Rise and Shine, Inner City has come home!

Rise and Shine, Inner City has come home! I shipped the quilt to SouthArts in November 2012 for its trip to six venues in China with the exhibit "The Sum of Many Parts--25 Quiltmakers in 21st Century America." It was my privilege to attend the opening of the exhibit in Dalian, China in 2013. At the end of this two-year odyssey, Mid-America Arts Alliance picked up a dozen of the pieces for a US tour entitled "The Sum of Many Parts--Quiltmakers in Contemporary America," which traveled to Oregon, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Carolina, Missouri, and Florida. Now after almost four years, the quilt arrived back in Hattiesburg. 

I love that so many people got to enjoy this quilt and think about its story. There have been many inner city quilts made with a variety of color plans and arrangements--my favorite, and the one which first inspired me--is by Jinny Beyer. She cleverly caused the viewer to see hexagons in a beehive pattern. 

by Jinny Beyer

After taking a scrap quilting class from Jinny in the early 90s, I began my quilt, using colors grouped as "neighborhoods" meeting and touching one another with the sun coming in to wake up the city. It is vital that neighborhoods work together to make up a successful and healthy city, just as it is for countries to work together to make a peaceful world. I hope my Rise and Shine, Inner City has helped to spread this message to the people who viewed it on its travels.

Large poster advertising exhibit at Dalian Modern Museum

In Dalian

At Crealdé School of Art, Winter Park, FL

Now the quilt is back at home in Mississippi; I will enjoy seeing it on my guest bed as it rests from its exciting adventures. Lucy Fazely helped me write a pattern for my version of this traditional Inner City block.

More Artist's Altered Book Pages

I created this page for Sandy Donabed for her Aerial View theme. She replied that her granddaughter has a special fondness for eagles--so do I!

by Martha Ginn for Sandy Donabed

Janis Doucette sent me this beautiful page she made from her eco-printed cotton and silk. The front and back of the page are both pieced in crazy-quilt fashion, which she has heavily embroidered with silk ribbon and floss. She added a clever little tab on the right.

by Janis Doucette

Then I returned from a trip to find my page from Joani Share. She says, "Flowers add joy to any environment," and I heartily agree. Joani used flower petals overlaid with transparent rice paper, adding cut paper flowers and free-motion stitching. She wrapped painted branches in copper wire for the stems--creating "a mixed media bonanza of organic materials."

by Joani Share

This brings my pages received to five, with four more to go. Each page is so different in style and technique and I imagine these next four months will bring more surprises! Seeing what these artists have made for me encourages me to dig deep into my creativity for each of them. I'm a month ahead of schedule, but with quilt show coming up in October, getting ahead seemed like a good plan.

Twisted Trees Class

We had a good time making Twisted Tree art quilts at the MQA Gathering last weekend in Jackson. We started with a background pinned to a piece of foam core or cardboard, then made the precut strips into little twists.

Peggy Wehr and Martha

Once I was certain they all knew how to hand-twist the strips, I showed them how to speed up the process with an electric drill. 
After getting enough strips twisted, we began to create the trees by pinning the twists in place over the background. Once the twists were arranged in a pleasing manner, the pins had to be released from the board and turned flat to get the work under the sewing machine head.

Theresa Wege

Amy Schwalm

Cindy Allgood and Presley

Rebecca Dobbins

Rose Naquinn

Dianne Smith

Christy Calhoun

Myra Cook

I'm sorry I didn't get good pictures of Connie Moore, Nancy Newman, Diane Rayburn, and Roberta Slowey. Most quilters got their tree created and began sewing it down. This part is challenging to avoid hitting pins or injuring fingers, and twists can be adjusted and rearranged during this process if necessary.

Cindy stitching her tree

We discussed the background quilting and finishing and I shared my favorite edge treatment--facing--rather than binding. I promised to send Kathy Loomis' excellent facing tutorial she posted on her blog March 18, 2011.

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.

Springtime in Mississippi with Blueberries

We've enjoyed a mild winter and spring and will remember the cool temps when the 100-degree days hit us. It's the end of May and already in the 90s. My pot of narcissus (paperwhites) put on a nice show. I am following the instructions to save the bulbs for next year.

My favorite amaryllis had two stalks of five and four blooms, one stalk following the other, which gave a longer period of bloom. A heavy rainstorm threatened to damage the first stalk, but I devised a way to protect it with an umbrella for a couple of days.

