Sunday, March 17, 2024

Programs "My Quilting Journey" and "Beyond the Blanket"

I enjoyed giving a program on "My Quilting Journey" at Pine Belt Quilters meeting last week. My journey began in 1984 and has brought joy and many friendships over these 40 years. Sewing was a part of my life as a child, starting with embroidery, clothes for my children and myself, counted cross-stitch, and then quilting. It was fun talking about the early days of the quilt guild and our shows, the first one at Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall in 1985, then ten at Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center (1987-2006), and six at Lake Terrace Convention Center (2008-2018). 

Cross-stitch Treasure Chest, by 
Linda Ginn and Martha Ginn

This Is My Story, This Is My Song

Rise and Shine, Inner City

Mandy's Dog and Flying Geese Over Lake Michigan

Guild members Jean Martin (left), Karrie Pennington (back), 
Sandra Byrd (right) 

Next week I will do an artTALK called "Beyond the Blanket" at Lauren Rogers Museum of Art on Thursday, March 21, at the brown-bag lunch at noon. The museum's current exhibit is of traditional quilts from the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Dr. Sandra Sider gave a lecture last month about bicentennial quilts from 1876-1976. My talk will deal with how traditional quilting techniques are used to create art, taking the quilt "off the bed and onto the wall." 

What else is going on? It's March in Mississippi and the azaleas are putting on their annual show. Even when a bush is covered in blooms and a rainstorm beats the blooms down, there are hundreds of buds waiting to open for continued enjoyment. My wisteria bush is beautiful, and I keep it from reaching the holly tree nearby.


Buds ready to open

Wisteria blooms

Lacey, my outdoor cat, follows me when I walk. She understands Elizabeth and Rahrah won't let her come inside, but she checks on the kitchen activity through the windows.

Lacey walking with me

Lacey on kitchen sink window

Elizabeth watching Lacey from her cat tree

Rahrah loves to get on Linda's shoulder


Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Mozart Requiem and Back Door Coffeehouse

Getting to sing the Mozart Requiem with the Meistersingers of Mississippi was an incredible pleasure. My words are inadequare in trying to describe the impact music can have on us. Quoting John Rutter, famous British composer/conductor, "You express, when you sing, your soul in song. And when you get together with a group of other singers, it becomes more than the sum of the parts." I had sung this before, but my appreciation of this classic is greater now. The sanctuary of Westminster Presbyrerian Church was packed, which says there are many who also loved the opportunity to hear this again.

Conducted by Dr Joel Dunlap

Last week saw the conclusion of a very special part of the lives of many of us--the Back Door Coffeehouse at University Baptist Church. David Walker was the driving force behind this 32-year music venue which brought us talent like Kate Campbell, Tom Kimmel, Pierce Pettis, Tricia Walker, Claire Holley, Grace Pettis, and many more, as well as poets like Sharon Gerald. Thanks, David (and the many helpers over the years) who made this possible.


Thursday, February 29, 2024

Some finishes

   Maybe having an extra day in February helped with finishing up some projects.  The 5" squares mentioned in an earlier post had 1" strips of ecru sewn as sashing, making the piece five blocks wide by six blocks long. There were four more blocks, so I added a 5" border with these four blocks as cornerstones. Deciding on how to quilt it has me in a dilemma.

  

 There were two quilts for our Pine Belt Quilters community quilts. I quilted and bound the tops that someone else had stitched. The little flying geese piece got bits of maps glued around the edges for finishing of Flying Geese Over Lake Michigan. I had fun making this dog portrait from my niece's photograph.

Flying Geese Over Lake Michigan





It was fun hosting some of the USM international students last week for food and fellowship. Elizabeth and Rahrah had an especially good time and got lots of attention.
Renata with Elizabeth
Rahrah loves all this attention

The Meistersingers of Mississippi will present Mozart's Requiem this Sunday afternoon, March 3, at 3:00 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg. The rehearsals have been so rewarding; it is a deep pleasure getting to participate with a group of dedicated musicians for this classic composed in 1791. A reception will follow. 

Friday, February 23, 2024

Sandra Sider at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art

Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts, featuring quilts from the American Folk Art Museum, New York, is at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel, Miss., until April 21. Dr. Sandra Sider, a studio quilt artist, author, curator, and past president of SAQA, presented a lecture "Centennial to Bicentennial: Quilt Making in the United Sttes, 1876-1976" last week. She told of the rich history of quilts and how they document events of our lives. It was an honor to have my Cross Stitch Treasure Chest (made by Linda and me) as part of her lecture. 

Black fabric with white embroidery stitches
Educational display

My favorite--2" squares

Detail showing hand quilting stitches


It will be my privilege to talk about quilts and how they have moved from bed covering to art as decoration for our homes at the THIRD THURSDAYS artTALK meeting at noon on March 21 at Lauren Rogers. The artTALK programs are free and open to the public, no reservation required. Bring a brown bag lunch (beverages and desserts provided) for "Beyond the Blanket: Creating Art Quilts." Appreciation is expressed toWest Quality Foods for sponsoring the artTALK programs. 

