As April ends and May begins

I thought I would acknowledge some of my favorite things and loves. On Wednesday of last week, I was at the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany,Indiana for a planning meeting for Form Not Function 2007. To my delight there was a diverse display of High school students art. The exhibit contained many pieces that I liked but there were four pieces that caught my eye and held my attention.

This piece made me smile. I do love elephants. Not the real ones in the manner


of I WANT ONE for a pet, but I do have a collection of them that other people have added to over the years because THEY THOUGHT I COLLECTED ELEPHANTS.

I don't collect elephants... not really. But to the casual observer you would think I do since I have several hundreds of them in all sizes, made from different materials, (everything from a lump of coal to gold). Dispite the fact that if it had been left to me, I would never have acquired a significant number of them.

I know there are some of you who know what I am speaking about. I know there was a time in the lives of one or two you readers of my blog when you saw a cute chick or two or ducks, or pigs, or cows, or roosters or what have you and in a moment of weakness brought them and display them in your home and SUDDENLY you were inundated with chick, pigs, duck, roosters and or what ever.

Friend and family expressing their love gave them to you as gifts for every occasion; from heres something for you, I hope you feel better soon to Happy Birthday. Dispite me reapeatedly saying to one an all who listen that I DO NOT COLLECT ELEPHANTS, I am tempted at times to pick up one or two to add to the herds; especially if the elephant makes me smile. I love whimsy and this elephant, meets my criteria. It has one green and one blue eye.



This painting was a close-up look at the center of a flower and I liked it simply because I love flowers and love distilling flowers to their essence.

These two are not like anything I would do to express myself, but I liked them because I could see the potential in them for becoming art quilts.





More often then not we car pool when going to the Carnegie for a meeting. On this day it was my turn and I picked up Marti first and then went on to pick up Kathy (This Kathleen is not one of the two I have introducted you to previously.) This is another Kathy. Kathy L. Her husband is the gardener in their house and their yard was looking very good.

The dogwood trees around here are absolutely GARGIOUS this year



and I could not help but get out of the Jeep to touch them and capture the beauty of them with my ever present digital camera.




Olivia Faye, my youngest grandchild came to visit on Friday.



We played with dolls; she made litte piture frames, and she painted two small pictures and finger painted and picked a bouquet of pansies for her Aunt Rene. We had breakfast; and a tea-party; and I brought her a two wheeler with training wheels for her fifth birthday complete with a Dora the Explorer helmet, gloves and knee pads. SAFETY FIRST. But since it was raining here today she did not get to ride outside. No problem I am sure she will get to test her new toy out in her Aunt Rene's basement before she goes home on Sunday.



Bathe and ready for bed, after a day in the park, she was suddenly hungry.
"I'm a big girl and I can make my own peanut butter sandwich." Standing on her personal foot stool, she did.



She played hairdresser with my hair this morning. Believe me only for a beloved Granddaughter would I let a picture of myself be taken with a hairdo complete with a red heart in my hair.

My daughter Rene' (Aunt Na to all her neices and nephews) picked Olivia up at 2PM to spend the rest of the day with her before taking her home tomorrow.



(Photo of Rene and middle granson Justin were taken by Olivia)



Justin has the energy, the patience and humor to keep up with Olivia. Thank God. She wakes up REALLY EARLY and is ready to roll as soon as her eyes pop open.

I have begun to love the sight of the Arch. As I am approaching it from Illinois I know I am 2/3 the way to Columbia, MO and when I see it as I am appraching downtown St. Louis and leaving the state of MO. I know the hardest part of the drive back to Louisville is over.

I shall sleep tonight

Last night as my head was decending onto my pillow a thought popped into my head and refused to leave even when I kept telling the thought to go away that I would get to it tomorrow. I told the thought too that there was no real urgency. To please go away, that I still had plenty of time, even enough time to make ONE or TWO MORE QUILTS IF I HAD TO. Dispite the fact that I was willing with all my might for my eyes to close while listening to a CD by IL DIVO my brain ran on.

I was notified of my solo show in January of 2003. Three plus years ago it seemed like June 16, 2006 was way far off, but now, with the exhibit being hung 60 days or less from today, June 16, 2006 is no longer a long way off. So I got up and began to make an inventory list of the quilts that I have completed and want to be in the exhibit.

