Q=A=Q Sunday

The Sunday brunch that is part of the opening activities for the Quilts=Art=Quilts exhibit was held at the Springside Inn, which overlooks Owasco Lake.










Elin Noble, one of the jurors for the exhibit, was the guest speaker and talked about the jurying process.

















Back at the exhibit, Pat posed in front of the second quilt she has in the show.



















This is Priscilla's entry, whose title I believe is "If Leaves Were Blue."


















Before the start of the Walk About Tour, there was a chance for a little chatting. Here is Donna Lamb, Director, along with Genie Barnes, Executive Consultant for the Museum, and Priscilla.













Genie Barnes conducted the Tour and asked each artist to talk a little bit about their quilt. Lindsey's camera caught me in front of my quilt with my mouth open.

Q=A=Q Opening

We attended the opening reception of the Quilts=Art=Quilts exhibit at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, NY.

The awards were announced, and we were pleased to find out that Pat Pauly won First Prize for the second year in a row.

And coincidentally, this award is sponsored by our guild, the Genesee Valley Quilt Club.













Priscilla and I had a chance to chat with Elin Noble, who was one of the jurors for the exhibit.











This is my "Whirlpool" quilt as it hangs in the exhibit, where it has the end wall all to itself in one of the side galleries.













Here are the six members of Genesee Valley Quilt Club who have work in the show, standing in front of Pat's award-winning quilt:
(from the left) Nancy Hicks, Marcia Eygabroat, Priscilla Kibbee, Caris Burton, Pat Pauly, and me.

Shibori class

I participated in a QBL2 class at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn taught by Elin Noble on making shibori-dyed fabric --Folds for Clamp-Dye Resist.

Elin started us out with some practice making folds with paper and using ink on the paper to test our designs.

We learned lots of ways to fold fabric and made many practice pieces with various resist items -- from chop sticks to blocks of wood.

These were some of the sample pieces that Elin brought to inspire us.

To wind up our class, we had a chance to look at some of the pieces made by our classmates.

It was a great class, and lots of fun was had by all!

Visitors from Florida

My brother and sister-in-law were in New York for a college reunion and flew into the Canandaigua airport so they could visit us.

We decided to take a drive around the Macedon Center area where we grew up and stopped to visit Longacre Farms. They are known for their Amazing Maize Maze, which was attracting lots of visitors.

We didn't go through this year's maze, but enjoyed the pictures of prior years' challenges.

There were lots of things to see and do all over the farm. The goats were enjoying their visitors and all the snacks that were being offered.

Lots and lots of pumpkins

Pedal-powered four-wheelers for the kids

We went to Canandaigua and watched the sun set over the lake,

and had dinner at the Steamboat Landing.

Art Quilt Elements

I'm thrilled to announce that my quilt “Whirlpool” has been accepted for inclusion in the Art Quilt Elements 2012 exhibit at The Wayne Art Center in suburban Philadelphia.



Forty-eight quilts were selected from 666 quilt images received from 273 applications, representing 42 states and 11 countries around the world.  There will be 28 first-time Art Quilt Elements artists.

The information from the AQE committee said that "Jurors David McFadden, Sandra Sider and Elizabeth Barton focused on elements of design, techniques, craftsmanship, and were also influenced by the quality of digital image when viewing the 666 images. They chose an exciting collection that represents the professionalism, diversity and expertise evident in this medium."

The joint National SAQA and SDA conference, Identity: Context and Reflection will be held at the Philadelphia Marriot West, Conshohocken, PA, March 30, 31 and April 1, 2012 and will coincide with the opening of the exhibit on March 30, 2012.

I see a road trip in my future!!

Sewing on Friday

Jeanne, Nancy, and Priscilla kept busy working on their quilt projects. Jeanne was finishing the facing on her new quilt, Nancy was creating more blocks for her Japanese-styled quilts, and Priscilla was getting fabrics ready for a new quilt.












Bev made a lot of progress on her jacket.





















The lovely piece on the design wall is a work-in-process that Bev brought in.

My latest quilt is on the table, where I was sewing on the hanging sleeves.

Sewing Day

We set aside today to work on various projects.

Priscilla is cutting Kaffe Fasset fabrics for a new quilt she plans to work on while she's away at a retreat a couple of weeks from now.




















Bev joined us and got a great start on a new kimono-style jacket.

















Bev brought Rufus with her, and he decided to try out one of Suki's napping spots!

Still harvesting

The red raspberries are still producing a couple of quarts of berries every other day. This is really late in season, even for fall raspberries. More berries are still ripening, so we'll continue to have them until we are hit with a hard frost.

