  You'll be surprised how many doodles are just waiting to be released!

It's Always Hard

Yes, it's always hard to get back into the swing of things after being diverted by holiday events and projects.  And I'm still not there.  Much of my time these past few weeks has been time on the computer planning for this year and next year for our Cobblestone Quilt Guild.  I'm the 2011 Vice President and Program Chairman.  The Vice President part doesn't take a lot of time, but the Program part does.  There are so many wonderful quilters out there that any Guild would love to come to present a program and teach workshops but, as with any organization, the factor of funds available and scheduling often limit choices.  And, there really is no ideal teacher that is going to please everyone.  So, you do the best you can do and move forward.
Who would be my ideal teacher?  I have two of them--Ruth McDowell and Sharon Schamber.  Would I be able to have either of them come to our Guild?  Not likely.  Ruth only teaches extended 3-5 classes and the travel and other expenses for Sharon would probably be too high.  But one can dream can't one?  Or go to a larger venue and hopefully get into one of their classes.
So, anyway, that's what I've spent a fair amount of time on lately.  Fortunately for me, I have good help.  My committee is great and our Website Coordinator posts everything I need to be posted in a timely and attractive format.  How blessed I am.
One of the things I did before Christmas was to spend some time on the topic of Creativity--researching thoughts by various people and making small quilts to express them. I will share the following photos that show most of them.