As a result of loosing a little sleep last night I learned that there were 34 pieces that were suitable by theme for the exhibit. I really had met my goal of 30 works for the exhibit.

With the list I totaled the width of all the quilts as though they would be hung side by side and touching as you know I would never do, and calculated that I had in excess of 1,875 inches of art quilts to be hung in a space that measures 1,650 inches of total running space or 137 running feet.

I have more than enough quilts to fill the gallery space that was assigned to me. YEA!!!!
The task of eliminating quilts will be far less stressful than panicking and working hard to make more work at the last minutes. As I said, I shall sleep tonight.

To bind or not to bind and other questions.

I finished quilting yesterday on a quilt that was started at my daughter Lyn's house a week ago, after several starts and stops on other designs that did not seem to want to be made during that visit with her.

I was working in a restricted space, quite different from what I was accustomed to but I soon realized that my desire to create could overcome space limitations and other restrictions.



I realized that my desire to create could over come me not having a pin-into-able design wall and that that same desire would let me make do with using a foyer wall and painters tape. With the desire to create I could make do with the top of a four feet by 18 inch folding table instead of having my machine in its own cabinet. I also made do with the top of the kitchen island almost as well as I do with the top of the much larger cutting area that I have in my condo studio.

All of this musing about last week lead me to thinking how shameful it is for one to become accustomed to just being and not living. I could have flittered away last week, laying on the couch, eating Bon-Bons so to speak. But I didn't. I also began to think about how we take for granted that we will live long enough to be a royal pains in the butts of our children too. A lot of us do live to accompolish this goal. But there were no promises made or implied with the issuance of our birth certificates that gaurantees that we will. Good, bad or indifferent a lot of us do not live to be old farts and sooner rather than later we need to face up to that fact.

Last Friday a younger/old friend of mine died. She was the first person who I knew that acknowledged a love of quilts and announced to me that she was a quilter. She moved to Dover, New Hampshire from Louisville two years after we met and I missed her a lot. I made two trips to her house after her move and she came back to see me twice, but we talked a lot on the phone over the years and stayed in touch. While visiting her both times we went to the Vermont Quilt Festival and we saw the first exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum together soon after it opened. Way back then I was empressed with Ruth McDowell who still remains one of my favorite artist. She introduced me to the charm of New England at large something I will always remember her for.

My friend was younger than me by ten years but since we were both practicing RNs back in the mid-80's and quilt lovers, age did not matter, plus we were mothers and wives of men we both called Doug. A shortened version of Douglas, which was her husbands first name and my husbands middle which I shortened and used in endearing moments. (much too personal so I won't go there).

When I visited her the first year after she had moved into what I thought at the time was a FABULOUS HOUSE where she was LUCKY enough to have her own ROOM for crafts and quilts and whatever. I envied her her room because I was making do with the dining room table and the folding doors to the utility closet. Yet after living there for a year, she had not unpacked a thing. The stacks of boxes in her ROOM reached the ceiling blocking the windows and shutting out the day light.

There was no way creativity was going to come visit or flourish in that room unless she got to unpacking all of those boxes. Besides the boxes in her room there were boxes in the garage, the family room and in the loft above the garage that belonged to her too. I offered to help her unpack and organize on both visits and both times she said no. She'd get to it.

It was a life she had put on hold and sadly the holding pattern held till she died last Friday, leaving her daughter Katie, her husband Doug and her son Derek to unpack, sort through and discard.

When Katie called me sounding so much like her mother I thought for a second it was my friend and I smiled, then cried when she told me with the same humor her mother had had the news of her mother's failing health and death.

She told me that she had given away four sewing machine so far, enough knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn to sweater and sock scores of bodies and feet, yet she had not found a single completed sock or afghan. Katie said she had given away to local charities over 1,200 yards of fabric and still had not made a dent in the piles and sadly she had not found one completed quilt or quilt top so far to keep and charish.

At her mother's funeral she said many women came up to her and said of her mother that they knew her and that she was a quilter. But Katie said she has found no evidence of that anywhere in the house. Her mother's creative life had been put on hold.

I know those tote bags, signs and t-shirts are humorous, but please tell me, what does, the person with the most fabric left behind when they die, WIN????

