A New Class

When I have been teaching classes, so many students have asked me if I would teach them how to freemotion quilt the way I've done it on my own quilts.  Well, my answer has always been, "The way you can do that is to practice, practice, practice.  And maybe have a sip or two of wine before you start!  And nice music doesn't hurt either."  I know that although that is true, one does need to have a point from which to begin.  So I've designed a class to get students started on adding feathers to their repertoire and it is called Adding Freemotion Feathers To Your Bag Of Stitches.  In making samples for the classes, I played around with several motifs and narrowed it down to two styles and then to one finished sample.  This particular sample is quilted with 100 weight silk thread , a #60 microtex needle and 60 weight thread in the bobbin.  There are, of course, various exercises leading up to the finished sample.

So many quilters seem to think that adding feathers to their quilts is difficult and I hope to show them that it just takes practice and the correct thread, needles, tension and an adventurous attitude. 

Separated At Birth?

No, I'm not a twin and no, I wasn't separated at birth from anyone--at least I don't think so.  But I had the most amazing experience when my two cousins came to visit last week.  Le, the cousin on the left lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Annie, the cousin on the right lives in Santa Cruz, California.  (You could see a little more family resemblance if I were wearing my actual hair color!).  I have seen Annie a couple of times in the last few years, but I haven't seen Le since I was 12 years old.  Annie and I had gotten along so well when she did visit me before that she felt that she should really make it possible for Le and me to reconnect as Le is a quilt artist and has many of the same interests.  I am usually nervous in situations that involve the unknown but, strangely enough, I was excited--in a good way.  And when they came down the ramp at the airport it was as if I had just seen both of them yesterday.  There was an immediate recognition of kindred spirits.  So, although we weren't separated at birth and we aren't twins (however, Le does have a twin sister), there seems to be some kind of genetic, cellular link that has transcended time and distance.  I truly think of them as my sisters of the heart.

While they were here, I was definitely a tourist in my own town and went many places that I never take the time to do ordinarily.  We wandered around the streets of Charleston, gawking at things that tourists do; we went to the Heyward-Washington house and saw some beautiful, priceless period furniture; we went to an incredible jazz concert; we walked through the old market--and the list goes on.  The weather was perfect for everything outdoors.  We even watched an outdoor wedding in a local park (talk about voyourism!).

But one of the magical things that was part of this visit was the art we saw everywhere we went.  This week I have been doing sort of a word study on "creativity"--looking at quotes related to making creativity a consistent part of my life.  One of the quotes I came across was by philosopher, George Kneller .  He said, "To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted."  And that is exactly what we did last week.  We looked at cobblestones on the streets of Charleston, we took picture after picture of the gorgeous ironwork on gates (including the famous Sword Gate).  We went to the incredible Angel Oak on Johns Island and marveled at its magnificence and we saw this beautiful little flower in my aunt's yard--and on the way there, we saw a huge piece of floral art made from old paint cans..  We went to Charlestowne Landing with my art group and looked at tree bark and old fortifications and they even came with me to the Tri-County Fair to judge the quilt show there.  Everywhere we went, we went with enthusiasm and we saw beauty (and potential quilts).  I think that I truly looked at things "afresh" and much of what made that possible was that I was sharing these experiences with others who also look at things in an artful, unhurried way.  The things that I had taken for granted came alive and enriched my life.  And as I look at these pictures I also am carrying with me the joy, love and downright fun I had with my two so very special cousins.

A Welcome Change

Since moving back to Charleston--in the middle of the hottest summer ever--I have been looking at my walls.  When we remodeled this house, I kept the colors neutral so that everything would go with it and, I think, keeping my options open in case we decided to put the house up for sale--which we did.
Well, it didn't sell; we are back--and I've been looking at the walls.  And there is no time like the present, when company is coming and you want to spiff up the place to make a change.  I started small--my office/guest room but, believe me, it was a BIG change.

