Art Quilts & blablabla

News Flash #1 Art Quilts in the NY Times!! I opened this morning's Metro Section and this was the first thing I saw. HUH? Then I realized it was a big art review of Jack Walsh's collection on exhibit now at the Morristown, NJ Museum. Hooray! If you're within a couple of hours driving distance of Morristown, go see the exhibit. And if you go, let me know and I'll meet you there. I was lucky enough to see Jack's collection a few years ago at his home but he has added to it and I was sorry to have been in Fla. when the opening took place last week. News Flash #2 The Modern Quilt Guild!! It started in L.A. (where else?) and Jamie Fingal posted briefly about it on Quiltart. Thirty-somethings have discovered non-traditional quilts and are the next generation of art quilters. Branches of The Modern Quilt Guild are sprouting all over the country and it is a movement taking hold with lots of excitement! The groups are blogging on line, posting pix, and even setting up sew-a-thons and meetings in their various locations. This is great! OTOH - it is too bad that so many quilt guilds are not welcoming to young quilters who don't want to make reproduction quilts and traditional patterns. I have also heard from several young people that nobody in their local guild was their age (as in - all old enough to be their mothers and grandmothers) and I absolutely understand this feeling (even though we oldies are 30 in our heads). Hey! I made my first quilt when I was in my early 30's and I was the only person I knew who did this. I didn't even know about the existence of guilds. I've signed onto the NY Metro Modern Quilt Guild and their excitement is a pleasure to see. Unfortunately, there is only one other person in NJ - but since it is mostly a virtual guild for now, I don't suppose that matters. Besides, I would hate to be the only old person at a meeting - LOL. Blablabla inutile Meanwhile, back in West Orange... After spending a couple of days at the design wall, mostly in frustration, I have finally taken a break to do some thinking out loud (which seems to be the only way I can think these days). I have two small pieces I'm really happy with. Then there were a few goes at using the pink deconstructed fabric I dislike. The one at the left wasn't right because the textures of the fabrics were too different. Then, I started again with the fabrics below - which worked together better for me. But something was not right. It was too much of the same thing. Boring. So I took a photo in black and white to check the values. The piece is now dismantled and off the wall. I don't do this nearly often enough but when I do, it is because something feels (not looks, but feels) wrong to me. My instincts almost always turn out to be correct. I may rework this or not. So here I am, at the end of the afternoon, realizing that it is almost 5:00 somewhere and that I also need to figure out what tonight's dinner will be. Eggs? Tuna fish? Cereal and yogurt? None of the above sounds very appealing. I made a ton of mussels for last night's dinner and may just make Thai mussel salad with the leftovers. P.S. - I mixed together some olive oil, a good dollop of moutarde de dijon, un peu de jus de citron, a little of the mussel liquid and some capers; poured it over the mussels and served it with some good bread. Divine. PPS. - back to the design wall, ready to go to work. Thanks!