so here I am...

At the Greenville Arms, figuring I had better get some blobbing in before the students arrive and the evening begins.

Along the way I crossed the Rip Van Winkle bridge (built in 1933-35 for $2.4 million) heading for nearby Hudson, NY to visit Usha.

Glad she was here today - she's leaving tomorrow for multiple quilt shows - first stop, Quilt Odessey in Hershey, PA.  She lives here - in a town that has reinvented itself and oozes charm, galleries,interesting restaurants (but no Indian food), antique shops, and cool clothing stores. It seems to be thriving and is mobbed with tourists.  It's about a 2 hour drive from NY City.

Usha's store is like walking into heaven. Color everywhere!
Gorgeous scarves, bags, pillows, her fabrics, and lots of other items. What a visual treat!

I had hoped we could get out for lunch but the store was busy when I got there. So, I went out by myself and ate at
Earth Food (or some name like that) and had to take a photo of the chilled avocado and cucumber soup. It was divine.

Despite the heat and humidity, I then wandered up and down Warren St., which is the main drag.

I walked into an art gallery where the 12"x12" paintings were $1200@. Someone was seriously contemplating a purchase of one. When is the last time you sold a 12x12 for 1200 smackeroos?  Even net, not bad for that size.

Back at the Greenville Arms - I was happy to meet Cindy Ferguson in person today and spend some time chatting while we were multitasking (both on our computers).  I KNEW she looked familiar, and sure enough - we're FB friends - LOL.

Time to get ready for wine and cheese, which can't come soon enough for me.

NJ Quilt Fest

Made my annual trek down to the NJ Mancuso show today to hang out at the Handloom Batik booth, breeze through the quilts on display, and check out the vendors.  Because I got there in the afternoon, I found a parking spot near the entrance.
Here is the requisite picture of Usha and me - not such a great one of either of us; it was the end of the day and we were tired. But the delicious South Indian dinner we had together after the show revived both of us. Yum. Something we both look forward to every year!

I had fun chatting with one particular customer, who had just told Usha she had bought a bunch of fabrics from her a couple of years ago that she LOVED but didn't know what to do with.  Then she noticed the log cabin quilt I had made with Usha's batik fabrics and and said "I can do that!". She asked me to help her pick additional fabrics and she couldn't wait to get started on her own Log Cabin.

Trends I noticed as I ran through the aisles:
1) tons of people selling longarm machines. Goodness! Everybody is going into the longarm quilting business.

2) Lots of kits and patterns.  I mean, KITS for things you don't need kits for - like this four patch with a one patch.  Apparently a lot of people can't figure out on their own that a four-patch and a one-patch cut the same finished size can be put together.  I call this the 1960 Kitchen Curtain Quilt.  Oh, dear, oh dear. 

As I ran by one booth and saw paints, paintsticks, and Misty Fuse I stopped short and sprinted backwards, thinking "oh!!
somebody is finally catering to art quilters!!" It was Jane Davila with her sidekick Carlos and it was her first time exhibiting there.  Great to see her, too.

I was wandering up the aisle when lo and behold, I ran into Diane Wright!! She and David had driven down from CT, gone to the Morris Museum to see Jack Walsh's exhibt, and come to the quilt show.  Such a treat to see her, and we had a chance to chat.  Why didn't it occur to me to grab my camera? Duh.  

The quilts were - uh - mixed. Some beautiful art quilts and the usual head-scratchers. I will say there are more special exhibits with art quilts, every year. This is good -- although NJ tends to have mostly traditional quilters.  Across the aisle from Usha's booth were several articles of embellished clothing item on display.  I don't normally post pictures of people's work but this is worth a thousand words.

And speaking of words, I saved the best for last.  Mid-afternoon, I went to get a cup of coffee at the food setup and had to take a picture of this sign.
I will leave you to ponder the meaning.

Good night.

a day at the beach

Not really at the beach, of course. But today was as relaxing as if we had been on vacation. Rachel Cochran and I went to the NJ Quilt Fest - or whatever it is called - for 3 reasons: to see Usha, to hit the other vendors, and to see Jeanne Beck's solo exhibit.