The caladiums Mark and I planted the last day of April are looking promising, and I have added some bedding plants and even some lettuce seeds.

My back porch roof has had a pesky leak for several years. The roofers finally came to fix it. They had to replace the roof all the way to the studs over this part of the porch. So glad to get this done before the extremely hot weather gets here, mainly because it's even hotter on the roof than in the yard. I have so much shade that the grass struggles, but I'm happy to have those tall pines.

I have one scrawny blueberry bush, but it produces enough for me to have a little bowlful occasionally when I can get to the ripe ones before the mockingbirds do. My next-door neighbor has a huge bush that hangs over my fence, so I consider these mine, too.

My bush

Neighbor's bush

Mississippi Ag Museum in Bloom--Finished

After seeing this project in various stages for several months, it was quite exciting seeing the five completed sections displayed together. We met May 7 in Jackson and showed the pieces and decided on a name: "Mississippi Ag Museum in Bloom," with each section bearing the name given by its maker. Each section measures approximately 24" wide x 36" long, with a little variance to accommodate the lettering. The design source for the piece is a photo in the Ag Museum archives. Here is the finished piece hanging together. Click on any image to enlarge.

Mississippi Ag Museum in Bloom

Here are the five sections, from left to right.

The Birdhouse, by Marcus Weekley, Gulfport

The Mule Barn, by Martha Ginn, Hattiesburg

Wagons & Roses, by Cathy Reininger, Madison

Small Town Mississippi, by Julia Graber, Brooksville

The Print Shop, by Rita Warnock, Madison

We will display the finished piece in Vicksburg at the Old Man River Quiltfest in August and then in Hattiesburg at the Pine Belt Quilters Fiber Art & Quilt Show October 7-8-9.

After a year of referring to our group that Julia Graber began as "our art group," "art quilters," "our little art group," "our SAQA pod," we decided to call ourselves "Southern Fiber Artists." Rita Warnock has graciously agreed to chair the group for a while with the help of others picking up duties, and we will continue to meet centrally at the Electric Power Association of Mississippi, in Ridgeland, rather than trying to move about the state.

Gulf States Quilting Association Quarterly Meeting

Packing for the trip

I was privileged to be the speaker for GSQA's quarterly meeting in New Orleans April 30. The meeting was hosted by Mes Amis Quilt Shop and The Stitchy Fingers and Cotton Pickin' Quilt Guilds. These groups furnished delicious breakfast snacks as we arrived, as well as a huge spread for lunch of meats, sandwiches, salads, and even Cajun Gumbo.

We had equipment failure which prevented the PowerPoint pictures, but I had lots of real quilts and fiber art to show. I told the group that I owed a debt of gratitude to GSQA for hossting the many educational seminars and bringing in great national teachers I had learned from over the years. It was after GSQA's first seminar in 1984 at USM Long Beach that four of us in Hattiesburg formed Pine Belt Quilters. . . and the rest is history.

In spite of thunderstorms moving across the area, there were about 165 quilters present. 

Lunch at the GSQA Quarterly Meeting

In addition to the pieces I brought with me to show, I told them about my 2013 trip to China as a guest of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, South Arts (Atlanta), and Arts Midwest (Minneapolis) for the opening of The Sum of Many Parts: 25 Quiltmakers in 21st Century America. The exhibit visited museums in six cities, and I attended and gave talks in Dalian and Beijing. My quilt, "Rise and Shine, Inner City," was one of the 25 pieces in the exhibit and was shown on the cover of the catalog. This large poster in front of the museum is a replica of the catalog. Mid-America Arts Alliance picked up about half the exhibit and toured locations in the U.S. following the China exhibits. My quilt is scheduled to come home this summer.

Poster outside Dalian Modern Museum

Among my favorite pictures are the ones of the crowds getting up close to see the quilts after I spoke.  I had an interpreter with me at all times, but many of the students asked questions in English and understood much on their own. I donated one of my pieces, "Butterfly Crossing," to the Dalian museum and enjoy thinking that the people will enjoy seeing it and remembering the exhibit.

