surfaces

This is the state of my sewing room.  The blue suitcase has still not been unpacked from when I got home 10 or 12 days ago.  It is full of fabrics I have to unload and then decide whether I will repack it or try and squeeze the fabrics and my clothing into one large bag. The red thing in front is my carry-on bag, probably partly empty. What a mess!

This is the state of my dining table.  I cleaned it off after last Monday's seder and hen had to load it up again with quilts to be sorted, tagged, and labeled for my exhbit in North Carolina.  It doesn't look organized, but I know exactly what is in each pile and what needs to be done. Some of these will go to Georgia with me on Friday for my program in Athens.

Lest you think I am a complete disaster, I will show you that there is one surface in this house which is so clear of STUFF that my weekend visitors nearly fainted when they walked into the kitchen.

 

 So there you have it.  True, it hasn't looked like this since 2008 -- but one out of three ain't bad.

Cheers!

R.

what day is it?

I remembered it was Thursday this morning when I saw that all the neighbors had put out their garbage. Oops - dragged mine out just in time and noticed this.  

Does this mean spring is really on its way?  I don't quite trust it; I remember snow on April 15th one year, a long time ago.

This morning, still cleaning up from Monday night's seder, I went down to the lower level to put my grandmother's dishes away and saw a crowd outside my sliding glass doors.  By the time I came back down with my camera, they had moved away.  I counted 19 of them. 

 I spent the rest of the day going through my quilts, measuring, pricing, checking sleeves, and making lists of what I will be exhibiting in Chapel Hill in May.  O tedium.  Still not finished, but must finish by tomorrow and send off the info.  I also have to add labels and fiddle with sleeves to accommodate the Walker hanging system. Oh, and I have put a quilt on the list that I have not yet finished.  Guess I'd better do that, too.

I remembered it was Thursday again tonight at 6:55 when I realized I had a 7:00 meeting of my Modern Quilt Guild and was going to be late.  Most of the people in the guild don't actually make Modern Quilts, but Amy showed one tonight.  She said it was intended to be the back of something else but she liked it so much, she made it the front of this one.  

It is later than I intended to stay up but I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging before I go to bed.  Now I can say goodnight!

back at it

I am still in the process of responding individually, wherever possible, to your generous and comforting comments to my last post.  Forgive me if I've missed you -- I am overwhelmed by your kindness.

Last week, as we sat shiva, the house was filled with friends, family, and more food than we could eat, from Monday through Wednesday night. Thursday I did nothing and Friday I shopped and started cooking for Passover.  I was probably insane to have the first Seder on Monday night, a week after my mother's funeral - but it also meant being with my family twice in one week: a pleasure!  Miss Emma kept us entertained, the boys were lively, and there was much hilarity as my kids remembered their Nana and looked at old pictures.  The memories were all good.

SO - back to where I was before this all happened! I was teaching at Quilting Adventures in hill country --New Braunfels, TX -- one of the most delightful experiences I have had.  The T Bar M resort where Quilting Adventures is held is beautiful, the accomodations are just fine, and the food is good.  Debby and Kim, who run the annual retreat (plus some shorter ones during the year) are warm-hearted and lots of fun.  I got to spend some time with Robbi Eklow, who is always a pleasure to be with.

I was also teaching one of my favorite classes - 4 days of Cinderella Quilts.  You can't believe the transformations that occurred as the students created magic from their old blocks plus new strips and squares.  Here are some befores and afters from class.

This is one  from a pile of blocks Betty brought with her.  By the time she redid the rest of blocks, she had the makings of a modern quilt.

 

Once she was on a roll,she started another quilt from scratch and ended with a finished top. She plans to attach it to a black canvas when she has quilted it.

I gave each student one of these 9 patches  to see what they would do with them. I don't have all the pictures, but everyone did something different.

 Donna used the 9 patch and the other block from her stash as jumping-off points for her quilt.

 If you look carefully, you can see bits of both of them in her finished top.

Louise started her new work with a couple of house blocks she had brought with her.

 By the time she had chopped them up and re-imagined new houses, she had a much more imaginative quilt than the original would have been.

When Ilene showed up with a pile of these blocks, I thought they were hopeless.

But she proved me wrong.  Here is the work in progress -- some original blocks, some transformed, and a bunch of strips she had just sewn together in combinations she liked. She didn't know how she would use them, but she found a way.