This picking was definitely the last of the green beans. There's still a little late spinach and leaf parsley to harvest, but then we'll be done til next season.

Canadian Geese

We live on a direct fly-way used in the Spring and Fall.  In addition, there is a multi-acre pond that marks the West side of our property.  Literally hundreds of geese stop in both transits to spend many days and nights.  They ascend into flight and return many times during daylight to forage nearby corn fields for food. 

The groups in the video below are circling as they prepare to land on the pond.  Perhaps the noise they make is claiming rights as to where and when they glide onto the water and gracefully float to a stop.  In the many years we have watched them, we have never seen a collision of any sort -- amazing and spectacular!

      (Double click to make video full screen)

Art Quilts at the Chandler

I'm pleased to announce that my quilt, Jet Trails #9, was selected to be exhibited in "Art Quilts XVI: Something to Say" at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Chandler, AZ.

The exhibit runs from November 28, 2011, through January 28, 2012.



Jet Trails #9 (2011 36h X 22w Hand-dyed cotton fabrics)

The artists included in the exhibit are Pamela Allen, Sandra Branjord,

Sarah Bowker, Sherryl Buchler,

Betty Busby, Benedicte Caneill, Erika Carter,
Lisa Chipetine, Gerrie Congden,
Denise Currier, Marcia De Camp,
Linda Engstrom, Deborah Fell, Linae Frei,
Susan Garrity, Claire Gimber, Terry Grant,
Nancy Graves-Green, Virginia Greaves,
Betty Hahn, Marla Hattabaugh, Georgia Heller,
Gwen Jones, Margit Kagerer, Kathleen Kastles,
Margaret Keeney, Pamela Price Klebaum,
Sherry Kleinman, Sandra Lauterbach,
Anita Mabante Leach, Jill Le Croissette,
Denise Linet, Linda McCurry, Frances Murphy,
Nancy Nakamoto, Kathy Nida, Marti Plager,
Nancy Proctor, Wen Redmond,
Sue Reno, Maria Shell, Brenda Smith,
Mariana Smith, Hazel Stone, Mary Vaneecke,
Marilyn Wall, Kathryn Wild, Heidi Zielinski

Sewing day

Today was a day for working on some of those on-going projects.

Priscilla was organizing fabrics for new items she'll tackle at an up-coming retreat, and she made some more progress on a new jacket.

Bev worked on a UFO to see if the design could be expanded.









Pat challenged herself to make a small quilt, which still turned out to be about 40 inches.













I changed my mind about which fabrics I want to include in my latest jacket. I've made the back panel from pieces of the same indigo fabric that will be on one of the front panels, and I think the sleeves will be made from a dark blue batik.










And for inspiration, this is my favorite tree from our back yard --a river birch.

Closing Camp

A trip to Chase Lake each Fall to shut things down is a season-ending ritual.  This year we had a warm, sunny day to drive the 150 miles. 

A view from the dock highlights the reflected beauty of the quiet, natural shoreline which is descriptive of the covenants requiring homes and cottages to stand back hidden from lake view.

Steps from the dock lead down to the sandy bottom of the lake for easy entry to the water or a boat.  The row boat is for fishing or a tour of the lake -- motors are not allowed in any form on any craft.

This is the side of the log cabin structure from the west.  A clearing was established a few years ago and plans were drawn up for a new timberframe cottage, but plans are on hold at the moment.

The half-way point of the journey is marked by a very nice community park outside of Mexico, New York.  Picnic areas and fields for baseball and soccer are nicely maintained.  As you can see, a beautiful red maple was in full regalia.











Another line of fall colors sparkled in the distance at the park.  What a great place for a ball game, and kids were gathering there when we stopped on our way home.

Black Walnut report

A week ago I collected black walnuts so I could try dyeing fabric with them.

The results are interesting, if not very pretty, and I found you can make some brown fabrics fairly easily.

You can look back to the blogs from October 6 and 7 to see the process.

The piece on the left came from the bucket that had the "rinse water" in it.  The piece on the right was in the bucket that had the liquid created by combining hot water with the husks from the walnuts.   This liquid looked much darker, and I assumed the fabric would turn out darker accordingly -- but that didn't happen.    I can see very little difference in the two pieces.

I think these two pieces have more interest and now I wish I had made more of them.  I made them by wrapping them around the husks that were left over after pouring out the liquid in the kettle.

I saved the nuts, and once I get them cracked open, I think there will be a black walnut cake in our future.

Thanks to Kathy Loomis for the inspiration to try this! 

http://www.artwithaneedle.blogspot.com/