QBL

Quilting by the Lake is a program of the Schweinfurth Art Center, which offers classes in quilt design, techniques, surface design, etc.   The classes are held at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY.

I spent the week in a Color and Collage class taught by David Hornung.  We worked with acrylic paints to mix our colors and painted the papers we used for our collages.












This is my friend and tablemate, Carol, who used all kinds of wonderful materials in her collages -- and she shared her stash of materials with her friends too!













Angela used a Gelli plate to create her papers for her collages and kindly gave us all a demo on the process.













David was interested in learning about Gelli plates too.

A Summer Day

Suki, the Siamese kitty and resident Princess, and Millie, the feral interloper, do not interact.  They periodically cross paths, and here Suki crosses the deck in an unusual approach to a sleeping Millie.

The perennial garden is green and verdant with the rains we've had this summer.  Various shades of color alternate with the bloom schedules, always framed by grass and shrubbery.












An English walnut tree stands guard outside the fence at the south end of this part of our garden complex.  Of course, the fruit was originally from Persia, but the imperial English empire renamed it along with other claims of their conquest.












The purple thistles attract bees, and the butterfly bush in the background awaits its visitors.

One of the pergolas provides a spot to sit and enjoy this symphony of color.










The lily pond and resident frogs are part of the gazebo garden and are another pleasant stop along the way.  The difficult-to-control duckweed is visable on the surface between the pads.

Kitty Update

Quilts are shipped out to juried shows on a frequent basis so it's not unusual to have boxes out on the table.

We have to check the tubes and boxes. though, to make sure Suki doesn't go along!















Millie likes companionship and follows Marcia to the garden.  She likes newly weeded ground for a soft resting spot.  She watches all the activity with a great deal of interest -- as long as she can keep her distance.












Our neighborhood cat, Mr. Boots, often comes along.  He shows up for breakfast and supper every day, and we often see him nearby during the rest of the day.










Millie shares her bench (but not her rug) with another neighborhood cat.  We don't know where the orange guy comes from, but he gladly finishes up any leftover food.

Fabric Sale

Our friend, Linda, is selling her home in this area and is downsizing her supplies and fabric stash, and we hosted her sale.

All the books were lined up in the old studio room.









Supplies and fabric filled the main studio.












Suki was on hand to test out the comfort level of the patterns and special fabrics.










We had lots of shoppers and Linda had very little left to pack up.

More Divas

More pictures from our meeting with the Quilting Divas in Ithaca:


This is Carol with her "silver" piece, that is titled Working is a Man's World.



















Carol showed another of her pieces that has multiple layers of fabric.  She used many types of fabrics and yarns and achieved great texture and depth.















This is another of Lori's pieces with many layers of stitching.












Cheri created this whole-cloth piece with resists and  paint.























Anne is working on this quilt for a SAQA exhibit.
















Alice is getting things ready for the Greater Ithaca Art Trail, which will include her cute framed fox.

Quilt Divas

Priscilla, Jeanne and I were invited as guests (Thanks, Ruth!)  to attend the meeting of the Quilt Divas in Ithaca (www.TheQuiltDivas.com).

Sharon showed her hand-printed screen, along with several other pieces she finished while attending college this year.













Here's Sharon again with two more of her pieces.


















Jeanne showed a piece that she made with her handdyed shibori fabrics and got several good ideas from the members.














Lori showed three of her work with layers of hand stitching.















Susan is revisiting work started in the past and showed us several dolls and wood cuts.

Dinner in Ithaca

Jeanne and I drove to Ithaca on a beautiful afternoon so that we could attend a meeting that evening. 







We planned the drive so that we could meet up with Priscilla and have dinner at the Boatyard Grill.












Our dinners were delicious, and we had a lovely table with a view of the lake.

Fruit and flowers

 

 

 

Our prickly pear cactus blooms each year, and this year's display has been prolific.  My friend, Dorothy, dug it up from her garden in Michigan in the early '90s.  We had it planted in a protected spot near the house until the studio was built in 2007.  It had survived the winters outside, but now that it's in a pot, we bring it inside for the winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The raspberries are ripening, and I'm finding at least two, and sometimes three, quarts each day.  We have mostly red raspberries, but there's still one original purple raspberry bush hanging on since 1970.

 

  

These flowers are Immortelle.  They're known as everlasting because they're wonderful for drying.  If kept out of direct sunlight, they will keep their colors for years.

I've grown them in years past and never had them winter over.  But last fall they had re-seeded themselves, and those little plants made it through our hard winter.




I attempted to thin out some of the plants this spring, but finally decided to just see how they would do.


 I like the display they're making, and now I hope they'll come back again for next year!

Adirondacks visit

 

This is the view from our camp on the northern end of Chase Lake, where I went to spend a few days this week.











Priscilla and Genie came for a visit to keep me company.













We had some cool and rainy weather, but stayed warm and toasty in the cabin with the fireplace and the heater.

And we managed to keep busy with some sewing projects.












Genie has been working on this new quilt.

















This lovely stream was seen on our way to Croghan, which was a required daily trip to Good Ol' Wishy's Ice Cream Parlor.