 

This is what she took home with her.

We spent a lot of time on ad hoc and slow design -- moving things around ad infinitum and talking about why a particular layout did or did not work.  After a while, their eyes began to know what looked balanced without being boring and they learned to trust their instincts. This was a class that made everybody smile because they were so happy with their results.  

Next week, I'm off to Atlanta.  Maybe by the time I get home it will be edging toward spring in NJ.

Thanks again for all your caring messages.

love,

Rayna

RIP Molly

Yes, I have been away from the computer for several weeks. While I was away teaching,  my mother, who would have been 96 in June, decided she was done.  I got home this past weekend in time to spend a few days with my family at her bedside and say goodbye. 

Molly, true to form, you were feisty and independent to the end.  We will miss you. xo

While we are on the subject...

I received a photo from Gabriele in Germany, of a quilt she made that was inspired by my book.  I think it needs to be shared, so I am posting it.Another wonderful example of the infinite variety that is possible!

Off to class.

Halfway there

I am finally on west coast time, but still in my room relatively early. So far, the week has been great. The place is beautiful, my class is a pleasure, and all is well.

Last night I had dinner out with Del and we lamented afterwards that we were having such a good time laughing that we forgot to take pictures of the delicious, elegant food at il Vecchio in pacific Grove.

I have been taking pictures in class, however, of works in process. Here are a few, before I go to bed.

Out of the chute

As Cathy Barger so aptly put it:-/. Today was a vacation day. I sat in the sun with Lonni Rossi and listened to a man playing his bagpipe in the distance. What a treat.

Walked down to the beach this afternoon and put my feet in the sand. Got and gave hugs to two of my favorite people, both of whom are in my class. Tonight, met the 21 people in my class and we got a bit of a head start. All in all, lovely. I am ready for tomorrow and eager to get started.

En route

Ah, the vicissitudes of travel... I won't go into what had me in tears of frustration as I boarded the United plane. Suffice it to say they comped me a drink. I want my Continental back! But it is like wishing for the dead to return. Ain't gonna happen.

I have a three hour layover at L.A X., thanks to an early departure from Newark. air traffic is so bad there that they build in time for delays and there weren't any,so we got into los anfeles almost an hour early. Had time to grab a book and read for most of the flight.

With this long layover,Thank goodness I had pass to the United Club, which provided me with a complimentary martini and a chance to make a phone call. After the stress of the day, I am treating myself to a steak dinner, which I may take a photo of (or not).


Back at the club for coffee and cookies-- the coffee is divine and I am feeling much better.have to adjust to the time change, but I can pretty much relax till tomorrow afternoon, I think.

Below, the food. When I blog on my ipad, there is evidently no choice about where the photos go. If you know the secret, let me know what it is. I have to admit that while it is easy to travel with an ipad, it will never replace my laptop for a lot of things.

I spoke to Usha (Handloom Batik) last night. We are both disappointed that I will not be inNJ at the Quiltfest to go for Indian food with her this weekend, but after we get back from our respective travels, we plan to meet in the City for a South Indian lunch.

Time to go to the gate. I will update this blog at some point. xo

more art

Yes, this is art.  It was juried into a statewide (NJ) exhibit of art students from middle school through high school.  The top pieces had an exhibit at the Montclair Art Museum and this dress, made completely of playing cards, caught my fancy.  The artist is a high school student with a sense of whimsey and talent.  The exhibit, in general, was terrific but this was my favorite because it made me smile.  And anything that makes me smile deserves a blog post.

The Montclair Art Museum has one of the nation's best collections of Native American art, both traditional and contemporary.  Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is one of my favorite American artists and if I could liberate this painting from the museum's wall, I would be in heaven. But it is in the permanent collection and I don't think they would like it.

There is, in the Native American gallery, an exhibit of contemporary art/craft. This photo doesn't do justice to the tiny seed beads that cover the sneakers -- but the work is amazing -- and fun.

On another subject -- United Airlines has cancelled my morning flight and has put me on an afternoon flight that will get me to Asilomar tomorrow night instead of in the early afternoon. NOT happy with this; chances are there were not enough people on the flight to SFO to make it profitable so they switched everybody to the only other flight out -- and I won't go into the other issues I have with this manouevre.  GRRRRR.

