Blue Ridge Quiltfest

I came, I saw ... I won the lotto blocks ;-)

It was a great get away for me. Janet and Donna picked me up at the Asheville airport and after minimal shuffling--to put the wonderful fudge which all the participants received in a cool place and to pick up Dorothy along the way--we headed to the legendary Mary Jo's Cloth Store about two hours away in Gastonia. Krista and Colene had left Virginia earlier that day and with no planning at all, we all arrived at Mary Jo's within 5 minutes of one another. How's that for synchronicity?



Everything you have heard is true--they seem to have every fabric in every line and it's all irresistably priced. I went looking for Asian prints to make Oriental Lantern blocks for Kate's swap and found an entire aisle of them.

Later that night we travelled back to Asheville for greek food and then on to the country club to check in and unpack.


Most of us stayed in the main building, but four forum members opted to share the villa. I never actually saw them rocking and stitching in those rocking chairs, but I like to imagine them there. For the weekend, quilters happily co-existed with quilters ... though on at least one day, some of us were awakened by the sounds of these two guys chatting beneath our balconies.



I thought it would be fun to pack up with golf cart with sewing machines, fabrics, quilting supplies and quilts, but ... we just ran out of time.



Inside, the place had the feel of a comfy lodge. The living room was one of the public spaces--we held show & tell there Friday night and and after Becky's handpiecing class Friday morning, many of the students hung out and continued to work on their sampler blocks.



One floor up there was another space, which turned out to be a great place to sew together in the evenings. Dorothy brought a quilt stand, so we even had our own design wall.



Yep, those blue & white stars are some of the lotto blocks that *I* won. It was so unexpected and will make a beautiful quilt filled with memories for me. The design wall also came in handy when Janet brought out the blocks forum members made to celebrate her first anniversary as the quilting guide on about.com.



Of course the best part of the weekend was putting faces and personalities with names from the forum.



Mark your calendar for next year:
Blue Ridge Quiltfest - March 7-8, 2008 in Asheville.

Blue Stars for the Blue Ridge Quiltfest

I have no one to blame but myself for this one ... I suggested a block lotto for Quilting Forum members at the Blue Ridge Quiltfest. We are making blue & white star blocks. Here are mine:



Maybe it's the locale, but I seem a little stuck in blue land . . . The florals I am taking for Janet's Carolina Byways quilt workshop are predominately blue and I found this Blue Ridge Mountain photo to use as inspiration for the landscape workshop on Saturday:



I think a blue-gray gradation I dyed last summer is going to be perfect for this project.

(Tedious) Work in Progress

A few years ago, I sorted through all my stash and started storing things by color ... which made it so much easier to use (and also to see which colors I always buy and which colors I never buy). For a while, I've wanted to sort my scrap bin and I've finally made a start. Already I know this is going to be so much more usable ... but the sorting is tedious!



On the not-so-tedious front, I'm about to attach the label for the Quilt Studio charity quilts--thanks, Jeri, for getting the embroidered labels to me so quickly. I should be able to send this quilt on it's way this weekend.



Check out the pretty flannel fabrics Deb used for the backing ... and her wonderful, whimsical quilting.

Objects, Finished, Unfinished and Almost Finished

Yesterday, a box from Deb G. arrived ... containing the first of three quilts I am binding for the Quilt Studio Ring's 40 Quilt Service Project. All it needs is a binding and a label and I'll be sending it on to Amy to take to The Children's Inn in Bethesda Maryland. It's a charming quilt and the quilting is fantastic.



Here's the WIP QOV I mentioned earlier today. Several of us in my small group brought them home to finish.



And here's a--can you believe it--finished object: the Wacky Westerner's silent auction quilt. All the blocks were made before I joined the group, so I volunteered to do the binding. There are also a couple of detail shots of the cowboy's face and Coreen's quilting in my flicker album, here and here.

Birthday Blocks

My small group is exchanging birthday blocks (of the birthday girl's choice) this year. Here are my blocks for January, February, March.



The basket block was Danita's choice. Carmella took a chance and let us make blocks of our choice (in colors of our choice) that were either appliquéd or pieced (based on drawing slips of paper). Nancy asked for batik stars on white-on-white backgrounds.

I didn't get to see the other basket blocks, but I got a peek at Carmella's set on Monday, at the sew-in at her house.



Quite an interesting set of blocks, isn't it?

Quilting Bee & Tractor Pull

On the President's day holiday, my small group met at Carmella's lovely house to continue our work on Quilts of Valor.



I didn't get many photos--I was too busy sewing. Click any of these for the larger versions.

We finished two more tops and ended the day with several more WIPs--one came home with me ... and will be one of the things I share in my belated WIP Wednesday post soon.



We also finished up our quilt for the Guild's silent auction and the raffle quilt for the American Cancer society.