I truly do not want to be a pain in my children's behinds because they really were not bad kids growing up, but I would like to live and I DO MEAN LIVE MY LIFE long enough to be a little annoying. Will serve them all right for making me worry when they were sick or out late or dating and getting married to people I didn't think were right for them.

NO NO NO My Dear Sainted Maryellen I am NOT REFERRING TO YOU.

When I started blogging today I intended writing about the quilt I had just finished quilting and was wondering if I was going to bind it or face it. When all the above thoughts started running through my head and now that those thoughts are out in the open I will get back to the questions of the day which were bind or not to bind, crop or no crop.



After looking at the quilt and thinking about it the question of a binding or facing lost its importance, because I first had to decide if I liked the finished quilt. Well do I? I'm not sure.

Secondly I wondered if the quilt would benefit from cropping.



Yes it did.

Do I like it? Still not sure.


Would it look better with or without a binding? Decidedly better with a binding I concluded so here is the finished work.




It really is flat and square even though my photography leaves one to wonder.


Do I like it?

Still not sure.

A little bit of normal is a good thing.

It rained during the night, just enough to rouse me,leave the morning slightly chilly and one in need of a sweater or shawl when venturing out. I lingered in bed until hunger struck about 10 am.
And this is were normal began. I went to the kitchen and did not find anything I wanted to eat that was HEALTHY. I ate two slices of American cheese without bread because there was none in the house and a 1/2 apple that was two days away from being garbage.
Went to the balcony to visit the pansies.
The rain took care of any watering that might have been needed.
I piddled around in the studio waiting for my friend Kathie K to call saying she was back from Philly. We made plans for lunch today and Kathy A was joining us since the place we choose was very close to were Kathy A's office is.

Lunch was good. Had a Thi Chicken Salad and lots of coffee. Here are the Kathy(ie)s
Kathleen (Kathie) K is on the left, Kathleen(Kathy)A is on the right.

Back in Louisville

Returned to Louisville and came face to face with the start of Derby madness yesterday. It was Thunder over Louisville day complete with shows by the Blue Angels, Helicopter maneuvers over the Ohio River. A true show of military force complete with tanks on the Kennedy Bridge. The Kennedy spans the Ohio River and connects Kentucky to Indiana for interstate 65. If one did not know better one would think we were under siege by FRIENDLIES. And then there are the fireworks. Billed as one of the world largest fireworks show. Thousands come to downtown Louisville to be part of the festivities. NOT ME. NOT BY CHOICE.

I was lucky enough to get to Louisville before they closed the interstate to traffic.

After the long drive I had a hankering for something substantial for dinner. I had breakfast in Columbia. Had nursed one cup of coffee from Starbucks for nearly 300 miles. Had eaten no lunch on the way.

So my friend Kathy A picked me up in her care and she and I went to Toni Roma's for dinner. Both the company and the ribs were great. She dropped me back home after seeing me into the downstairs door.
She thinking I was safely side my house, she drove off, going to see her daughter who lives near me and who is recovering from knee surgery done on Friday.

What follows is a comedy and the reason for friends who will come to your rescue.
It went like this.

Using my cell phone."Kathy, do you still have a key to my house?" I asked when she answered the phone at her daughter's.
After a short thoughtful pause, "I think so." she said, "Why?"
"I'm locked out. Justin's gone, he has the Jeep and I wasn't thinking and I gave him my car keys with the house key on the ring by mistake."
"Oh, I really don't know"
Could you come back over here and see if you do. Don't rush. If you need to do something more for Steffie, I can wait."
Where are you now?" she asked"
"In the building sitting on the steps."
"Drink your coffee, I'll be there as soon as I can."
when I discovered that I was locked out I thanked God that I had stopped for a cup of coffee from you know where on the way home from Toni Roma's.

Kathy A was not too long in coming, but when she did we found out she did not have a key to my place on her ring. Now me, I had keys to her place plus a key to my other friend Kathie K's house who happened to be in Philly for the weekend.
So Kathy A and I got back in her car and went 3/8's of a mile to Kathie K's house to look for my key there only to learn when we called her on her cell in Philly to find out were in her house she had it, we learned my key was not in her house but was with her on her key chain in Philly. A heck of a lot of good that was going to do, RIGHT.