When I showed my husband the paint chip, I could see that he was trying to maintain a neutral appearance as he no doubt thought that I was losing my everlovin' mind.  BUT, since I'M the painter in the house, I get to choose the colors that go onto the walls.  That's fair, isn't it?  Well, that's the way it is anyway.  I know that chartreuse isn't exactly what one would normally call a "neutral" color, but surely the purple that has joined it calms the whole thing down, doesn't it?  Well, maybe not, but it makes me happy and I've decided that that is what is going to determine ALL of the colors that land on my walls.

And, of course, after I finished with the walls, I needed to add a little decor to tie things together.  I already had made the quilts, but I made pillow cases to match and then delved into my stash of orphan blocks and came up with supplies to make two decorative pillows and a wallhanging.  Several years ago, my friend Rita spurred me on to start a memory quilt--which never made it to completion. But I was really happy with the block with entwined wedding rings that I made to commemorate my wedding and now it is happily hanging on the wall as a finished little quilt.  And one of the pillows represents my love of gardening with machine embroidered vegetables and the saying, "2 Percent Inspiration, 98 Percent Perspiration (pretty accurate, I think).
Well, that's all the painting for a while--except that I'm contemplating adding a little something "extra" to the walls.  (My husband is rolling his eyes over that, too, but he's a good sport.)  I'll let you see it when it's done.

From Junk To Transcendental Masterpiece

This past week has been an amazing one for me in which I spent five days with two cousins--one of which I hadn't seen since I was twelve years old!  We spent a lot of time looking at things in an artful way and sharing our hearts with each other.  I will get into much of that in a later blog; however, today I want to tell about an installation I saw this morning in the Addlestone Library at the College of Charleston.  I had read about it in a flyer and then the newspaper had a sizable article on it, so . . .I decided that I really shouldn't miss it (especially since I was still in the groove after five days of looking at artful things!)

 The installation was a Bottlecap Mandala by Bryant Holsenbeck, an environmental artist from Durham, NC.  Back in the day, when I was a potter, I used to see her at Craft Shows with her handmade baskets--but this was on a MUCH larger scale--20 feet in diameter.  The entire mandala is made from recycled trash and is arranged artfully to create a thing of beauty and inspiration.  It is also created in an effort to demonstrate just how much detritus we leave in our wake on a daily basis.

The first photo is the view of the entire mandala from the third story of the building.  It looks quite small in this photo, but, remember, it is quite large.  As you look at the pictures from the floor level, you can identify some of the recycled items that make up the structure-- beer bottle caps, bread loaf closures, powdered ink bottles, milk bottle tops, pickle bottle tops.  And notice the layers of tops that form a three dimensional element.  The installation was quite thought provoking in terms of all the waste we create and how we  deal with it as a society.  But it was also very inspiring to see what we can do with this trash when we set our minds to it.  If you're in Charleston before the installation closes on November 19th, stop in a take a look.  It's well worth the effort.                                              

Gee's Bend

 A group of friends and I went to Columbia, SC on Tuesday to see the exhibition of Gee's Bend quilts at the main library there.  First of all, let me just say that the library was amazing.  Huge--by our standards--and such a wonderful space.  My fingers were just itching to go into the stacks and have a look around.  But--on to the main purpose for being there . . .

 Like most of you, I've heard about the Gee's Bends quilts for quite a while and was looking forward to seeing them.  Now, I'm not much into sloppy work, so I had a little prejudice before I went--but quickly got into the spirit of it once I was there.  These quilts are so strongly graphic.  They just really grab you.  And although some of the fabrics they use are not conventionally used by quilters, they suit the quilts.  We saw a video while we were there where some of the women were interviewed and one of them exclaimed that she didn't know what they were talking about when they described her quilt as a work of "art."  She said that it was JUST a bedcover.  Well, bedcover or not, the thing that struck me was that these women were letting their inner spirits be expressed while not being concerned about a bunch of rules held by conventional quilters and, as a result, ended up with a quilt that--while being made from whatever happened to come to hand at the moment--was more than just a bedcover.  It was art from the soul.  How many of us truly do that?  Do we worry about what others are going to think about our work or do we just let it flow?  Well, there was a LOT of flowing going on here.

