With A LOT of Help From A Friend

My friend, Dotty, came to visit me for several days after Christmas.  We had a great time--went to the movies, out to eat (had a HUMONGEOUS helping of tiramisu on NewYears Eve), went to the yarn store, played cards and just generally had a great time.  But, most importantly, we had a MISSION.  We had decided to make a quilt for a mutual friend.  And this is what we made--Prince's Feather from the October 2008 issue of McCall's Quilting Magazine.  It was amazing.  We agreed on all the fabric choices--keeping in mind that we needed to include blue.  And Dotty had brought the perfect blue for the ferns.  We fused, positioned and blanket-stitched all the ferns, pieced the entire quilt and pin basted it in 3 days--in addition to all the other things we did..  Then I quilted it and sent it to Dotty where she put on the binding and label and shipped it to our friend.  And our friend LOVED it.
What a way to spend the holiday.  We received so very much joy from the creating of the quilt and the laughs we had while we were doing it.  And I really like the finished product.  What more could one want for a Christmas gift than to spend time with a good friend and having a great time?

Bearing Witness

 Several years ago, the art group that I belonged to in Charleston was invited to present an exhibition at Charles Towne Landing, a state park that is situated on the site of the original settlement (www.charlestowne.org) in that area.  This is a beautiful park and well worth a visit if you're in the area.
Anyway, as preparation for the exhibit, the first thing is to get inspiration  for your quilts, right?  So . . .we all spent several hours there walking around, taking pictures and, generally, having a nice time.
I was struck by the carved statue of this Indian.  It is rustic and weather-worn and the expression on his face is one of dignity and (to me) sorrow.  It made me think of how often people are displaced from their homes worldwide--through greed, strife, injustice . . .you name it.  So, he was going to be the subject of my quilt.
Well . . .about that time we moved back to the mountains and my "main man" was put on the back burner due to many things related to moving and life in general.  BUT this winter, I was re-inspired and decided that this was the right time.

With a subject so large--and long--I knew I needed to use a fusible appliqué technique in which I would join sections of his head and headdress and then put the entire piece together.  If you try to do the piece as a whole, it can be really difficult as you manuever the many tiny pieces.
So here is a couple of sections joined together.  By the time I had all of the pieces fused and connected, I was working on four appliqué sheets!  I then GENTLY peeled the whole thing off from the sheets and tacked it onto the background fabric.

Here is the finished top before any thread painting.  I really debated over what to do as I moved forward.  The original carving is well worn by the weather and time.  It has a lot of cracks on its surface.  I wanted to try to duplicate this feeling without making the entire piece one big crack.

And this is the result.  I am fairly well pleased.  Two things to note:
I put a red tear coming from his left eye--representing loss and betrayal.  Also, the symbols on the right side of the quilt are all Native symbols with meanings that I wanted to emphasize--such as courage, peace, friendship, love and good health.
I'm actually glad that I didn't make this quilt  just after my visit to Charles Towne Landing because I think that delay meant that I put more thought and feeling into it.  For me, this quilt represents not only the Native Americans, but also, the slaves that were brought to this country and abused, the Jews that were exterminated during WWII for no other reason than that they were different (as well as the Japanese Americans who were interned), the people today that are being tortured and killed for no other reason than the very fact that they exist . . .All of these people and more .  It is good to stop and think . . .simply think and remember--not to forget--and  to let the remembering prevent us from adding to this list.

Promises, Promises

 For the past few Christmases, my husband and I have agreed not to give each other presents for Christmas.  Like so many people today, we really have everything we need--so why buy something we don't need or particularly want?
(One thing I do--also for the past several years is to pick up and carry around merchandise that I THINK I want and see if I "bond" with it.  And so many times, I put it back.  Just yesterday in Joann's, I was trying very hard to use three 50% off coupons and ended up leaving with nothing--after carrying a couple of things around with me while I shopped).
ANYWAY, on Christmas morning there were 3 packages under the tree that didn't belong there.

My husband had broken the rules! O.K. O.K--let's just see what's in them . . .The first one was from the dog and had a new pair of gardening gloves--heavy duty for pulling more ivy up come springtime.  Very useful and much appreciated.  The 2nd package had a memory card.  So now I'm thinking:  How did he figure out what kind of card I use in my camera? (and the sad thing was that I didn't realize that it was the wrong card for my point and shooter.  Shows you how much I know about my own stuff!).
Even when I started opening the biggest box I had NO idea what was in it (How naive can one be?)
I was absolutely floored to find this beautiful camera--and overwhelmed--another learning curve to traverse.  I've looked at the 35 millimeter cameras for a long time as I walked through various stores, but I sure didn't pick one up and carry it around to see if I bonded with it.  I was  mad that he broke the rules and VERY overwhelmed with the camera itself but, but, but . . .I LOVE IT.  I use a camera a lot as I consider ideas for quilts and it has taken me no time at all to bond with it, after the fact.  Look at the close up photo of one of my quilts.  Way better than I could have done with my point and shoot.
So .  . . my husband definitely broke the rules this year, but he knew my heart better than I did.  Can one ask for a greater blessing?