Well, the good news is that I don't have to get up at 4:am, so maybe I should get off the computer and see if I can stay up late tonight getting some creative work done.  sigh...

and...

I have to show off the charity quilt the North Jersey Modern Quilt Guild made from blocks sent to us from QuiltCon entries. Several wonderful members of our guild made additional blocks to add to the leftovers we received and this is the result. 

I did not work on it, nor did I have a chance to see it in person because I've been traveling and teaching - but I think it's a delight.  The back is equally charming.

I'll miss this month's meeting but they can do without me:-).  Leaving Thursday at the crack of dawn and I am trying to finish packing my fabrics for class tonight.

Uh...various

When I get emails asking if I am ok, I know it is past time to post.  Honestly, I have been too busy and/or too tired. 

The last few nights have been late, but not as late as the last umpteen, when I was up till 2:am watching all the episodes of Masterpiece Theatre's series (ex post facto).

I am not a tv watcher -- not even public television. EVER. But someone recently gave me a gift subscription to Hulu + and as I was scrolling around on my iPad to see if I would ever use it, there it was -- Season I.  Curious, I clicked on Episode 1. Instantly addicted, I spent the next bunch of nights (and days?)- printing and watching Seasons 1 & 2. Then I had to switch to PBS.com to watch season 3, which is available there only till March 3, when it vanishes and won't be available till July (or some such) on Amazon.com, exclusively.  

Thank goodness I finished watching the last episode g so I could get on with my life!  Have I been busy? I steamed and washed another 10 of the scarves I am making for my college reunion class.   I'm 4/5 of the way there.  I have been back in the studio, printing more of these.

I made the front of a fabric postcard destined for an auction at Sisters Outdoor Quilt Festival in July.  It felt good to get back to sewing and I suspect I will finish the rest tomorrow or Friday. *Monday update - by the time I am posting this, it is all done.  One remains to be made.

Over the weekend:  Saturday was Miss Emma's birthday party. She is now officially three years old. Of course, she had to read her card -- and not to brag, but when she opened it and I asked her where her name was, she pointed directly to it. Really, she did.

  We drove in because, living in Brooklyn sans auto, her parents needed my car to pick up the balloons and cake and be transported to the party location, which was not their small rental apartment. After spending all day with a horde of three-year-olds, we went back to the apartment and my other two kids, kids-in-law, and 4 grandsons arrived to give Emma her gifts and hang out. 

We got home pretty late and I realized immediately that I had left my iPhone plugged in, charging, at Jessica's.  So it was back to Brooklyn on Sunday to retrieve it. ARGH.  But we made lemonade out of lemons: the El Anatsui exhibit was at the Brooklyn Museum, about a 5 minute drive from Jessica's apartment.  It had been on my to-see list, so this was the perfect opportunity.  If you are anywhere within driving distance of NY City, you have to go to see this exhibit!! Drop-dead spectacular.  Here are a few of the highlights that are not on the website.

He started as a painter, then worked in wood.  These can be arranged many ways.

We couldn't figure out what these bags were made of.  Paper? Nope, metal printing plates.  They are so large you can walk between them -- there are many more in this installation and they are amazing.

I think this was my favorite piece.

El Anatsui's work is made so you can get right close up to it.  Furthermore, his work is so flexible that it can be arranged any way the curators decide to arrange it.  These can lids were rolled up in another part of the exhibit and looked very different from the cones below.

All these beautiful bottle caps are connected in a way that allows them to drape.  

Is this gorgeous, or what? Somebody should be wearing these to the Academy Awards.

This is the first exhibit I've been to in eons where the guards did not threaten to shoot you if you got too close to the work.  You could almost put your nose up against these vivid materials.

After the exhibit we stopped at the famous Junior's for pastrami sandwiches and their famous (and overrated, IMO) cheesecake.  Another tiring but adventurous day in NY and I cannot tell you how inspired I am by this fantastic exhibit.  

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I am driving to Warwick, NY to give a lecture/trunk show in the morning.  Leaving early, since I have no clue where I am going or how to get there. Mapquest on the computer gives me one set of directions; on my iPhone, a second route, and Google Maps gives me a third way to get there.  Great.  I am leaving a bit of time to get lost.