DAY ONE: LOTS OF CLASSES

Linda's facility consists of four storefronts in South San Francisco - her four story home/quilting room, a fabric shop, a classroom, and a sewing boutique where our ladies have sold things in the past. Today was a classroom day, where Linda taught three different and ambitious projects: a basic quilt square, a fabric bowl (actually taught be a volunteer, Jeanne), and transforming a basic sweatshirt into a unique fabric jacket. All this was on top of learning how to use a different machine, AND absorbing a full day in both English and Spanish. Our ladies did great! We were super busy all day long, got so much accomplished, and now have an agenda and projects ahead of us (along with more lessons coming up). The women were exposed to so many new and different things. For one, they are learning to use rotary cutters and mats...something we "north of the border" sewers take for granted.Their eyes are wide open and they are taking it all in...with much happiness! The last three hours of the day were spent just straight sewing, being together, laughing and telling stories (me with my rusty Spanish), and helping each other with problems that arise. It was a bit like HEAVEN. In this photo,  Magui is showing us phase one of her sweatshirt transformation project. Muy bien Magui!

ARRIVED: SAN FRANCISCO!

My 6 hour drive from Oregon was uneventful (except for the wonderful visits with family and friends along the way), but my Mexican friends weren't sure whether they were in a dream or reality with two flights (the first for many of them), and then a limo ride from the airport in SF to the fantastic home of Linda Hannawalt, who is making this amazing experience possible. Even though everyone was exhausted,  we gathered for food and a welcome/information session with Linda, translated by Toy, our fearless leader. We rolled into our bunks around 1AM, still a bit wired, all heading for dreamland in either Spanish or English,  all with similar content of great adventures ahead. This photo was taken the following morning, all looking more rested, at Linda's home.

COMING SOON...DREAM TRIP 2014

 One more week before I embark on "Dream Trip 2014". I'm excited, but assuredly not as excited as my ten Mexican friends. Mazatlan's "Sewing Ladies", along with leaders Toy and Bev will be flying into San Francisco next Saturday night. I will be driving from Oregon to meet them, and we'll be spending 12 days there, all thanks to Linda Hannawalt of Quiltworks and her many friends and volunteers.

 Linda met them last spring on a trip to Mazatlan. She connected instantly and promised to send them supplies from her shop when she returned back to the US. That was just the beginning. A few months later, she wrote to say that her group participates in an international service project every year, and they had decided to work with our ladies this year. She offered this trip to them, full of educational and cultural opportunities, along with fun and friendship. Her generosity is mindblowing to say the least.

 Ten of the twelve women will be participating. One was unable to come, and another was denied a visa. I just about cried when I heard that. A trip to the U.S. is certainly beyond their wildest dreams, but I'm sure even traveling by airplane is a new experience for most if not all of them. Plus, this is a trip steeped in friendship. Bev and I have always dreamed of traveling with our Mexican friends, and now it's coming true.

What a smile on Dora's face! I think I'll be seeing a lot of smiles, just like hers, next week. Stay tuned!

A BOUNTY OF BIRDS

What a great class we had last Saturday at Sew Creative in Ashland. "Improvisational Applique" produced eight wonderfully whimsical birds using colorful scraps and the ladder stitch. Take a look at what nested in our classroom!
 

Check the class schedule at Sew Creative to see when the next bounty of birds is coming to town!

SWEET SPIKE

September was a busy and emotional month. We sold and moved from our special summer spot in Refuge Cove, BC, and spent much energy sorting through not only material goods but also special memories made over the past fifteen years. Three days after leaving, we said good-by to our little Spike, who was the best dog ever. She had been failing quickly over the past year, and her time had come to leave us.

We had a two week period in August when the “new owners” came to spend time in “our/their” house and we temporarily moved to a tiny cabin in our community. I took along a small box of sewing items and as I watched the boats come and go, I also witnessed our Spike in her failing state, and began a journal quilt for the theme of “Animals”. With this came a poem:

Stitched to Death

I sit on the deck of this waterfront cabin,

            Small waves lapping at the pilings,

            Sun glistening off the water,

            Boat traffic and noise in the periphery,

While I stitch this cloth to death.

Browns and greens become the hilly earth shapes,

            A remnant of sky colors sit above the horizon

            And scraps of black are pieced together:

                        Four legs that have jumped up on our laps,

                        Two big pointy ears that picked up every move we made,

                        A lively black tail that was a signal to her moods,

                        And a tiny nose that ruled her life,

While I stitch this cloth to death.