Gettin' Crackin'

For many people--and I am one of them--in recent years the Christmas season has been a time of sadness rather than joy.  Events in our lives have conspired to make it a time of tears (and compensation eating) and hopelessness concerning our ability to change our circumstances.   One of the ways that I dealt with Christmas this year was to stay busy--because that way you have less time to focus on things you can't change--and, hopefully accomplish something constructive.  Less moping and more hoping.  I did a LOT of sewing.  And creating something out of nothing made things a bit better each time I sat down at the machine.
When we moved back to the mountains of North Carolina, I got rid of all of my scraps--except the batiks.  You can see the big basket of them in the first picture.  I sifted through all of the scraps

looking for purples and creams, having decided to make a log cabin quilt.  I ironed and cut, cut and ironed, cutting strips 1 1/14" wide and then started piecing.  As the blocks came together, I really enjoyed seeing the way the colors worked together ( and as I didn't have enough cream-colored fabrics and added other light-toned ones that were in the basket).

There were no rules for the piecing.  I didn't paper piece to assure accuracy--I didn't even cut the correct sizes for the strips.  I just sewed and trimmed off the ends.  I did press the omponentsof the blocks as I went along, but I didn't press the rows of blocks until they were all sewn together.  It wasn't a show quilt--I didn't spend a lot of time on the quilting.  I just sewed and sewed and listened to Books on CDs.  It was soothing and satisfying.

And here you can see the finished quilt.  The only "new" fabric I used was for the border.  What am I going to do with it?  I don't know.  This time it was definitely the journey, not the destination.
And along the way this year, I learned a pretty good lesson.  We truly can make our own happiness.  This quilt made me happy--as did several other things during the season.  We had friends for dinner on Christmas and it was a joy-filled time .  After Christmas a friend came for several days and, together, we made a quilt for another friend.  It brought us both a sense of deep satisfaction to do something for someone else.  We also went to a movie, played cards and shopped for  yarn in a wonderful knit shop.
So. . .Was this Christmas what I would have wished for in my perfect world?  Definitely not.  However, it was pretty darn good and, for that, I am thankful.
My resolution for the New Year?  Focus, focus, focus on the things that are good.  Practice gratitude and be thankful for the people that are in my life.
May your year be filled with more blessings than you can imagine.

The Unveiling

The Asheville Quilt Guild held its annual Christmas dinner on Tuesday night and it was really nice.  The location  was beautiful (although the parking was sparse), the food was better than most and the guild group that put it on did a great job.
For me, it was the occasion for the unveiling of the Opportunity Quilt for the 2013 quilt show.  When I was asked to come up with the quilt for next year, I was the victim of not being able to say, "no."  However, it was one of those things in life that definitely turns lemons into lemonade.  While I was stewing within myself for being a gutless wonder, a fellow guild member approached me to offer the assistance of her art group for the project.  (I wonder if she heard my big sigh of relief?)  This has been a difficult year in so many ways and. all of a sudden, there was a lightness that wasn't there before.
To make a long story short, the Out-Of-The-Boxers stepped up to the plate in a BIG way.  I provided the basic form for the quilt and the idea (all things Western North Carolina) and they jumped in with additional content and willing hands.  It truly was a group project and much better for it.  For me personally, it was major.  At the end, they invited me to join the group and I feel that my feet have landed on some pretty solid ground after wobbling around looking for a place to share my quilting life. (Right now, I'm drinking a BIG glass of lemonade!)
The name of our quilt is Delectable Mountains and the tickets will be on sale very soon.  A member of our guild, Noreen Goard did the longarm quilting and she took particular pains to choose motifs that also reflected Western North Carolina flora and fauna.
An additional note about the Christmas dinner:  The Ammons Sisters put on a program in which one sister told stories of growing up in the mountains with little or no material possessions and her sister drew the stories has she told them.  I really loved listening to the stories.  For some reason, I have always connected with the spirit of these mountains that I now call home and stories told by people who have been here for generations give depth and breadth to the experience.  It made me think about how stories impact our lives.  Years ago, when we lived in Saluda, we visited an abandoned stone bridge--called Poinsett Bridge--in the Greenville Water Shed.  It was still mostly there and had a keystone type of construction.  At one time, it was a route from Greenville, SC to Asheville, NC.
Not too long after we visited that bridge, I came across a book of short stories by Robert Morgan called The Mountains Won't Remember Us.  In that book was a story about the building of the Poinsett Bridge which focused on the character of one of the stonemasons.  It vividly portrayed what his life must have been like in those hard-scrapple days of mountain living.  No, he probably wasn't a real person; however, it forever changed my perspective of that bridge.  It no longer was just a beautiful artifact but, rather, was a real bridge built by real people who lived a life of scarcity and brutally hard work.   Stories can bring us as much truth as history books--just in a different way.  Precise facts don't always matter if these stories lead us to a new appreciation of the people who came before.
Sometimes it makes me wonder who will share OUR stories with future generations.

