my new friend, Irena

 When I was growing up my Mom has this old "ironer thing" that she used to starch and iron everything from the sheets and pillowcases to my Dad's overalls.  Let me just say that we were a well-ironed family back in the day, much to the dismay of my brother and myself, as those starched pillow cases weren't the most comfy place to lay your head.

Mom finally gave up and got rid of the her ironer.

Years pass and and I sign up for a Nancy Crow workshop, which means I need to get busy dyeing more solid fabrics to add to my stash.  Dyeing fabric also means lots of ironing.  Ironing has never been something I was thrilled to spend time doing. 

Guess what will handle one yard pieces of damp fabric like a champ?  

You got it! 

 I discovered an old Ironrite on Craigslist, contacted the owner, and immediately took it off her hands.  Let me introduce you to Irena, my new best friend.

a wet wrinkled pile of hand dyed fabrics

placed into Irena's hot arms 

looks like this in a tenth of the time it would take if using my regular iron and board

And I might add that she does a bang up job ironing cloth napkins.  I have been following my daughter's lead in trying to cut back on consumption of paper products.  And since I have drawers full of cloth napkins, that I NEVER iron, we now have lovely crisply ironed napkins at meal times.  Now to get to the pillow cases and sheets . . . . . . 

Old news

How do I begin?  It seems that I cannot get back into the swing of blogging lately.  Maybe it was the long hot summer, or my vacation trip to Portland and Seattle, or maybe I came home from my trip to be overwhelmed with a huge mess in my studio.  Way too many unfinished quilts, all my stash piled here and there on the floor, lots of household chores to catch up, chaos of the mind?  I would show you how bad it was, but I neglected (er-um refused) to take pictures of my mess.
Now that all is reorganized, put away, caught up, I wanted to share a few pictures of my visit with the Rebels of Seattle. I could not have felt more at home with this warm and welcoming group of ladies.  Talk about southern northwestern hospitality!  The meeting began with a yummy pot luck lunch on the Sally's deck in a warm, sunny Seattle.   I had to really control myself to not go back for seconds and thirds.  After all, I was a guest, who brought no food to share.  But when everyone brought out their projects to share,  I quickly forgot about the food.  What a diverse group of talents.

You should see Patty's stripes up close and personal ~ WOWSER ~

Dawn's upcoming project using silk strips

Buffy's amazing use of solids and fabulous machine quilting

Nifty is hiding behind her glorious Madonna that she is handquilting.

If you have yet to discover this multi-talented group jump over the their site and take a look to see more.  You will be delighted.

Nifty of http://www.niftyquilts.blogspot.com/and her husband graciously hosted my husband and I for two wonderful dinners and a bit of Seattle sightseeing.  Sad to say I was so excited about meeting and getting to know them, that I neglected to take any pictures.  But be on the lookout, because I am already looking for cheap flights to the Portland/Seattle area.  I am thinking it should be a quarterly trip.   And this time there will be less words and more pictures, I promise.

Portland visit

Hubby and I have returned from parts west recently.

We had a fabulous visit with our daughter and her hubby and at long last got to meet  our grandpuppy. Our first trip to Portland was delightful and seems an enticing area to live.  There is so much happening, so much to do and see.  Exquisite restaurants to satisfy whatever mood you may be in and acres of city parks, trails for hiking and biking, to work off the excess calories.  Lots of accessible shops within walking distance of their home, to walk off more calories.

a hike near Mt Hood with Jevan, Casey & Winston

Lots of other shopping districts to explore throughout the city, like this great little shop.

Check out Tanner Goods Retail shop.
Guess who provided the interior design for this hot new spot?
If you guessed that it was my designing daughter, you were right on!
She even designed and made the light fixture for the shop.
tres' cool, eh?  
She & her equally talented hubby,
 along with their partners design, create, market and sell 
top of the line leather items.  
Casey & Jevan sweetly accommodated Mom & Dad by giving us a grand tour of Portland.  Even the touristy things I wanted to see.  Like the Chinese Gardens and the 
International Rose Gardens, to mention a few. 

Sad to say I didn't take pictures of some of the delightful restaurants we enjoyed, nor the lovely home cooked meals.   Guess that means I will have to return, huh?


Oh, yes, a blog post is not complete without showing a picture of a quilt.  Am I right?


Vanilla Bean has a new home.  And here she is with the proud new owners.

I think they liked it. 

Shakerag

I've done it now!  

I am going to Shakerag next June to spend 

a week with the inimitable Nancy Crow. 

This idyllic area is only a little more than an hour's drive from my home.  

So why not, I say.  Feed the soul, feed the creative forces within,
not to mention the exquisitely prepared
home grown, organic delights to feed the stomach.

