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!

Classes and challenges

One of the classes I took at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest last month was with Carol Taylor called Arc-i-Texture. Carol's technique involves fusing squares of fabric to a base fabric. Once all the pieces are fused down yarn is couched over all the "seams." Then more yard is used to couch the decorative circles over the top of it all.

As the class unfolded I was unhappy with my fabric color selections. I was going to just pitch the class project and start over with something different, but decided to go ahead and finish it in order to try out the techniques. Once I got the various yarns stitched down I didn't hate it as much. (click photos for larger view)


I'll use the techniques again, but this time I'll have my entire stash available to me so I can (hopefully) make better choices.


At last Saturday's meeting my art group revealed its latest challenge: Zentangles. I had a real problem with this challenge. I just couldn't seem to wrap my brain around doing them. Lately Zentangles are all over and I'm awed by the people who have no problem sitting down and 'doodling' really cool designs. My inner critic seems to be so strong that it stifles me when I try to draw. I didn't want to show up at the meeting without something to share so I ended up doing this small piece.



I don't think of it as a zentangle because it doesn't have the variety that most zentangles do.

There were a number of really unique designs created for this one. Judy did a cool cat on a vinyl fabric that she turned into a doorstop. Doreen made a lamp (!), Linda did a shirt, Pat a pillow.

Our next challenge subject is Haiku. I think this one might be easier for me.

quilting class

Several weeks ago my art group-ATW-acted as test subjects for Judy Heyward's machine quilting class.

Judy is not only a great designer, but an outstanding quilter, which explains why she wins so many awards. She does all of her quilting on her domestic sewing machine and has been asked numerous times to teach free motion quilting. The ATW group was thrilled to be her test subjects to work out any kinks in the class.

It's hard to photograph a whole-cloth quilt so these photos aren't great.

I enjoyed working on this and hope to use the skills I learned on future projects.

(click photos for larger view)

Yet even more from MAQF

Here are even more photos taken at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. (click photos for larger view)

This is Affairs of the Heart by Sue Zoeffel



Chromatic Transitions by Rachel Wetzler



Rose Mandala I by Anne Lullie



Madelaine - A Step Beyond Paper by Penelope Mace/Cutting Edge Quilt Guild

The paper doll elements of this quilt were removable and could be velcroed onto the doll. The makers even included different jewelry for the various costumes.



Imagining India by Pat Holly



and a closer look



Going Green or Not by Lois Griffith

This two sided quilt was hung so that viewers could get a clear view of both sides. This didn't photograph well. There is a lot of detail the photo didn't pick up.





Streamlines by Beth Gilbert



Obviously I enjoyed the show - I hope you enjoyed my photos.

More MAQF

Here are some more quilts I liked at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival held in Hampton, VA last week (click photos for larger view)

This is Calamari Time by Karlyn Bue Lohrenz


Autumn Road by Susan Brittingham



Aspen Wonderland by Judy Madigan



Another Susan Brittingham called Laurel Creek


Memory Loss by Judy Loope



Detail shot - trying to show the dimension on this quilt


A couple of Gloria Loughlin's quilts




The Solace of Persephone by Annette Hendricks. The roses on this are velvet and very cool



Closer shot of one of the velvet roses




More photos to follow

MAQF

I've just returned from Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest in Hampton, VA. I've always liked the Mancuso shows both for the quality of the quilts and the numerous vendors. I went up with 4 other friends and we stayed in Williamsburg - about 25 minutes away from the show site.

We were thrilled that one of our group was a big winner in the show. Judy's Arabian Mystery took first place - traditional. Here's Judy with her ribbon (click photos for larger view)



And the beautiful quilt. Judy's quilting is fantastic and she does it all on her domestic machine.



This is Rhapsody in Rose by Barbara Clem. It won Best of Show



There were several guild challenges on display. One guild's subject was "Quilted Landmarks" and I was very taken by this Niagara Falls quilt by Margorie Marovelli.


I enjoyed "A Day in the Life of a Diner Booth" by Linda Cantrell. (this was hard to photograph)









This is "Little Peace in 2 4 U" by Martha C Hall. I like the movement in this work.


There was a special exhibit about homelessness and this quilt "One Paycheck" by Kathy Nida caused quite a stir.


The gulf oil spill was the inspiration for Sandy Curran's "Paradise Lost"



This was probably my favorite quilt in the show (well, besides Judy's!) It's "Port of Cassis" by Lenore Crawford



3 of us took a class with Gloria Loughman and we worked on making a 'mosaic' background like Gloria's



This is the start of Dotty's beautiful blue sky



I didn't get a photo of Judy's background, but did get her trying to cut some the mosaic pieces on the floor! She moved to a table pretty quickly. It's not easy to cut on the floor



I'm trying to depict a sunset in my background



I'll share more photos in my next post.