Springtime and Baby Kittens

What a beautiful springtime we are experiencing in South Mississippi. My azaleas have exploded with color, and I have put out a few bedding plants. The grass is beginning to show green, even under a fine dusting of yellow pine pollen. 

A hungry bumblebee

New geraniums to replace frozen ones

My most unexpected news is that I am fostering a small mama cat and her four babies! Southern Pines Animal Shelter called saying they needed a quieter place for several litters of kittens until they were old enough to be adopted and could I help for about eight weeks? I decided my garage could accommodate the large crate and I would enjoy watching the babies grow.

Caboodle and her four kittens--3 days old

Caboodle is beautiful and a very protective mama. In fact, my cats are terrified of her. She enjoys being held and brushed and purrs loudly. She hates the cage and keeps trying to move the babies to a darker place--like maybe this bucket. . . .

She finally agreed on the floor between a cabinet and the wall and seems very content here.



 

Displays

I always enjoy showing my fiber art. The person who arranges the display window in the hallway of my church asked to use some of my work, so we put put seven pieces there for December through March. (It is hard to get a good picture with the lights and glass.) Click any picture to enlarge.

We changed the display for April to feature an Amaryllis quilt with a children's book about the resurrection.

Last November I participated in helping a student create a quilt square for the Stone County Community Quilt Project (see details here). J. Marcus Weekley assembled the squares into a quilt, and the quilt was displayed in the Stone County Art Center along with several other pieces of fiber art. My Cabin in the Woods (a collaboration with Mary Nell Magee) is on the right of the Stone County Quilt below.

The three pieces on the far left are mine, as well as the two on the far right.

Round Robin Challenge

My guild, Pine Belt Quilters, had a year-long challenge led by Dianne McLendon ending at the February 18, 2015, meeting with the reveal of the finished quilts. Every two months we were given one or two 6" strips (width of fabric) with a size instruction. I called it a "Selfish Round Robin," because we each did all the work on our own piece rather than passing it around. I did not have mine finished by the reveal deadline, but I blame carpal tunnel and knee replacement surgeries. The instructions for the rounds were:
Round 1: 18" x 24"
Round 2: 4"
Round 3: 3"
Round 4: 3"
Round 5: 6"
Round 6: 8"   making the finished quilts approximately 64" x 70".
Dianne's and the 12 finished quilts are shown under Guild Activities/Round Robin Challenge tab on the guild's website. The fabrics and instructions are listed after the quilt pictures. Susie Jackson, Ellen Cox, and Debbie Davis won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd viewers' choice awards. All 13 quilts were amazingly creative and different. The participants agreed that designing these pieces really caused them to stretch and grow.
Here is my quilt pictured after quilting; next is with the black binding.

before binding

With black binding

Decisions for Round 6

Decisions for Round 6

I had lots of help at every stage. If Tarbaby wasn't in my lap, he was on the quilt.

Little Free Libraries Coming to Hattiesburg

I had a wonderful afternoon attending two events, the first one an exhibit of Little Free Libraries at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center. These have been designed, constructed and painted by residents and will be placed in various locations about the city. The variety of types was amazing. Here are only four of the dozens on display. The little houses were displayed on pedestals with information about the builder, painter, and where the house would be placed.

The second event was an exhibit, video, and talk by Rosemary Wells, a children's author and illustrator whose work has spanned more than 40 years and 120 books. In 2002 she received the USM Medallion, an award for distinguished service in the field of children's literature, awarded for her total body of work, rather than for one particular work. 

January Winter in Mississippi

It's the end of January, and winter in Mississippi is quite different from in other parts of the US. I have really enjoyed the beautiful snow pictures posted on Facebook by friends in places like Massachusetts (Holly Knott, for instance), where the temperature dropped to -10 degrees.
My yard shows dead orange trees (we did have some days of 16-18 degrees which killed these and the Meyer lemon tree), lots of dry leaves and pine straw carpeting the ground.

Washington Naval Orange tree

Blood Orange tree

Crotons survived (in the garage) but pitiful

Rosemary thriving--even blooming! Also parsley below it.

Nandina putting on a show of colored leaves and red berries

There has not been much quilting activity this month. It's amazing how much emotional and mental energy is required just to deal with healing and physical therapy three times a week. After seven weeks I am glad to be driving myself again and looking forward to the time I can say there's no more pain.
When I did begin to want to stitch again, I began repairing an old, well-loved quilt for a friend. It was not creative or challenging, but there was pleasure in holding a needle and thread and knowing I was giving new life to a treasured quilt a grandmother had made many years ago.

 (Click to enlarge and see the wear and age damage.)

Of course, when I was taking pictures, Tarbaby and Elizabeth thought I had spread the quilt out for them.

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!

Advent Banners

It was my pleasure to head up a committee to make new Advent Banners for my church, University Baptist in Hattiesburg, MS. The four banners were hung for the first Sunday of Advent, November 30, and were warmly received by the congregation. Many people wanted to know how these came about, so here is their story.

Our pastor, Rusty Edwards, brought a book home from a conference he attended last summer. The book, A Cut Above, by Sarah Brogdon, featured cut-away felt banners in many designs. I had never made anything like this but thought the project looked possible and agreed to lead it. We ordered four patterns, royal blue felt, and netting and I enlisted several people to help in the construction. Since the only sewing involved was one line of stitching at the top and bottom to create rod pockets, anyone who could cut accurately with scissors and/or a rotary cutter could help. Workers were Kat Spangler, Joy Dunbar, Connie Benedict, Nancy Ratliff, Ellen Hall, Rosanne Crockett, and Rusty Edwards. Yes, Rusty used a rotary cutter as well as a glue gun.