I can't say when I've been more excited, except for week that I spent in the
presence of Ms. Ruth McDowell a few years ago.  

I must admit, that I was somewhat terrified after I signed up for the workshop with Ruth, so I spent months making samples and learning her techniques from her books
before I left for the workshop.  

I wanted to be prepared, you see.  

What began in this workshop was another bloom

I came home so full of self confidence that
I beat my all time recorded for completing a quilt.

This type of design and structure is my passion.   It is my own original design from start to finish with encouragement and assistance from Ruth in beginning a pattern. Rather than telling me what and how, she quietly guided me in the direction that I wanted to go and gave me more self confidence in myself that anyone had previously done.

So, now, I find myself yearning to broaden my field a bit.  I've never been comfortable working with solids and geometrics, other than coping other quilts.
Or making simple pillow tops.

I want to do grand abstract art quilts and simplifying does not come easily to me on that scale.  I am eager to learn and next June seems so far away.  But then Mama always said, the older you get the faster time flies.  And I've got lots of hand dyeing to do and lots of practice to do before next June.
I better start shaking 

Gee's Whiz

Here is what's been happening with the strips of pieced rectangles that I received from the lovely ladies participating in Victoria's 

15 minutes play quilt bee 

It all began in October based on the scrappy making fabric concept.  

When It was my turn to "play", my original thought was to ask for strips of fabric rectangles sewn together.  What I didn't divulge in my request for the strips is my idea for the putting them together.  I would  sew all the strips together, then cut them apart in  "snakey curves".  I would then sew in the "snakes" to rejoin them. 

Sorta like these inspirational  African American quilts:

 

Rather than actually making a quilt similar to my friends' Real Deal quilt 

Once those strips began to arrive, I got a bit lazy.  Plus I couldn't decide what color to use for the "snakes".  Black snakes, green snakes, copperhead........... 

the first strips came from Margaret

a few more from other bee members

And still more

Then I pulled out a few old words blocks that I had made years ago, I just knew it was meant to be.  It just seemed to suit the mood of a bee concept.  People sharing pieces of fabrics sewn together, inspiring one another, and having fun. 

so to here

then to here

But wait  there are more strips to come from other players, 

it isn't over yet.  There could still be snakes.

With so many strips of fabric, I can make two quilts.

Why not?  Two for the price of one. 

Green snakes,

black snakes, 

copperheads, 

coral snakes, 

scarlet snakes, 

even a python

forgive my naivete

Not being a trained artist, I am constantly attempting to learn more about art, the history of art, design, all those dead artists as well as current artists.  You get the picture.  Right?

So forgive me.  I am going to just show my naivete here and now.

I have been "studying" the artists of the Bauhaus style when a thought occurred to me.
When I look at the textile artists of that school I cannot help but make this obervation beginning with the woven textiles from Africa:  

To the weavings from the Bauhaus school:

Gunta Stolzl of the Bauhous School 

Gunta Stolzl

Anni Albers

Anni Albers

To the African American quilters :

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

And other African American quilters

These may not be perfect examples, but I am going to post this anyway.  (Blogger is yet again being uncooperative with my photos)  If you have an interest, I suggest a trip to the library or book store to see what similarities you might find.  It has been fun for me.  This may be redundant to many of you.  So please remember, that I am in no way a trained artist, nor critic, but just a woman of a certain age who is enjoying some exploration. 

Control

CONTROL
Let's talk about that. I spent the day whizzing pieces under the 

walking foot of my Juki and thinking.   I know why I am so compelled to complete this Selvage/Mandingo quilt.  Ironically the front is of a circular design and the back is geometric, Which has gone through several design changes.

It is all about making order out of chaos. It always seems to be.  Whatever might be occurring in my life,  comes through when I am in my studio.  When there is too much helter skelter happening in the rest of my life,  I must create some type of order.  Even though this design is not perfectly orderly and precisely pieced, it is a repetitious pattern of sorts. There is some semblance of control here.  Along with a tad bit of design aesthetic perhaps? 

                              As much as I should be completing Ms. Magnolia or Seashells on the Bay, 

I have a need to join the ying & the yang and make it mesh.  I need to pull other parts together in a harmonious union. 
I will be able to get on with the others who are calling to me once that is accomplished

So that is my current reasoning as to why I am not able to complete a project 

in a reasonable amount of time

It is all about having some control of my life.  

And perhaps more about mental therapy.


And now
even though I seem to have no control whatsoever with formatting blogger
life goes on

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

pillow fronts

pillows back

selvage quilt front in progress

Mandingo inspired back in progress

family trees are growing