After we left the library, we moved on to Creative Sewing--a really nice quilt shop/sewing machine dealership--also in Columbia.  I managed to restrain myself there but when we got to Hobby Lobby I found myself immersed in the beads.  I add beads to many of my quilts--nothing fancy--just what I feel it needs at the time.  I had said myself over and over again, "Self, you do NOT need another time consuming hobby or interest."  Well, I just couldn't help it.  I came across a book that I absolutely could not resist.  The pictures were so wonderful and, hopefully, fully explanatory that I was visualizing a wonderful necklace hanging around my neck.  The book is Beaded Colorways by Beverly Gilbert.  And, of course, if you get it on Amazon it is not as expensive (but I couldn't wait.  And also, the last time I DID wait, the book cost more because it was out of print.).  And then, of course, I had to get more beads because, after all, I am now working towards a goal of making a necklace.  Oh please, protect me from myself!  If I were you, I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for the pics of the finished project but it'll be there someday.

Trunk Show

Last night, I had the pleasure of presenting my trunk show to the Foothills Piecemakers Quilting Guild in Taylors, SC.  Let me tell you, they were a enthusiastic group of women (and one man).  Like most guilds, they had their business meeting first, along with their Show and Tell--and then refreshments.  I really liked two features of their meeting.  The first was a two minute segment devoted to demonstrating a technique--a monthly feature.  Last night's was about the proper way to press seams when you're piecing a quilt.  I know that must seem elementary to most of you, but guilds are composed of people on all different levels and this is one quick way to help each other learn.  The other thing I really liked was when the person in charge of the library gave a short talk on one of the new books that were available for checking out.  As he talked about the book, he really made it interesting and I'm sure that there will now be people WAITING their turn to read it.

And these quilters were a great audience.  They asked lots of questions and spent a lot of time looking closely at my quilts.  All in all, it was a great evening.

And this is a quilt that I recently finished--Jacobean Memories.  It is a needleturned applique quilt from the book Red and Green: An Applique Tradition by Jeana Kimball.  I designed one of the blocks myself and had a 2-toned background.  I actually finished the top of the quilt 2 years ago and pinned it to quilt; however, it sat in a drawer for two years--a drawer that I would pull open every so often and THINK about finishing it but, well . . . .you know.  But here it is--at last--out of the drawer.  I think I can hear it catching its breath. 

Teaching at White Oak

This past weekend, I taught my Snow Family class at White Oak Retreat Center near Winnsboro, South Carolina.  The weather was so absolutely gorgeous that, at times, it was hard to stay indoors--but we managed to do just that.  I had a wonderful group of students and, for the first time ever, had a husband-wife team.  This is William with his Snow Family.  He got the furtherest with part of his checkerboard border done.  He turned out to be the hit of the entire retreat as he showed his VERY outgoing personality during the evening gatherings.  He told us that he had been an executive chef in Europe, performing on television in shows much like those on our Cooking Channel.  Well, he certainly wasn't shy.

Here are a few other wallhangings as they got ready to go home to,hopefully, be completed by this Christmas (at least I'M hoping).  Mary, in the hat, is a veteran quilt teacher--much loved by her students.  She has successfully battled cancer this year and this was her first major outing since her treatment.  Each quilter did a great job and were enthusiastic about learning new applique techniques.

It was also my birthday this past Saturday and it was a blast to be there with so many of my friends.  Late in the afternoon, I looked up and saw a huge group of people at the doorway of my classroom--my Charleston friends-- holding a birthday cake--a HUGE surprise I can assure you.  And as the word got around, everyone I saw wished me Happy Birthday.  And, just as I thought the danger was past ( am VERY shy), the entire group sang to me that evening.  Whew . . .there's no way that can be topped next year.  I felt so blessed.  And I don't want to forget to mention that my husband called me up first thing and also sang to me--as I disolved into a puddle of tears.  He sings eveny year and I just thought it wouldn't happen this year since I was out of town.  Well, he surprised me, too.  But then, he is always full of surprises.