There was not need to go to Kathy A's she did not have a clue were my key in her house could be since it was not on her key chain. The likelihood that a search in her new house would produce my key was fruitless, since she has not completely unpacked or organized her place.

A call to my daughter Rene who lives 10 miles away resulted me locating a key. Only problem, she lives off of Interstate 64 just as I do and 64 is the shortest and quickest route to her house on a normal day. But remember I told you several hundred words back that this was Thunder day. Nothing is normal on this day and nothing is normal in Louisville will be normal for two weeks. Normal again for us will not happen again. Not until the Derby is in the history books.

So three mile from my house on Interstate 64 we came to sudden stop as traffic was being diverted from interstate 64 onto the Watterson Expressway. The WE is the inner loop around the city. We inched along at about 2 miles an hour for three more miles before the detour. The only saving grace to the trip and massive traffic jam was we got to see a spectacular display of fire works above the city. Amazing, 15 miles from the city and we could see them. Best yet, no thundering sound or the smell of gun powder.

We finally got to Rene's, got the key and got back onto 64. With Kathy driving her normal speedy way I was finally able to get into the shower and bed.







.

Even the fortune cookie is on my side.

Brought lunch today at Hy-Vee a supermarket that is more than a super market. There is a restaurant, the STARBUCKS, a bank, a pharmacy, flowers for the house both inside and out. Never thought I would talk on and on about a grocery store. At any rate I treated myself to lunch there today. It was reasonably priced and not bad for pre-cooked food. The hot lunch selection included Chinese fare complete with a fortune cookie. It said, "Do that which your heart tells you."

Yesterday I visited two colleges. Navigated the streets with the help of the map in the front of the telephone directory. I did not get lost and found Columbia College easily. I parked and walked around in their ART school building complete with studios and a very nice gallery. It is a very small campus, easy to get to and easy to navigate, however they do not have a fiber art department. Most of the student work I say in the studios, looked like student work. That in and of itself is not a bad thing. It's just that, I must remember that I will be associating with the peers of my older grandsons.

Missouri University, is the oldest university west of the Mississippi. MIZZOU as it is called fondly, is a large campus. It has a typical old college layout and old style main buildings. I did not see the Art school facilities, however the staff and students I encountered on campus were very pleasant and helpful.

They do have a fiber art department and I plan to attend the orientation for the EASY ACCESS program they offer for us older folks on August 18th.

I am working on a piece for my solo exhibit while here waiting on additional information on the houses we are interested in.

We have narrowed our choices to two.
So here is the update.
We are waiting for the cost of some additions we need to make to one (our third choice at this point) in order for it to work for both of us. Our second choice is being handled by an agent we have not been able to contact since I arrived, possibly he is or was away for the Easter Holidays. But if he never gets back to us we decided we would be quite happy with the house that is at the top of the list at this point. There are some very minor stuff to be done and should get a price on that by today.

From Columbia

Happy Easter. The sun is shining here today as it has been since I arrived. Lyn has kept me running from house to house lookiing at all the ones she had narrowed her search down to so it was a matter of me getting in my point of view. Yesterday we had narrowed it to three when we happened upon another house that quickly moved to the top of the list. We will meet with the builder/agent tomorrow or Tuesday depending on Lyn's day, since Monday is the last day of the tax season for her. IF my grandson downloaded the shots of the top of the list house correctly into the laptop I will attempt to show you some shots of the place.

Packed the car for my trip with enough stuff to make a makedo studio here at Lyn's just in case the search took longer than planned. Have drawn a new design which measures 48" x 60". Dispite downsizing my work space to the top of her kitchen island, a wall in the foyer for a design wall and a four foot folding table she borrowed for me from one of her classroom I can not think small.

Every artist should have

an art critique group as great as the one I belong to. At each meeting there is work in progress to look at, finished works to ogle, new techniques discussed and/or demonstrated that one of us is exploring. This has been a great way for each of us to get the good, the bad, and the ugly on most of the newest contemporary approaches being applied to art quilts. We learn from each other's experiences and value the time we spend together.

Top row from left to right, Joanne, Pat, Kathleen... Bottom row from left to right Valerie, Me, Marti. These are the jurors signature pieces as they hung at Form Not Function in January at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana. Because we limited ourselves to a 12 by 20 piece these are not totally indicative of the work we do or would want to be solely known by.

