scarves, scarves, scarves

Not much question where this day went! I turned my kitchen island into a workstation because my sewing room workspace was/is slightly indisposed. Ahem. Of course, this may look familiar, but it is worse than usual, I think.

Even though these scarves had to be yellow, they are not all the same yellow. And even though they had to have certain common elements, everything else I added was up for grabs, depending on my mood, which screens and dyes were at hand, etc. etc.  Here are two of them, for example.

I have been paid for my work and now the Class of 19XX is going to sell them to raise money for the alumni fund.  I decided that instead of having people rifle through a pile of 50 slightly different items, hemming and hawing over which one they liked better, I would order from ClearBags and fold/insert each into one of those little bags.  They will pay their money and take their chances - they get what they get. The people taking turns selling them will have an easier time. 

What I didn't bargain for is how long it would take me to number, tag, fold, and insert the little beauties so they look NEAT.  Half the day and I am still not done.  But I have about 3/4 of them packaged, so that's not bad. I can take the rest with me to my crit group tomorrow and these can be my "what I have been doing for the last three months" contribution.

I will confess that I would rather teach for several days than to ever do another commission this large. However, it's almost done and I can move on. To what?

I suppose I could do something with this piece sitting on my bulletin board/design wall.  

 It is not as blue as these bad photos make it look: it's really gray.  This (below) is what it was previously (actually, this is the other half I haven't done anything with yet). A contribution from my friend Rachel. 

Or, maybe I should start something completely new. It might be time for some therapy strips.  Well, it will all have to wait. The rest of the week is scheduled up the wazoo.  Time to rest up for it.

where did the day go?

Vanished in a cloud of answering emails, sending out supply lists, and a little bit of website tweaking.  

 
For those of you who can get to my my exhibit in North Carolina, here is where it is.  

Of course, I took terrible pictures, but here are a few anyway.  Even though it was a retrospective, the quilts that spoke to each other or worked together were not necessarily in chronological order and didn't go up the way I had pictured that they might.  Hanging a show is a trip and a learning experience, every single time. 

 This was part of the wall on the right of the sanctuary.

This was one section of the back wall.

These next two pieces were on the front wall, hanging together.  It was the first time I had seen them displayed in many years.  The first time they hung together it was 1998 and I put them into the guild show.  They shared first prize -- not because they were perfect, but because they had impact.  The judges were artists, not quilt police.

Last Stop

Prozna St., Warsaw

Below, Marni and one of her assistants are adjusting the work on this Walker hanging system.  I had to cut holes in the sleeves of several of my pieces to accomodate the hanging fixtures.sigh...

 

This is a very short week.  Got home late Sunday night (it is a long drive) and spent Monday doing errands and dealing with my mother's apartment, which I now have to clean out and put on the market in very short order.  Not easy with all my traveling.  Don't ask. Tomorrow, I am ironing, numbering, folding and packing 50 silk scarves. Thursday is my crit group -- we have not seen each other in eons .  Of course, I have nothing to show because everything current is in the exhibit. Friday I am spending with my college roommate whom I have not seen in 25 years. THAT should be lovely. And there is the week! 

So -- off goes this sleep-deprived person to make some coffee and iron some scarves, which are sitting on my kitchen island.  I know this is a boring post but honestly, my life isn't that interesting. Trust me on this.

home and in retrospect...

 Have you stayed tuned?  The rest of the time in Durham-Chapel Hill was so busy and I found it so hard to post from my iPad that I gave up till I got home.  Here I am - knee-deep in contracts and paperwork and emails that waited for me while I was away.

Earlier, I neglected to mention that we went to the North Carolina Museum of Art while we were there. The new part of the museum looks from the outside like warehouses, but inside it is light and airy and is simply one of the best-designed art spaces I have ever seen. Here are two of my favorite pieces of the contemporary art that was there. The figure was covered in buttons and made us smile.

The painting reminded me of  Terry Jarrard-Dimond's work, which I love.

Saturday afternoon we hung the artwork on the sanctuary walls.  The sanctuary was designed so that the walls surrounding the seating could show artwork -- and it's great because the congregation can look at the art while they are worshipping.  Art and spirituality -- what a lovely combination!

No two people would hang a show precisely the same way in most cases, but in this case it became clear almost immediately how the 20-something pieces I brought would speak to each other and the process went pretty easily.  We were helped by the art committee volunteers who straightened, aligned, and labeled the pieces and I am very pleased with the way everything flows.  I think there were only 2 pieces I did not hang.

  Later, I will post whatever pictures I took that actually came out:-).

Weekend in the Triangle

After a rather long day on the road,we arrived last night in Durham. To say that route 95 was a parking lot from D.C till way past Richmond,VA into understate the traffic conditions. But we made it and went out to a fabulous dinner with our friends Marni and Fred.

Today, we had a tour of the Chapel at Duke University-- a beautiful and imposing neo gothic structure.

More later.

up late tonight & a book review

Watching all 4 episodes of The Great British Sewing Bee, season one. Insane, but I really needed to sit and do nothing tonight.  Sandy Snowden posted the links today and the shows were fun to watch. However, I've had my fill and don't think I'll watch the reruns of season 2.

What I haven't had my fill of is Valerie Goodwin's soon-to-be-published, gorgeous new book, Art Quilt Maps. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy and have to say It is a treat for the eye, a moving personal journey, and a poetic guide to creating your own fiber art maps. 

