Cool September Mornings

Ahhh. . . how pleasant to wake up to some 60-degree temperatures in late September!  And I got my Pfizer booster vaccine today. Another milestone.

I've been busy preparing my part on the program at the Fall Gathering of Mississippi Quilt Association this weekend--our first in-person since February 2020. I'll be talking about my stitched pictures and ghost-quilted flower pictures. I picked up these stitched abstract pieces from the framer today.

There isn't much blooming now after our hot summer, but I was fascinated by the huge mushrooms in my neighbor's yard. They look so delicious but of course I wouldn't dare try them. They are about 6" across.

Seed pod on Magnolia tree

Our Readers Theatre group presented a program for PrimeTime at University Baptist Church, and Linda read the role of a sassy teen-aged daughter in one of the skits.

Linda Ginn in Readers Theatre

The SMAA exhibit at the Lucile Parker Gallery is over but I am still amazed remembering the wildly colorful work of Hector Boldo. Here is my favorite of his work in the show.  

Offrenda (Offering) by Hector Boldo

Hector painted one of the utility boxes that we are enjoying around Hattiesburg. You can see his art on the corner of Hardy and S. 34th Avenue by Toefer's. Thanks to the artists who spread joy through these paintings around our city. 

November Happenings

Temperature was 35 degrees this morning! Sticks and limbs all over the yard from rainstorm, but it's good to have fall weather.
My Black Swallowtail Butterfly piece (started in KatiePM Artful Log Cabin class) is finished and ready for facing. The Improv Zebra piece is ready for quilting and facing.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly (top done)

Photo Inspiration

 My quilt guild, Pine Belt Quilters, enjoyed hosting the Mississippi Quilt Association Fall Gathering last weekend, in spite of two days of steady rain, wind, and street flooding. Our theme was Log Cabin Quilts, and we had a beautiful display of quilts, including some Quilts of Valor and Outstanding Quilters' works. It was neat to honor these quilters and see a representative sample of their work.

Joan Alliston Introducing Cynthia Bates (PBQ raffle quilt Home Tweet Home on stage)

Linda Ginn presenting "Why Did I Buy THAT Fabric?"

One of my favorite things about October is getting to attend Brown Bag Concerts Thursdays at noon, sponsored by the Hattiesburg Arts Council. The music is always good, lunch delicious, weather perfect. This year there was a precious little scene stealer at every concert. Here he is entertaining Rebekah Stark Johnson while moving to the music.

Brown Bag Concert

    I've had plumbing repairs going on and still need to get washer overflow damage taken care of. Amazing how a little water overflowing where it shouldn't can go undetected for weeks!

I couldn't resist taking this picture

Water damage to wall

    I had an exciting nature event when a baby squirrel appeared on my driveway with a bloody nose, apparently having fallen out of a tall pine tree. He seemed alert and okay until I noticed he was dragging his right back leg. After I let Elizabeth sniff him, I put him in a box, wrapped in an old tee-shirt where he slept all day. A phone call to Central Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation resulted in his being picked up and taken to Picayune where a rehabber is taking care of him. I didn't even know we had people like this. She bottle feeds him until he can be released if his leg is okay.

Elizabeth checks out Baby Squirrel

I enjoyed seeing a dear friend from Japan as she traveled on business to the United States. She visited USM friends and had lunch at Patio 44 with Linda and me.

Chie and me at Patio 44

Twisted Trees for June

I'm excited about teaching my Twisted Trees class at our Mississippi Quilt Association Workshop Gathering this weekend (June 17-18) in Jackson. MQA has three Gatherings a year plus an Educational Seminar in different areas of the state so more people can attend, but this Workshop Gathering is always centrally located.

Free-Form Quiltmaking, a.k.a. Color Bars

Our state quilt association, Mississippi Quilt Association, holds a Workshop Gathering each June, and it is often  my pleasure to teach at this event. We always meet in a central location, while the spring and fall gatherings move about the state. This year I taught "Free-Form Quiltmaking," or what I call "Color Bars," relying on popular techniques employed by such teachers as Rayna Gillman and Dianne S. Hire. I feel a little ambiguous saying I "taught" the students, but suffice it to say I helped them discover their own creativity and gave them permission to play and experiment. Here are a couple of pieces I made last year using these improvisational techniques:

Color Bars #2--Black by Martha Ginn

High Rise by Martha Ginn

 Isabel Adams was so eager for the class that she sewed up lots of strips beforehand. We pinned these units to a display wall and discussed ways to arrange them.

Martha demonstrating the "wallpaper cut" to Isabel Adams, Missy Lee, Carla Formel

Working without a pattern or specific size pieces was a stretch for some, but they quickly discovered the joy of combining colors, sizes, and shapes to come up with interesting designs.

by Missy Lee

by Myra Cook

Georgianne Brooks, Angela Jones, Missy Lee

Nancy Losure designing on the floor

Another of Isabel Adams' exercises

At the end of the day, all the groups come together for Show and Tell from their classes; it was impressive to see the variety of creations.