At tonight's meeting, Pat had a piece in progress that she was quilting. Joanne had several pieces to show from a series of self directed surface design exercises using different screen printing techniques on silk and rayon.

Marti, Kathy and Pat two week before had taken a five day workshop on surface design and textured surface techniques. Kathy also had one piece to show that was being bound that she had created with her own hand dyed fabric. Marti showed her latest piece that she has almost finished quilting. Valerie had two finished pieces and a gorgeous piece of hand dyed fabric that she planned to use for the next piece in her sun series. I showed off the piece I posted earlier today for you.

We meet at Marti's house in her studio.

Despite us being together from some years now we are still very much individuals in our art approaches and endeavors, yet we can see the value of everyone else's journey and discoveries and are able to offer critiques and suggestions from their point of view. We truely have made each other better.

As always when the once a month meeting comes to an end I remain wound up for several hours afterward. I am very enthusiastic and usually cann't wait to get home to try what they have tried. As a result of tonights meeting I want to take off into different directions because very often like tonight what they had to share has peeked my interest and fed my imagination.

I am all packed for my trip to my daughter's tomorrow, so I thought, but when I go I got home I went to the studio for my heating gun and soddering iron. I will shop for some felt, stitch witchery when I get to Lyn's. I have already packed the paint and brushes, several bins of fabric, tools, notions and sundries. You would think by the way I have packed I am not planning to return any way soon.

What about your condo and the prospective buyers who are stopping by on Sunday? No worries. I have the best housekeeper-FRIEND who will stop by on Saturday to make sure everything is ship shape for them.

I have promised myself, despite whatever is going on in my life with the exception of a major snow storm that I can not safely drive through from MO to KY I am not giving up my group. The use of a bed and bath have been offered when I come.

It's not done until it is done

I was so happy to have this quilt ready for the finishing touches that I told you guys that it was done. Well it wasn't done, but now it is.

From old to new

This is an older work of mine titled Forecasting Rain.





and this is a shot of Poppies No. 7 my latest . It is all done; blocked,faced, labeled and signed.
Had a looker today. My realtor woke me this morning saying there was someone coming to look between 11 and noon and would that be alright. OF COURSE IT WAS. I just had to jump in gear, got out of bed, got out my PJ. I loaded the dishwasher, emptied trash cans, dusted the obvious and freshen the bathrooms.

I left the house while they were here going for coffee at Starbucks. I noticed when I was coming back that they were leaving a similar unit in the next building. Of course I was quite certain that my unit would look the best and as it turned out the woman and her mother-n-law want to return on Sunday with the son-hubby for another look see. Maybe they will be the ones. Here's hoping.

It was a really great day here today. I spent some time on the balcony watering the pansies and doing the hand sewing on Poppies #7 while listening to some music through my wireless head set. Never let it be said that I pollute the neighborhood with the sounds of classical music ringing from my place.

A little shopping and then lunch

The telephone woke me on Saturday morning. My friend Valerie called asking me one of the silliest question in the world. "Did I feel like making a trip to Austin's with her? They are having a 30% off sale on thread." Austin's has the greatest selection of threads anywhere. He carries every brand and the full line of each. Mederia, Sulky, Superior, Mettlers, 2 brands of Silk, YLI, Robson Anton, Aurifil, Gutterman's, Bottom Line and others. We agreed that she should pick me up around 11:00 am. Which she did and we were off to Austins. Now mind you there was no competition involved in our spending, but remarkably we were within cents of each other when we checked out.

I had been planning to go to Austin some time very soon because I was running out of the right colors of thread for my latest quilt. So her invitation came at the right time. I'm happy to report that the last stitches were put in my current quilt "Poppy #8" at 3:15 am and so I took some shots of it as well as the booty I purchased earlier on Saturday.

I used one are two of the new threads in "Poppy #8.

I didn't have the need to use any of the King Tut from Superior in this quilt, but maybe the next one. I haven't used it before. I brought it because the variegation looked interesting and seemed not to be too regular. Loved the tone on tone green for possible use on leaves.

Does the area next to your machine get as cluttered as mine? Gee!! A major straightening and reorganization of my threads will definately be in order this afternoon.

