New Growth and the Milky Way quilts

Detail, "New Growth" by Mike Angelo Corsaro, Jr.

In my last blog post I said I wasn't showing quilts from the APWQ show because the brochure said I needed to get permission from each artist first, but no contact info was given on the labels. I threw out my dilemma to the quiltart online forum.

Two members, featured today, said they'd love for me to show their entries on my blog. Quite a few members -- including some rather famous ones -- said I should do the post anyway because if you put your quilts in a show that allows photography you should expect that the photos will be shared online.

"New Growth," 41"x74", by Mike Angelo Corsaro, Jr., Pleasanton, CA,
from The Great Machine Embroidery Stitch-Off.

Here is the statement sent to me by Mike Angelo Corsaro, Jr., about his spectacular embroidered quilt, "New Growth," which was in The Great Machine Embroidery Stitch-Off exhibit:

 

I hiked through an area burned by a forest fire and was struck by the contrast around me. Blackened pine trunks reached skyward, ragged and bare, while the ground below teamed with a dense carpet of young grasses, plants, and flowers. I took a wide angle photograph from the ground, looking upward, to emphasize the new growth and to perspectively taper the burned trees off into a bright blue sky. I wanted to create a quilt that gave a view into the mountains I love. There is no real bright side to the wildfires that are a part of life in Central Oregon but this image is a reminder of how life carries on after tragedy.

 

Mike said the embroidery is his own digitizing and includes 30 separate hoopings and "TONS of HOURS."

 

"Too Far Away" by Pat Findlay, Winnipeg, from the From Away exhibit.

This Milky Way quilt, "Too Far Away," is by Pat Findlay of Winnipeg, Canada. The beautiful quilting and many, many beads are breathtaking. (Click on it to see the details better.) Pat said the quilting pattern is a triple spiral -- mankind's oldest known religious symbol.

It was in the From Away exhibit by the Fibre Art Network of Canada. For more info on that group go to: www.fibreartnetwork.com

Thanks, Mike and Pat!

APWQ: Can't show the quilts

Linda, Carol, myself, and Kristin enjoy the show.

I took tons of photos to share with you from the Association of Pacific West Quilters Show, which just ended in Tacoma. When I arrived, I saw a sign that said we could put photos on our blogs as long as we gave titles and the quiltmakers' names, so I planned my post as I snapped away.

After spending hours on it tonight, I checked the brochure for some category names and noticed that it said we also need permission from the quiltmakers before putting their quilts on our blogs. I swear the sign at the show didn't include that detail. My husband said to go ahead and post it anyway, but I'm going to play by the rules. (There was no contact info given on the labels, so I can't very well get permission from the 20 artists I planned to feature.)

My friend Anne shows one of the fabulous market bags she made.

Instead, I'll show you some of my friends at the show, a view of Tacoma from the convention center where the show was held, and a vendor who did give me permission to put him on the blog.

View of Tacoma from the convention center.

Vendor at the Leilani Arts booth, which sells recycled silk.

Luckily, I asked this vendor if I could take a photo of him at the Leilani Arts booth and put it on my blog. He said yes. You can read more about it at www.leilaniarts.net, but here is a little background from the web site:

Leilani Arts is an importer of high-quality and exotic yarn, fibers, beads, and other crafting supplies from Asia and all over the world. We work directly with women's collectives who hand make our rich yarns in an interesting and humanitarian way: Silk sari factories in India donate unwanted silk trimmings and fabric scraps direct from the factory floors to local women’s cooperatives. The women sew the residual silk remnants together end-to-end to compose a continuous skein of silky ribbon. For our recycled silk sari yarns, the same women's co-ops shred the sari scraps and handspin it into a colorful, textured yarn, transforming factory fragments and waste into something useful and beautiful.

We at Leilani Arts are happy to be a part of this important effort and are proud to bring it directly to the knitters and crocheters of America. It allows underprivileged women's groups to have a sense of purpose, achievement, empowerment, self-determination, and financial independence in communities that most need it. It also recycles silk waste into a unique yarn that can be transformed into one-of-a-kind garments, quilts, and other projects all over the world. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved, but especially for the women who hand-produce these wonderful products.