"Air- Conditioned" Scarf

As some of you might remember from an earlier blog, I bought yarn at the huge Fiber Fair a while back to make a scarf that was displayed in the booth.  My husband's comment was something about how is a scarf with a lot of holes in it going to keep your neck warm.  Well . . .what did THAT have to do with anything?  I liked the yarn and I liked the scarf.  Nothing else really mattered.
Of course, the scarf will keep me warm though.  There's plenty there to do the job.  It was a lot of fun to knit because I could hardly wait to see how the next color gradation was going to look.  The only drawback was that I have to keep binding off 10 stitches--which meant I had to count them--uninterrupted.  That can put quite a damper  on conversation.
So, it's finished and the socks are well on their way to completion.  I did cheat a little with the socks and bought some less expensive yarn for my first pair before I use the "good stuff" I bought at the fair.
For those of you interested in this yarn it is by Kauni (www.kauni.com).

Let There Be Peace On Earth--And Let It Begin With Each Of Us

The day after Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law, niece and I went to a craft/gift show in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  I used to be a production potter and went to many craft shows throughout the years and, as a result, haven't been to many of them in recent times.  This year, it was the choice of sitting around all day, going to the mall or the craft show.  And I'm very glad we made the choice we did.
Why?  Well, for several reasons.  First of all, it's kind of fun--if you go at a time when the crowds aren't so great i.e. at the very beginning of the day or at the end of the day.  The other thing is to head to the left as you enter because most people go to the right.  We followed both of these rules and it was very pleasant until we got just about to the end of our time there and hit all of the people turning to the right two hours after the show had opened.
Anyway, another very good reason to go to a craft show is that you are pretty much guaranteed to encounter products made in America.  AND, if you're lucky and friendly, you'll get the back story behind the individual crafts that you encounter.  (In case you're wondering at this point what the back story is on the quilt at the top, I'll get to it pretty soon)
I used to be a potter--as I said--and as such, I always look at pots when I'm in a gallery or craft show.  These days, I'm pretty horrified at the prices (and am perhaps jealous that my prices never got that high!).  There were several potters at the show and, I'll have to say, all of there prices were more reasonable than most BUT a lower price doesn't necessarily mean a desirable pot.  But then I came to a booth where the pots just drew me in.  I picked up a mug, the price was good and, more importantly, it felt good in the hand.  I was sold.  Now, one of the benefits of buying at a craft show is that you meet the maker and what he or she says becomes part of the vessel that you purchase.  And what a nice young man--I think more or less just getting started and very enthusiastic about making pots. (He also showed me how to use The Square to charge purchases).  So now, my morning cup of coffee is more than just a cup of coffee--I'm back at that show and thinking about the back story.
I also bought a small hand-carved gourd that is so beautiful.  The young man in that booth told me that he was from Peru and that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all carved gourds.  Another back story.
Now to the quilt above.  While we were walking the show, my sister-in-law spied a quilt hanging up that was made from a Christmas panel--nothing fancy--nothing to mark the maker as a quilter.  Just a product.  I couldn't help myself.  I asked her why she would want to hang that on her wall at Christmas when there was someone who could make her a REAL quilt (me and my big mouth).  Well, she allowed as how the argument had some validity.  And so, I was committed to the project.  I had previously purchased the pattern Peace by Paris Bottman after seeing a finished sample at a quilt show. So it seemed that it might be a good time to make it. Now, it's finished and ready to mail.
And, hopefully, my sister-in-law will think about the back story when she hangs it on the wall--the back story of going to a craft show with her daughter and sister-in-law on the day after Thanksgiving--a day when she saw a lot of wonderful things made in America by real people with faces that gave depth and meaning to the things she purchased.  And, hopefully, she will like the quilt that offers the prayer for peace in our time.