Gift of "Butterfly Crossing" to Dalian Modern Museum

Students getting close

   

Another Artist's Altered Book Page

Another page arrived--my fourth one--from Sandy Donabed. Sandy has written on the quilted back "remember, on the darkest night you can see the stars. (4-color monoprint, fabric collage, paint and stitch)" This piece is amazing in its beauty and the variety of techniques she used. Again--each page is different and I'm sure represents the maker and her desire to surprise the recipient with a real treasure! Click to enlarge.

by Sandy Donabed

 I have made four and received four, with five to go. This is fun.

More Artist's Altered Book Project and Rosemary

Our Wetlands by Gabriele DiTota

I received the third page for my Artist’s Altered Book Collaboration, and is it a beauty! Well, another beauty! My theme is “Leaves, Trees, Rocks, Water, Anything Nature Related,” which is pretty broad, just like the pages I’m receiving. Gabriele DiTota made this page, which she titled “Our Wetlands,” with such realistic depictions of muddy bank, cattails, water, hillside, and sky, that it evoked such comments as “I can almost hear ducks calling overhead,” and “I can imagine soft whimper of a baby from a basket.”  What a rich image and feeling it evokes.

I have a huge rosemary bush at the edge of a flowerbed by my driveway. Occasionally I trim it and deliver cuttings to the chefs at two of my favorite restaurants (Patio 44 and Tabella’s). But the bush is still shielding the flowerbed from sunlight so I did more severe trimming. Here is what it looks like after stuffing two bags full of cuttings. I wish it would root so I could share the growing plant, but it seems resistant to propagating.

I’m looking forward to presenting the program in New Orleans April 30 for the Gulf States Quilting Association quarterly meeting.

My son drove here from Dallas last week and did lots of fix-up projects. The weather was perfect for replacing the outdoor security lights and planting caladium bulbs. He enjoyed my cats Rah-Rah and Elizabeth, and the girls enjoyed him; Tarbaby took several days to warm up. After three days of non-stop activity, a little relaxation with the girls was in order.

More Artist's Altered Book Project

by Carol Jones Frank

I have received two pages for my book. Carol Jones Frank sent this one, describing it as fantasy leaves floating on water. It has silver stitching simulating bubbles and froth on the water--beautiful! Carol says often her art features the idea of floating: "that of stopping time, being ethereal or otherworldly."

by Nanette Zeller

Nanette Zeller's page came next. She watercolored a sweet gum leaf and added some copper tape and hand embroidery. Sweet gum trees are some of my favorites because of their wonderfully colored leaves in the fall, running from bright yellow through orange and bronze all the way to deep purple. The seed pods are treacherous to step on but have a special beauty in their intricate design. I was interested to learn that the sweet gum is a host species for luna months.

I have made two more pages which I will send. Janice Dawes' theme is "Life Began in a Forest." Here is the page I made for her:

for Janice Dawes

for Carol Suto

 

Carol Suto's theme is "Habitat." I chose to feature apartment living for her page. Thinking of the crowded conditions many people live in makes me even more thankful for my home and yard.

These pages can be made using any technique or even a combination, so it is interesting and challenging to decide what to make and what methods to use. We are supposed to send and receive one page a month, but most of us are enjoying the process and tend to get ahead of schedule. No problem with that.

Shapely Challenge Revealed

The big Reveal finally arrived today at Pine Belt Quilters. My "Shapes On The Green" tied for first place and then came in second in the runoff. There were 20 awesome quilts--a real treat for all to see. They are pictured on the guild's website under the Guild Activities/Shapely Challenge tab.

Shapes On The Green 

The year-long challenge was to make 20 twelve-inch blocks using required shapes (four blocks every two months), using five fat quarters for beginning fabrics and adding any other fabrics desired, as well as setting as we chose. The variety displayed in these finished quilts showed a lot of creativity in our guild. It makes us know we will have a beautiful quilt show this October! Although I generally make art quilts, this returning to pattern drafting and selecting fabrics for blocks was surprisingly satisfying. Adding the scalloped edge and hand-sewing the bias binding were good reminders of skills I had developed over the years. The quilt is 81" x 89."
Here are the 20 blocks in rows. Row 5 is on top, then Rows 1, 2, 3, and 4. Row 1 shapes were only squares. Row 2 shapes were squares and half-square triangles (HSTs). Row 3 shapes were squares, HSTs and rectangles. Row 4 shapes were squares,HSTs and tri-recs. Row 5 shapes were squares and concave/convex (as in Drunkard's Path).

I added a 1-1/2" border to each block.

Before scalloped edge

Detail of quilting

Detail of quilting