From the gardens

 

 

 

 

 

The rhubarb is really nice this year.  Our four plants are liking the weather we've been having and producing long, tender stalks.

 



Some of the early flowers in the perennial gardens....

Planting time

Time to get the vegetable garden started...

The tomatoes and peppers are going in.






The basil plants have been planted at the top of the rows of onions and beans.  They have been covered with plastic netting to prevent them from being eaten by the critters!

Studio visitors

Nancy and Linda spent the afternoon at the studio, and we did a little fabric painting, using acrylics on canvas.

Nancy is checking out a piece that Linda started.













This is fabric that Nancy painted that she expects to use for a new purse.















Linda and I put our fabrics over the bushes to dry.













Nancy just finished this quilt that she made for her grandson's wedding.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dinner and desert

We had never been to the Longhorn Steakhouse, and our visit there was a present from our friend, Karen from Colorado. 

The décor was complete with chaps and saddles and all things related to western cowboys.









Priscilla and Bill and I all enjoyed the food.  I meant to take pictures of our entrees and the desert, but forgot while I was busy stuffing myself!  My lamb chops were wonderful, and then we ordered the Chocolate Stampede -- which we all decided was To Die For.  Fortunately, we only ordered one, because it took the three of us to finish the 7 kinds of chocolate,  plus 2 scoops of ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce!

Sewing Day



 

 

 

Beth joined Priscilla and me for a sewing day and was able to use the studio tables to baste the new quilt top that she finished while she was in North Carolina this winter.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the queen-sized quilt that she was basting that is destined for a bed in her beach house in NC. 











 

Beth has been doing a lot of ice dyeing and created these mandala pieces that she brought to show to us.  The large one is 44" square, and the smaller ones are 22".

 



Priscilla's visit

Since she moved further away, Priscilla hasn't been able to come as frequently for sewing days.  So it was a treat to have her visit for a couple of days and see the projects she's working on.

The blocks on the wall behind her are for a new "envelope quilt" that she made a lot of progress on while she was here.

Priscilla made this quilt from nine molas that she collected from her trips to the San Blas Islands of Panama.  The quilting outlining the figures on the individual molas gives them a lot of texture.




















These cross-stitched and needle-pointed tiger panels are being considered for another quilt.
















Priscilla also showed this wonderful piece that she found on her last trip to Guatemala.  The colors are even more vibrant in person, and I'm sure she's thinking of a new garment that it could be added to!

Garden views

We have a couple of light lavender-colored lilac bushes, but these dark purple lilacs are my very favorites.  This bush has been producing flowers for more than 40 years.















The wisteria doesn't always bloom every year, but is full of blossoms.




















There really is a gazebo under there, although the wisteria has pretty much hidden it.












The azalea bushes in front of the house are producing lots of beautiful flowers after being covered by more than three feet of snow for several weeks.











We recently went to Jane's Herb Farm in Webster to get some of her plants, in particular, some of her wonderful heirloom tomatoes.

These two pictures show some of her lovely perennial gardens.

 

 

 

 

New Legacies

Daybreak  (66h X 57w)

I'm very pleased that my "Daybreak" quilt was selected for the New Legacies: Contemporary Art Quilts exhibit presented by the Fort Collins Lincoln Center, a Performing and Visual Arts Center owned and operated by the City of Fort Collins, Colorado.

This juried exhibition features the current work of national and international contemporary quilt artists, and will run July 7 through August 22, 2015.

FLCC Awards

Last night was the FLCC Alumni Association Awards Celebration, and my friend, Mary Wilsey, was given the Distinguished Alumni Award.

left to right:  Mary Wilsey, Linda Maracle, Gary Wilsey -- all graduates of the College in the early 70's.

Mary and Linda were in the first classes I taught at the College. 

When I was the Business Department Chairperson, I hired Mary as an Instructor in 1974.  She is retiring this year as full Professor and current Chair of the Business Department.

It was fun to participate in the event and a special treat to make the presentation for Mary's award.

Peeps Meeting

The Peeps (Art Quilt People) gathered for their regular monthly meeting and were treated to new work  by several of the members.








Bev showed three new pieces.














And these three are Linda's.

















Nancy will be starting the stitching on this piece of painted cloth from Africa.

Jet Trails

It was a "Jet Trail" day, with lots of jet contrails criss-crossing the sky.

I haven't made any Jet Trails quilts in quite awhile, but with all this wonderful inspiration, I just may have to start again!

Spring scenes

The Jack Frost plants have pretty colors to brighten up the landscape after our long winter. 

We have several of these shade-loving plants with the delicate blue flowers.











We trimmed back the forsythia bushes a couple of years ago, and they are springing back with their radiant yellow blossoms.
















Millie enjoys the warmth of the sun and the cover of the cotoneaster shrubs and assorted grasses.















The crabapple tree has beautiful pink blossoms for about one week out of the year -- and this is the week.













Crabapple blossom detail

Skydyes

We spent a fun and productive day with Mickey Lawler painting fabric with Setacolor paints.









We had a spacious room at the church in Gorham that provided everyone with plenty of work space.

Our work room was right next to the kitchen -- very handy for snacks!  And the Guild offered the option of a catered lunch, which was great.









Everyone tried making waterfall fabrics.














Mickey demonstrating a painting technique.














This is a scrunching technique.

Lake-to-Lake

The Lake-to-Lake Quilt Guild held their regular meeting in Gorham.

There was a good turnout of members and visitors, and we were treated to seeing lots of quilts during their Show & Tell.









The guest speaker was Mickey Lawler, whose fabric is sold under her company name, Skydyes.

She also has published a book titled "Skydyes -- A Visual Guide to Fabric Painting."

During her presentation, she showed us her process of painting on fabric and showed us some of her lovely quilts.

We're all looking forward to our workshop with her tomorrow!