Have a colorful day

Wordless Wednesday

Have a colorful, delicious day

Mystery city revealed: Tacoma!

Dawn, Julia and I begin the 3rd Thursday Art Mingle
at the Tacoma Art Museum.

Several people thought the Mystery City in my last post was Seattle, but it's actually TACOMA, Washington!

I took these photos last Thursday during Tacoma's 3rd Thursday Art Mingle, when all three downtown museums offer free admission from 5-8 and numerous galleries also participate. For info: http://tacomaartgroup.org/

After a delicious dinner at the downtown Indochine, we walked to the Tacoma Art Museum, where we took in some of the dazzling art glass by Tacoma native Dale Chihuly.

We also rounded a corner to see this giant cardboard dog, with a feeding dish that collected donations to help arts organizations.

Big dog by Scot Fife, archival cardboard

 This oil painting called to me -- it goes so well with my jacket:

"Inner Prism," Carl Morris, oil, 1967

Next we headed back outside in the balmy summer evening and walked through the famous Chihuly Bridge of Glass, 500 feet of stupendous glass art that crosses over the highway and connects downtown with the Museum of Glass. Here is just a tiny portion of the ceiling:

At the other end of the bridge, outside the Museum of Glass, is this reflecting pool plus several other  installations:

This big cone (above as viewed from the bridge) is the outside of the museum's hot shop. We decided it looked like a volcano.

Here's the scene inside the cone. We relaxed into auditorium seating and watched the hot shop team work on a giant bottle. The action is also projected on a large screen while a commentator describes what's going on, although he was hard to hear over the roaring of the fire and fans. We decided this would be a great way to spend a drizzly winter day, hunkered down in the warm auditorium, mesmerized by the fire and molten glass.

Then we headed over to the Washington State History Museum, where this glowing painting greeted us:

"The Artist Dreaming," Jack B. Sabon, oil, 2012

 

"Da-He-Tih-Hi Button Robe," Michelle Price, 2010

This beautiful wool and abalone shell button robe by Michelle Price is explained in the sign below. Click on it for a larger view if you have trouble reading it.

 Another wonderful piece of fiber art is this shawl by Chholing P. Taha:

"Blue Sky Shawl," Chholing P. Taha (Cree First Nation), 2011

Just before closing time, Dawn finally found what she wanted to show us -- this team of oxen that she said was one of her favorite pieces in the history museum.  

Planes, trains and oxen. Go Dawn!

 Have a colorful day

Mystery city

Can anyone guess where I took these photos?

I like the lines and colors.

The Mystery City will be revealed soon!

Have a colorful day

Bits of summer

My daughter reminded me today on our walk that I hadn't done a blog post since Wednesday, so I told her I'd get right on it. Here's a photo of her on our walk, stopping to pick the wild blackberries that are rampant here in western Washington.

This next photo shows my husband's hops (I "hopped" right to it with the blog post), with our neighbor Dick's corn in the background.

And today was Sew Day With the Twisted Nuts at my house, but I forgot to get photos of their projects because I was busy thinking about the food. The blocks above are what I'm working on. I'm trying to make a dent in my stash of batiks that goes back about 15 or 20 years.

Here's the table setting. I LOVE sunflowers, but the ones Dave planted in our garden haven't bloomed yet.

And here is my neighbor Rosemary's sunny table setting from last week, when she had us over for a delightful potluck dinner. Her fruit platter, below, is good inspiration for a colorful summer quilt.

That's all the news from my quiet little neighborhood. Hope you're having a good summer.

Have a colorful day

Wordless Wednesday

Have a cuddly day

Sunny Sunday with Bunners

I haven't any quilt-related news from the week, but I decided Bunners needs to renew her blog presence. I planted her in the front porch planter with one of our garden carrots and she looked confused, as usual.

I'm not much of a flower gardener, so this summer I just put a ceramic rabbit, sea shells and a few posies in the pot.

To make it sort of quilt related, I am using the colors of the carrots and greens as inspiration for my next quilt, which will be garden related.

Have a colorful day