Sunday, April 29, 2018

More White Linen Nights

What a fun and exciting night! There were about 20 lab coats presented, and USM theatre and merchandising students modeled them. Here are some pictures from the event. Tom Phillips modeled my lab coat honoring the Southern Pines Animal Shelter staff. The fuzzy kitten head was the perfect addition to the costume!
Me with Tom Phillips/Kitten

Dr Alicia Fortenberry (veterinarian), me, Tom Phillips/Kitten,
Ginny Sims (Southern Pines director),
Ramanda Taylor, (kennel supervisor)

The runway (Click to enlarge)

The runway (Click to enlarge)
Tom Phillips in Southern Pines lab coat
Kim Whitt with her creation honoring Dr Jeff Johnson

Theatre student modeling Abigail Lenz Allen's coat honoring Dr Barbara Barnard

Betty Reid with student modeling her coat honoring dentist Dr Chuck Harrell, who loves to scuba dive

Back of Betty Reid's coat


Saturday, April 28, 2018

White Linen Nights

Finally, the big reveal of the lab coats for White Linen Nights! Mine is to honor and recognize the staff at Southern Pines Animal Shelter. I had so much fun creating this! Here are front and back views and some detail shots.




Amaryllis and Hostas


My favorite amaryllis is blooming again, probably for the tenth year. It was a gift I enjoyed in a pot which I then moved to the flowerbed outside. It has multiplied and has two scapes each year with about four blooms on each. Here it is from beginning to open on Day 1 up through Day 4:
Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Hosta blooming

Young hostas in shade
Several years ago I made a wall quilt inspired by this amaryllis; nothing as beautiful as the real thing!



Sunday, April 22, 2018

April--and Southern Pines Animal Shelter


April is such a beautiful month, with the trees leafing out. My front yard is almost totally shaded. The days have been mild to cool.
I’ve had so much fun working on a lab coat for White Linen Nights, a Hattiesburg Arts Council and the USM Merchandising Program fashion extravaganza honoring healthcare professionals.

I chose to honor the staff at Southern Pines Animal Shelter with my lab coat. The coats have to be kept secret until the April 28 event, so pictures will have to wait a week.


Meanwhile, Linda and I were asked to sew patches on doggie vests to help get them adopted.

Elizabeth was very interested

Friday, April 13, 2018

Pathways and Bellingrath Gardens

I had an enjoyable trip to Mobile, Alabama, to present a program to the Azalea City Quilters Guild this week. The group met at St. Mark United Methodist church, followed by our workshop the next day at Spring Hill Baptist Church, which makes me want to mention how grateful quilters are that  churches share their space with us! We try to pay our way, but know that we are given charitable rates. University Baptist Church, my home church in Hattiesburg, has graciously let us meet and quilt and store supplies for many years, probably since the early 1990s. So thanks to our churches!
Completed practice squares

I always start the Pathways class with a small practice square using Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry's "applipiecing" technique. After the students get the over/under preparation of seams and stitch one or two, they are ready to design their own pathways on the larger pattern. Everyone got the practice square done and I got a group photo before we moved on to drawing our flying geese or piano keys or mountains/valleys pathways.
My hostess lives south of Mobile, almost to Dauphin Island, and after following the directions I was given, it was reassuring that I was at the right house when I saw the wrought iron Ohio Star on the garage. The gated community has small lots, so the houses are three-story with elevators. "My" bedroom window and balcony had beautiful views overlooking the Fowl River. What an amazing sunrise!
Quilt block on garage

"My" bedroom window on upper right



Other houses down the street
We were only a short drive to Bellingrath Gardens and Home, and it was delightful getting to visit there again. After my family moved to Mississippi in 1971, we often took any Texas visitors to see this hidden treasure. Some of those majestic trees were lost over the years to hurricanes, but the place is restored and kept as a showplace of the South.


Walter Bellingrath was Mobile's first Coca-Cola bottler and bought an abandoned fishing camp on the Fowl River in 1917. His wife Bessie began to plant flowers, and an architect help them transform the fishing camp into a country estate. The Bellingraths began inviting friends to the gardens in 1932, and since 1934 the gardens have been open year round. A 15-room house was completed in 1935 and is filled with period furniture, porcelain, silver and crystal. Mr. Bellingrath created a foundation to honor his wife and oversee the gardens and home; income also goes to three Christian colleges and two local churches. I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful place! In addition to the 65 acres of gardens and the home, there is a building housing the Delchamps Gallery of Boehm Porcelain, another treasure not to be missed.

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Pathways Class

Four weeks after my injury I am working diligently in PT to get my shoulders functioning again. If I didn't have to turn the steering wheel, I'd be a happy camper! But I am happy I am able to present a program and Pathways workshop in Mobile. It is one of my favorite techniques to teach and I'm looking forward to the class. It is using Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry's Applipiecing technique I learned at her workshop in Paducah in 2009. My all-time favorite quilt is Caryl's Corona II: Solar Eclipse, which won a $10,000 purchase award in 1989 and is in the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.

Corona II: Solar Eclipse, by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry
Of course, this is an extreme example of what Caryl can do with her technique. We will start quite simply with a background and three "ribbons" or "pathways."  I call a "pathway" a series of flying geese, a row of piano keys, a series of spikes, or even a solid piece of contrasting fabric. When I was in her workshop in 2009, I began the piece I call Galaxy, which has one pieced and twisted pathway of gradated strips of hand-dyes from dark blue to medium blue to light blue to yellow to green and two pathways of other hand-dyed fabric (orange one and blue-green-blue one).
Galaxy

There are untold variations with this technique, and students can learn to draw their own designs.
Pathways in Stone
What a pattern looks like

Ribbons
 
Twisted Ribbons

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Happy Easter! He Is Risen!

Flowering of the cross
It's a beautiful spring day and our worship services were inspirational. We bring fresh flowers to add to the cross.

For lunch I even ordered lamb (a high favorite I don't get often). Linda and I saw the movie Peter Rabbit and would go back again for a wonderful time!

Happy Easter from Grandbunny