Ellen, Martha, Kat

This was definitely a team effort and if work can be enjoyed, this certainly was. We had four workdays with three or four people working around my large dining room table, which had been covered with a gridded cardboard pattern board and self-healing mats. We used rotary cutters for straight lines; sharp scissors were essential for tight curves. Since none of us had done this before, we frequently consulted the directions to be sure we were proceeding correctly.

The patterns were for wall hangings 24" x 36" and we enlarged them to 48" x 72" for the outside ones (angel and kings) and 48" x 96" for the center ones (shepherds and family). After cutting the felt, netting was secured to the back with hot glue guns. The netting is what holds the shape of the banner. Between workdays it was necessary to keep the work area covered with a sheet to protect from kitty paws, but Rah-Rah managed to find a finished folded up banner for a brief nap.

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving! My heart is full thinking of the blessings in my life. Most years my family gathered at my brother's home in Austin, Texas, and we often drove through East Texas to pick up my parents in Lufkin for the trip. My sister's family also lived in Austin, so we got to be with both my siblings and their children.

We nearly always decorated with leaves and branches we found outside. So this year, although the setting was different and there was not a crowd, the "homemade" centerpiece was a natural. 
This year there were only my daughter and me at my table. But who can keep from getting nostalgic over the memories! There was joy and celebration and thankfulness! It doesn't have to be a turkey/dressing meal to be a celebration. We prepared tacos and pinto beans--a feast with very little kitchen duty. She helped me with my cell phone and tablet. (Here's a piece of advice for my peers--buy the same kind as your younger family members so they can troubleshoot.) She was working on a research paper and I was repairing a quilt. Kittens were trying to help us both.

I made these little pilgrim dolls more than 45 years ago and they bring back memories of my grandchildren and my great nieces pictured with them. The container is a turkey cookie jar that might be valuable if it didn't have a patched crack in it. But it's been passed down from my husband's family, so its a treasured part of our decorations.

Elizabeth and Tarbaby knocking off red berries

Pine Belt Quilters Celebrates 30th Anniversary

My guild, Pine Belt Quilters in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, recently celebrated its 30th Anniversary. Who would have predicted back in 1984 that this group of 25 would grow to 160 quilters who have hosted 15 quilt shows and donated hundreds of quilts to hospitals and shelters for children and veterans?  After PBQ was organized and active, we participated in organizing Mississippi Quilt Association in 1991, and I was honored to be its first president.
Most of our friendships we develop over the years are through church affiliations, jobs, sports/hobbies like tennis, and passions/skillsets like quilting. How blessed I am to have quilters all over the state and US (and even in Canada!) because of our mutual love of designing, arranging bits of fabric, and stitching intricate thread play to express the artist in each of us.
Doris Aultman and I were among the first officers and organizers, and are still active in the guild. Eleven of the 15 past presidents were at the meeting, pictured below. Mary Nell Magee was absent, and Susan Ryan Kelley, Judy Spiers, and Cheryl Owens have moved away.

Doris Aultman and Martha Ginn

Eleven past presidents: (front) Martha Ginn, Doris Aultman, Sarah Farris, Ellen Hall, Ella Lucas
(back) Rosalie Schoell, Elvia Edwards, Gloria Green, Barbara Peters, Shirley Wiltshire, Betty Allen

Holiday Expo in Hattiesburg

My display at the Holiday Expo

There are many exhibit opportunities in Hattiesburg, which makes artists very happy. Our South Mississippi Art Association (SMAA) has a large booth at this HOLIDAY EXPO this weekend. The event is advertised as holiday shopping, kids' Christmas village, gifts, stocking stuffers, decorating ideas, Christmas party ideas, entertainment, fun, prizes, photos with Santa, food demos & more. It's at Midtown Market, next to Tabella's, Saturday and Sunday, 9:00-4:00; noon-5:00.

Stone County Community Quilt Project

Team Volunteerism's block

I participated in a marvelous community event last weekend--the Stone County Community Art Quilt Project, at the invitation of Betsy Rowell, Stone County Director of Economic Development. Kathryn Lewis of the Stone County Arts Council had gathered twelve teams composed of a community leader, a 9th grade Stone High student, and a quilter or artist to help interpret different assigned themes in a fabric square that would then be assembled into a quilt.

We met at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on the Perkinston Campus and had plenty of art suplies to work with. Award winning fabric artist and storyteller Diane Williams from Jackson was there to share ideas on using textiles to tell the story. The teams had previously researched the history and culture of Stone County in their assigned theme topic, such as Spirituality, Patriotism, Health/Welfare, Higher Education, Natural Resources, City of Wiggins, and Stone County.

My team was assigned Volunteerism, and my student, Hunter White, had drawn and cut out a very clever design featuring helping hands and some of the activities these hands participate in, such as food pantry, fire fighting, sports events, animal shelter, Christmas Child boxes, and church youth groups. These activities were laid out around a map of Stone County with the major highways (49 and 26) intersecting at Wiggins.

Hunter White with Team Volunteerism block

Adding fireman's hat and axes

Two other team blocks

J. Marcus Weekley (also a quilter, writer and actor) will assemble the blocks and complete the quilt, which will then be dedicated to the "community and its people" and displayed at the Courthouse and other public venues.

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