Saturday, February 17, 2024

February

This month is flying by. I've quilted and finished the Square-in-a-Square 32" x 32" wall quilt from the found 6" foundation-pieced blocks found in my closet. The quilting is in a rosy-colored thread in loopy Es and Ls instead of my usual meander. No progress on the stack of 5" square-in-a-square blocks, but the plan is to sash them in muslin/ecru-colored strips. 

Square-in-a-Square, 32" x 32"

Back and binding is a Jeffrey Gutcheon fabric
Katie Pasquini Masopust's Artful Log Cabin technique is a favorite of mine and I have made several art quilts by her method, the most recent shown here. The inspiration photo is a Mexican market in Austin, Texas, I took several years ago while visiting my brother.
Inspiration photo

Austin Market, 32" x 25"

Austin Market, detail (lemons and limes)

Austin Market, detail

Austin Market, detail
Showing at Pine Belt Quilters meeting with inspiration photo
Enlarge to see grid over the photo
More foundation pieced tiny houses were added to an 8" x 10" quilt for Michele Martin in our Southern Fiber Artist group. Dawn Seymour showed us how to make faux fabric backgrounds using papers  sandwiched between two layers of fusible interfacing. I used torn map pieces for my backgrounds and stitched more flying geese.
Tiny Houses, 8" x 10"

Flying Geese over Lake Michigan, 9" x 11"



Wednesday, January 31, 2024

January and Quilting 101

This month has been filled with so many quilting techniques I learned years ago that it feels like Quilting 101.  For me a new year doesn't necessarily mean resolutions as much as a clearing out and reorganization of my supplies and looking over unfinished projects. I shredded lots of paperwork, thinking "why did I keep this anyway?" I discarded lots of instructions and pieces of projects. But when I came across the box of foundation piecing patterns, fabric strips, and triangles, I remembered how much I loved foundation piecing. So I finished the 16 Square-in-a-Square blocks and assembled them with black sashing. I found a lot of smaller blocks on fabric foundations ready to be sashed and joined. I must have been fascinated with checks, plaids, and stripes when I cut these triangles and squares.

These 6" blocks will finish about 30" square


Detail of some 6" blocks

These are about 5"

I made a bunch of tiny houses and a row of flying geese. Only one row. These are fiddly, but batik fabrics make them possible. 
Tiny houses on an 8" x 10" quilt

Raw flying geese before adding border

With borders
We had several days and nights of below freezing temps, cold enough that my pot plants I had brought into the garage lost their leaves. I'm hoping they will make it. Elizabeth and Rahrah and I hibernated in the warm house. I warmed a blanket in the dryer for Lacey in the garage on the coldest nights. She would often find a patch of sunshine in the yard in the daytime.
Lacey soaking up some sunshine



Monday, January 1, 2024

Goodbye to 2023

 The year has flown by and if I had to reflect and report on the happenings I would be hard-pressed to recall most of them. Some do stand out as special and totally unexpected, like being included in Quiltfolk's Issue #26 featuring Mississippi quilters. Then there was being the FestivalSouth artist and creating my quilt "Prelude" and having a three-week long exhibit of my art at Downey Gallery at University Baptist Church. There were meetings with quilting friends in Pine Belt Quilters, Southern Fiber Artists,  and Mississippi Quilt Association. I attended several enjoyable and enlightening courses at OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and look forward to more in 2024. 

Elizabeth and I in Quiltfolk Magazine #26

Prelude, FestivalSouth featured artwork

I've made quite a few fiber art pieces and participated in SMAA's 47th annual show. Daughter Linda and I are making several child/adult-size quilts from my inventory of fabric. I am diligently cleaning out, donating, using up, discarding lots of art/quilt supplies that have accumulated in my closets and shelves. 
Cheesecloth Man with Pipe (at SMAA 47th art show)

Gruffalo in the Jungle at SMAA art show
There was lots of music at my church, in Meistersingers, and at concerts by USM students and faculty. I had lots of trees cut and trimmed in my yard so my house is more visible and I can enjoy an open view from my front porch. I discovered a new (to me) favorite writer--Ann Patchett--especially her "These Precious Days," "The Dutch House," "The Story of a Happy Marriage," and "Bel Canto." I have two more checked out from the library. 

My cats Elizabeth and Rahrah both had serious illnesses last summer but are doing quite well again after their tenth birthdays. Lacy has become my outdoor cat and has gradually become quite friendly, while understanding the other cats will not allow her inside. 

Lacey, my outdoor cat

Rahrah and Elizabeth prefer dripping water over water bowl
Having achieved my 88th milestone birthday, I'm looking forward to more meaningful times with friends and family in 2024.