The class showing their exercises

Next month I will travel to Hernando, MS, to present a program and Ghost Quilting workshop for their combined day and night groups, as the houseguest of my dear friend and former Hattiesburg resident Cheryl Owens, pictured below with Teresa Pino and Sharon Arnold.

Cheryl Owens, Teresa Pino (yes, the room was cold!), Sharon Arnold

 Good resources for these techniques can be found in Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts, A Stress-Free Journey to Original Design, by Rayna Gillman, C and T Publishing, 2011; and Quilters Playtime: Games with Fabrics, by Dianne S. Hire, AQS, 2004.

Closing out 2014

This month has been an unusual one, as far as most Decembers go. I had knee replacement surgery on December 9 and came home after spending 14 days in rehab unit. The therapy is a bear, but I knew this from my other knee and I'm thankful for a skilled and dedicated therapist. While I was away friends and my daughter took care of my kitties; it is so good to be back with them, but I don't feel well enough for quilting or art activities. There's no telling what interesting blog reading I'm missing during this down time, so I'm hoping to do some catching up soon when my brain is rid of the anesthesia and pain meds.
The joy of Christmas this year came in my participation in the Advent banners, singing with our church choir and hearing beautiful music on CDs. Our celebrating does not have to be the same each year as long as we remember the birth of the Christ Child.
There are interesting and challenging art quilts to make; it is neat to reflect on milestones like my guild's 30th anniversary and to think of the marvelous friendships that have come from it and Mississippi Quilt Association. I look forward to a creative and joyful 2015!

Japanese Lanterns With Orphan Blocks

I had a special surprise a couple of weeks ago at the Mississippi Quilt Association Gathering in Vicksburg. Gatherings are always a good time to visit with friends we don't see often and to catch up on what we've been working on. I taught a Japanese Lanterns workshop several years ago, and Cindy Pannier brought her finished quilt to show me. Shelley Taylor and Cindy Melton have previously completed their quilts, and I was delighted to see another completion of this big project. Not only had she finished her quilt, but she framed it with orphan blocks, adding more color and making good use of these other blocks.

Cindy Pannier with her Japanese Lanterns Quilt

The pattern is Courthouse Steps, as old as the Log Cabin, but the arrangement of lights and darks creates a design that reminds one of Japanese Lanterns, hence the name. Each block is made up of four color sections, and the challenge is how to keep strips organized so that the adjoining block (on the row below, for instance) will have the right strips to finish the design.

To better understand this, look at the upper right corner of Cindy's quilt (inside the black border). The block is made up of half the blue lantern, half the black lantern, half the purple lantern, half the olive green one. Blue strips from the block to the left had to be saved for this block, and olive green strips had to be saved for the block on the row below.

I'm especially proud when a class I taught helps a quilter finish a quilt, and Cindy's use of her leftover orphan blocks is brilliant!

My Japanese Lanterns Quilt

Ruching at MQG Gathering; Artwalk in Hattiesburg

Our state quilt association--Mississippi Quilt Association (MQA) has a workshop meeting called the June Gathering every year. This year, it occurred on May 30-31. I taught a Friday night class on making Ruched Flower Pins and took Joan Alliston's Migrating Geese class on Saturday. Quite a full weekend!

Outstanding Quilters Reception

Pictured at the Reception honoring 2013 Outstanding Quilters chosen for the exhibit at the Mississippi Forestry and Agricultural Museum are eight of the ten honorees. Also shown are chairpersons of the Legacy Project, who are the organizers of these exhibits (far left) Joan Alliston and (far right) Georgia Polk.

Ten honorees were selected for 2013. They are (left to right)

Julia Beth Crapps, Morton
Marjorie Williams, Columbus
Willie Mae Davis, Utica
Becky Jefcoat, Flora
Carol Vickers, Decatur
Yvonne EvansNewton
Ann Fox, Brandon
Martha Ginn, Hattiesburg
Mary Alice Harvey Box, Starkville (deceased)
Ella Lucas, Hattiesburg (not pictured)

The exhibit will remain in the museum through October.

2013 MQA Outstanding Quilters

The Mississippi Quilt Association was founded in 1991 to enhance the art of quilting in Mississippi and established the MS Quilt Legacy Committee in 2005. The purpose is to execute the search and documentation process and record the works of outstanding Mississippi quilters over the age of 65.