A good friend is one who shares your passion(s). Valerie is such a person. A love of thread and a love of oriental food. OF COURSE WE STOPPED at Lemongrass and enjoyed every bite of our Rice noodle bowls right down to the fortune cookie. Val is not a coffe drinker but se was game to try the Vietnamese coffee, YUMMY and BUZZ BUZZ.

Tomorrow or rather in less than 11 hours the second open house is scheduled. Hope I have some serious nibbles this time. I will be off to my daughters on Thursday for a stay with her which will last until the Monday or Tuesday past Easter Sunday depending on how much luck we have in finding the right house for us.

Old friends returned

Yesterday in my efforts to get all the work I need for my solo show together in one place, I went to the gallery that handles my work and reclaimed three pieces that fit my theme. I haven't seen the quilts for several months and I am amazed at how quickly I had forgotten what the work looked like and how much I liked them. So revisiting them was like seeing old friends again.

While I took a break from quilting I thought I'd put them on the design wall and take a photo of each and share two of them with you. The other one is too large for me to take an image of successfully in the house.

I revisited some other images of my trip to Portsmouth that I hadn't posted. They were taken from the window as I waited for the elevator as I was leaving the hotel. I think they are the best of all of the shots I got of ships, boats and the Elizabeth river.

I thought several times before I decided to put out into the world evidence of one of my weaknesses. My healthy eating habit went bye-bye last week. I ate pizza, bar-b-que ribs, cornbread with lots of butter, fried fish and ice cream. They say confession is good for the soul so I must also confess that I ate PEEPS. No, inhaled PEEPS. Lots of PEEPS. You see, I love PEEPS, yes PEEPS. I love the soft sugary yellow things with a passion that is only surpassed at Christmas by peppermint sticks and cranberry sauce and cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving.

I had to take a picture of these packs of PEEPS quickly because they were not with me for long. I also brought a road map so I didn't have to call my son to find me again on the way home. And my other secret is I love to listen to CD's as I drive. I have a great collection and enjoy every thing from Mozart to Womack, Marie Callas to Luther Vandross. Actually listening to CD's is how I keep up with how far I have to go and how much time I have been driving. I've got driving to my daughter Lyn's down pat. 400 miles from my door to hers, or 6 CD's that's it.

If this is home...

It's got to be Tuesday. When I travel I tend to loose my awareness of days. This trip was no exception. I knew where I needed to be when, but when you find yourself waking in strange beds I have to pause to gather myself and mentally go through the schedule others have planned for me. I drove half way home from Portsmouth, VA on Sunday staying again in Beckley, WV, where it rained during the night, but only just hard enough to rouse me from my sleep for a second or two.

I drove the rest of the way home yesterday (Monday) fighting the wind for most of the way. My friends told me I missed the big storm but saw evidence of it as I neared my community. The traffic lights were still out and some lovely old trees were felled as well as several Bradford pears.

This morning the sun is shining and signs of Spring are evident. The lawn people are mowing. They put down fresh mulch while I was away. Looks really good. Oh yes, sprucing up for summer and the very best part is I didn't have to do it. My pansies on the deck railing survived no ones attention but were sorely in need of watering. There was no help from Mother Nature this time while I was away. My unit faces east and they said the rain came from the west.

No more lolly-gagging, it's now time to get seriously back to the studio and finish up the piece I left here when I left here last week. I need to manage my time so I can manage to complete one more piece before my self imposed June 5 deadline. After that it will be time to do the boring but totally necessary administrative work for the exhibit.

More images from Portsmouth and the Retreat

Another shot from the Friday Class and two enthralled admirers of Valerie White's artistry. Although there were several husbands there offering their support during the retreat, Robert is a quilter and the only male member of the 54-40 guild.

Friday's workshop

Creative people at play is always good to see. The Friday class worked hard before lunch to get their substructure finished. After lunch there was so much fun going on you could hear a pin drop on the carpeted floor. As an instructor you can always tell when the students are into what the class is about. When there is a lack of understanding there s mumbling and questions. When there is uncertainty, there is mumbling, questions and beckoning jestures indicating a hand holding session is needed to re-establish self confidence. This is what was completed in the Friday class with the students bringing stuff from home and having free access to the bins of stuff I hauled from Kentucky. I hope I didn't miss anyone in the class or their project in various stages of completion.