It was a perfect, beautiful, sunny winter day. We enjoyed a great potluck lunch. Around four o'clock, we packed up and were ready to head out ...

Then the excitement began. While backing down the driveway, Nancy's car went off the long driveway and into a snow-filled ditch. Only Alicia had left before her; the rest of us were around and tried to help ... without success.



After trying and failing the usual approaches of putting something under the wheels, rocking the car, digging out some of the snow under the car ... it was Carmella's son to the rescue.



Boy and dog really seemed to be enjoying this more than the rest of us ...

I missed the beauty shot, because when all the wheels were spinning and going no where and it wasn't looking promising ... I slipped inside to see Carmen's Birthday Blocks, laid out on the living room floor. When I came out, Nancy's car was out of the ditch and chains were being removed.



And there were smiles all around.

The Animal in You

Everyone in blogland is having fun with the Myers Briggs personality test and comparing themselves to the most amazing people. For a different perspective on personality, check out The Animal in You.


My results said I could be a giraffe or an elephant. In my youth, I probably was the giraffe--coincidentally, I used to collect them--but now, the somewhat underwhelming ... plain gray elephant seems a better fit.

Since first taking the Myers Briggs test a couple decades ago, I have seen the results for a couple characteristics shift over time. I attribute those changes to life experience. I wonder if others see those small changes in me (or in themselves) over time.

Playing With Dyes Again

As I explained to a frustrated fiber artist at the dye workshop on Saturday morning, the results of my first ever trip to Days to Dye For at Alice Brinkman's studio were so spectacularly disappointing that now I come with low expectations. It allows me to play (and often fail) as I learn and experiment with new processes and chemistry. Here are the results of my most recent efforts.

Saturday we focused on pole wrapped shibori methods. I brought back the once purple scarf that I'd discharged last fall with the intention to overdye it--I expected the navy dye to be darker, but I think it's moving in the right direction.

I also overdyed a hand-dyed yellow fat quarter--I think this is going to make great tropical leaves.



I'd recently seen some fabulous shibori socks on Flickr and had to try some of my own. I went on a last minute hunt for white 100% cotton socks on Friday night ... and came to the studio with low expectations. I think these need more color, but have possibilities.



I think everyone in the studio on Saturday wished we'd had more time to wrap and dye and add more complexity to some of our pieces ... I came home thinking I needed to make my tiny space workable as a micro dye studio and work in a less distracting environment. I also decided I needed Karren K Brito's book on Shibori. I often love my accidental results and really should figure out how to reproduce them ...

A Journey of 10,000 Steps Begins With ...

... a new pedometer.

Last summer when I started walking after work with a friend, I picked up a pedometer and managed to lose it within 10 minutes of clipping it on for the first time. I found it later, in the driveway ... AFTER I had run over it with my car. Bye, bye pedometer.

Knowing that MOVING more is always a good response to a funk, I picked up a new one yesterday, with what looks like a sturdier clip. Only time will tell ...

Yesterday, on my way out the door to work, I clipped it on, curious to see how much walking is part of my normal day. As you can see in my sidebar, it's a little over 6000 steps. Maybe getting to 10,000 won't be as tedious as I feared ... tedious because taking a walk during a snowy, frigid Michigan winter can only mean one of two things: treadmill or mall walk, neither of which hold great appeal to me.

Paralysis by Analysis?

When Marianne issued her challenge on the Quilting forum to finish three WIPs by April 30, I knew I had to join. I wasn't alone ... the discussion has been so intense, I can't even keep up with the messages.

But back to the quilts ... I thought my biggest challenge would be remembering where I tucked away the fabric for the binding for the large flannel bed quilt last fall, before my move. Instead I've been stalled by indecision.



This quilt is based on the Calico Garden Quilt in the collection of the Shelburne Museum. The original has Broderie Perse applique in the border and I have painstakingly cut out many flowers for that purpose. But ... I keep considering trapunto instead ...



My abstracted Allium was created in a workshop with Jane Sassaman. I thought it would make a great oversized tote ... and the fabric at the bottom extends far enough to form the back of the bag. But now choppng it off and making a small wall-hanging seems to be a better idea.



And that flannel quilt? No indecision here ... and the binding fabric has been located. The biggest challenge may be convincing Grace Hopper and her big brother to give up their favorite spot ...

In a Funk, a Slump or Just in a Rut?

My plan to hit the ground running in January has failed miserably. Perhaps it was the definitive arrival of winter and day after day, week after week of gray skies.

On the rare occasion that the sun comes out and the wind dies down, you can almost see everyone's spirits lift. But even on those very rare sunny days, one can go out in the morning and find a giant icicle in their parking space. The morning that Linda was taking beautiful icy winter photos, I spent more than an hour chipping the ice away from my car-cicle.