MQA accepts nominations for Outstanding Quilters, and these nominees are asked to display two of their quilts at the Mississippi Forestry and Agricultural Museum in Jackson from June through October.
I have two quilts on display during this year's exhibit: "This Is My Story, This Is My Song" and "Finding My Way." The quilts are hung from the ceiling throughout the historical exhibit of items which represent Mississippi's cultural history. It is an honor to have my quilts hanging in this rich historical setting.

This Is My Story, This Is My Song

Finding My Way (detail)



MQA Gathering--China Trip, Ghost Quilting, and Back Basting Applique

     Mississippi Quilt Association has a Workshop Gathering in the Jackson area every June. This year's meeting was held at Christ United Methodist Church on Old Canton Road. During the Friday night meeting I presented a PowerPoint presentation on my recent trip to China for the Dalian opening of the exhibit The Sum of Many Parts: 25 Quiltmakers in 21st-Century America. I showed about 100 pictures of the exhibit, the lectures, Chinese buildings and architecture, and the happy faces of the Chinese people who welcomed me so warmly. Hosted by the Embassy of the United States in Beijing, the meetings were a successful interaction of our cultures.

 

     I enjoyed teaching a class on the Ghost Quilting technique and introducing the students to Neocolor II crayons as they learned free-motion quilting to extend the center design out into the border. Everyone took to the method quickly and got most of their square colored and stitched, ready to finish at home.

     Ollie Jean Lane taught "back-basting applique," a technique introduced by Jeana Kimball, which most quilters in Hattiesburg have adopted as their favorite method for applique. She showed a recently completed quilt top by Ella Lucas as an example of the outstanding results achieved with  this method.

Ella Lucas and her quilt top

Ollie Jean Lane with Ella's quilt top

The students were interested in the neat look of the back. It is possible to get the pieces exactly where they need to be with no slipping or shifting.

From the back

The next Gathering will be in Corinth, MS, October 4-5, 2013. Jean Tincher from Bay St. Louis was in charge of the meeting as she began her year as MQA president. She had assistance from all the Jackson area guilds, and door prizes were furnished by members from all over the state. The presence of four vendors was a treat for many quilters who do not have a local quilt shop.

MQA Fall Gathering in Cleveland

The Cotton Row Quilters in Cleveland, Mississippi, hosted the Fall Gathering of Mississippi Quilt Association this past weekend. We have three Gatherings a year, with the Spring and Fall meetings moving about the state, and the June meeting located more centrally in the Jackson area. I had never visited this beautiful Delta region of our state, and we were treated to a warm welcome with lots of music and local culture to make our trip memorable. It is always rewarding to hear people brag about their particular area, and we enjoyed observing the deep pride these residents had in the Delta. Cotton bolls decorated the tables, and we saw fields of cotton ready to be harvested as well as huge bundles--(I don't know the new terminology for cotton bales!) ready to be taken to the gins.

      The bed-turning portion of the program featured a collection of quilts made by the late master quilter Martha Skelton, a collection that will not be seen again. These quilts had been borrowed from their current owners solely for creating one last exhibit of her work. MQA produced a book in 2008 about Martha's life and her quilts, and University Press recently turned over a large number of these books to MQA. They make great gifts, and guilds are buying copies to place in libraries across the state.
     Ethel Wright Mohamed's daughter, Carol Ivy, Curator of the Ethel Wright Mohamed Stitchery Museum, called Mama's Dream World, was at the Gathering to show us pictures and books about her mother's unique stitched pictures.  Mohamed's work is housed in the old home place in Belzoni, Mississippi. Mohamed is often called Mississippi's Grandma Moses of stitchery, and has pieces in the Smithsonian Institution.

Marilyn Doheny Hattiesburg Class-Day 2

We had another exciting and busy day with Marilyn Doheny. We learned about drop shift spiral, spiral waltz, infinity spiral, scallop spiral, the inward chevron, outward chevron, up wedges, down wedges. And then there were options on how to arrange the wedges--repeat, reverse repeat. A set of wedges that was laid out like a flower could morph into a butterfly and vice versa.
Marilyn had already done the math and  shared this very basic bit of information: it takes 40 9-degree wedges to make a complete circle (9 x 40 = 360, the number of degrees in a circle), 20 wedges makes a half-circle, and 10 wedges makes a quarter circle. No matter how tall our wedges are, if they are joined continuously in the same direction, they will make a circle. Grasping this concept will help to visualize and plan the objects we want to make. The wedges can undulate by changing the direction of a group of wedges.

Discovering possible layouts using Blaze and Chevrons

The Class behind two of Marilyn's quilts in progress

The educational seminar will continue this week in Jackson Wednesday and Thursday and in Starkville Friday and Saturday. Mississippi Quilt Association's annual educational seminar provides an opportunity to study with a nationally recognized teacher and is one of the benefits of our MQA membership. We left the class with our heads swimming with ideas of how we wanted to continue with our projects.