I had just found her... then I lost her

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It started with a book sale at the Sun Bonnet Sue Quilt Club.  It is an annual sale of donated books and older excess books from the club's lending library.  I did well, I bought 14 books - some like new - for $17.  I'm a member of this club and this is one of the many benefits of membership.  I was mostly interested in the art quilting books.

I'm relatively new to art quilting, only a few years under my belt.   I brought my "new" books home and stacked them on the dining room table.  The next morning I had an early dentist appointment so I grabbed one of the books on the way out the door to read in the waiting room. I started reading the book and was disappointed that the dentist called me in before I got to read much.  I continued reading at home because it had really grabbed my attention.  I found myself telling my husband about the book over lunch.  I continued reading it, and that is not like me at all.  With quilting books I usually scan the book looking at the photographs, maybe pausing over a pattern I like and reading a paragraph or two.  Then I usually put it away until I want to make one of the quilts in the book. But with this book, I was totally into it.  I read it from cover to cover then I wanted to look up the Author on the Internet. Since I read that she lived near me I hoped I could take a class from her.

Scanning the websites, I saw it.  The quilt artist's obituary.  I had just found her...then I lost her.  I felt tears in my eyes.  Reading her book made me feel like I had just spent the day with her and now she was gone, and has been gone for a while.  The book I read and loved was Nature's Studio, A quilter's guide to playing with fabrics & techniques.  The quilt artist I will never meet was Joan Colvin. 

 

We all lost Joan Colvin in 2007.  It was before I started looking at art quilting as something I wanted to try.  I am not sure what it was about her book that attracted me to her.  I think it was a combination of things.

 

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One of those things was her writing, she wrote "Finishing isn't really the point, is it? Finding something you want to finish is."  I love that, I never really thought of it that way.  She also said "It wasn't always so clear to me that the fabric was in charge."  BINGO!  Her writing throughout the book sounded to me like she was talking just to me.  I took it personal.

Another thing was her love of the Northwest.  She lived on a very small island in a group of Islands I can see from my front deck.  She loved the water, the wildlife and the Madrona trees, just like I do. 

She found fabric to be joyful, she loved its texture and she needed to feel it, play with it & pull it, I understand completely.

She didn't want you to just do what she did but to find your own way.  She offered to share what worked for her and hoped you would find it useful.  She asked me about my style, and it made me think long and hard about it.  Joan Colvin wrote "We are enticed into working with fabric in so many ways, for so many reasons.  Many of us have tried, or are trying everything."  She knows me!  How did she know I had just said at a quilting group, "I want to do it all".

And of course I found her quilts to be amazing.   Besides the Madrona tree quilts the two I've shown here are my favorites.  The bald eagle quilt she made at her husbands request and the Dungeness crabs quilt was made for her son. 

I am so sorry I never got to meet this wonderful art quilter.  All I can do now is to take her advice to find my own style and do what I enjoy best with fabric.  I have her book that will have to be enough.  It is more than interesting that the first sentence in her book is "I'm still here, my friends, I am still wandering through the world of fabric art, learning from my successes and from my mishaps."

Well, I kinda took a class.

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I took a class through my new quilt club and it was terrific.  Well, I kinda took a class. Since we are new to the area I'm trying to get established with a doctor and wouldn't you know it, the only appointment I could get was on the same day as the class.  I was going to cancel going to the class but I'm glad I didn't.  I was only there for the first hour and then the last hour.  My new patient appointment took longer than expected.

The class was with Lura Schwarz Smith.  She is an AWESOME art quilter.  She did this one in 1996.
I absolutely love this quilt.  What a talented lady.

The next quilt is the one we were to work on in class.  I didn't get mine started but I got all the instructions and I heard the lecture.  I feel confident that I got enough information to create the traditional blocks with the curved perspective.  

Lura is a great teacher, I recommend her class.  True I was only at the class for 2 of the 6 hours but I heard enough to know that I would take another class from her if offered.  Besides, she had attended our quilt meeting the day before and gave us a "trunk" show,  telling us a lot about her methods.

