Rise and Shine, Inner City in Florida

Rise and Shine, Inner City, 79 x 99

I shipped my Rise and Shine, Inner City quilt to SouthArts back in November 2012 for the exhibit The Sum of Many Parts, composed of 25 quilts by American quilters, organized by the US Embassy in Beijing. I even got to go to Beijing and Dalian for the opening of the exhibit in Dalian in April of 2013. After the exhibit toured six museums in China, Mid-America Arts Alliance picked up and extended the exhibit with 15 of the 25 quilts traveling in the U.S.
My friend Ellen Lindner, an expert quilter in Florida, sent me a photo she took while attending an exhibit at Crealdé School of Art in Winter Park, FL. I had not kept up with its schedule, so it was a happy surprise to see someone enjoying viewing my quilt! The exhibit is open September 2015 through January 19, 2016. I think my quilt is due to return home the end of April 2016.

Retreats Are Refreshing

Pronounced "tee-uh-kotta"

 Every year a group from various parts of Mississippi gathers at Lake Tiak-O'Khata near Louisville, MS, for an informal retreat. Last week was our 20th year to meet, and we have some special friendships among these quilters. We have lost some, grieved over losses, celebrated good news and grandbabies, and done lots of stitching in the three days we stay there. One of our group prepared a 10-minute CD of memories from previous years, with a copy for each of us--a real treasure.

We stay in the A-frame cabins with a large meeting room for stitching

 Some of our Show & Tell is the finished product of what we watched being stitched over many years. It is always refreshing to get with good friends and talk (and do) quilting.

Margaret Miller showed a Friendship Basket that many of us had made blocks for

Four quilters (Ollie Jean, Charlotte, Ann, and Rebecca) shared fabrics and made their own version of one pattern. Rebecca said, "Don't leave the room if you don't want to get volunteered for something."

 We bring some of our food but also enjoy the sumptuous buffet meals at the restaurant. They make awesome homemade pies and the coffee keeps coming.

Sign in the restaurant

At the Greater Jackson Quilt Celebration

Five guilds in central Mississippi hosted the Greater Jackson Quilt Celebration September 11-13, 2015 at the Mississippi Craft Center in Ridgeland. I was proud to have three entries there, and especially delighted to receive "Best Quilt By An Individual" award.

Pathways Round Robin, 64" x 70"

High Rise received a 3rd place ribbon.

Hi Rise, 39" x 37"

Croton Leaves was also in the show.

Croton Leaves, 20" x 20"

It was a beautiful show, and Pine Belt Quilters had lots of winning quilts there. We're already looking forward to our next Pine Belt Quilters show October 7-9, 2016.

Foster Kitten Update:  I have been taking care of four little orange tabbies for Southern Pines Animal Shelter. for several weeks. Tiger was adopted last weekend. He's the darker orange with the short tail, one week older than the K brothers. Kaiser, Ken, and Keller had their snip surgery this week and went to PetSmart today for someone to fall in love with. 

Tiger stretching; Kaiser, Ken, and Keller dozing

Kaiser's sweet face

Tarbaby finally letting Kaiser eat with him

I will miss the little furballs, but it will be nice to move my car back into the garage.

Art Show at the Lucile Parker Gallery at William Carey University

My "Circle Dance" fiber art piece is pictured in the center of the invitation. This show is generally limited to watercolor, oil, and acrylics, so I am glad my fiber art is eligible. The opening reception is Tuesday, September 1, from 4:30-6:00 p.m., and the show runs through September 17.

Life Is Beautiful with Elephants

I love elephants. Last week my granddaughter Kiesha Baker sent me a beautiful hand colored framed zentangle elephant picture, with the wording "Life Is Beautiful." I couldn't agree more, and I will enjoy seeing her artwork every day. Kiesha is the mother of two precious boys and is a doula with Dallas Birth Doulas, so she helps families welcome their little miracles into this beautiful world. 

Kiesha's Elephant

 Speaking of elephants, I recently purchased a hand-dyed silk stitched elephant by quilt artist Patricia Anderson Turner from Florida. Patricia is an award-winning artist who usually makes quilts which tell a story or offer a social commentary.

"Elephant's Delight" by Patricia Anderson Turner

My Herd, each one special in its own way

Ceramic elephant by Dianne Shepherd,owner of Main Street Books in Hattiesburg

Midsummer Heat, Tomatoes, and Kittens

Where does the time go? Just keeping a few flowerbeds alive has been difficult in this near 100-degree heat in South Mississippi. I had high hopes for cherry tomatoes after my neighbor's vine climbed up and over my fence last year, giving me dozens of tomatoes. I planted one this year, and my huge vine finally produced a total of four tomatoes, which grew to tennis ball size. When they began to tempt the birds I picked my entire harvest and used them for paint subjects.

