Martha's Blog: Ana Maria Diaz Herrera

Monday, January 23, 2023

The Cat Tree

I've been working on an important art quilt that has to stay under wraps a bit longer. Flowers aren't blooming yet and my yard is covered in pine straw and dead leaves. Several outside plants have been brought inside because of low temperatures.

So this post is all about my cats Elizabeth and Rahrah. They're nine years old and I thought they would enjoy a cat tree from Chewy for some climbing stimulation. It came in a huge box and looked pretty complicated to construct. Luckily, Ana Maria Diaz Herrera, a dear viola doctoral student and friend, was here for Christmas break and gladly helped me.

Cat tree box of parts

Ana Maria adding top shelf

Under construction

She also helped hang an art exhibit at the OLLI Peck House for Dana Stratton. The exhibit will be up through May 2023, with a reception Friday, February 17, at 1:00 p.m. (Later correction--exhibit will be up through summer 2023)

(Standing) Klare Lane, Karrie Pennington, Martha, Georgia Kay Carter
(Seated) Ana Maria and Dana Stratton

The cats were not interested in the tree. Elizabeth loves the big box and spends lots of time in it. Rahrah snuggles on my chest every chance she gets. Sometimes both cats manage to snuggle peacefully.

Elizabeth in cat tree box

Elizabeth sleeping in chair during cat tree construction

Rahrah

Both cats on lap

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Cinque Terre Wins Another Ribbon

Cinque Terre triptych had some good news from the Smoky Mountain Quilt show in Knoxville, Tennessee, last week, where it won a third-place ribbon in the Alternative Techniques category. We love opportunities for the three 24" x 52" sections to be displayed together. The picture below is from the Gulf States Quilting Association show in April earlier this year.

By Martha Ginn, Rita Warnock, and Cathy Reininger

A special treat this week was getting to visit with dear friend Ana Maria Diaz Herrera, a talented viola player who returned from two years at the Julliard Institute in China and is on her way to Rutgers University in New Jersey to pursue her doctorate.

Lunch with Ana Maia at the Salad Station

Despite Elizabeth's passion for eating thread, I was able to finish several art quilts recently. Some of my Southern Fiber Artist group makes 8x10 pieces to exchange with each other on a rotating monthly basis. Here are pieces I made for Julia Graber, Jackie Watkins, and Karen Arzamendi.