First stop, Handloom Batik - Usha's booth - a visual and sensory delight on every level. Fabrics to die for, delicious shawls (I bought one) ,gossamer scarves, journals, incense, wood printing blocks from India - and glorious t-shirts. And of course, Usha herself -- one of my favorite people on the planet! Her family prints these fabrics in India - and they are gorgeous and you will not see anything like them anywhere else! While I was there, I met a lovely customer named Susan (sorry, I don't think she told me her last name) who stopped at the booth and admired one of the quilts I had made in 2004 for Usha's booth display, using her batiks. Turns out that Susan had just seen me on Simply Quilts, so that was fun! I had made a previous one in 2003 to showcase Handloom Batiks fabrics because so many traditional quilters stopped by her booth in Lancaster and loved the fabrics, but then couldn't figure out what to do with them. So, I made a Log Cabin (could you get more traditional?) with her genuine Indian batiks and gave it to her for the booth. Fabric sales skyrocketed, I am happy to say. I loved it so much, I made another similar one for myself. The other vendors were just so-so. Rachel and I were looking for black fabric so we could discharge and compare results, but strangely, only ONE vendor had black on the bolt. In fact, almost nobody had fabric on the bolt - just those little bitty pieces they sell, which left much to be desired. Superior Threads was there - the first time I've run into them, although I have heard raves over the years. I bought 3 spools of thread and a color card. Yummy. And of course, I bought needles and nice big seam rippers. Never did find bobbins for my Janome, but that's okay.

Jeanne Beck had quite an extensive exhibit of her work (mostly done between '04 and '06, after all her stuff was stolen) - and it was the best part of the show. Jeanne's work is beautiful, interesting, and varied. Can you tell I am a fan?

While I was on a traditional kick, I hauled out all my antique quilts and tops for Rachel to see - including two that I rescued and hand quilted, and two that I had started to restore and gave up on because I didn't have time.

It was a busy day and these old bones are ready to pack it in.

my day at the quilt show

So here is Usha. I got to the show about 11 this morning. I was only going to stay for an hour, but ended up staying for 3 hours. Big surprise,huh? My first stop was Handloom Batik, where I hung out far too long.Usha was helping a customer, but posed when I clicked the camera. Her booth was so crowded that I hardly was able to get a picture, and didn't get a shot of the yummy fabrics spread out like a technicolor dreamcoat on the table under her hands. We were soooo happy to see each other. On the table behind her, she had a bunch of wood stamps and all kinds of new goodies she hasn't had before. I did get one shot of one shelf of fabric, but it doesn't really do justice to what is packed into the booth, which isn't that big. Liza Lucy came by and bought some fabulous Indian embellishments. Last time I saw here was on the exhibit floor in Houston when we were both too harried to say more than "hello." I went shopping for Gerrie Congdon but didn't buy anything for myself, although I must admit I was sorely tempted. But by the time I finished making all those decisions for Gerrie, I was too tired to think. If I change my mind, Usha is vending at Brownstone Quilters show in Northern NJ on March 17-19. The really great news (Karoda, are you listening??) is that Handloom Batik will be vending in Paducah during the show. I forget where she will be, but I'll let you know. Between Helene Davis' Hand Dyes and Handloom Batik's batiks - LOL - you won't need any other fabric but your own. Speaking of Karoda (ha - now I know what the ro stands for, but I'm not telling) - what do you think I saw in a spot right near the entrance to the exhibit hall? This beauty...

My photo doesn't really do it justice and my camera was acting up today - I think the battery is tired. But here is a detail of the beading. Delicious. I ended up looking at the art quilts, all of which were in special exhibits but were, IMO, marred by the pipe part of pipe and drape. The smaller the quilt, the bigger the distortion. Ick. And I Ioitered around, going up and down the aisles looking for the lovely and talented Mary Manahan who finally found me at Usha's booth. I didn't want to leave till I saw Mary, so I gave her a hug and went home.

Usha told me that people who see my spontaneous strip quilt (the one with the black around it) in her booth, ask if she sells a kit for that. A KIT?

There were 60 other things in my head but I was up till 3:am last night doing batik with found objects. Haven't got anything to show you yet with the tjap but Monday is play day at Judy Langille's house, so I might use it then. We'll see.