Murder on the Birdbath

I feel like a murderer! I try to keep the birdbath full of water, and think this is even more important than birdseed in the feeder. But today when I went out to water some flowers, I came upon a terrible scene--a beautiful mourning dove was on her back with feet in the air in the DRY birdbath. What a message she sent to me! She could have died somewhere else, but by doing it in my birdbath she made me promise to be more caring in this 100+ degree heat.

Amaryllis

My apple blossom amaryllis puts on a show every spring, with two to four blooms. The first year it actually had six blossoms fighting for space. I imagine if I would feed it more often it might be happier. I enjoyed creating an art quilt from some of my photos this year.
Here is an inspiration photo:

Here is the overall quilt (about 25" x 27"). The background is made up of five strips of beige/cream fabrics, and the quilting in the background was done with a double needle.

Mysterious Antique Quilt

I was recently given a very fragile quilt, made of hexagons in a variation of Grandmother's Flower Garden. The fabric seems to be taffetas or silk in mostly solid colors, with one small stripe forming the ring around the green flowers. This same stripe is used on the upper and lower parts of the backing, and the deterioration is much worse on the back than on the front. The wool batting can be seen clearly exposed in the picture below of a corner folded back.

The deterioration is uniform across the quilt, with the exception of the surprising black velveteen hexagons in the center of each green flower. The piecing and quilting are very skillfully executed, but now the quilt sheds tiny bits of fabric wherever it is placed. I'm sure it was a prized possession in its glory days.

All Blueberries Not Created Equal

Some are cloudy blue; some are shiny darker blue

Blueberries are so much fun to pick, and I am fortunate to have a friend with a large field of bushes who shares freely with friends. It is best to go early in the morning before the summer heat is unbearable.  There are several varieties--all good. Most have a cloudy look to their blue color. Another variety is shiny and almost black. Which is the favorite? Whichever one you just ate! You can see two kinds in the picture above, cloudy ones on left; shiny ones on right.

Bushes are higher than my head

They almost fall off in your hand

Freeze them in bags to enjoy later

Pictures from Ghost Quilting Workshop

Julia Graber has posted some great end-of-workshop pictures from our class last weekend. See these on her blog at www.juliagraber.blogspot.com . Here is one of Julia and me.

Julia Graber and Martha Ginn

Ghost Quilting Workshop Class at MQA

We had a great time at the MQA Workshop Gathering, and the Ghost Quilting class was a great learning experience. The participants came with their "focus fabric" square or rectangle fused to the background and layered with batting and backing. I demonstrated the use of the Caran d'Ache water soluble wax pastels for those who wanted to add color to their pieces. Some did this, and some drew a few guidelines out in the background to help know where to quilt. We identified what were tension problems and what were speed problems and we found the right speed and sound for their machine to be stitching best. Quilting gloves helped move the fabric for smooth stitches. We got right to the quilting and by the end of class everyone had a nearly finished piece.

Myra Hester Cook

Dianne Force

Chris Baker

Barbara Saulters

Sheila Pierre

Julia Graber

Jean Tincher

Julie Hendrick

Cindy Pannier

Connie Moore

The group showing their work

MQA Workshop Gathering

Mississippi quilters gathered at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson for MQA's annual workshop Gathering June 1-2. What a great facility it was--large meeting room for meals and program, and small classrooms for learning and creating. President Judy Stokes and the education committee had arranged an interesting program, displays, and meals. Our members taught classes and also had their quilts displayed in the meeting room and hallway. The classes offered were:

• Art of Quilting - Rhonda Blasingame
• Twisted 9-Patch - Marietta Johnson
• Mystery Quilt - Jeré Funk
• Ghost Quilting - Martha Ginn
• Scrappy Sweet Sixteen - Watana Cantrell
• Free Motion Machine Quilting - Ann Tullos
• Mosaic Tile - Billie Thompson
• Wacky Squares - Marilyn Rose
• Hunter Star - Diantha Stafford

  

  Works by (L) Ann Fox and (R) Martha Ginn

Ann Fox, Martha Ginn, Rhonda Blasingame, Marilyn Rose

Long Beach quilters showed what we all called the "miracle quilt" that had been made for the city of Long Beach before Katrina. It was hanging in a public building and survived the storm with only crushed leaves clinging to the lower part of it. It suffered no water damage, and the dried leaves were brushed off and the quilt tumbled in a dryer.

 

Gloria Green with Pine Belt Quilters raffle quilt

Marilyn Doheny is the Educational Seminar teacher; she will present two-day classes
July 23-24 in Hattiesburg
July 25-26 in Jackson
July 27-28 in Starkville
 More information can be found on the MQA website.