I have been making some small progress, quilting wise. I've begun a year of fiber postcard swaps on the Art Quilts forum–we'll be celebrating eight (mostly) international holidays. The first will celebrate International Women's Day on March 8. (There is still lots of time to sign up, if anyone wants to join us). I've also kicked off a new year of the block lotto on the Quilting Forum ... with huge success. I've already received more than 180 blocks this month--100 more than the high-water mark from previous years and more than seven times as many as our last month (November) last year. It feels like an avalanche of blocks and funky, slumpy, in-a-rut me is a little overwhelmed. More quilter than quilt related, I also established a web/blog ring for quilting forum members on about.com. I wasn't sure how many forum members maintained blogs or sites--the list so far is around 20.

Whether it be funk, slump, rut or the mere lack of sunshine here, I push on and know it can't last much longer.

ABCs of Me Meme

I found it on Rissa's blog and couldn't resist.

A- Available or single? Currently both ... and yes, I agree, this question doesn't make sense

B- Best Friend? Diane. Our paths first crossed in an online-swap-from-hell years ago and we've stuck.

C- Cake or Pie? Pie--cool key lime or warm apple pie a la mode, depending on my mood and the season.

D- Drink of Choice? Fresh fruit juice. (I love my juicer).

E- Essential Item? Call me a geek, but I have to admit, it's my laptop.

F- Favorite Color? It changes all the time ... these days it's a shade of blue-leaning-toward-turquoise.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Ugh, thanks but no thanks.

H- Hometown? I'm too much of a tumbleweed ... I don't think I have one.

I- Indulgence? Ben & Jerry.

J- January or February? February--it's short and once you get through it, it's almost Spring.

K- Kids and names? No kids, just cats. Grace Hopper and Johnny.

L- Life is incomplete without? Art. It inspires and makes us think.

M- Marriage Date? 10/12/1978 (Columbus day)

N- Number of Siblings? Three: two brothers and a baby sister.

O- Oranges or apples? Apples. One of the great things about being back in Michigan is Michigan apples.

P- Phobias/Fears? Since the accident, I am fearful of another distracted driver plowing into me when stopped at red lights.

Q- Favorite Quote? Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. -William Morris

R- Reason to Smile? Who couldn't smile when these two look up at you?

S- Season? I have lived on both coasts, Texas, France and here in Michigan. I think Fall is the perfect season just about everywhere.

T- Tag three people! I hate to tag people, but I think Debra, Suze and Jane Ann are too nice to say no ...

U- Unknown Fact About Me? My weight ... and I'm gonna keep it that way--though I admire the ladies over on the Quilters' Lounge who are providing full disclosure.

V- Vegetable you hate? I haven't met a vegetable yet that I didn't like.

W- Worst habit? I talk too much.

X- X-Rays you’ve had? Too many since I've moved to Michigan, but most recently, it was a C-spine series, to makes sure I was simply shaken and not broken.

Y- Your favorite food? Salmon. I could probably eat it every day and never tire of it.

Z- Zodiac? Scorpio. Oooh, scary huh?

Community Quilting

Yesterday I spent the day with friends from my small group, creating tops for Quilts of Valor. Blocks were laid out on the pool table and floor.

Settings were designed, fabrics auditioned for alternate squares or sashing and ... before we knew it we had pieced 7 tops and backs which two longarmers in the group will turn into Quilts of Valor ... and we'll be binding lots-0-quilts soon. Here's the finished top, made from some Swappers Star swap blocks that I contributed to the cause.

We also finished two WIPs for fundraising quilts--one for the guild and one for cancer research. I think we were all impressed with what we were able to achieve in a single day.

More on Book Tower

Jane Ann commented that there is a much larger version of the Kubach-Wilmsen Book Tower in Nashville. This one is 10-to-12 feet high, probably too large to have been a maquette for its big brother at the Nashville Public Library. I went back and looked at the photo I'd taken of the label for the piece and learned that the couple known collectively as Kubach-Wilsen are noted for their carved stone stone sculptures of varied scale and stone from quarries worldwide. I let my fingers walk over to google and found an even smaller example in the collection of Art Enterprises Limited. It consists of 7 miniature stone books and is only 4" by 12" x 18".

Play Day

Saturday, I met a friend at the Frederick Meijer Gardens. I know what you're thinking ... gardens? in winter? in western Michigan? They have several galleries and environments indoors and each year, about this time, they celebrate Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World.

There are trees decorated to represent the traditions of many countries. I loved the very colorful Mexico tree (and thought Debra would, too.)



One of my personal favorites was this very small knitted black sheep ornament on the Peru tree.

We wandered into the Sculpture learning center and were encouraged to build an arch by the security guard.


We rose to the occaision ... and ... Tada! Success!

A sign there said that All sculpture are made of line, shape, form, color, texture and space ... I thought the same could be said of quilts. Speaking of quilts, when Amy and I saw this marble sculpture by Wolfgang Kubach and Anna Maria Kubach-Wilmsen, we saw fabric bolts ... what do you see?