  I could tell from my new friends that they liked the class and they were making good progress starting their quilts.


I'm sorry I didn't get to stay for the entire class, I think I would have loved every minute. Who knows, I may get another chance one day.

Lura brought instructions for another quilt as well.  It is simply beautiful.

Sometimes we have to look up from our sewing machines and gather inspiration.

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We've moved to a new house, yard, City and State.  Maybe that's why we are seeing more; why we are more observant of our environment; why we look in awe at the beauty around us a little closer. Share with us for a moment the beauty in what we have seen.  

Harvest Moon... The last one this Year... 

SUNRISE, Looking East on the front deck...

SUNSET, that same day looking West from the same place...

And a flower I found blooming in our new yard... I found out it is a Spider Dahlia.

There is a future quilt in one of these photos....

Sometimes we have to look up from our sewing machines and gather inspiration.

Miniature Knot-work, who knew?

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Continuing on from yesterdays blog about the West Sound Quilters quilt show at the Kitsap Fairgrounds, have you ever heard of miniature Knot-work?  Well take a look at this.

The Quilt itself is around one foot square I'm guessing.  The blocks in the quilt are about 2" to 4" on a side, again a guess. 

If you can enlarge this please do, the work is exceptional. 

Here is the picture I took of the description of the quilt.  In case you can not read it, I will repeat the wording on how it is made. "The Santas were made entirely of french knots using one thread, one wrap around a small quilting needle...  estimated to contain 2000 knots per square inch!"

HOLY COW!  Isn't that amazing?  Well, if you want to try it yourself I looked it up on the Internet and here is a link to a site with kits,      http://www.teresalayman.com/easy.htm  As for me... maybe I'll do one after I finish everything else.  ha ha ha ha ha

Quilt show at the Kitsap Fairgrounds

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Yesterday I went with several quilters from my new quilt group to the quilt show at the Kitsap Fairgrounds.  

This was the Welcome banner to the "Color my world" West Sound Quilters' 2014 Quilt show.

I've heard many times the phrase "Every Quilt tells a story". Well there was one quilt at the show that made me think "I'd sure like to know the story behind this one".  From what I could tell it was a representation of a Roadway sign that sometimes shows a deer crossing the road.  But this one showed what looked like to me to be a man with a hula hoop crossing the road. The border around him was made with an abstract guitar fabric. And the title of the quilt was the "String Cheese Incident Band".

The first thing I thought was that this was some crazy band name that someone thought up and the quilt was for a member of that band.  But then why the crossing sign with a man and a hula hoop?  Was it a hula hoop? Was it string cheese? What was the incident? It sure makes the imagination

run wild.

I guess I'll never know,   It 's just another mystery - it is, what it is.

I had a good time at the show and I will be posting more quilts, especially one that will knock your socks off!  It did me.  Have you ever heard of miniature knotwork? 

Me neither. 

Who knew that gardening could smell so good?

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Who knew that gardening could smell so good?

I can't believe a month has gone by - August - where did you go?  I'm going to blog a recap of the month's events that went by in a blur.

The Moving Van came to our old house and left with all our worldly possessions.  We left with our Dog and Cat and our 2 cars for the 2 day drive to our new house. The moving truck broke down and it was 7 days before we saw it again.  No computer, no pot or pan, no fork or spoon, no quilting stash, not even a chair to sit on.  Luckily, we had air beds, sheets and TA DA! Quilts! I have to confess, I didn't mind not cooking for a week!

The truck finally showed up, we unpacked and unpacked for days until we were sick of it and decided we had to get out of the house and do something else.

Jardin du Soleil Lavender Farm

We went to Lavender fields to take a walk and inhale the intoxicating aroma which is supposed to calm you and relax you.  It WORKS!  We harvested Lavender plants from our own front yard to bundle into bouquets.  Who knew gardening could smell so good?

After the fun, we finished unpacking.  We hung out the "Welcome" sign and family and friends showed up at our door and then we had some more fun.

August, it's all a blur of Moving, unpacking, lavender dreams and fun with family and friends.