In fact, from the introduction through the galleries at the end, I found the book compelling enough to procrastinate my "must-do" chores until I had read from start to finish.

Beautifully illustrated with examples of her own work and a gallery of other artists' maps, the book shows how original and diverse the results can be.  Valerie takes us from starting places (visual and verbal exercises that generate ideas) through creating the layers, to arriving at the finish line (what to add at the end to make your work distinctive).  Along the way, her own design and creative process will inspire you to try this way of working.  

If you love Valerie's work, as I do, or have taken a workshop with her, you will certainly want a copy when it is released.  Now that my list of 'must-do" chores has gotten shorter, I'm going to go back and read it again. It's a winner!

 

I'm backK

From down the rabbit hole of travel/teaching and 9 days, 24/7 with Miss Emma.  Three year olds are not for the faint of heart or for old people -- at least, not for more than a few days. - LOL.  I have finally recovered.  Here, a snippet from one of the more endearing conversations.  

And then, the (all-too-rare) nap.

She refused to sleep under anything but my rescued/repaired 1930's feedsack quilt.

During this past recovery week I have been getting my work ready for my exhibit in North Carolina, opening next Sunday, May 5.  Uh - I still have one piece to finish, which I hope to get done today. 
Driving down on Thursday, hanging the show on Saturday.  If you're in driving distance of Chapel HIll, here is the info.

In Retrospect...

Solo Exhibit by Rayna Gillman

5 - June 23, 2013

Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist

106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina  27514

Phone No. 919-942-2050 

 Free-Form Quilt Class

When I go back in June to take down the show, I'm teaching a two-day class in Washington, NC before I hit Chapel HIll.  If you didn't get a newsletter e-update

here's the info: $115 for the two days and space is limited to 20 people.  Registration opens on Saturday, May 4 and you should contact  Katherine McNeese to register.

Back to cleaning up and finishing this final quilt!

The joys of travel

It ' s not that I didn't love every minute in Atlanta and Athens; I had a wonderful time and two terrific classes. I met my cousin, made new friends, and enjoyed southern hospitality. I should have been home by now. But I am still sitting in the Atlanta airport.

I have been here since 8:am for a 10:00 flight that was, along with two earlier and two subsequent flights CANCELLED due to weather. Weather? Uh huh. The usual suspect. I managed to get the last seat on the last flight out of Atlanta to EWR--at 5:39(supposedly) tonight.

With that, hot-footed it over to the United club lounge, where I am spending the day with a hundred other souls who are In the same boat. Well, maybe not 100--but multitudinous (is there such a word?) numerous. Many. Lots.tons. The bartender is having a good day.

Happily, the amenities here include free snacks: liquid and otherwise.

And I have a big fat detective book by Elizabeth George to keep me occupied. I am on standby for a slightly earlier flight but at this point it does not matter.

I have to say that the United agent at this club is such a sweetheart that it is almost enough to make me switch from hating United to merely disliking them:-/.
More after the commercial.

New friends, new family

Here I am with my cousin Reba from Atlanta. We hit it off right away and seem to have a lot in common, although we still haven't figured out where the connection began. We think it was in our great-great grandparents' generation, but have not been able to prove it yet. Meantime, we are enjoying ourselves. Here we are at the barbecue place for lunch.

Over the weekend, fun class: strips and squares:infinite design variations. I was so happy to see Judy Carpenter. We met years ago when I taught at John C. Campbell and she took my surface design class. Here she is with a pile of slice/diced/sewn together units the first day.

And here is what she was creating and took home to finish by the end of day two! It will be a quilt for her granddaughter. Judy was so excited! Http://judyinthe dyes.blogspot.com

Gretchen had never made a quilt in her life and was delighted to discover she could make one without worrying about matching seams. Here is hers.

Today I am in Athens,eating branch outdoors and it is lovely. This afternoon I start another class and tonight, lecture at the guild meeting. Stay tuned.

junk food

Not something I eat a lot of but yesterday's activities drove me to it.  I went to the studio to put in a day of printing the last 8 or 10 scarves I need for my college reunion next month.  Had not been there in a couple of months because of traveling and LIFE and when I got there, I realized I had brought a bunch of scarves home to dye and had left them there. Duh. 

So...I gathered up my screens, made some print paste in the studio blender, grabbed some dyes, a portable print thingie made of pink insulation foam, and headed home.  Long story short --set the print board on the island, got two done and a third started before I quit for the day.  Fortunately, I had carted home an old wooden drying rack from my mother's apartment some months ago (why??).  Here's what  my formerly pristine kitchen looked like yesterday.

It is just as well I have everything at home because the day after I return from Georgia I have to go to Brooklyn, take Tommy to the airport, and bring Miss Emma home with me for a week.  She can amuse herself safely at home doing collage while I print. 

So, off to the airport shortly where I will see my friend Judy Carpenter (yay!), meet my distant cousin Reba (our ancestors were related, we think), and have a fun time teaching. 

Will catch up with you soon.

yawn...

Did much of my packing and then this afternoon into this evening, stitched the 3rd in my Totem series.  Not finished yet, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tomorrow I wrap up the odds and ends of packing and do a few things for myself before I leave home.  If I can get my iPad to cooperate, I will blog from the Sunny South (at least I hope it's sunny!).

When I get home, I will have Emma here for "girls' week with Nanny" while her parents take a much-needed vacation.  After that, guess who will need one?

                

                                                             

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.