More North Carolina

The North Carolina Arboretum had a special exhibit of paper art by Carol Funke. We really enjoyed seeing her work.

This is Motion in Color III. I like how one sees a different image depending on what direction one views it from - straight on: (click photos for larger view)



From the Left



From the right




This is Motion in Color I.




And another dimensional piece called Rhythm in Color





Kaleidoscope of Log Cabin was framed and matted in an interesting fashion.



There was also an exhibit of art dolls photos of which I'll post later.

Abbey Road

I've been oddly fascinated by a live webcam focused on the 'zebra crossing' in front of the Abbey Road recording studios. (click on the blue link to go to the site) The crossing is the one used to shoot the famous cover for the Abbey Road album.




It seems like whenever I click on the link there is someone using the crosswalk. Some people just walk across it but others try to imitate the Beatles or stop in the middle to have someone snap a photo. There is a great deal of traffic coming through the area so I'm guessing the locals are none too happy with the tourists!

North Carolina

I just returned from a long weekend in North Carolina with 3 other friends. We stayed at Judy's home in Hendersonville, NC. The house is for sale as Judy & her husband have moved back to Charleston, but it makes a good base of operations until it sells.

Spring is just getting to that area and the dogwoods were beautiful. This pretty pink dogwood is in Judy's front yard. (click photos for larger view)




And a look down her street. Interestingly when we arrived on Friday afternoon there were beekeepers working in the front yard of this neighbor's home.


We did some quilt shop hopping but also visited the North Carolina Arboretum and the Folk Art Center in Asheville.

The folk art center didn't permit photos. It was filled with wonderful crafts ranging from tiny hand made baskets to beautifully crafted large pieces of furniture. I fell in love with a couple of stained glass pieces and it took a lot to resist bringing them home with me.

The Arboretum had lots of stuff in bloom, but I expect it will be even better in a few weeks. The butterflies enjoyed the blooms as much as we did.



I enjoyed the ironwork around the grounds.






One of the buildings had an exhibit of paper art and a bunch of art dolls in the style of elinor peace bailey. I'll have photos from those exhibits in my next post.

It's a wonder

Last fall at our state guild's annual retreat I purchased the fabric to make a One Block Wonder quilt. Turns out my friends Dotty and Judy also had fabric to make the quilt so we decided to get together to make them.

We all had our fabrics cut before getting together last week and we spent the day sewing blocks. We decided to meet again today to progress further on the project. When we arrived at Judy's this was what we saw on her design wall. She was busy this week! Isn't it cool? (click photos for larger view)




While we had our print blocks completed, Dotty and I hadn't yet made any of the cube blocks. We spent most of today selecting fabric and then stitching up a few of the cubes. Here are Dotty's. I love the vibrant blue she used.



These are mine. I have a lot more cubes to make!



Judy has a studio to die for.

She has 4 machines set up in cabinets ready for sewing (2 Berninas, a Viking, and a Janome)



Her large cutting table was created by putting a counter on top of kitchen cabinets.



She made sure to get cabinets with pull-outs. Some are wood and others are wire.



Jerry and I have just entered into a contract for a new home which will have a larger sewing space for me. Maybe I'll be able to set something up like Judy's. Sure hope so!