It’s a time for reflection:

            A distinctive bark that signaled any visitors,

            The loyalty and friendship she gave us for sixteen years,

            The miles we traveled together – be it by boat or car or plane,

            The new friends we made just because others were so curious about her.

And further pondering her funny little habits:

            Waiting to eat her dinner when we ate ours,

            Sleeping with us but only under the top cover,

            Discriminately sitting on our left side, never on the right,

            And balancing so proudly on our folded forearms as we stood to converse with others,

While I stitch this cloth to death.

And now I wonder if she even knows us as she

            Paces through the night,

            Gets stuck in corners and tight spaces,

            Accepts her mashed up food in a bottle,

            And lets us carry her most places.

But the sweetness in her eyes remain constant, and I dwell on that

While I stitch this cloth to death.

This little journal quilt sat unfinished for a few weeks; I finally unearthed it last night to finish it.

In the meantime, I have been working on other projects, one in particular creating a “day of the dead” altar from cloth, and of course my first prototype was for Spike. It basically is a sleeve of black quilted fabric that I slipped over an inexpensive, free-standing 8x10 acrylic picture frame. The design work was mainly discharged and later colored in with bright fabric markers. Lots of buttons were added and also tiny ribbon flowers. I attached two lines of cording for displaying photos.

As you can see, we loved our dog a lot and really miss her.  

MORE "DARK LIGHT 123"

I love these five packs of color. They are created in the "dark light 123" crossover method, taught to me by my dye buddies, Cynthia and Christine. Its a lovely blend of 2 colors, which also produces different values. They work so beautifully together. Directions for this method can be found here: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7501629057264755564#editor/target=post;postID=6314322770481458600;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=57;src=postname

The combos I used, starting from upper left, proceeding clockwise:
1. golden yellow with better blue green
2. lemon yellow with deep orange
3. golden yellow with fuschia
4. turquoise with navy
5. amythest with cerulean blue
6. amythest with fuschia

I wanted to create some of these five packs for use in my personalized placemats. I love this one I recently made for a sweet youngster I know. It is pieced, batted and backed, stitched and discharged.
And here she is...sweet Cecilia.

A ROLL OF THE DICE

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I get stressed, heading to my studio space is something that always helps. We are in the middle of house selling negotiations, and also sorting through the many things we’ve acquired through the 14 years here at Refuge Cove…what to keep, what to take, what to toss.

For some reason, yesterday had enough moments of anxiety, that I wanted to RUN to my machine, but I didn’t have anything going. What could I create? What CF theme (Cyber Fibres, my quilt journal group) jumped out at me? What was inspiring me? Since I wanted to just to GET AT IT, I did the following:

1. Opened the drawer below my computer and grabbed two dice.

2. I rolled the dice and up came a 3 and a 5.

3. I multiplied the two together and there I had my number…15!

4. I opened my CF archives where I store quilt journal submissions on my Hotmail, and counted down fifteen until I came to…

5. Dawn’s piece with the theme of Ritual. In this piece she talked about how she and her husband love to share local fare with out of town guests. The piece featured a crab and wine glasses. It was soft and beautifully created with a lovely narrative. This was my new inspiration!

I have a good stash of fusibles, and I particularly like Steam a Seam Lite. I rarely use it, but it has been calling my name lately, and I’ve really wanted to take a break from discharging. I pulled out a good handful of orangey-ish  scraps and attached them to the fusibles, then cut out crabby shapes and assembled them on a watery, net-like fabric. As I was doing this on my ironing board, I glanced up and saw a small bag of Dawn’s rovings that she sent to us as a challenge last winter. I have never used rovings or the like before but thought these would be a good addition to my composition. I discovered there are a few tricks in using them, and despite a few frustrating moments, I really enjoyed the process. When completed, I got out my button stash and looked for some large dark “eyes”…I think they really help to define what this is all about.

“Caught in the Net of Dawn’s Inspiration” was fun to do! Thank you Dawn, for this inspiration and all your other beautiful work you do. (And likewise to all the rest of you!)

P.S. Recently I was hosted at Barb’s house during the Quadra Quilt and Garden Tour. Dawn invited us over for dinner and I was able to see her creative space and all her artistic soul spread throughout her home. Not only is she gifted as a fibre artist, but also in basketry (and probably in other venues too!) Thanks again Dawn, for a lovely evening!