It's only Tuesday?

My mother used to say she didn't know what day it was until she looked at the New York Times. I thought she was kidding.  Alas, now I know she meant it.  The days fly by!

My bathroom renovation is in process - the less said about that, the better. 

  I have also been dealing with real estate: I've bought another apartment about 5 minutes away to use as a studio and I feel strangely calm about making this purchase, although I have never done this before without a husband to share the legal and financial stuff with. BUT- It just feels right-- and there is a bedroom I can use for overflow guests.

The curtains and shades have to go, as will some of the furniture and items in the kitchen cabinets the sellers left -- but I will have space!!  Closing scheduled for sometime next week.

In the meantime, I have been puttering around after having returned from QuiltCon.  I finished taking apart this nearly-finished quilt because I didn't like the way it turned out.  I will now reuse these blocks in some other way where they don't have to line up exactly right.

I have always admired Cherrywood Fabrics but had never purchased any.  However, they were vending at QuiltCon and I had to buy some.  Yesterday, I combined them with some of my Indian batiks, making a few experimental blocks.  Not sure where this is going - or IF it is going. Whall see at some point.  In the meantime, I have a few other ideas I want to try.

However, the sewing will have to wait because for the next three days I am going to print!!  Kerr Grabowski is teaching nearby and while I don't need a class, I do need to see her. So, three play days!!  I'll keep you posted.

Past my bedtime, considering that I have to be out of the house at 7:30 a.m. 'Nite.

Quiltcon 2017 - Savannah

It has been an exhausting, exhilarating two days at the Convention Center in Savannah. I'm on sensory ovarload and my feet hurt, but that's part of the deal. Right??

The vibe here is strong and good; lots of young people - and I mean young! But there is a palpable sense of energy and enthusiasm, even among us seasoned ones - LOL.   I had a wonderful time looking at all the quilts and seeing old friends, former students, and meeting Facebook friends in person!

Sandi Suggs and I have been chatting online for a long time and we finally got to meet! I love when you meet a cyber-friend and hit it off like old friends.  This was a joy and I can't wait to see her (and her friends) again.

Today's unexpected gift was spotting Sophie, my delightful student from the class I taught last year in Switzerland.  She and her friend Sophie (yes) came all the way for ths QuiltCon and we were so excited to see each other!  She promised to send me a photo of the piece she had started in class. She is a Swiss Modern Quilter!!

If you've been reading Facebook, you'll see that I posted some pictures of quilts at the show. But there were many more that I thought were interesting or that really spoke to me.  I still don't think I saw everything there, but I'll share what I can.

One of the classes I teach is Idea to Improv, where you come to class with an idea or an image to use as a jumping-off place for a quilt.  I was taken by one exhibit by an online group, all of whom interpreted the same photo in a modern way.  Here was the original photo, taken from the High Line in New York.

And here were three of the pieces that resulted. There were more but I didn't get photos of all of them.

Here are some other quilts I enjoyed looking at.

This one for its palette.

 This one for its use of negative space.

This was a group quilt I thought really worked.

And this one, inspired by a Stuart Davis exhibit, really captured his vibe.  My fave.

I cannot wait to get back to Florida and start cutting and sewing. 

she's back...for the moment

Life interferes with life -- and with art.  Have you noticed??  

My big deadlines are over. Today I sent out a piece that will be exhibited at the Kirkland Gallery in Clinton, NY.  When I get home in April, I will be gathering pieces for a solo exhibit, May 6 & 7 at the Northern Star Quilt Show in Danbury, CT.  So I've been a bit busy.

In addition, the 1970s era bathroom renovations are underway. 

 
Master bath in process, with the usual "it takes twice as long and costs three times as much" (or vice-versa.I can never remember which).  Still waiting for shower doors, granite, and for something to be done about the water pressure in the new shower, which was fine before. Grrrrrrrr.  Meantime, at least we have one good strong (old) working shower in the guest bath.  Never a dull...

I have also been shopping for another apartment to use as a studio -- another time-consuming task. My guest room needs to remain as such; it has been difficult working in there and then spending 3 days cleaning up when I have overnight company, as I did this past weekend, when Hilary, Josh, and Ben were here.  

I found a one-bedroom/one bath one in another area of the village which will be great for my purposes and gives me an extra guest room in case I have an overflow.   Best of all, no carpet - so if I want to use it as a wet studio, I can.  We shall see.

In the meantime, it will all wait until I get back from QuiltCon.  Phil and I are leaving this morning to drive to Savannah.  Have never been there and we'll spend some time being tourists while we are there.  This is also my first QuiltCon and I hope/expect to meet up with some friends while I am there.  I'll take lots of pictures and post on Facebook, Instagram, and hopefully, here.  It will be interesting to see how the vibe differs from Houston.  Will keep you posted.
xoxo