I'm enjoying an online botanical sketchbook painting class with Val Webb--just for fun. Drawing and painting have been a favorite pastime for me for years, and I love to be involved with some instruction. I rarely share these with anyone, so if you're looking, understand that I realize their limitations! I learned to stain my heavy watercolor paper with coffee, tea, mud, or pigment. Then we painted an undercoat of gouache and added Prismacolor pencils for shading and highlights--a totally new technique to me. The tomatoes above and the peppers on the right below are gouache with Prismacolor pencils. The peppers on the left are only Prismacolor pencils.

This month I finished a piece I had started in 2009 from a Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry pattern called Square Dance. Making this pattern is actually what introduced me to her Applipiecing technique and caused me to take her four-day Beyond the Grid workshop at her studio in Paducah--a dream-come-true experience! After making one block back then, I finally made the other three, added borders and quilted in a circular design. So the name became Circle Dance.

Circle Dance, 26" x 26"

And now for kitty news--Southern Pines Animal Shelter put out an urgent plea on Facebook for foster help with an influx of kittens. I picked up three little brothers who had been found and rescued. They had just been introduced to canned food and they looked like they had been rolling around in it! I bathed them and dried them--two solid white ones and one cream-colored with brown ears and tail.

I think they had lost their mama too soon and had been hungry and were food insecure, because they ate just like they kittens nurse--pushing with their feet and fighting for space. They were fun to watch and take care of (needing another bath in a couple of days!), but another shelter saw their picture and wanted them, so they were transported about 300 miles away after less than a week. It's nice to know that they had homes waiting for them once they grew enough. Meanwhile, my three grown cats are happy to be the only cats again.

 

Tarbaby

Rah-Rah and Elizabeth

Ghost Quilting Class in Hernando

I presented a program on my path from traditional quilter to fiber artist in Hernando, MS, for Quilting in the Grove guild's combined day and night groups last weekend. It was fun getting to spend time with my friend Cheryl Owens, who had moved to Hernando after many years in Hattiesburg.
I don't get many opportunities to display the counted cross-stitch quilt that was my transition from embroidery and cross-stitch into quilting, so I showed it first. My daughter Linda and I began the squares together in the 1980s but I soon saw that a "real quilter" would need to finish it. So I set out to learn to be that quilter.

Friendship Cross-Stitch by Martha and Linda Ginn

After taking lots of classes, studying lots of books, and making many types of quilts, I began a Baltimore Album style quilt, an experience that would require five years. It was enjoyable and fulfilling and I was able to document my life in the quilt I called This Is My Story, This Is My Song.

This Is My Story, This Is My Song

 Most of the pieces I make now are smaller than bed quilts, and I enjoy the designing process as much as the actual making. I like to encourage quilters to continue to learn new skills and to be proud of their work. We all start more projects than we finish, and I told them that it is okay NOT to finish all of those if they no longer enjoy them. Often we learn something from working on a project and it is time to move on to a more enjoyable challenge. 
After lunch I taught a Ghost Quilting Class to some of the group. They were enthusiastic and eager to try something new. Many had never used the Neocolor II wax pastels, so I suggested they experiment first on extra fabric. We had a short lesson on free-motion quilting, which was also new to some of the quilters. It was exciting to see women draw who said they couldn't and others find that rhythm of speed of the machine with the movement of the hands to get a smooth free-motion stitch. Two of them used unusual background fabrics;  another placed her focus square off-center to allow the ghost flowers to show up more dramatically.

Donna's first time to free-motion quilt

Dee used a large print for her background and will add more color

Judy used a stripe and drew in large flowers before stitching

Mary Jo extended her sunflower, offsetting the block

Pam used crayons and stitches--success!

Jo Ann's stitches show nicely on this muted background 

Hernando is a small town about 20-30 miles south of Memphis; I thought the DeSoto County Administration Building was beautiful and unusual, so I had Cheryl stop so I could photograph it. The courthouse is in the middle of the town square, and this building is on a corner facing it. All in all, a lovely town.

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.

Pathways Workshop Results

It was quite rewarding to see the results of the Pathways workshop when the students showed their pieces two weeks later at our quilt guild meeting. They had completed the small practice piece, some adding borders and finishing with quilting. Missy and Joe had also made their large project from the pattern I provided.

Barb, Suzannah, Susie, Dianne, Joyce, Betty, Missy, Elsie, Ellen

Barb, Suzannah, Susie, Dianne, Joyce, Betty, Missy, Elsie, Ellen, Joe

Joe, Betty (holding Joe's extended practice piece), Martha

I enjoyed teaching the workshop so much that afterward I decided to make one of the pieces myself. I call it Pathways in Stone. It features a Mickey Lawler Skydyes fabric.

Pathways in Stone